Never-ending UTI

[NorthfieldNick]

Lu, my 8-ish yr old GSD mutt, has a recurring UTI. It started in October, and she's seen the vet once a month for it since then. The vet did a sterile culture, checked for stones & crystals- there were none. The culture showed that the infection was responsive to the antibiotic (Zenaquin). Lu is allergic to penicillin & pen-class drugs, so treatment with those are out. I've had her on cranberry pills for the past month or so, as well.

 

The infection seems to clear up on the antibiotics, but it reappears 4-5 days after the last dose. I can tell it's back by the blood in her urine.

 

She is on Proin for older-spayed-female incontinence. She WAS incontinent before the infection, and that has gone away. This is a dog who asks to go out to vomit, so I know something was up- she HATES to pee, etc in the house.

 

Lu seems to be fine otherwise. After the last round of antibiotics, she has had more energy and has been more willing to run around with Nick. She's back to being her usual pushy, snarky, grumbly self (no, she's not exactly a model citizen).

 

I have been having a little trouble with her weight. Normally, I have to watch Lu because she gets pudgy easily. Lately, I've had to increase her food to keep her at a good weight. She's lean, but in shape and toned.

 

We're headed back to the vet on Friday. Same practice, but we're seeing a different vet. I'm going to talk to her about other approaches, and if I'm not satisfied, I'm going to get a second opinion. I love the practice I use, but this is driving me nuts!

 

Any ideas? Could this be food related? Lu is the world's most allergy-ridden dog (or at least in the top 10). She's been eating about half CA Natural Chicken & Rice and half raw for about a year with seemingly no trouble. She is allergic (as in, actually vet-tested allergic) to: beef, pork, soy, eggs, dairy, potato which cuts out a lot of kibble brands.

 

Any suggestions anyone can offer would be appreciated.

 

Thanks!

[2 Devils]

How is the PH Balance? When Tempe was having issues we tried something called Uro-eeze. It basically makes the dog want to drink more water to flush the system out. It worked great.

 

I know Tempe's issues were food based but she had 2 different kinds of crystals.

 

There are other foods out there that don't have the things Lu is allergic too. I feed Merrick Before Grain - Buffalo with Chicken Meal. They have a chicken variety too. There is also Innova Evo... You may just end up having to pay more for food but it is worth a try.

 

Recurring issues are a pain. Hopefully the other vet will have some options.

[diane allen]

I've posted this before, but here goes....

 

My 8 yr old BC had the same issues - recurring UTIs and incontinence. To make a very long story a bit shorter: she had some major dental work done, and VOILA! The problems nearly disappeared. She had an absess, but I know it had been going on for a long time (once I figured out what it was....it wasn't obvious). My theory, which the dental vet agrees with, is that she had a low-grade infection circulating all the time, and whenever anything else affected her (stress, travel - which didn't cause stress! - or in your case maybe allergies), it manifested with a UTI. So - my advice is: get her teeth checked (your local vet MAY be able to do this...but mine wasn't, and couldn't do dental x-rays...yeah, it's as bad as kids!).

 

As far as cranberry: my understanding is that the cranberry itself will not clear up the UTI. But once it is cleared up, cranberry will help bacteria from adhering to the bladder wall. I give half a capsule twice a day, on her food. They're listed as 400 mg berry - but I think that can vary a lot with the manufacturer. She's also on DES (a hormone, alternative to Proin which she had been on for a long time) - but currently gets only two per month. She hasn't had an "accident" in over two years, and UTIs aren't noticeable, if she has them at all.

 

Hope this helps!

 

diane

[urge to herd]

Ben, I know you've posted about this before. How long are the rounds of antibiotics? My Sami just had two UTIs in November, one after another. When I took her back, I specifically reminded the vet that when she'd had recurring UTIs a couple years ago, a 3 week course of meds did the trick. Same thing happened this time.

 

My vet has also suggested having her on preventive antibiotics, once or twice a week. If it happens again, we'll go to that. I also give her a probiotic.

 

Jeez, my heart goes out to you and Lu. UTIs are no fun at all. Hope this new vet can give you some more help.

 

Ruthn

[NorthfieldNick]

I've been doing some reading this morning & have a few things to discuss with the vet.

