[lmsherm]

I got my puppy about a month ago at 8 weeks and during the first week she was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection. After her 10 days on an antibiotic (clavamox) were over, her symptoms came back. So she had a live culture tested and it showed E.coli. So the vet put her back on clavamox for another couple of weeks. Well, her antibiotics ran out on Wednesday and now, Friday, she is showing symptoms again.

Luckily I have an appointment with the vet today for her third round of distemper. So I can start treating this again right away.

I'm just getting frustrated because I don't know if there is something else I should know or should be doing. I am keeping the area around her vulva clean and trimmed. She doesn't have diarrhea at all, so she isn't contracting a new UTI each time. It is definitely the same UTI that just isn't going away.

Does anyone have any experience with this? Please tell me this isn't something that can be a constant health issue that will require daily medication for the rest of her life...? I just want my puppy to be healthy and so far the whole month I have had her I've been worried and taking care of this issue

 

[Rainheart]

I would try a different antibiotic this time. It sounds like the clavamox isn't doing the job. She may need a month of antibiotics to get it cleared up.

 

[Maxs Mom]

I agree to try a different antibiotic. Clavamox is the drug of choice but it does not seem to be effective in your case.

A few other thoughts, I have a dog who has been prone to UTI's since puppy hood. Knock on wood, we seem to have them under control. You have a female pup, watch her 'pee' style. Does she get really close to the ground? Does she pee and get it done, or does she seem to have a light slow stream? Most UTI's are from the outside in which is why female dogs are more prone than male. Get some baby wipes, keep them by the door, and help her clean herself when she comes in. We have done this. I think my dog is a 'dribbler' meaning she takes her time peeing. So she is at the ground longer than most. Also keep the hair clean around the area. We have gone so far as to trim it back. Had a professional groomer friend clip it back carefully with scissors.

Also some female dogs have an (hope I get the terminology right) inverted vulva. It consists of an extra flap of skin that can also trap dirt and bacteria. My dog has this but I did not learn about it until after she was spayed. If I had known it is a simple surgical procedure they can fix at the same time, if you plan to spay.

Lastly, your pup is young so I do not recommend this without the ok from a vet. Cranberry supplement. I bought some cranberry capsules at Costco, and I drop one in my girls food AM and PM she eats it right up. Knock on wood, since we started being regular with the cranberry we have not had a UTI.

So those are some other thoughts to help prevent future UTI's. Pain in the back side I know. Good luck

 

[lmsherm]

Well, I just got back from the vet. She gave me an answer I wasn't expected. I was kind of expecting the inverted or recessed vulva to be the issue. The vet said that an inverted vulva would make Mitzi prone to getting UTIs but it wouldn't make her existing UTIs incurable.

She is going in on Tuesday for a intravenous pyelogram test for ectopic ureters. Ectopic ureters would explain the frequent urination, but I don't understand how it explains the bacteria.

Regardless of the diagnosis, the vet is confident that this is an internal, physical issue with her bladder/urethra and will require surgery. In the meantime before the test on Tuesday Mitzi is not on antibiotics. So it will be a long four days for the pup.

I just want an answer and a solution

 

[Maxs Mom]

OMG I am so sorry. Will keep Mitzi in my thoughts, and you.

Not that this is in anyway genetic, but have you contacted your breeder? Just my opinion, I call my breeder to let her know when something out of the ordinary is not right. Just to keep them in the loop. Perhaps she may have some insight. Just a thought. I have a great relationship with Gabby's breeder, and when she got sick with meningitis, the breeder was calling on me regularly checking in. It meant a lot to me to have her support.

Give Mitzi a hug from me. Poor baby can't be comfortable.

 

[lmsherm]

Thank you so much for your thoughts. I emailed the breeder immediately to see if she has seen this with any of her dogs. Ectopic ureters actually appear to be congenital, so there is a small chance that she did inherit this from her mother.

The good thing is that Mitzi is in good spirits and doesn't seem to notice this UTI at all. So I am thankful that she doesn't appear to be in any pain.

 

[Mistyblue_68]

Thanks for the info. I have a 12 week old female who has the vulva issue, she will have an episiotomy when she gets fixed. Vet said they will cut some of the fat out and when stitched and healed it will pop out. She has already been treated for a UTI at 9 weeks and I'm watching her now questioning if she is getting another one. This site is excellent filled with so much info and the vets at Banfield have been so through in explaining things about her issues.

