older dog all of a sudden "going" in the house

our dog is 13 yrs old. Shes been perfectly house trained,no accidents whatsoever.
However, in the last couple weeks, shes been doing it. And not even letting us know she needs to go outside. Like for instance, the other night, she was laying on the couch with us, she then jumped off, walked over to her bed,and started peeing out of nowhere. Another time, i had just walked her,came inside, and within minutes she had peed and pooed on the floor. This is very out of character of her. She knows its wrong,because she gets "shameful" look in her eyes until we go over and console her and let her know we arent angry (we have to do this,because before my partner rescued her,she was mistreated and abused,so therefore we never ever yell at her or get angry at her)

Does anyone have any expierance with this? or know what could be wrong?

Ive talked to my partner about taking her to the vets,but unfortantley, he is a bit scared to. Bit of a "im afraid of what i might hear" type of thing. Because if it is something serious,unfortantely,she wont be able to get surgery for it due to her age (she wont be able to handle the anastetics)

So hopefully someone hear might have some information,thats helpful and hopefully its something simple and not severe? thanks in advance

I understand the reluctance to hear 'the bad news', but it's really not fair to let an animal suffer because of being afraid of what you might hear at the vet.

My 16 year old BFF kitty went downhill pretty quickly last year and it was horrible, but in the end I had to think about her needs and her dignity and put my feelings aside.  She started pooping and peeing outside the box, as her body and brain deteriorated.  A steroid shot fixed her up for about a month but then it came back with a vengeance.  She was falling apart in front of my eyes and I had to make the worst decision of my life.

My sympathies are with you and I do hope that your pup turns out to be OK, but you just need to bite the bullet, get to the vet and go from there.

The quickest way to find out what is wrong is to get a vet to do a geriatric workup on the dog.  I had serious problems with a 13-year-old cat, and this is what I had to do.  I'm in the US, and he had to stay overnight at the vet's office (had to have a catheter for his bladder).  The whole thing was $360.  The situation could be as simple as a bladder infection requiring antibiotics.    

I've never used a UK vet, but vets here cannot force treatment upon an animal.  That must be done via the court system.  If you (plural) find out it's something very serious, you can educate yourself on treatment options and pick what is best for your animal.  I had to do this, and the vet agreed with my decision.  Because of my cat's age and other health factors (FIV+, heart murmur) we went with the least aggressive treatment option.    

Have you tried wee-wee pads for the dog?  Some are made fairly large.  I've even used them for intact male cats who marked, until I could get them to a neuter appointment.   I simply spread out the pads where they liked to mark, picked up the used ones and threw them out when I came home from work.  They helped save my sanity, carpets and furniture.    

There are also dog litter boxes, which may be an option. They are only about 2" high, so an animal with mobility issues can step in easily. I used one when my late kitty developed serious hind-end mobility issues.

There are also veterinary diapers, but they can only be used when you are home, as they must be changed promptly.  Diapering an animal is something to be done for rather short periods, as urine and feces against the skin could cause other issues.  Human baby diapers can also be modified for this purpose.

I do sympathize with this situation, because my kitty went from immaculate litter habits to having accidents.  He was mortified when I'd come home and find puddles.  

I wish you and the dog the best.

(((hollyberry))), I had to make that decision last September for my kitty.  My vet allowed me to be there when it was done, as well as giving us some alone time before and after.  There was not a dry eye in the clinic when it happened.  I had him cremated, and his ashes are now in my dresser--in a nice wooden box.  He was a street rescue, and I promised him he'd never be abandoned again, hence the cremation. 

 

I'm just going to third what everyone has said here. No-one can make a diagnosis for you over the internet, and if your dog is suffering or showing you that they are ill then the best thing for them is to be taken to a vet who can examine them.

It may be something very treatable, and it would be best to know that so you can do something for her.

Also, if she does need surgery, just know that age alone is not going to keep her from being able to undergo anesthesia. We are often reminded at school that age is not a disease - and even if she has underlying organ dysfunction (which can - and should be - screened for using blood tests before anesthesia) it is entirely possible that using the proper drugs she can still undergo anesthesia and have whatever procedure is deemed necessary.

Good luck with her, she sounds like she has owners who care about her a lot!

Luckily,shes not going downhill at the moment. She still runs to the door when we come home,she still jumps up onto the couch with us and etc.Only thing is,her using the toilet indoors sometimes,and she walks a lot slower now (due to her older age).

