The Zim Family Cocker Spaniel Forum

Hi everyone ... Well, Sadie is now needing to wear diapers all day and all night. Her age is catching up with her (14, we believe) and my carpets are feeling the stress. The doggie "Pampers" work very nicely. So, what's my problem? Here's the list:

1) We are still putting her outside every few hours and she has no issues with diaper removal and replacement -- and doing her business outside in the backyard or while walking around the neighborhood;

2) I am concerned about her private area needing to get bathed more than once a week? There are no issues now in that section of town, but I am still feeling concerned. I used to give my kids a bath each day when they were diaper-wearing babies and we made sure their little areas were always clean and dry. Should I have that level of concern now with Sadie? But we never wipe female dogs when they are diaper-free and outside? Our vet says that a wipe is only needed if a #2 is involved. ??

3) The doggie "Pampers" have that nice little hole where her nubbie fits through. It's very cute (Stephen would love this!) but it leaves a HUGE problem when she needs to do her #2 business. So, having her wear a diaper in the house only protects my carpets and floors from pee but not from pooh. That actually makes me feel better knowing that she is not sitting in #2 for any length of time but here we are again needing to keep an eye on her all day. (My kids are home from college now so there is basically someone in the house all day, every day, thank goodness.) Would using a real baby Pamper be smarter or would you continue to use the doggie variety?

4) What about a cloth diaper alternative with maybe a removable maxi/mini pad? Is there such a thing? I see several options that are "special orders" via the 'net and wondered if anyone has ever used anything like this. ??

Thanks again for any recommendations and help with this issue. I don't really hear/read a lot of "diaper stories" here on the board and kinda feel that Sadie is one of the few that requires this at her age. Our vet is A-OK with all of this and tells us that she is healthy otherwise.

Michele ...

I don't know if there is a good solution, but I guess that I would only allow her in the uncarpeted rooms and only allow her in the carpeted rooms on a lead attached to you. You will just have to watch her every move while she is tied to you to know when she needs to go. I'm not sure, at that age, how much "control" they still have, so it may be difficult to predict when she needs to go #2.
I would probably wipe her down and dry her well with every diaper change too. Better to be pro-active than having to take a 14 year old dog to the vet for diaper rash. Less stressful.

I'm weighing in on the wipe/don't wipe question. I would use an unscented baby wipe after she goes either #1 or #2 - only because you are going to be putting her back into a diaper, which is going to keep any urine or feces close to her skin if you don't wipe it. By using a baby wipe and then drying, you know that there is nothing that is going to irritate her while wearing the diaper.

My Shiloh lived to age 16 and was only having accidents probably the last 6-7 months of her life. We babygated her into the kitchen, which was a tile floor, and just cleaned up after her rather than putting her into a diaper, though it did cross my mind to try that. We both work and could only get home at lunch, though, so that's why I didn't choose that route.

I recently had to make Peaches wear diapers all day (she just turned 15), but she is able to hold it at night (how does that work??). Since I'm home all day, I take her out every couple of hours to pee and poop. Occasionally, she has had an poop accident in her diaper, and I just throw it out and give her a "butt bath" with either a wet napkin or water and soap depending on the severity. If she's had a pee accident in her diaper, I use a wet napkin and thoroughly wipe her privates and legs, and then give her a bath every week.

Now about the diapers, I couldn't see myself using "doggie diapers" that cost $30 each! I chose this method instead, and I have to say, it's worked beautifully for me: buy little girls undies, size 2T/3T, and use half a regular Poise pad in them. It fits Peaches' butt perfectly with a little hole cut out for her tail, and the Poise pad works well to collect the pee. I bought about 30 undies and kept them all ready with half Poise pads cut up and adhered to them. I end up using 1-2 diapers every day. Tip: use the regular cotton thick Poise pads, not the ultra-thin ones. They are useless and a pain to remove and throw out. I just peel off the used pad and toss the underwear in the laundry.