 

[Charliethree]

My girl Kaya suffered from chronic UTI's as a pup, she also has an inverted vulva. Chronic infections can be food related, I switched Kaya to a new food, in her case chicken free, and gave her additional vitamin C and haven't had to deal with a uti in 3 1/2 years. An inverted vulva can be a contributing factor in uti's but is not a primary 'cause'. We did discuss surgery to fix the physical problem (before the food change) and I was warned that a) it likely would not cure the uti problem and b) if it is not done perfectly right and she could end up with problems with urinating on her legs or feet - not something I was willing to risk for her.
Consider changing your pups food and see if it helps - it could.

 

[Mistyblue_68]

Thank you for the information, I hadn't considered the urination angel. She has seen two vets and both said that it was one of the worst ones they had seen. I don't think it looks to bad and she has not had any more incidents since her first one. I may just hold off as you suggest and see if turns out to be as big an issue as they lead me to believe. So happy to hear your baby is well as this was the first time I ever heard about a ironical issue with a puppy.

My girl Kaya suffered from chronic UTI's as a pup, she also has an inverted vulva. Chronic infections can be food related, I witched Kaya to a new food, in her case chicken free, and gave her additional vitamin C and haven't had to deal with a uti in 3 1/2 years. An inverted vulva can be a contributing factor in uti's but is not a primary 'cause'. We did discuss surgery to fix the physical problem (before the food change) and I was warned that a) it likely would not cure the uti problem and b) if it is not done perfectly right and she could end up with problems with urinating on her legs or feet - not something I was willing to risk for her.
Consider changing your pups food and see if it helps - it could.

 

[sophieschoice]

I have an 11 week old golden female that was diagnosed with an involuted vulva and subsequently had a UTI at 9 weeks. I contacted the breeder and now am contemplating returning her tomorrow. I do have to wipe that area 5x per day to keep it clean. The vets that I have seen said that generally this condition will correct itself and if it doesn't after the 1st heat cycle, an episoplasty can be proformed.

Has anybody had this surgery done on their golden and was it successful?

 

[sophieschoice]

Vulvaplasty/Episioplasty results

Hi,

My 11 week old golden female was diagnosed with an involuted vulva at 9 weeks and subsequently a UTI. She has been on amoxicillin the past 10 days. I do have to wipe her at least 5x per day. I contacted the breeder and they said they were not made aware by their vet at her check up of this vulva issue. My concern is that this has a 50/50 chance of correcting itself by her growing in the next 6 months AND letting her go thru her 1st heat cycle. If the heat cycle doesn't make the vulva "pop out" then an episoplasty could be performed and has a high success rate. I am contemplating returning her to the breeder, which makes me feel bad since I have had her for 3 weeks but I don't have a good feeling about this.

Has anybody had this surgery done on their dog and was it successful?

 

[Skeene]

Hi,

My 11 week old golden female was diagnosed with an involuted vulva at 9 weeks and subsequently a UTI. She has been on amoxicillin the past 10 days. I do have to wipe her at least 5x per day. I contacted the breeder and they said they were not made aware by their vet at her check up of this vulva issue. My concern is that this has a 50/50 chance of correcting itself by her growing in the next 6 months AND letting her go thru her 1st heat cycle. If the heat cycle doesn't make the vulva "pop out" then an episoplasty could be performed and has a high success rate. I am contemplating returning her to the breeder, which makes me feel bad since I have had her for 3 weeks but I don't have a good feeling about this.

Has anybody had this surgery done on their dog and was it successful?

What did you decide? We have the same issue with our 14 week old puppy.

 

[Skeene]

I got my puppy about a month ago at 8 weeks and during the first week she was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection. After her 10 days on an antibiotic (clavamox) were over, her symptoms came back. So she had a live culture tested and it showed E.coli. So the vet put her back on clavamox for another couple of weeks. Well, her antibiotics ran out on Wednesday and now, Friday, she is showing symptoms again.

Luckily I have an appointment with the vet today for her third round of distemper. So I can start treating this again right away.

I'm just getting frustrated because I don't know if there is something else I should know or should be doing. I am keeping the area around her vulva clean and trimmed. She doesn't have diarrhea at all, so she isn't contracting a new UTI each time. It is definitely the same UTI that just isn't going away.

Does anyone have any experience with this? Please tell me this isn't something that can be a constant health issue that will require daily medication for the rest of her life...? I just want my puppy to be healthy and so far the whole month I have had her I've been worried and taking care of this issue

We are going through this now. It has returned 4 times and each time the vet puts her on Clavamox. We are currently on round 4! I finally requested a culture on Friday so I am hoping to get the results today. He also noticed on Friday (after seeing her twice before) that she has an inverted vulva that is probably causing the problem. I am hoping that she will grow out of this after her first heat cycle. I can't deal with knowing she is uncomfortable after every round of meds and the peeing every 10 minutes.