My partner is putting it off to her menstrating,and thats why shes using peeing indoors. But Im not too sure. But as he said,the day where she refuses to eat (shes a greedy cow!) is when to panic. Ive talked to him about the pads (due to the menstrating everywhere and the weeing,but he looks at it is,her having no dignity with one of those on)

But I am more realistic,shes older. When he rescued her,he was told her didnt have long to live because of the abuse she had before (that was a couple years ago)  

However,he usually takes her to the vets to get her nails done every couple months, so next time shes booked in for it,Im going to make him tell the vet these things

Am sorry to hear about your losses of pets. Even the thought of it,upsets us. Hell,we were both getting teary eyed towards the end of the movie Marley & Me. I cant imagine going through it,


Reinadeluz - a majority of vets are hesitate to do surgery on a dog if it involves anastetics on an older dog

I once had a dog that went through something similar.  He was about 13 too.  Eventually we had to put him down (for other reasons, not the loss of bodily function control.  He had other symptoms too and it was clear that it was time).  It's incredibly hard to lose a pet, but if she's suffering from something then surely it's best to know so that you can do your best to help. 

Reinadeluz - a majority of vets are hesitate to do surgery on a dog if it involves anastetics on an older dog

That's fair enough and true I'm sure - many older vets feel that way because the drugs they had available when they graduated were less than ideal - luckily the profession has advanced a tremendous amount in the past 10-15 years and simply being an older pet should not preclude anesthesia. Anyway, that's neither here nor there as we don't know whether your dog needs surgery or not!

I'm glad to hear that she is still well in herself though.

Ink, I'd listent o Reinadeluz if I were you! She's practically a vet! See her avatar sig!

Your partner needs to step up and listen to solid advice. Your dog is clearly, as you said, ashamed of what she is doing and knows it's wrong. The responsible thing is to get a vet to see her for everyone's emotional and physical well being. I don't say that to be harsh. I've had plenty of elderly animals in my day and we're in the process of having to think about having one put down soon. I know how hard it is.

yep will do,. once he books her in to get her nails done, im popping along with him and telling the vet whats going on.
He looks at Lady as "SuperDog" so needless to say whatever treatment she may need, he will give her that plus more.

thanks for all the replies, just needed to confirm my intuition about it

(((hollyberry))), I had to make that decision last September for my kitty.  My vet allowed me to be there when it was done, as well as giving us some alone time before and after.  There was not a dry eye in the clinic when it happened.  I had him cremated, and his ashes are now in my dresser--in a nice wooden box.  He was a street rescue, and I promised him he'd never be abandoned again, hence the cremation. 

Thanks, mariposa.  My condolences on the loss of your little guy.  My Syd was a rescue too, she was very nervous and had a big scar on top of her head where she'd be abused. I was really happy that she made the trip to the UK with me and that we had as much time together as possible.   

I love it when I hear people having recuses as pets. They are the best & deserve a happy life.

Both of our dogs are rescues,(both greyhounds) One is 13 and the other is 7.
They are the best 

Good luck at the vet - hope it goes well! 

She knows its wrong,because she gets "shameful" look in her eyes until we go over and console her and let her know we arent angry (we have to do this,because before my partner rescued her,she was mistreated and abused,so therefore we never ever yell at her or get angry

i too agree that you certainly should take her to the vet to be checked......but i am a firm follower of ceasar milans methods of working with our dogs.........as you said you console her and let her know youre not angry which is after the negative behavior.....so what has been said to her is that if i pee and i look at the humans they will come pet me.......so now she has been rewarded......if she is a okay at the vet i would suggest just simply taking her outside quite often and when she does pee outside then offer positive rewards.....im pretty sure after a day or two she will right back on track.

If she has never peed inside the house since puppyhood and only now just start doing it as she is getting on in years, I sincerely doubt that it is a behaviour problem.

Hopefully, it is just a problem with bladder control (part of growing older) and not anything more serious.

FYI, there are doggy nappies for that.

A long time ago, my former vet told me that the main reason that people have their pets put down (in the US, at least) is because they start going in the house - even though there is nothing else wrong with them, or at least nothing that can't be treated.

 

i too agree that you certainly should take her to the vet to be checked......but i am a firm follower of ceasar milans methods of working with our dogs.........as you said you console her and let her know youre not angry which is after the negative behavior.....so what has been said to her is that if i pee and i look at the humans they will come pet me.......so now she has been rewarded......if she is a okay at the vet i would suggest just simply taking her outside quite often and when she does pee outside then offer positive rewards.....im pretty sure after a day or two she will right back on track.

 
steffunny- Im not sure you understand. There is a differance between what you just said about doing rewards or her thinking "oh if i pee i will get strokes"..that isnt the case here. I am talking about an older dog who has been house trained for over a decade ,doing it all of a sudden. so the whole rewards thing isnt going to work.

And we will always console her whenever that happens in the house. Why?....because the piece of sh*t who had her before would never  walk her and then abuse her and starve her whenever she peed in the house. So now,when she does pee in the house, she looks at us,like shes scared.
 So needless to say when she does do it in here, we console her so she doesnt think that sort of thing will ever happen to her again.

As sweetpeah says, its not a behaviour problem.

A long time ago, my former vet told me that the main reason that people have their pets put down (in the US, at least) is because they start going in the house - even though there is nothing else wrong with them, or at least nothing that can't be treated.

that is so disgusting. People like that should be banned from having pets