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Recurring UTI


NorthfieldNick
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Lu, my GSD-best guess mutt seems to have developed a recurring UTI. I noticed some blood in her urine about 8 weeks ago. Vet sampled urine- UTI. Treated it, and it went away for a bit, then came back. Same thing this time- it's back. Nothing has changed in our routine- if anything, the dogs get out more now since I can come home for lunch.

 

Lu is probably about 8 yrs old, give or take a year, 49 Lbs lean, in good health otherwise. She's been spayed since 2004, and she had at least one litter before I got her. She's allergic to almost everything, but does well on a combination of CA Natural Chicken and Rice & raw.

 

She is allergic to penicillin, amoxicillin, and a few other drugs of that class. I can't remember what the vet gave her for the UTI- something I'd never heard of before.

 

Lu has also had some very recent night incontinence. She HATES peeing in the house, so I'm pretty sure she doesn't know she's going. This is the dog who wakes me up if she has to vomit- she'd wake me up even if she had to go right now.

 

I guess it's back to the vet next week, which means more time off work for me. Grr. This fall has been one long vet bill, I think.

 

Anyone have any experience, adivce, etc?

 

Thanks.

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(Waving hand helpfully)

 

Get extra water into her regularly - I feed 2x/day and add a half a cup of water to each meal, plus at bedtime I put a small dog biscuit in Sam's bowl and add about a quarter cup. Since she's had crystals in her urine along with a nasty spell of infections about 2 years ago, and one right now, I plan to do this for the rest of her life. Especially with the colder weather coming up, when she doesn't drink as much as she does in summer, it's very helpful.

 

Cranberry extract - I prick and squeeze a capsule into one meal 3-4 times a week.

 

Probiotics - can't hurt, and it seems that it makes her less prone to diarrhea than she was before.

 

Length of treatment - this time around, the vet has her on cephalexin for 2 weeks, then we'll wait for 4 or 5 days and take in a urine sample to make sure. With the nasty round 2 years ago, the longer treatment time was what made the difference.

 

If she's not on antibiotics right now, there's a good chance that her incontinence is UTI related. Is there any way you can get to prescribe over the phone for you, and phone it in to a local pharmacy? And check about longer term meds - I'm thinking maybe Sami was on something for a month to really get that thing dealt with.

 

Hope she clears up soon,

 

Ruth

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Have they tested Lu for crystals in her urine? My bc had problems when she was a pup.

 

At the time we were feeding a mix of EVO and Wellness. When on straight EVO Tempe was fine once we added the Wellness it caused her to have 2 kinds of crystals. The vets put her on antibiotics and the holistic vet gave us Uro-Eez. The Uro-Eez corrects the PH balance. We took Tempe off the Wellness and she was fine again. I did post about this when it happened and I believe at the time a few folks said they knew of other dogs that had the same problems when on Wellness. I never realized food could cause the problems with UTIs but I did know food could cause crystals so I guess I should have been able to put 2and2 together and realize they go hand in hand.

 

I would ask to have the urine checked for crystals and find out what kind if there are some. From there you can possibly manage it with initial drug therapy while switching foods to that have less of whatever may be causing the problems.

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I think, but am not sure, that cranberry is on the long, long, long list of things Lu is allergic to. I need to pull out the paperwork and check. She had a full allergy test- lines of red bumps on her stomach- in '04. Her list is about 3 pages long :rolleyes:

 

I'll call the vet tomorrow and see what they say.

 

Lu has never been a big drinker (that sounds funny!), so I'll try getting more into her. She'll eat anything, no matter what, so mixing water in her food is no big deal.

 

Thanks!

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My cat also developed bladder stones and she was eating Wellness brand wet food! She has had UTIs since July on and off had to have the stones surgically removed. I have since changed her diet and have been in the clear for about a month now.

 

It does sound like maybe she has some stones since the UTI is recurring. Drinking extra water would definitely help. But sounds like a trip to the vet will be necessary.

 

Good Luck!

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Lu has also had some very recent night incontinence. She HATES peeing in the house, so I'm pretty sure she doesn't know she's going. This is the dog who wakes me up if she has to vomit- she'd wake me up even if she had to go right now.

Ben,

Others have already given good advice re: the UTI. I had a male dog with a recurring UTI and I did end up taking him to an internal medicine specialist for ultrasound to check for kidney and bladder stones. (In his case, it turned out to be prostatitis and abx and neutering cured him.)

 

Your comment above made me want to point out that urinary incontinence isn't unheard of in older spayed females. Her apparent incontinence could be related to the UTI or could be something separate. The only way to know for sure is to clear up the UTI, of course, but run-of-the-mill incontinence is very treatable. One of my older females has been on PPA (phenylpropanolamine) for several years now and hasn't had incontinence incidents since going on the meds.

 

Since Lu is allergic to a number of antibiotics, I think--if it hasn't been done already--that I'd ask the vet to do a sensitivity culture (grow the bacteria in her urine and then run tests to see what antibiotics will be most effective for treatment). It could be that they just haven't hit on the proper meds yet.

