IVDD Dog Not Urinating: Why It Happens and What to Do

Your IVDD dog is not urinating: read this first

If you have an IVDD dog not urinating, call your vet today.

Spinal cord injury in dogs can lead to urinary and fecal incontinence or retention, depending on the severity and localization of the lesion along the nervous system.¹

This page sits under our main dog wheelchair toileting hub, which covers bathroom life for dogs with a weak back end. Here we are just looking at urine: why it stops, what leaking means, and what to expect.

Why an IVDD dog won't pee

When a dog's lower urinary tract problem is caused by neurological disease rather than by the bladder or urethra itself, vets call it neurogenic bladder, meaning a bladder that misbehaves because of a nerve problem.² In dogs and cats, spinal cord injury is considered mainly responsible for bladder or urethra incompetence, though other congenital or acquired disorders involving the nervous system can play a role.²

Where the injury sits along your dog's spine matters, because the location and severity of the lesion help determine whether spinal cord injury leads to urinary and fecal incontinence or to retention.¹ The location and type of neurological lesion influence the pattern of clinical signs, potential treatment and prognosis.² Bladder and bowel signs differ between sacral lesions, meaning the L7-S3 spinal cord segments and nerves low down near the tail, and supra-sacral lesions further up the back, and this is largely seen in the context of intervertebral disc herniation, or a slipped disc.¹

You are not expected to work this out at home.

One more thing worth knowing, because it catches owners out. Bladder and gastrointestinal problems caused by these nerve lesions can be difficult to recognise and interpret, and are easily overlooked.¹ Awareness matters, because disturbances of urination and defecation affect the dog's condition and welfare and the owner's life too.¹ If something about your dog's urination has changed, say so out loud at the appointment, even if it seems minor next to the back legs.

If your IVDD dog hasn't peed today

An IVDD dog that hasn't peed is a same-day phone call, not a wait-and-see.

Infection is worth keeping on your radar: the rate of urinary tract infection after spinal cord injury has been specifically reviewed in the veterinary literature, which also notes that bladder problems after such injuries are easily overlooked and challenging to manage.¹

Your vet has a real toolkit here. The literature describes management of urinary and fecal dysfunction in both the acute and chronic phases of spinal cord injury, including medical therapies and a number of surgical options.¹ For urinary incontinence more broadly, a veterinary consensus statement sets out recommended diagnostic testing and treatment for the various causes.³ Which of those applies to your dog is a decision for your vet, not for the internet, and not for us.

If your vet has already taught you to empty the bladder by hand at home, our guide on expressing a paralyzed dog's bladder walks through what that daily routine tends to look like alongside everything else you are juggling.

When it flips: IVDD dog peeing a lot, or leaking

Some owners come to us with the opposite worry: an IVDD dog peeing a lot, soaking bedding, or leaving a wet patch wherever they have been lying.

Depending on the severity and localisation of the injury, spinal cord damage can cause incontinence or retention.¹ Urinary incontinence is a disorder of micturition, meaning the act of urinating, and it can occur in dogs of any age, sex and breed depending on the underlying cause and the time of onset.³ So leaking deserves the same phone call as not going at all. We have a separate walkthrough on urine leaking in dogs with IVDD covering bedding, skin care and what to record for your vet.

Keep a simple log for a few days: times, rough amounts, whether your dog squatted or just leaked. It is the most useful thing you can hand over at the appointment.

What recovery of dog IVDD urination can look like

Return of urinary and fecal continence sits alongside recovery of walking and resolution of pain as one of the important prognostic considerations after acute disc extrusion, when disc material pushes out and presses on the spinal cord.⁴ Overall, loss of deep pain perception, meaning the dog can no longer feel deep pain in the affected limbs, signals a worse outcome.⁴ Your vet will check this, and it is a fair question to ask them about directly.

There is encouraging data for one particular group as well: in a study of 18 dogs that were still walking, with a disc extrusion low in the back causing incontinence or tail problems, surgery restored urinary continence in 86% of affected dogs, faecal continence in 90%, and tail function in 87%.⁵ The authors concluded that the prognosis for functional recovery of urinary continence, faecal continence and tail function in these dogs following surgery is good.⁵

In one matched study of dogs recovering from disc surgery, those given supervised underwater treadmill sessions twice a week regained independent walking sooner than dogs doing owner-guided exercises at home, with no treatment-related complications.⁶ Conditions including intervertebral disc herniation and degenerative myelopathy, a progressive disease of the spinal cord, commonly affect dogs, and physiotherapy may improve quality of life and reduce recovery times.⁷

Where a wheelchair fits into all this

A wheelchair is not treatment. In dogs with suspected progressive myelomalacia, a rapidly worsening softening of the spinal cord, surgery can save the dog's life, but in one small study none of the survivors regained urinary continence or use of their back legs.⁸ What a wheelchair does is support mobility while the rest of the plan happens around it.

The dog wheelchair for back legs we make is a rear support cart for dogs with weak or failing back legs. The padded harness carries weight through the hips and chest rather than the spine, every strap adjusts, and the frame is set so the back legs hang free or lightly brush the ground. Dogs can squat and go to the bathroom while they are in it, which matters a great deal if your dog is still getting outside to try.

Sizing comes down to one measurement: rear leg height, taken from the top of the hip straight down to the toe pad, with your dog lying on their side and the leg at its natural bend. Five sizes cover 3 to 31 inches. Take that number to the size guide and use the fit finder, or send a photo and your measurement to help@oldpalpets.com and a person will check it with you. If the size is wrong when it arrives, our Fit Guarantee means we swap it for the one that fits and return shipping is your only cost.

Frequently asked questions

Related guides

• How do IVDD dogs poop: the bowel side of the same problem, including what to do when nothing is coming.
• Dog paralyzed expressing bladder: building a daily routine around a bladder that needs help.
• IVDD dog leaking urine: overflow, bedding and skin care.

More good days together often starts with the unglamorous stuff: a bladder emptied on time, dry bedding, and a vet who knows exactly what changed this week.

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