[Genevieve's mom]

This is so frustrating. Our now 15 week old female, Breezy, has a UTI - again. She had one when we got her from the breeder on May 13th. The vet prescribed 10 days of Clavamox which didn't work. The next culture showed an e coli that was susceptible to Bactrim so we did 8 days of that.

On Friday, June 10th, another culture was done and it showed NO BACTERIA!! We thought it was over and she would be fine. Nope.

Early this morning she did a really long pee after waking up and then..... it all started again with the numerous squats with no pee or very little pee. So off to the vet with another urine sample.

It takes 3 days - generally - for the lab to complete the culture and identify the bacteria and then suggest an antibiotic. Unfortunately we likely won't get a new antibiotic until Monday since we are close to the weekend. So she suffers for 5 more days and I am not handling this very well.

The breeder wants us to give her cranberry extract but our vet says it won't do any good. Another breeder suggested Vitamin C. Anybody have any experience with either of these?

I know I am whining about this as I am completely worn out by this recurring urinary problem. It is so very frustrating to me and we can't make any progress with potty training with these setbacks. And I know Breezy isn't comfortable either - I've had a few UTIs in the course of my adult life. It's no fun feeling like you have to pee every minute and then nothing comes out.

I am not handling this very well. I wish I knew if we are doing something wrong or if she is just going to keep having these problems for the rest of her life. Anybody have this issue before?

 

[abee]

I'm sorry you're going through this with your dog. UTIs are annoying to deal with! Cranberry supplements will only help with preventing future UTIs, it does not treat a current UTI. She will need to be on the appropriate antibiotics. If her urine culture showed e.coli previously, it's possible some of her stool got into her urinary tract. I think it's important to make sure stool doesn't accidentally get near there. Also, since she's young, her urethra/bladder are smaller (meaning more prone to urine infections). I would make sure you take her out to urinate frequently until her bladder develops more (holding urine = increases risk for urine infections).

 

[AShepherd1215]

Could you ask for a broad spectrum antibiotic until the culture comes back? Did they have any recommendations to help her with the spasms/discomfort?

 

[abee]

Could you ask for a broad spectrum antibiotic until the culture comes back? Did they have any recommendations to help her with the spasms/discomfort?

As @AShepherd1215 pointed out, I think it'd be best to ask for a broad spectrum antibiotic until culture comes back. Perhaps the vet can prescribe the Bactrim the pup was on previously that helped to knock out the old UTI?

 

[cwag]

I don't have personal knowledge about this but in reading other threads it is often recommended to have a sterile draw of the urine to get a pure sample to culture. Have they tried that? Also could she have an inverted or recessed vulva which could be causing the infections? My first Golden had problems with clogged anal glands and the licking she did from that would cause bladder infections. Once the anal glands were removed (a risky procedure but we were desperate) no more infections. I doubt if its an anal gland issue for your girl but does she lick a lot? There have been a lot of threads about puppies with similar problems and eventually they succeeded in getting a permanent end to the infections it just took trying lots of antibiotics over longer periods of time.

 

[Genevieve's mom]

Thank you to those of you who responded.

I don't know how the bacteria gets into her. When she poops, we immediately pick it up in a poop bag. There is gravel where she pees and poops and we do our best to get all the gravel that is in the area where she pooped.

Yesterday we were taking her out every 20 minutes because she was playing on the porch with our adult dog and it was hot outside so they were both drinking lots of water. Today, we have been taking her out every 40 minutes. When she goes out to the gravel area she does a short pee and then two or three really short pees. And sometimes there is no pee after she squats. I know it's a UTI.

I have called our vet and emailed her. She has been swamped as there is a staffing problem due to nobody working due to COVID and because so many people got pets when COVID started. I have asked if we could start her back on Bactrim but haven't heard back. I am hoping we can get her started on something before the weekend. As far as I know, Clavamox is a broad spectrum antibiotic but since it did nothing the first time around I'm guessing it wouldn't be a good choice now after the Bactrim. Just my guess.

The reason why I do the "urine catch" is because Breezy won't hold still long enough to do the ultra sound in order to do the cystocentesis (needle draw from the bladder). I suppose they could sedate her but maybe she's too young for that?

Maybe 8 days wasn't long enough although that last culture showed no bacteria. I hope we can figure this out.

One other thing - our Vet says she does not have a recessed or inverted (involuted) vulva. One of our girls, VeeVee, did have that problem which led to many, many UTIs when she was a puppy and that all stopped after her first heat - thankfully! Unfortunately we lost VeeVee to HHS on March 2, 2022 - at the age of five years and one month. Heartbreaking! I posted quite a few times about her. She was a very special dog and it's her in the picture above "Genevieve's mom". I think about her every single day and miss her so much.

Thanks again for the helpful suggestions.

 

[Deargoldens]

I know your frustration and upset for your little girl pup. My girl kept getting UTIs too, same as yours.

