# Pee Problems



## lolababy (Jan 17, 2008)

Lola is one and a half years old and about 10 lbs and I find that she pees unusually often. She doesn't go when in her kennel during the day and night she can hold it. But, when she is out of her kennel she will ask to go outside every 20 or 30 minutes and pee. Or, she will do it at the front door on the carpet if I'm not around for more than 5 minutes. So, because of this she still isn't fully trained... still a lot of accidents. Is this normal? I know they have small bladders, but to me it doesn't seem normal. I got her checked for a urine infection by my vet before xmas and nothing showed up in the test so I'm out of ideas. Does anybody else have this issue with their Maltese?


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

That is not normal. 

If she's busy playing with you, will she still leave the game to pee? 

When she goes to the front, is she trying to go outside?


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## vjw (Dec 20, 2006)

Lolababy, my one year old maltese Karli has urinary frequency and she has been through all kinds of testing to find out what's causing it and we still don't know the reason. Last time I checked, Karli pees about a dozen times a day. She has been through testing at the University of Tennessee (including a scintography for a liver shunt which was normal) and cystoscoped by a local Internal Medicine Vet. Two diagnoses which haven't completely been ruled out are a bladder contractility issue or microvascular dysplasia. Karli also gets frequent urinary tract infections. I suppose the only advise I would have would be to get Lola thoroughly checked out to see if there's a medical reason for the frequency. My Vet. started with an ultrasound on Karli to rule out genitourinary abnormalities and stones. I had intended to potty train Karli to go outside but ended up just leaving pee pads in almost every room for her and she's wonderful about going on the pads.


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## lolababy (Jan 17, 2008)

Thanks guys!

Maltese Guru: Sometimes she'll ask to go pee when we play. I never take her outside to pee at the front door, always the back patio door. So, that's where she goes when she has to go pee. I think she just goes at the front because there's a carpet and she likes to pee on that. I have tried pee pads but she just pulls them apart and makes a mess.

vjw: It's nice to know Lola is not the only one with this problem. Maybe it's just the way she is I don't know. I just find it strange that she can hold it in her kennel during the day when I'm at work and all through the night. If she had a urinary infection she probably wouldn't be able to hold it right ?


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## CrystalAndZoe (Jul 11, 2006)

If after having any health issues being ruled out by having her checked fully by your vet for things besides UTI,
then the next step would be to see if it could be a behavior issue. But only after your vet has completely ruled
out any health problems first. When did you get her and how old was she when you got her? What is her
background?


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

Ruling out a physical problem is important. 

If it were behavioral, I would be curious to see what she would do leashed to you in the house...


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## lolababy (Jan 17, 2008)

She was 6 weeks old when I got her. I bought her from a lady that breeds them in a home environment. I took her to training classes when she was about 4 months and that went very well. She is well behaved other than the pee problem. She doesn't bark at other dogs when we go walk she is socialized and I did that early so all is good there. She barks in the house when she hears noises but I know that she is very protective her me it's been just me and her for a while now and she thinks she is my guard dog.

I have never tried tying her to a leash to me in the house. Does that work? That might not be a bad idea if she can't get to the front door without me seeing her.


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