calliecritturs
Posted : 9/27/2006 7:56:33 AM
Hi -- I just picked this up from the title so haven't read every line here -- blood clots in the urine are typically a sign of a pretty BAD urinary tract infection. You may want to think about having a sterile urine draw done -- rather than JUST drugs since this is a recurrence.
Blood indicates a BAD infection and honestly, this type of thing can get VERY serious very quickly -- so DO take it far more seriously than most take a UTI.
I found this out with Billy a few months ago - he's being treated for IMHA - an immune-related anemia that is often fatal. He's taking so many steroids that it's making UTIs horrible to treat and one day he had blood clots in his urine and I nearly freaked majorly. Pain? YOU BET!!!!
A sterile urine draw (from either a needle inserted into the bladder OR a catheter) is what is needed for a culture. Doing a culture and sensitivity test means they 'grow' whatever that bacteria will grow and then treat the culture with various drugs to see a) what bacteria, etc. are present, b) what drugs will kill it and c) which drugs kill it BEST.
I'd talk to your vet and outline a specific treatment period of however many weeks he wants the dog on this particular antibiotic and honestly, at the end of it I would spring for the culture and sensitivity test to BE SURE you've gotten it. YOu can't always just go by the smell/color of the urine because it may have a diminished amount of bacteria but not be fully treated.
So you go off the drug before the bacteria is gone ... THAT then makes the bacteria 'resistant' to the drug so that drug won't work any more. You wind up with this parade of UTIs and stronger and stronger drugs without 'killing' the bacteria which just does more damage. Make sense???