 

Diane, I went & looked up my records, and Lu is due for a dental exam. This practice has done a ton of dental work on my sister's ancient BC, so I'll ask them to check Lu out tomorrow. My sister's dog is also on the DES, although it's not working so well anymore (The Stinky Old Dog is at least 15...)

 

This last course of antibiotics was 3 weeks.

 

Gak! This dog is going to send me to the poor house! She's lucky she's cute

[Sue R]

We never did solve the problem for our old Rocket, but he had constant UTIs for years. They began sometime after he had been shot up by a hunter, and some of the pellets were located (forever) near his bladder. Antibiotics would clear up and clean up the "stinky pee" but, within a few weeks after they ended, he'd have it again. He also had sand in his bladder and wound up with a serious blockage. He had to have surgery to clean it all out.

 

Rocket, though, was also a dog that seemed to get other infections easily. A dog fight (he and our old MacLeod became staunch enemies in old age) with scratches on his head would result in infections under the skin. After one such episode, in spite of my thoroughly cleaning his head, I had to take him to the vet for antibiotics as he had quite the infection going on under the skin on his head, in the cuts and in between.

 

I think if I had been going to our current vet, he might have looked into things that might have been contributing to these problems, instead of giving yet another course of antibiotics and sending us home. We didn't know any better (too bad this forum wasn't available then) and poor Rocket paid the price in discomfort for some years. That didn't stop him from living a very full life until age 15, but it sure would have made him more comfortable and maybe extended his life.

 

I hope you get the problem solved. Best wishes!

[urge to herd]

Ben, a couple more things. My vet told me to make sure that I gave her the night time dose right at bedtime, so as to keep the medication in her bladder as long as possible.

 

The second thing is to possible clean her vulva yourself, daily. If she can't clean herself well any more, due to stiffness from old age, she might just need some help that way. Also, the way her vulva is shaped may be contributing by cupping a little urine every time she relieves herself. Some dogs do have anatomy that does that. I know, more than any one wants to know.

 

Good luck!

 

Ruth

[BCjetta]

I would definitly get her teeth looked at real close since that can be a cause of a persistant infection. The vets where I work have also put dogs with infections on zenequin/baytril for a 6 week period. Sometimes the bacteria can invade the bladder wall or the kidneys themselves and it takes a lot longer to kill them off when they get into those areas.

[workindogs]

Ben

There are a few natural approaches that I might try. If your dog actually has an active UTI, then I'd go with the vet's recommendation of antibiotics. However, since antibiotics also kill the beneficial bacteria, I would add probiotic to her diet during and after the antibiotic regime to reintroduce beneficial bacteria to her gut. I would also put her on daily cranberry capsules (from health store or Solid Gold powder on food) to raise the acidity in her bladder...and long used women's trick to prevent UTIs. I wouuld administer cranberry all the time, not just in response to an active infection. I'm not sure on the dosage of cranberry powder....I think I gave 1 capsule/daily to my girl Meg. It's natural so likely not critical to give the exact dose.

 

Cleaning the vulva also sounds like a good idea.

[mbc1963]

I'm very thankful for this thread - just in case I ever run into this. The underlying infection that keeps revisiting different locations is good to know about.

 

I actually had a coworker years ago who missed weeks of school and was in and out of the hospital - sick, losing tons of weight, feverish. Turns out HE had an abscess tooth as well, undiagnosed until it almost killed him by pumping bacteria into the rest of his body.

 

Mary

[Sue R]

The vet did treat our Rocket for a kidney infection but, whether or not he treated it aggressively or long enough, I can not say.

 

I have a neighbor who was sick for months, not able to eat anything but extremely bland foods. It turned out, after 18 months of undetermined illness, that she had a kidney infection. It, like the tooth problems mentioned, had been poisoning her system.

[Rebecca, Irena Farm]

Definitely have bloodwork done if you haven't already, and get them to do a couple views of her insides, too. Good luck!

[NorthfieldNick]

Back from the vet.

 

Lu has shiny teeth, although the vet said they weren't bad to start with. I went ahead and had them cleaned & checked just to be sure.

 

They took another sterile urine sample for culture. Poor Lu had to get stuck three times today.

 

Lu is on antibiotics again, and we'll change them if need be when the culture/sensitivity report comes back. If that doesn't show anything, then I'll take her back in for a contrast x-ray.

 

Lu had blood work done the last time we were there, and back in November. All normal.

 

Thanks for the thoughts & suggestions, everyone!