I have a 12 year old Dobe and she has been incontinent since she was spayed at 6 months of age. I found that switching her to a raw diet (no grains) really helped. As she got older, I used a combination of Proin and Black Cohosh. The Black Cohosh allowed her to remain leak-free on a lower dose of Proin. We also tried estrogen, but it did not work for her. At age 7 she developed arrythmias due to Dilated Cardiomyopathy. We verified via holter that Proin increased the arrythmias dramatically (3,000 on it, 300 off it), so we discontinued the Proin. I have been living with a leaky girl for 5 years. She is now in congestive heart failure and on a diuretic, so the leaking can get quite bad. It is manageable though. As with your Rottie, potty pants do not stay on her well. The best thing I found was inexpensive cotton women's panties (high cut) in combination with a sanitary pad. I cut a hole for her tail and tacked a couple gathers in the elastic and they stay on much better than the commercial potty pants. But I also have a doggie door and want her to be able to use the yard when she needs to, so I don't use the "underoos" very often. I've lined all of the dog beds with vinyl and just launder the covers as needed. I put water proof crib pads down where she lays routinely and she's good about staying on them most of the time. Those go in the washer as well. She is now leaking through the pads so I've added shower curtains cut to size under them and that's working very well to protect my floors. I also use Nature's Miracle Advanced on the carpet and Simple Solution for hard floors as needed. It can be a pain, but my old girl is well worth it. :o)

It is possible for females to bond closely, however. Decades ago, I had a female named Tempest who I raised from kittenhood. Although Tempest eventually (and much to her initial displeasure) had to learn to live with other cats, she never bonded with any until I took her into my marriage with me as an "only cat". We rescued an unrelated female kitten shortly thereafter. I don't know what it was about Pea that appealed to Tempest (Pea was always an extremely disagreeable feline), but she took Pea under her wing. Tempest and Pea were closely bonded for the remainder of Tempest's life ... many years into Pea's adulthood. Once Tempest passed, Pea never made even the slightest attempt to bond with another cat for the rest of her nearly 23 yrs. In fact, she made her intolerance of the other cats that came into our family very, very clear up until the day she died. Come to think of it, I did adopt a typically rowdy male kitten sometime during Tempest and Pea's adulthood. He was accidentally killed by one of our dogs within a couple of weeks, but while he was with us, T & P both hated him with a passion. My current three littermates (females) and their male cousin don't have similar relationships, either, despite the fact that they are all blood-related and were raised together as one litter. Two of the sisters and the male are all closely bonded, but the third sister only enjoys the company of one of her other sisters. You just never know how any two individual cats are going to relate to each other. Laurie

My first cat went to a fancy cat hospital right outside of DC to get spayed about 3 years ago. Even with a reduced fee spay certificate from the local SPCA it cost a lot more then 500.00. If you really like your vet then maybe it's worth it for you, but I would check around. 2 hours away from DC near where my sister lives (now I live there too!) it costs around 100.00 for a spay, so if you have family decently near I'd check around them as well. Good luck finding a place both you and your fur-baby love! :-)

One drug they use for that is Proin. Paisley was on it for several years and it worked really well at first. We eventually had to supplement that and make her some diapers that velcroed on and held a small pad, she didn't mind that at all and it was so much easier than constantly wiping up and cleaning dribbles. The Proin was like a miracle drug at first, call your vet and ask them about it. If you end up needing diapers, I can send you my pattern. You'd have to adjust for size, but the store-bought/custom ones are really pricey. You can see a photo of her wearing one here.... Here is a link that might be useful: Paisley's diaper....