Anyone have dogs prone to UTIs?

[AngelaM]

This is very frustrating for me. We had 3 different dogs growing up (all cockapoo mixes) and now I have 2 of my own. I have several friends with dogs and I am the only one with this issue.

My cockapoo, Sunny, is prone to UTI. He is 5 years old, and I just took some urine to the vet today although I'm certain he has one. This would be at LEAST his 5th time.

One time, the UTI was due to the Blue Buffalo recall (excess Vit D). But the other times have had no obvious cause.

He is also prone to kennel cough, even though he is vaccinated twice a year and he doesn't have much exposure (he used to go to daycare, but doesnt' any more. The last kennel cough showed up a week or two after being at the groomer). Come to think of it, he was on antibiotics for 2 weeks...could the UTI have been caused by that? I think they ended a month ago.

Anyhow, anyone have experience with this? Based on his bloodwork, they do not think he has Cushings disease. All of his bloodwork comes back normal. He has probably had kennel cough at least 4 times.

Both of these issues are time consuming and expensive. I'm sure they are no picnic for him either. I would like to get to what is causing either of these, but no idea where to start. He has always seen the same vet who is aware of the issue and very caring, but so far, unable to determine WHY it keeps recurring. He is fed high quality food, green beans, high quality treats, very rare to get people food at our house (although my parents give it to him despite my asking them not to).

Soo..after $42 for the test, I'm sure it will be more for the antiobiotics. $60 or so I wasn't planning on spending this month. Anyone have a dog like this? The other dog (a Shitzu, same age) hasn't had any of these issues at all, although we've only had him for a year.

[LadyWild]

I can't share in your misery, but my mom sure could. She gives her dogs a cranberry supplement 2x a day. They are bigger dogs, so you may want to ask your vet if that's ok for your little one. It has helped my mom's dog a ton.

Her vet told her that it could be anything from bacteria they pick up in the grass (could be especially so for your little guy being so close to the ground) to allergies.

I hope he feels better soon.

[AngelaM]

Thanks! I will look into that! He has also been a submissive pee-er since he was a pup. He's better about it now than he was, but we still have to be careful if he is super excited or thinks he is being cornered (leaning over him to grab something from his mouth). We got him when he was 6 months old, so I think his prior owners must have ingrained this a bit.

[Shugness]

I know a girl who gives her dog Vitamin C to try and help with reoccurring UTI's he gets - I googled it and found this article verifying it may help:

http://suite101.com/article/dog-urin...ection-a196731

There are some other good tips on there too. My female dog had a UTI one time and we felt like it was because she drinks very little. We now feed her food to her with water added, to try and get her more hydration.

[nancymaring]

I agree with Shugness....add more water to his food. You can either add water and let it absorb for about 20 minutes, so you just have a soft, mushy food to feed him...or you can add the water and just feed in a soupy form.

Getting more liquid in his system is important.

Also, make sure he is able to go potty often. Holding it for long periods isn't good for them....just like it isn't good for us.

I would check into the cranberry products too. I have known people that have had success with this for their dogs.

nancy

[AngelaM]

I agree with Shugness....add more water to his food. You can either add water and let it absorb for about 20 minutes, so you just have a soft, mushy food to feed him...or you can add the water and just feed in a soupy form.

Getting more liquid in his system is important.

Also, make sure he is able to go potty often. Holding it for long periods isn't good for them....just like it isn't good for us.

I would check into the cranberry products too. I have known people that have had success with this for their dogs.

nancy

I can assure you that its NOT a water consumption issue. He has access to water all day long. I will start cleaning the water dish more frequently. Also, the purpose of dry kibble is to keep their teeth clean, so I don't really want to add water and mess with that.

[AngelaM]

Also, when me or DH is home, he gets let out all the time. Typically about every hour. But when we're at work, he could be here for 9 hours without a break. Same thing at night in his crate...about 8 hours.

I try to walk them before work or at night, but lately its just been too hot for them. They don't tolerate the heat well.