First one at 8 weeks, she was moaning as she squat and only little pees, then she’d do it again 10 seconds later and kept going even when nothing was there. Luckily it started in the evening and I was able to get her to the vet first thing in the morning. She was first prescribed some pain medication because she was in so much discomfort while we waited for the results, which came back later that day. She started a course of antibiotics, I think for 10 days, maybe longer. It worked immediately but then four days off them it came back.

Off to the vet again. They started her on some more while they sent the sample off to be cultured to know exactly what they were dealing with. As she was growing I had to bring her in to be weighed each week and adjust dosage. It was just the normal one from poop. Like you, I was so careful and kept everything clean. She was on the next round for like 6 weeks.

A week or so later, it came back. At that point the vet didn’t want to prescribe more as she’d had so much. She tried a different medication and instructed me to clean her vulva twice a day using betadine.

I know how helpless it feels and how horrible it is to see them in discomfort. You’ll get there.

 

[Tagrenine]

We have research that shows cranberry extract can help prevent UTIs. Please fine a good supplement and start. See if she has a recessed vulva, as mentioned above as well.

https://avmajournals.avma.org/view/journals/ajvr/77/4/ajvr.77.4.421.xml#d1320460e199

 

[Genevieve's mom]

Thank you again for your suggestions and sharing your experience. Our vet just got back to me and we are starting with Bactrim tonight until the culture tells us what the specific bacteria is.

I figured that others probably had a similar experience and it really helps to know that it finally cleared up for DearGoldens. At least I have some hope although it was a very long process for DearGoldens.

Our vet hasn't suggested using betadine to clean her but I can ask her about that.

And I will review the research info from Tagrenine after I finish this post.

Sincerely ---- Thank you all!!

 

[Genevieve's mom]

BTW - what is a Super Moderator? And what does "bumping up" mean?
Thank you!

 

[Ffcmm]

BTW - what is a Super Moderator? And what does "bumping up" mean?
Thank you!

bumping up- if there are no replies, we post bumping up to give the thread visibility so that there can be engagement and replies
Super moderator- moderator of the forum rules to ensure that posts & threads adhere to forum rules (found here: GRF Board Rules & Registration Agreement)

 

[Genevieve's mom]

Thank you for the information!

 

[Genevieve's mom]

It seems that we have a puppy who pees in her crate during the day, while "resting" on her back, or nearly on her back. She holds urine overnight for 8 hours just fine - knock on wood. She tested positive for bacteria again so this time our vet prescribed 1/2 tab of Bactrim twice a day for two weeks. But, she thinks this "peeing" is not due to the UTI. She thinks it's likely some kind of defect somewhere in her urinary tract - either an ectopic ureter or possibly a patent urachus or some other congenital defect in her anatomy. She wants us to take her to an Internal Medicine Vet at a Specialty Vet Hospital for an ultrasound and possibly a cystoscopy. I called four Specialty Hospitals a few days ago, including UC Davis - which doesn't even have their calendar for September and are fully booked in June and July - and the earliest appointment I could get is August 8th. This is so disappointing! All the vets are so overwhelmed and understaffed - it's really sad. The best we can do for now, is watch her closely during the day and get her outside every 30 minutes or so. Not a happy situation for a 15 week old puppy. I talked to a behavior consultant today and she said that "puppies always stand when they pee at this age so something is wrong with her".

 

[steve3d2005]

I feel your pain.. Our little girl had the same issue a while back(I think around 10 weeks old.). We originally got the Clavamox which worked until about 2 days after last dose and then the constant peeing returned. Went back had the urine test which also showed e.coli and we were given more clavamox as they thought it may not have fully wiped out the problem. Worked again until we ran out and issue returned again very quickly. The last vet visit they gave us some cranberry chews and also did an injection of Convenia. That was May 23 and the issue has not returned since the injection(Just over 1 month). She is now 18 weeks old and happy and healthy as can be. I will say our pup had no other symptoms of her infection such as pain. Just accidents in the house and then when outside chronic peeing. Did you see some relief of symptoms when she was on Clavamox? If so maybe you could talk to your vet about Convenia. Considering both our dogs had extremely similar symptoms, and assuming they responded similar to clavamox but both relapsed when it was gone.. Might be worth a try!

Good luck
-Steve

 

[Genevieve's mom]

I haven't heard of Convenia but I will ask our vet. Our puppy did stop doing the numerous non-productive squats when she finished the Clavamox but then that started up again and our vet switched us to Bactrim since the culture indicated that the bacteria was resistant to Clavamox. She feels pretty strongly that our girl is "peeing on herself" due to an anatomical problem somewhere in the urinary tract. If this is true, then no amount of medicine will help. Our puppy would most likely need some type of surgery if we can just get her in for some diagnostic testing. I'm hopeful that our vet can get us an earlier appointment with a specialist somewhere. Thank you for the Convenia suggestion! We are willing to try anything that might help.

I just looked up this medication. According to Zoetis, it's an antibiotic for skin infections. I didn't see anything on the website about UTIs or bladder infections but maybe it could be an off label use?

