BCjetta Posted June 17, 2016 Report Share Posted June 17, 2016 I am now dealing with this issue as well! My 5yr old female has had 3 bladder infections since April 21st. First time treated with 2 weeks cephalexin. Then May 22 it came back (of course noticed on a friday afternoon so too late to send a sample to culture) so treated with 15 days clavamox. Been off the clavamox for a week or so and I decided to just check the urine monday afternoon and it was full of bacteria and white cells. So I think great, get a new sample tomorrow for culture. Tues am got more urine and only fat droplets in it...WTF?? Tues afternoon got another sample and there were some white cells but not really bacteria. I thought back to the first infection and it was after she ingested a lot more water than normal so Wed am I played with the hose with her and 3 hours later she peed in her kennel - urine stank, so got another cysto sample and full of bacteria and white cells. In my dog's case her teeth appear ok and she is otherwise healthy. Boss thinks she may have an abscess somewhere that drains into the bladder - either in the bladder wall or in the kidney - and that can be hard to get rid of. Culture results should be back tomorrow, sensitivity probably not until Monday. Anyone ever hear of that happening? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LauraV Posted June 17, 2016 Report Share Posted June 17, 2016 Welcome to my world! Since I'm in the same boat as you, I can't help. However, females tend to get them more due to folds in their lady bits. I wipe my Goldens bits with unscented baby wipes every time she comes inside after she pees as a precaution. But back to your dog, it's no fun. I am willing to spend whatever I can to help my guy but jeez is it expensive to treat all the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mddvm Posted June 17, 2016 Report Share Posted June 17, 2016 BCjetta, do you have an ultrasound at your practice? You should be able to visualize bladder wall and surrounding tissue and also rule out stones (even radiolocent ones that won't show on X-ray). Stones are often the culprit with recurrent UTIs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BCjetta Posted June 18, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2016 Yup we do. Have looked at the bladder multiple times....no evidence of stones. The bladder wall doesn't even appear thickened. Got the culture and blood results back and its E. Coli - now just waiting for the sensitivity. Also her kidney enzymes (creat and SDMA) are slightly elevated now (at the first bladder infection creat was higher end of normal). Both times her TP and ALB were a point or two below normal. CBC all normal. USG is generally high (1.040-1.044), although got down to 1.018 when I made her drink more. Next boss wants to look at her kidneys and the bladder wall with the linear probe on the ultrasound since it is more detailed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diane allen Posted June 21, 2016 Report Share Posted June 21, 2016 This does sound strange. I know you said her teeth "appear" to be OK. Here's my experience. 8 yr old BC female, spayed at age 3. Had recurring UTIs for several years, and some incontinence. Got her teeth cleaned, asked vet dentist to check a "cut" (not really, but dunno what else to call it) on her lower gum. I figured she had cut it on a stick or something. Turned out she needed a root canal on a canine tooth, and FOUR lower incisors pulled - badly abscessed below the gum. (The incisors had actually created a 'drain' on the gum.....icky!) She NEVER showed any sign of having teeth problems - tugged and played and had immense energy. After the dental work (I figured $100 for each year of her life wasn't bad...though that was a number of years ago, would be more now, I'm sure!), her UTIs completely stopped, and the incontinence disappeared until she was about 15 yr old. Think: minor infection circulating in the blood all the time. I'd get her teeth checked. YMMV, and good luck. That said, I'm curious that you said SG is high at 1.04-1.044. One source I looked at said that normal was 1.016 to 1.060. I'm assuming by "boss" you mean your vet? Does s/he think that's high? (This, only because my current dog has had some kidney issues, and my vet was very happy with his last reading at 1.036.) diane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dobedvm Posted June 22, 2016 Report Share Posted June 22, 2016 The likelihood is, you aren't clearing the infection - especially if you are seeing elevation in the kidney enzymes now, you have to worry that there could potentially be pyelonephritis starting. In these instances, I treat with antibiotics for 6-8 weeks because there is a possibility that the infection is actually coming from her kidneys. The urine is concentrated, but I would definitely make sure her kidneys are ultrasounded as well! Hopefully getting her on a right course of meds will make her feel better! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BCjetta Posted June 24, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2016 We started her on 45 days of baytril and clavaseptin together. Havent had a chance to ultrasound her yet as I just went off off on maternity leave and could pop any day, and work is fairly busy itself. I'm planning on rechecking kidney enzymes before she's off antibiotics to see what they're doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gcv-border Posted July 8, 2016 Report Share Posted July 8, 2016 Just curious - and a question for the vets/vet techs out there: Which is a better indicator of a UTI? sterile culture, checking kidney values or ultrasound? I always thought that a sterile urine culture (when done appropriately) was the most accurate. Pros and cons of each?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LauraV Posted July 8, 2016 Report Share Posted July 8, 2016 From this whole mess, the urine culture was most accurate. I've heard that kidney values can be off for many different reasons and the ultrasound is the last to be used. The best part of the urine culture is that an you find out the bacteria and best antibiotic for it. If this were to happen with any of my other dogs, I would have a urine culture done first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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