[patt]

I have a cat who was prone to UTI's once she got to be about 5. We went through everything you are doing- vets, tests, cleaning bowls, and on and on. Her issues were a major impact since I had to put a blue plastic tarp over every bed in the house. I found some cranberry extract at Pet Pals and that seemed to do the trick. I kept her on the supplements for a few months and then stopped. No more issues. I wan't going to pay more to the vet to find out why the problem stopped, but it seemed logical to me that she built up deposits in her urinary tract that continued to irritate her and the cranberry extract help it dissolve and finally flush out of her system. She's 12 now and we haven't had further problems. Well, okay, she's senile, but I doubt that was caused by UTIs 7 years ago.

Patt

[Shugness]

I can assure you that its NOT a water consumption issue. He has access to water all day long.

Is he drinking enough of it, though? My hound has access to it all day too, but for some reason she just doesn't drink much - even if it's hot out and she's panting. It's frustrating. My other dog though won't stay out of the water. He gets it everywhere.

[mcgeiger]

needs xrays to rule out a stone
and a culture and sensitivity BEFORE antibiotics to ensure not resistant.

[AngelaM]

Thanks for all of your info. In the past they've done urinaylisis to determine the infection. He had an x-ray in 2010 to rule out stones and an ultrasound after that, which did reveal some thickening of the bladder lining (at that time he was eating blue buffalo food involved in a recall due to excess Vit D and we assumed it was that. BB actually paid me about $400 for all the tests that year.

Anyhow, I know things change, but he's had this issue for a while and we checked for stones then and they weren't there. Not saying they aren't now, but we have tried that route before, same issue.

I talked to the vet on the phone last night and he does want to do a culture. Why this was never done before, I don't know. He said to wait 3-4 days after the antibiotics are done since he has already started them.

If nothing grows from a culture, I'm going to be more careful about cleaning his water dish, walking him in the morning and night (although I worry about the pavement even at that hour right now) and adding a supplement with cranberry or something. If this happens AGAIN IN 6 MONTHS, we may look at in internist then. The vet said sometimes they need a 60 day round of antibiotics to really get it out of there. And some dogs they have take 1/4 antibiotic every day if they are really prone.

[patt]

Best of luck for you and Sunny. It's got to be a whole lot of fun collecting samples.

Patt

[nancymaring]

Again, I agree with Snugness. I too have a dog that has access to water all day, and yet he dashes into the house and straight to the water dish.

He was getting the occasional UTI...then I read to add water to his dry food. Since then he hasn't had a problem.
I have also suggested this to some of my clients with dogs that have reoccurring UTI's with good results.

If you are worried about dental problems, just give him something hard to chew on afterwards. Carrots, chewy toys or bones will keep the tartar at bay.

17 hours without a bathroom break is a long time in my opinion. Could we do that? (9 hours during the day, 8 at night). If it's not possible to leave him outside when you are at work, it might be possible to hire someone to walk him in the afternoon. It would sure be cheaper then vet bills.

nancy

[AngelaM]

Again, I agree with Snugness. I too have a dog that has access to water all day, and yet he dashes into the house and straight to the water dish.

He was getting the occasional UTI...then I read to add water to his dry food. Since then he hasn't had a problem.
I have also suggested this to some of my clients with dogs that have reoccurring UTI's with good results.

If you are worried about dental problems, just give him something hard to chew on afterwards. Carrots, chewy toys or bones will keep the tartar at bay.

17 hours without a bathroom break is a long time in my opinion. Could we do that? (9 hours during the day, 8 at night). If it's not possible to leave him outside when you are at work, it might be possible to hire someone to walk him in the afternoon. It would sure be cheaper then vet bills.

nancy

Unfortunately I don't really know anyone I could hire...no neighbors or teens or anything like that nearby. But I'm going to go back to getting up early in the morning and taking them for a 20 minute walk before work and then taking them for a walk late at night (in the summer, I've been known to walk them at 10pm when its cooler). Maybe his bladder isn't getting completely empty. He does DRINK the water he has access to.