Urinary Tract Infection?

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Urinary Tract Infection?

Posted : 8/29/2006 4:08:20 PM

Spirit, my 9 y old white shepherd has been bothered by an irritation on his penis. I noticed it about 5 months ago when he began licking more than usual. I took him to vet & she checked him over & said he seemed fine. A month or two later, I had another occasion to have him see another vet for something else & I mentioned the problem again - same response. Several months later we moved out of state. I observed a slight drop of pinkish discharge & took him to a new vet. They did a urine test & diagnosed a Urinary Tract or bladder infection. He had a course of Tetracycline, then another urine test. This test showed a few crystals (struvite). Back on new antibiotics - Clavamox. New test still showed bacteria. I requested a culture be done, so the vet put him on Tetracycline again while we waited for the culture results. Culture results came out clear of infection, so the vet told me to stop the antibiotics & just keep him on the special diet (which he hates) Royal Canin Urinary SO. I normally feed him Timberwolf Dakota Bison. He constantly tries to share my other dogs "good" food.

I am still concerned. He never seemed uncomfortable, other than the irritation I mentioned. He never had blood in his urine. If he must be on a special diet from now on I would sure like to be able to put together a homemade diet that he might like better. Spirit is such a good guy & he has been through a lot. He has had hip replacements & he had auto-immune polyarthritis. He recovered from both. He is active & able to run and play, as well or better than most dogs his age. The irritation thing still troubles me and if anyone has any suggestions I would sure appreciate you sharing your experience. I am also wondering if I should get a second opinion, but I am not sure how to go about it. It is difficult when you move, & are seeing a new doctor that you have not built up confidence in yet. Thanks in advance for any info anyone might be able to send.

calliecritturs

Posted : 8/29/2006 10:26:51 PM

Is this dog still taking any immune suppressants from the polyarthritis?? Has the vet (or any vet *very* recently) done a blood panel?

That would be where I'd start -- he's a senior anyway so a senior blood panel would the the place to start.

When the vet did the culture did the vet get a sterile sample? (you can't do a culture easily with 'caught' urine -- usually they say it has to be from urine either taken as an aspirate or a catheter -- no fun but you can't have anything from the 'sheath' causing any bacteria to appear).

Have you tried simply giving the dog a cranberry capsule twice daily?? It's benign and won't hurt -- and it may help the body shed any bacteria it may be retaining.

I have 3 dogs so I'm not saying this lightly, but would you be amenable to cooking for the dog(s)?? It's not as difficult as it sounds and when you wind up spending good time worrying about the dog (and doing multiple vet visits) it can be a saving ultimately. Particularly with senior animals -- you can avoid a whole lot of problems that way and if you are getting crystals you may need to reduce protein in any event -- like even adding some veggies to the prior food that the dog DID like could be an option.

I'd search til you find a vet you DO like.

Betty Tanner

Posted : 8/30/2006 12:11:50 AM

Thanks so much for the info, Callie, I was hoping to hear from you. Spirit took Pred. for a year, but that was about 3 years ago. He does not take anything now except an occasional Ascriptin for his arthritis, Synovi and Salmon Oil capsules. I just bought some Cranberry powder by NaturVet and have been giving it to him for a few days. He had a blood panel less than a year ago - do you think he should have one now? The urine samples were "caught" and I was concerned at the time about whether the bacteria from his sheath might be the problem. The culture was clear though, no bacteria and no crystals in the urine on the last sample.

I would be happy to cook for him, just not sure what to use. I just found an article about struvite bladder stones that gives a list of acidic foods that help dissolve stones. Not sure if that would be the same diet that would be good to prevent crystals though. They suggest chicken, beef, eggs, fish, pork, cottage cheese, yogurt, rice, beans, nuts and seafood. What do you think: I am not sure what the difference is between crystals and stones? What do you think?
He is not fond of vegetables but if I mixed them with chicken or fish, I think he would like it. What vegetables would you suggest.