General

Urinary incontinence and its treatment

Urinary incontinence is the loss of voluntary control of urination due to weakness or loss of muscle tone in the urethral sphincter, which is the muscle that controls urine flow out of the bladder. This condition is most common in older medium to large spayed female dogs and one cause is a malfunction of nerves in the part of the nervous system that controls urination. An effective treatment for this form of urinary incontinence is a syrup containing the drug phenylpropanolamine that works by acting as an alpha-adrenergic agonist and stimulates the nerves of the sympathetic nervous system. These nerve cells respond to catecholamine neurotransmitters (chemical used by nerve cells to communicate) like adrenaline. Phenylpropanolamine stimulates the alpha-adrenergic receptors in urethral muscle cells which increase muscle tone and results in tightening of the urethra which prevents urine leakage.