First of all, I'm sorry about the loss of your pet. Unfortunately, you don't really know what happened to your dog.

The human form of Proin, phenylpropanolamine, was taken off the market while I was in med school which was a bummer because it was a lot cheaper for me to buy it for my dog from the pharmacy. She has been on it for 11 years and is perfectly healthy.

The study which caused the FDA to place a black box warning on the human drug was published in the NEJM in the late 90s. It basically showed a very weak association (6/100,000) events of stroke and the study did not deal with some of the confounding variables. There was some political pressure (as there usually is....i.e., the morning after pill, bad data from the pharma companies about Vioxx, the lack of concern about BPA despite the fact that all the data that shows no harm is from the plastics industry and the independent studies show something different, but I digress) and a black box warning was issued. As the drug was generic, there was no incentive to continue making it. There are many of these examples.

I respect your decision, and I applaud the use of alternatives (although the side effects of some DES can be worse), but please understand the data before condemning the product. Anectodotal evidence is just that....ancedotal.

Best regards.

:twisted: I've had my l0 l/2 year old White German Shephard on Proin for years. She's progressively become anxious, more incontinent (needing more medication), and now has a Staph infection. (Very long story). She's had two titanium hip replacements (Best Surgeon in the World!!). She had no testing when diagnosed w/incontinence "having been spayed often causes incontinence" I was told by her Primary. She's also been on Rimadyl (prior to her surgeries). Her Primary Care Vet prescribed the drugs and I had her x-rayed for Hip Dysplasia; something I DO have experience with. The Surgeon has agreed the Proin may have side effects and her quality of life at this age is a concern (i.e., estrogen therapy can cause cancer). Her Primary disagrees completely. I've just changed her from Rimadyl that is no longer helping with an unrelated knee injury to Deramax. It works VERY well. The Primay does not carry Deramax. Tonight I found under "special precautions" using Proin include: " Use caution when...given with...RIMADYL"!!! The Primary agrees to use another medication for the "incontinence": tricyclic antidepressants. (Also included in the Proin warning). This all started with the medication for the Staph ($4.65 each pill for 10 days) prescribed by her Primary. Having Googled Proin, I came to you. God Bless You!! I'm not crazy, and my beloved Snowbaby isn't either--just overmedicated and misdiagnosed!!! THANK YOU. I've been at this computer four hours now and it's very late. BUT, I know "the stars" sent me to you and my beloved Snowbaby will be her old self soon. I cannot thank you enough for your plea on Google. Very truly yours, Kat (Dilagent Mom)

[lil mutt]

Ask your vet if he knows other alternative for the PROIN drug before you let them administer it to your pet or if possible ask another opinion from another vet.

Hi,
Our vet just gave us PROIN for our 7 mo. old westie, who shows signs of incontinence. I decided to look it up online and came across the post on this site and now am scared to try it!
Our westie can manage all night without having to pee. During the day she constantly has to go outside. A couple of times, she'll actually leak while she's walking to the door. She can go 2-4x in one hour, and other times can last an hour in between. We're not sure if she is truly incontinent or if it's behavoir.
It's frustrating, she has christened all of our rugs, and we just don't know what to do anymore. Does anyone have a suggestion besides using PROIN?
We had thought about trying it for a week or two, just to see if she truly has a muscle weakness or if it is behavior...
Thanks so much! Vic

Hi All, my 8 year old Rhodesian has been using Proin for about 1 year since developing incontinence. The Vet prescribed (1) 75mg tablet twice daily. The first time we gave it to her she started panting very heavily and looked really uncomfortable. I decided to give it another try, but this time I only gave her 1/2 tablet once per day. Giving her only 1/2 tablet once per day for about a week completely resolved her problem and she no longer seems to have any side effects. Once her incontinence problem cleared up, I cut back to only giving her a half tablet every 2 to 3 days and still no problems! At one point I stopped giving it to her altogether and sure enough, her incontinence returned after a few weeks. I'm now back to giving her 1/2 tablet every 2 to 3 days and all seems well....

Originally Posted by decoartist

Hi,
We're not sure if she is truly incontinent or if it's behavoir.

yes I would make sure that is exactly what you are dealing with there are many things internally that it could be. The original poster gave a link in her response to a natural remedy. I am dealing with a hooded Vulva- does your dog possibly have that?

[ntrep]

hi all. I wish that I had read these sooner. I didn't realize that Proin was such a problem. I have a 15 year old English Setter who has an incontinence problem. He also has the onset of renal failure. The vet put him on the proin (25mg 2x/day). It didn't do much good so he upped it to 3x/day. that helped with the incontinence, but less than 3-4 days on the increased dose, my dog had a stroke and seizure. This was the most terrifying thing that I have ever seen. Fortunately, he survived and is learning to walk and get around the house again. You can be sure that he will never take the proin again. I take him out constantly and we keep puppy training pads everywhere. This has been a grueling experience for our entire family.

I just told a friend of mine who's dog has been on it and she took it off immediately!

I have a Australian Shepherd mix that is about 2 1/2 years old and the vet started her on Proin today, 50mg twice a day. She has had both doses today and she is acting strange tonight, she seems very tired and just acts like she doesn't feel good. After reading this thread I will not be giving her anymore until I can due some further research. I would be crushed if anything happened to her, so thank you so much for all of this info.

My vet suggested Proin for my GS. Having recently had a bad experience with another suggested prescription I decided to do a little research first.

I found a homeopathic alternative that seems to be working for my Lily without all of the potential problems mentioned in the forum. Please note that we have been using this for less than a week, but so far - so good.

The product is Homeopet "Leak No More". It is a liquid that you put on their food and the dosing is based on weight. Maybe it will work for others.

All the best,
kate