The diagnosis of urinary incontinence and abnormal urination in dogs and cats

Urinary incontinence is defined as the involuntary escape of urine during t he storage phase of urination. It can be caused by congenital or acquired a bnormalities of the ureters, urinary bladder, urethral sphincter mechanism, and spinal cord, or the hypogastric, pelvic, or pudendal nerves that inner vate the area of the bladder and urethra. The classification of incontinenc e is based on the anatomic area of the lesion, whether it is acquired or co ngenital, and whether it is neurogenic or non-neurogenic. Abnormal increase d frequency of urination is sometimes difficult to distinguish from true in continence. The documentation of the causes of both of these types of abnor mal urination is discussed in this article.