Question Details
Urinary Incontinence In A Dog
by LPinn - June 18, 2018    View Case Report
6 yr FS Border Collie. Initially started seeing her 2 yrs ago for chronic iliopsoas tendopathy. Stabilized and performing well with routine acupuncture and VSMT (every 3 months).

Approximately 6 mos ago patient had 1 episode of urine leakage while working as a therapy dog at a nursing home. She was awake and dribbled small amount of urine. Diagnosed with UTI. Treated initially with acupuncture, VSMT, antibiotics, urinary supplement, and probiotics. Problem resolved then recurred 1 month later. UTI resolved and UA NSF.

Urine leakage is always while awake. Initially she would dribble a small amount of urine or lick her vulva excessively after urinating, especially when exercising. She does have a tucked up vulva so question of urine trapping was suspected. Treated with AP and VSMT to see if maybe inflammation at the origin of the iliopsoas could contribute to incontinence? She seemed to respond at first. But urine leakage/dribbling the recurred after another month. An associated put her on Proin which helped but may her twitchy and anxious. Patient is very anxious inwardly so even though she does not leak while asleep I tried San Piao Xiao San to see if that would help esp if there was an anxiety component. Likely everything else it helped only 1 month.

Now she leaks urine when pressure is applied to the bladder, when she seems relaxed awake, and when nervous/excited. Owner is in the middle of moving and says leaking seems worse. Only leaks small amounts. Bladder is never very large on palpation. Recheck UA on Saturday was WNL (SG 1.045, pH 5.5, quiet sediment), no protein. At the last acupuncture she dribbled urine afterward when owner was waiting to check out - she was very relaxed up front. Owner emailed me and is tapering the herb because she feels it is not helping. I did add in valerian root (Nutricalm) to see if controlling anxiety more helps - not sure how good of a test it is if she is stopping the herb.

TCVM Exam
[X] Shen: calm, quiet, but seems almost inwardly anxious
[X] Personality: Earth
[X] Heat/Cool: neutral
[X] Tongue: pink with slight purple/lavender hue
[X] Pulse: deep but full, slow, toned
[X] Active Acupuncture Points: LI11, HT7, BL20, BL23, BL26, BL40, SP6, SP10
[X] Diagnosis: HT-KID Disconnect, KID Qi Deficiency, Blood Deficiency

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you

Lisa
Replies
by naturevet
June 22, 2018
Hi Lisa,

A problem that starts 6 months ago would put is in mid-winter, which is when Kidney deficiency, Blood stasis, and Jue Yin excess (which includes Spleen Qi sinking) are all worse.

Since urine concentration is excellent, Kidney deficiency is unlikely as a cause. Since there are no lesions, apart from the one initial infection, Blood stasis is unlikely. That leaves Jue Yin excess.

As mentioned, Jue Yin excess correlates at times to Spleen Qi sinking, which is a form of Liver Qi stagnation. So some of the signs and symptoms of Stasis are present, including a deeper wiry strong pulse, and a purplish tongue. Anxiety is also present, since Qi and Blood is piled up in the lower abdomen and unable to ascend to nourish the Heart and calm the Shen.

The accumulation in the lower abdomen produces a sense of irresistible urgency even when low volumes are present. This sense of urgency is heightened during stress. When the dog is asleep, she is unaware of it and incontinence does not happen.

A related formula is Wu Yao Tang. I would try it if BZYQT doesn't work, before abandoning the approach altogether. BZYQT has more stress relieving actions than WYT, though, by normalizing the HPA axis

Sometimes, for BZYQT to work well, you need to pair it with Minor Bupleurum. The latter is needed to unbuckle the Dai Mai, so that Qi can rise from where it is trapped in the lower abdomen. I'd use XCHT here in this dog with the BZYQT, because of the history of psoas muscle issues (which lies on the Dai Mai); and also because of the strength of the pulse.

Hopefully this helps you out. Please let us know how things go. I know you can solve this. It may take a few tries, but given what you've presented, I'd say these two formulas used in tandem have an excellent chance of working

Steve
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