Another UTI?? (UPDATE)

hmmm -- they can't do a culture and sensitivity without a *sterile* draw and that's usually the one that takes a week or better.  Without a sterile draw anything that is on the hair near the opening of the urethra (like staph - which is EVERYWHERE) will give a misleading reading.  Even just washing them off isn't considered enough -- and some vets won't even do a cathether (for fear of contamination) altho some vets don't like to do an aspirate for fear that the needle may puncture a capillary and cause a bit of bleeding (which also skews the results).

In honesty I'd call them and remind them that was a CAUGHT sample and query how they can do a culture from a caught sample??  I'd hate to have you get charged the price of the cultured specimen (not to mention waiting 10 days) when it isn't a sterile draw.

Metacam is hard on the kidneys in and of itself (and it's also tough on the liver in a BIG way) -- you may want to give some milk thistle so that the Metacam itself doesn't wind up skewing results if you then have to go to bloodwork.

sorry -- I'm sure that's too much information -- but dang, you don't need to waste time here and that sounds like a tech who didn't know what they were doing or a vet who wasn't specific enough and assumed you wouldn't know the difference.

If it's a UTI and it's painful then I would have thot they'd give you Vit C or something to acidify the urine so it didn't burn so much.

There ARE homeopathics that will reduce the burn (cantharis) -- if you want to email me I'm happy to tell you where to get (easy) and how to give (VERY easy - they taste like candy)

 Poor little guy! I bet picking on his brother *is* related, but I'd be SUPER careful, anyways. Practicing that behavior is not good.

I would NOT give him cranberry. If you have calcium in your urine, and you take cranberry (which is high in oxalates), it can cause you to  form calcium oxalate stones. My brain is full of bladder facts. 

They did Willows from a caught sample too Callie.  Willow has a similar temperment(although I must say he seems to be giving Willow a run for her money, LOL!!) but sometimes with dogs like that they just do a caught sample and do as best they can rather than cause the dog to stress out.

Hmmm, my vets never have -- but then my dogs learn early that cooperating with the vet is just part of the whole deal of living here with good food and all the spoilage that goes into Clan Kennedy *grin*

Well, if they can get a sterile draw it's ideal.  If they aren't cooperating though, they aren't going to risk doing it.  At any rate, it was enough to get Willow better so I'm sure it will work for Finn too.  He's a male and a lot less fur for stuff to be on. 

Well, DH said Finn was fine at the vet for him.  He maybe barked twice?  And totally ignored a little dog yapping away at him while he was on the scale.  When I go with him he barks a lot when we are in the exam room, but is content when given treats by the vet or techs.  DH said he wasn't causing the uproar that he usually causes when with me.  Could this be a protection issue?  Maybe he doesn't feel safe with me? 

I don't know why all this craziness started.  I got him at 4 months and he had no issues, that I could see.  I wanted an all around friendly dog, which is why I did a lot of socialization with him.  We went to parks, greeted other dogs on leash, greeted other people, then everything changed and he wasn't the same.  He stopped greeting dogs on leash friendly and when people would want to pet him he would bark at them.  I just don't understand.  I wasn't putting pressure on the leash and I wasn't nervous about him meeting new people UNTIL AFTER his behavior began to change.

I am sad.  And I don't know what I've done wrong or how to fix it.  It is quite obviously my problem, I just don't know what I've done.

It could very well be he is protecting you.  They seem to think that's what Willow is doing. Because, they are shocked(and I mean really shocked) to see that Willow is a completely different dog when I am not in the room.  And, this has been every vet she's seen.  They take her in the back and come back telling me she was great, they took the muzzle off, etc. 

I wouldn't be too hard on yourself he's not feeling well either which could also be making him act up more too. 

I just bought some milk thistle (liquid, with the dropper).  How much do I give and when?

like half the human dose -- twice  a day?  It's alcohol-y in the tincture -- so you might have to add a topper or something.  Just go ahead and use it as long as that bottle lasts and see where you are with the whole thing.

Thanks Callie!

Well, the vet called us yesterday with the news that nothing was found in the culture.  :(  So who knows what is causing this.  Excitement?  It seems to happen more during training.  Two days ago I had his food ready and I was putting his leash on him to go out to do some training and he just started peeing.  We do ALL positive training,  so it isn't that he is scared or nervous about training.  He absolutely loves it and in training class he will often bark at me when the trainer is talking or teaching us something new because he wants to get up and work. 

I just don't know.

georgie4682

Well, the vet called us yesterday with the news that nothing was found in the culture.

Darn!  There are now several other problems that need to be ruled out:

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+2114&aid=1150

Excitability -- you may have to go out of your way not to ramp him up -- while you continue to look at the other things Janet is showing you.