A Happy Ruby!

[cataggart]

Well I thought it was time that I gave a quick update about our latest labrador addition - our 5th lab rescue dog!!!!- Ollie's new sister Ruby!! Most of you will not have known about her as she never even made it onto the website before we snapped her up!! We rang up on the 29th December about another female, Sandy, who was snapped up very quickly and were told about the impending arrival of Happy as she was then named. So we went straight over to MKF with Ollie to see how they got on and it was love at first sight for all of us! Mark refused point-blank to keep the name Happy - said he didn't want to be out shouting Happy, come here!! I actually quite liked the name when I had said it a bit! Anyway we spent all that first evening trying to come up with another name that at least sounded a bit similar and couldn't decide so she was wotsisname for a few hours! Then Mark put the pressure on and said I had to come up with a name pronto! We were eating our tea - a curry - and so I said Ruby then and that was that!! She is great. She has done everything for Ollie that we hoped another dog would do. He is now less interested by people on the other side of the field when out and instead chooses to stay with us and Ruby. In the house too he is less likely to want to get on the sofa the whole time and instead is happier in bed or just on the floor as he now has Ruby! She is so well behaved. She always comes straight away when called and is happiest when out and about having a good old run around or a swim! She wants to play all the time and is often waiting at the back door with a ball for Ollie to come out and play while he tries to ignore her! We bought them the other week a duck and a pheasant (toy ones not real ones) and between them they lasted about 10 minutes as they were pulled and ripped to shreds! However, despite all this good stuff Ruby has got one issue. She seems to wee in her sleep! Occasionally she also wees in the house when awake which we are trying to sort out but the main issue seems to be that nearly every morning her bed is soaking wet. Yesterday we went out for a long walk and when we came back we nipped out for a while and her bed was wet when we came back but she couldn't have been desperate for a wee as she had only been in for a couple of hours. The most worrying part is that she is weeing in her bed and not getting up but we now know she is doing it in her sleep as on Friday night she was allowed onto the settee for a cuddle and she fell fast asleep, only to then wee all over me and the settee (thankfully leather!!) We took her to the vets to get registered and checked out and they ruled out a water infection and have suggested doing some ultrasound scans to maybe see what is going on if the problem persists. We are hoping that it is all just stress or something and that once she truly settles in with us it will just go away but if anybody has experienced a similar problem please give me some advice!! Obviously we don't know if she has always done this as then we could put it down to stress or maybe if she always lived outside she just has no bladder control. Advice please!! Sorry no time to do photos now as have written so much but will put some photos on tonight of the 2 chocolate terrors! Oh and Ruby was 4 yesterday and had a very nice birthday!

[Diesel Kate]

HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY FOR YESTERDAY RUBY

I hope your piddles sort themselves out soon.

[natty]

Yes she sounds lovely..I hope the vet can sort it out for you? did the previous owners offer any suggestions?

[cataggart]

As far as I am aware the previous owners did not say that she had any problems as obviously Kathryn would have told us of any issues. But it does make you wonder if people just aren't truthful but as I say fingers crossed that it is just a new home/stress issue.

[jackie]

Lovely update, sounds like she has fallen on all four paws

As for the urinary problem - has she been spayed and if so how old is she now? Sometimes dogs do develop urinary incontinence later once spayed....particularly if they are spayed before their first season. However if vet has not picked this up then I doubt it was due to that??

Look forward to seeing the photos

Jackie xx

[karen_h]

Looking forward to seeing some photos. Hope Ruby gets sorted soon, it's such a shame when you don't know what she has had to deal with in her past.

Regards,
Paddy & family x

[cataggart]

Yes she has been spayed and she was 4 yesterday! The vet obviously knows all of this and for now we are just going to see if the problem lasts before further investigation!

[dogspaw]

Hi there. I had a dog with this problem too. We were told about it before taking her, but took her anyway. She was a similar age to Ruby, and had been thoroughly checked by several vets but there was no apparent physical cause ever found for it happening. It was concluded that it may have been something caused by having her spayed, it is something that can happen following this op. She was put on Propalin, and this stopped the majority of accidents so that it was only the very odd time that she would have an accident. It was always when she was asleep, she never wet herself any other time. We gave her a bed with a plastic base, and always had lots of soft washable covers in the bed. I wonder if Ruby has also been spayed and this could be a similar thing. If so then I can recommend Propalin. It wasn't cheap, but it certainly worked very well though I have no idea why it works. It is prescription only from the vet. I have to say that she was one of the lovliest dogs that I have ever been priveleged to own. I hope you manage to sort something out for Ruby.
Jill

[Emma T]

Hello

Am delighted your lovely new girl is settling in! I can't offer any advice on why she might be weeing I'm afraid, but I did find when Lucy cat was very poorly that incontinence pad sheets were excellent. They really do soak up everything up and nothing leaks through them and it avoids having to wash bedding everytime and they are quite large, enough to cover most of a bed. Our vets gave us a big stash of them, they are exactly the same ones used for poorly people in bed. Hope this may help in the short term. Good luck with getting her sorted x

[kathryn]

Hi Carol & Mark,
So glad Ruby has settled in no the previous owner didnt report the incontinence but as others have mentioned it could be maybe she was spayed early,?? try the Propalin syrup before you do the expensive scans,then if it still continues you can go down that road...
I told you, you had to come asap for the girlies didnt I! but look what you now have and Ollie now has a friend...keep us posted wont you...
look forward to some pics....

[Glenys]

I liked the name Happy she was the first ever one of that name in all my years of rescue but Ruby is ok.
female labs do have a few problems at times like stress incontinence keeping all crossed thanks fotr the update

Glenys

[Mad Maisie]

Lovely to hear about the lovely Ruby and Ollie!!! As for the "leaking" as we call it Meg has had this problems for many years. (She is now 11). It does not happen all the time but occasionally. Just as Ruby does Meg will be lay there asleep and is not aware of the fact that she is leaking. We have put it down to hormones Mentioned it to the vet years ago and decided if it ever became a real problem then we would look at treatment. But to date we have not - as we can cope with it. However our dogs are not allowed on the furniture so no problem there!!!! I often put thick dog towels on her bed just in case as these are easier to wash on a regular basis. Hope you can sort it out!!!!


Love Gill, Meg and Maisie.

xxxx

[cataggart]

Thanks very much everybody for all the good advice, there are some great ideas there! Good news is that Ruby seems to be 'leaking' less and less now and so it either was stress or that made it worse! She is so well behaved and cute and just adorable though that it totally doesn't matter at all! Now have a few beds for her in rotation and am going to try the pads aswell! Will post some photos soon - promise!!