 

So I think I'd take a two-pronged approach of testing the sensitivity of the bacteria and ultrasound to check for stones (you can ask your vet if the latter is necessary if crystals are in the urine).

 

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

ETA: I make sure my dogs get plenty of water by turning their breakfasts into "kibble soup." For an average of a cup and a half of kibble, I add at least half a 12-oz. dog food can of water. That way I know they have plenty of water for digestion and it also makes sure they're well hydrated year round.

 

J.

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#1 priority should be a sterile urine sample (done by the vet with a needle throught the abdomen). You want to know exactly what, and if, there are bacteria in there. They can run a culture on the sample and see what antibiotics are exactly right (if needed).

 

Once that is ruled out and treated if needed, I would look to an ultrasound to check for stones and tumors. I would also ask them if they could do a post void residual ultrasound. Some older animals stop emptying the bladder completely which leaves just enough urine to make a source of chronic infection.

 

I've had really good success using cranberry extra for dogs prone to uti due to structural deformity (inverted vulva on my rescue) and who don't empty completely (my 18 year old lacks sufficient bladder tone due to age) I've also had really good success with homeopathy for spay incontinence.

 

Have you considered removing the grain from her diet? I've also seen great results with dogs like her with lots of allergies. Grain, any form of carbohydrate, forms sugar, which just feeds yeast....

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Lu has a vet appt for Monday afternoon- soonest I can get in. I wish we had a better vet on the island *sigh* The one we have is, well, an idiot, and only useful for emergencies & cheap spay/neuters of feral cats.

 

The vet is going to do the sample, culture it, and check for stones. I hope they don't need to sedate Lu for anything- she's not the most cooperative patient.

 

Julie- I had thought about the older-spayed-female incontinence. My sister's ancient BC has been on an estrogen mimic for incontinence for eons. I mentioned it to the vet, and she said we'll see what happens once the UTI is cleared up.

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Quick reply here:

1) Cranberry is good, as someone said, for preventing bacteria from adhering to the bladder wall. However, you need to clear up the infection FIRST. It won't do any good to kill the infection.

2) I'll second (or third?) the sensitivity culture. Ya gotta know what you're fighting!

3) I've told this story before, but in a nutshell: check her teeth. Yeah, I know, you think I'm nuts. But: my (at the time) 8 yr old girl had recurring UTIs and incontinence. I had her teeth checked (they were way bad when I adopted her, age 3.5 yr and probably spayed a year or so before then); to make a long story short, the dental vet (that's all he does!) pulled four lower incisors and did a root canal on an upper canine. She had an absess that I didn't know about (well, I knew something was wrong....hence the visit), and probably had had it for quite awhile. That low-grade infection, circulating throughout her body, lodged in her bladder. Once the dental work was done, the UTIs cleared up tremendously, and her incontinence got much better. She still has it occasionally, and I give her one DES (hormone) tablet every two weeks. That mostly controls it.

 

Hope you get good answers, treatment and solutions!!

 

diane

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Well, Lu indeed has a ragin UTI. She's on antibiotics that should clear it up.

 

No stones, no crystals, x-ray is clear.

 

After a long talk about her history, the vet thinks Lu has older-spayed-female incontinence and that that's causing the recurring UTI. Lu is on Proin for awhile, and we'll see what that does.

 

*sigh* Lu's x-rays did show some arthritic changes in her hind leg joints & hips, though. She has been a bit slower than usual, less apt to zoom around with the BC's. Time to start some joint supplements, I guess. I don't want my Lu to get old!

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FYI - my girlie was on Proin for awhile, but she was only 8 yr old at the time. I had to give it pretty frequently (now can't remember...), so we did that for awhile. Then tried some homeopathic remedies - didn't have much luck there, though others have. Then my vet recommended DES (diesty..something) - a hormone. I gave it for awhile, then started cutting back. She's now on it only twice a month. It isn't readily available (has to be mixed by a pharmacy), but isn't expensive. Ask your vet about other options too. Hopefully the UTI will clear up, and all will be well. I know whatcha mean about the arthritis....it's so hard to see our oldsters aging! There are a LOT of joint supplements out there - I prefer Cosequin DS. Can be bought online pretty inexpensively. Best of luck!

 

diane

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Ben,

I give my 11 year old Willow Proin (PPA). She gets half a tablet twice a day and it was controlled her incontinence beautifully. Proin is pretty inexpensive and since it's a chewable, it's probably relatively easy to give (except that Willow won't eat it!). The hormone Dianne is talking about is diethylstilbestrol (DES).

 

J.

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Both of my dogs will eat pills if I toss it in with their food. Wierd, but easy :rolleyes:

 

My sister's ancient BC has been on DES forever- I think only twice a month- as she had trouble with the Proin. Apparantly, some dogs can have liver problems on it.

 

My older mare gets a joint supplement called Recovery EQ. They make a dog version, but it's the same as the horse version, only more expensive. I'll bring a tub of the stuff home & start Lu on it. A 60-day supply for the horse should last Lu a year or so :D

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