How did this turn out for you?

 

[w00f]

If anyone is having recurrent problems, I would recommend seeing an internal medicine specialist if the vet is providing answers that are helping the dog get better.

They may have to scope the bladder and the vagina to look for genetic defects if nothing is outwardly visible. For example, my girl had repeated urinary issues, and it turned out that she had remnant tissue in the vagina which had to be removed - it cause her to retain urine.

Definitely a culture should be requested for repeated problems, but you have to wait awhile for them to be off of abx. E coli often responds to cipro/baytril, but there is warranted caution in using this for a young dog. I would look into using cranberry and d-mannose, if they don't cause loose stools.

 

[Charliethree]

My girl has an inverted vulva, she suffered with chronic urinary tract infections for a good part of her first year. I changed her food at about 9 months of age after a good discussion with a new vet, and she has not had a urinary tract infection since then - she is now 5 yrs. old.
Before resorting to surgery suggest a food change to see if it helps.

 

[floridakelsie]

I've been reading and re-reading these e-mails regarding UTI's. Kelsey, our now 4 1/2 mo. old golden is now on her 4th round of antibiotics. We're hoping it's the inverted vulva problem and not ectopic ureter and plan to try to see her thru her first heat and then maybe it'll correct. Meanwhile, have any of you found solutions? Has anyone had experience with correcting an ectopic ureter? I know this is all very expensive, but would love to hear if anyone has had it successfully done. We are going to do whatever she needs as she needs it.
Thanks for all of the information. This site has been a Godsend!

 

[GRluver]

I would make sure they r obtaining the urine via cystocentesis, this will confirm if it is truly the urine or vulva. Puppy vaginitis can appear as a uti under the scope. Good luck

 

[Ripley16]

My girl started getting UTI's when she was about 12 weeks old, and it happened on about 3 separate occasions, where she would be okay after a round of antibiotics (Clavamox), then a few weeks later it would come back. She had an inverted vulva, and the vet and breeder told us to let her go through her 1st cycle, then spay. This corrected her issues completely and we haven't had problems for 1.5 years. Our vet put Ripley on Clavamox for 15 days each time as well as an antibiotic shot. Her urinalysis showed that she had crystallization in her urine, caused by the inverted vulva. I would suggest letting all dogs with this problem go through their first cycle before spaying. Therefore not requiring a surgery to correct.

 

[Romeo1]

I got my puppy about a month ago at 8 weeks and during the first week she was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection. After her 10 days on an antibiotic (clavamox) were over, her symptoms came back. So she had a live culture tested and it showed E.coli. So the vet put her back on clavamox for another couple of weeks. Well, her antibiotics ran out on Wednesday and now, Friday, she is showing symptoms again.

Luckily I have an appointment with the vet today for her third round of distemper. So I can start treating this again right away.

I'm just getting frustrated because I don't know if there is something else I should know or should be doing. I am keeping the area around her vulva clean and trimmed. She doesn't have diarrhea at all, so she isn't contracting a new UTI each time. It is definitely the same UTI that just isn't going away.

Does anyone have any experience with this? Please tell me this isn't something that can be a constant health issue that will require daily medication for the rest of her life...? I just want my puppy to be healthy and so far the whole month I have had her I've been worried and taking care of this issue

I am in the same boat. My 14 week old puppy has an underdeveloped anatomy which caused a bladder infection. Had her on Clavamox, then it was switched to Simplicef. I'm taking a sample back for a test next week. The Vet says she will have to go into her first heat before she can be spayed. Apparently this will make her underdeveloped parts come out.

 

[Tahnee GR]

I cannot believe these vets! One of my puppies had the same problems. She does not have an inverted vulva, just a constant round of UTIs. The vet refused to put her on for longer than 10-14 days, so of course it kept coming back. I found her a new vet, who promptly put her on a six week round of antibiotics. It has been 3 weeks and the UTI has not returned. As a bonus, this vet is very open to holistic remedies and eastern medicine. Probably because so many show and competition people go to him.

This constant barrage of minimal dosing just makes the problem worse in my experience.

I am sorry but it just makes me so angry.

But at least the vet was right about waiting for a heat cycle with anatomical issues. And of course you would never spay while they have an infection.