 

[steve3d2005]

So I’m not sure how my vet determined convenia was an option to try, but it had an almost immediate effect and the issue has not returned. If it’s going to take a month or longer to get Breezy into a specialist and you’re still dealing with the issue, it may help to mitigate symptoms until you can get there. Whatever it is I hope you get it resolved soon!

 

[cwag]

It seems that we have a puppy who pees in her crate during the day, while "resting" on her back, or nearly on her back. She holds urine overnight for 8 hours just fine - knock on wood. She tested positive for bacteria again so this time our vet prescribed 1/2 tab of Bactrim twice a day for two weeks. But, she thinks this "peeing" is not due to the UTI. She thinks it's likely some kind of defect somewhere in her urinary tract - either an ectopic ureter or possibly a patent urachus or some other congenital defect in her anatomy. She wants us to take her to an Internal Medicine Vet at a Specialty Vet Hospital for an ultrasound and possibly a cystoscopy. I called four Specialty Hospitals a few days ago, including UC Davis - which doesn't even have their calendar for September and are fully booked in June and July - and the earliest appointment I could get is August 8th. This is so disappointing! All the vets are so overwhelmed and understaffed - it's really sad. The best we can do for now, is watch her closely during the day and get her outside every 30 minutes or so. Not a happy situation for a 15 week old puppy. I talked to a behavior consultant today and she said that "puppies always stand when they pee at this age so something is wrong with her".

I don't really have any knowledge on this but there have been quite a few posts where a vet's dire prediction was way off. It doesn't make sense to me that a structural defect would only affect her during the day time or that it would seem cleared up by antibiotics and then start up again. Hopefully an ultrasound will show she's fine and just needs the right antibiotics.

 

[abee]

I haven't heard of Convenia but I will ask our vet. Our puppy did stop doing the numerous non-productive squats when she finished the Clavamox but then that started up again and our vet switched us to Bactrim since the culture indicated that the bacteria was resistant to Clavamox. She feels pretty strongly that our girl is "peeing on herself" due to an anatomical problem somewhere in the urinary tract. If this is true, then no amount of medicine will help. Our puppy would most likely need some type of surgery if we can just get her in for some diagnostic testing. I'm hopeful that our vet can get us an earlier appointment with a specialist somewhere. Thank you for the Convenia suggestion! We are willing to try anything that might help.

I just looked up this medication. According to Zoetis, it's an antibiotic for skin infections. I didn't see anything on the website about UTIs or bladder infections but maybe it could be an off label use?

I really don't know much about antibiotics for dogs, but I just looked up Convenia.

Antimicrobial Activity and Spectrum of Cefovecin, a New Extended- Spectrum Cephalosporin, against Pathogens Collected from Dogs and Cats in Europe and North America

Cefovecin is a new extended-spectrum semisynthetic cephalosporin indicated for the treatment of bacterial infections in dogs and cats. This study evaluated the in vitro activity and spectrum of cefovecin against 2,641 recent clinical isolates (1,660 canine ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Looks like it works against UTIs caused by E.coli. Since it's an injection vs. oral, it should work quicker and more effectively.

 

[Genevieve's mom]

Thank you to steve3d2005, cwag, and abee.

I just looked Breezy's latest IDEXX urinalysis and culture report and the bacteria found in our puppy is resistant to Cefovecin - unfortunately. Darn! I was hoping it would be one our vet could try.

I can tell you that we will be absolutely thrilled if this turns out to be a simple UTI issue and not something anatomical!!! Keeping our fingers crossed and grateful to all of you who offered advice, suggestions, and support!!

 

[Genevieve's mom]

Update - somehow, miraculously, I got a call from the Internal Medicine vet's office and they had an opening yesterday - way sooner than our original appt with this vet which was set for August 15th. She did an ultrasound with her equipment's highest resolution. She noted that there may be a problem with her left kidney and her right ureter - but can't be sure. Some of it may be due to the inflammation caused by the UTIs. She ran blood work and it came back in the normal range for a puppy. She also did a cystocentesis since she had to sedate Breezy for the ultrasound - she is totally wiggly all the time. We are waiting for the urinalysis and culture results. Once the UTI is cleared up, she will do a cystoscopy to get a good look at her ureters and bladder. The internist thinks it could be one ectopic ureter or possibly a very weak urethral sphincter. Or it could even be a combination of problems. We are just hoping that it is "fixable" with surgery or something!!!

Unfortunately, Breezy peed a very big puddle in her sleep this afternoon while lying on the floor. It's not normal for a puppy of her age to pee while lying down so the source of the problem has not yet been figured out. We're hoping more diagnostics will give us an answer. She is also still doing "excitement" peeing in puppy class. The instructors say that puppies usually grow out of this behavior. I hope so!

I found it odd today in puppy class that she was very timid and shy when she was part of a puppy play group with two other puppies. When I took her to the Puppies in the Park class at the Humane Society two weeks ago, which was outside on the lawn, she completely held her own playing with a 5 month old golden and and a 6 month old lab. I worry that she is going through some sort of fearful phase or that we have done something that has ruined the "confidence" she displayed a few weeks ago. My husband says I just worry too much about too many things. He's probably right.

Thanks for "listening".