# Help! Recurrent UTI and possible health issues!



## Mini golden (Sep 8, 2013)

I don't know what to do. Our 7 month of golden girl, Shiloh, has had health issues from day one. We didn't know until we brought her home what a horrible 'breeder' we were dealing with, but by that point she was ours and we weren't going to give her back - we love her to pieces! But she's had so many health issues and they just keep coming.

The short of it is - Shiloh weighed 2lbs 13oz at 8 weeks when we brought her home, was diagnosed with coccidia and giardia and took multiple rounds of meds to clear her of those and to get her gaining weight. An emergency ER trip in there too at 12 weeks, for getting into the trash and eating chicken bones that caused partial blockage. She had diarrhea until about 4 1/2 months old (found a food finally that agreed with her). She's normal weight now (43lbs at 7 months) and looks healthy, but was diagnosed with a UTI over a month ago that hasn't gone away after two different rounds of two-week long antibiotics. Even on the antibiotics the symptoms didnt seem to lessen. The vet ordered a special culture test on her urine to identify the type of bacteria and was baffled by the results, so he sent us to a veterinary internist.

Saw the internist today - and $430 later, they sent us home with two types of intense antibiotics (so intense that one of them can't be handled by humans and we have to wear gloves!) and if this doesn't clear it up they want to do a $900 procedure to look inside her urinary tract to rule out defects of her bladder, urethra and ureters. If she has any of those defects, the surgeries to correct them range from $2500-4000+. The previous antibiotics didn't even seem to touch the bacteria in her system.

Not that money is everything, at all, and I hate to put a price tag on my dog, but we've already spent over $2000 in vet costs alone in the five months we've had her, and we're looking at potentially another several thousand to get this UTI issue corrected. And we don't even know what it is! I just want my pup to be healthy but she just seems to have everything that can go wrong. 

Has anyone ever had recurring/untreatable UTIs like this? Has anyone ever had a golden with urethra, bladder or ureter malformations that needed surgical correction? Is there anything else we can be asking about or looking for? We are a large family with young children and a single income. I love my dog so much - but if she just keeps going like this our family truly cannot afford to keep paying thousands of dollars to keep fixing her health issues. When we have to choose between food on the table and doggy medical bills, it's just so hard. I don't even think pet health insurance is an option at this point, as it would be considered a pre existing condition. 

I'm heartbroken to think that this could keep going with no answers and all these expensive tests and potential surgeries. I just want some hope that it could be treated with antibiotics and she can lead a normal, healthy life. If these antibiotics don't help her, I just don't know what to do or how much longer our family can keep paying thousands of dollars worth of vet bills. It's not like we're choosing between taking a vacation or saving our dog - this is food money, mortgage, clothes for our kids. This whole thing is heartbreaking and so sad...

Does anyone have any advice? Experience? Ideas? Anything?

Here is a picture of Shiloh snuggling with our youngest daughter. My sweet puppy.


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## maggiesmommy (Feb 23, 2010)

Maggie has a tilted vulva (she'd be embarrassed if she knew I just announced that to the forum  ) and was getting constant UTIs (the vet said the tilt traps urine and brings bacteria back into her urethra) We have avoided surgery on her by giving her cranberry tablets. We get ours from Fosters and Smith. Dog Treats: Drs. Foster and Smith Cran Health Chewables


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## Tahnee GR (Aug 26, 2006)

One of the puppies in my last litter had recurrent UTI's. Her vet would only treat for 7 -10 days, at which point the infection would come back in a few days. He was not treating appropriately and also had scared her to death saying it must be an ectopic ureter. I found her another vet who put her on a six week course of a very strong antibiotic. She has been UTI free since. Not saying it couldn't be a n ectopic ureter but it is more likely to be a stubborn infection or inverted vulva.

I am finding that many vets apparently do not know how to treat persistent UTI's in puppies.


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## Tahnee GR (Aug 26, 2006)

Cranberry tablets are excellent to prevent UTI's once the infection has been cleared up. Good suggestion!


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## SheetsSM (Jan 17, 2008)

I hope the new meds wipe out the infection. My girl was started on cranberry tablets after her last UTI/bladder infection and thankfully she's been infection free.


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## Mini golden (Sep 8, 2013)

Tahnee GR said:


> One of the puppies in my last litter had recurrent UTI's. Her vet would only treat for 7 -10 days, at which point the infection would come back in a few days. He was not treating appropriately and also had scared her to death saying it must be an ectopic ureter. I found her another vet who put her on a six week course of a very strong antibiotic. She has been UTI free since. Not saying it couldn't be a n ectopic ureter but it is more likely to be a stubborn infection or inverted vulva.
> 
> I am finding that many vets apparently do not know how to treat persistent UTI's in puppies.


Ectopic ureter was one of the main things they were suspecting, and what they would look for in the $900 procedure. They also mentioned a possibly narrow urethra and a partially 'hooded' vulva. Both antibiotics she's had so far were two week prescriptions, and neither seemed to even touch the infection. The new vet sent us home with two different three-week antibiotics, much stronger than the previous two. We got two at once this time because she had two forms of bacteria, each reactive to different antibiotics in her culture test. So each medicine affects a different bacteria. 

Your story gives me hope! Maybe I'll call and discuss with the new vet if we can just do a six week course and go from there... Maybe if we can just knock out this infection once, we can keep her clear of future infections with cranberry and any other natural options I can find...


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## Romeo1 (Apr 19, 2008)

Mini golden said:


> Ectopic ureter was one of the main things they were suspecting, and what they would look for in the $900 procedure. They also mentioned a possibly narrow urethra and a partially 'hooded' vulva. Both antibiotics she's had so far were two week prescriptions, and neither seemed to even touch the infection. The new vet sent us home with two different three-week antibiotics, much stronger than the previous two. We got two at once this time because she had two forms of bacteria, each reactive to different antibiotics in her culture test. So each medicine affects a different bacteria.
> 
> Your story gives me hope! Maybe I'll call and discuss with the new vet if we can just do a six week course and go from there... Maybe if we can just knock out this infection once, we can keep her clear of future infections with cranberry and any other natural options I can find...


The hooded vulva can usually be corrected if the dog is allowed to go through one heat cycle. My six month old puppy has the same thing.


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## Ruby13 (Dec 28, 2013)

It could be several things!

75 % of the time, when we're told an animal has a urinary tract infection, there is no true infection involved. It could be inflammation of the bladder lining, or any of the things mentioned above. 

You said the culture had the vet stumped. What type 'infection' was it? A culture and sensitivity is set up so that they can determine exactly which antibiotics the 'infection' is sensitive to, so they know what to treat with that will work. Did they use a specimen obtained with a catheter for the culture? (If not, it won't be accurate.) 

The procedure they are probably wanting to do is called a cystoscopy. They would put her to sleep and take a tiny scope and go in through her urethra, all the way into the bladder to take a look. To check the actual kidneys and ureters, they would need to do xrays with contrast. 

Since you had such a hard time finding a food she could tolerate, I wonder if she is having 'crystals' or doggie kidney stones? (usually resolved by changing brands of food) This would cause urinary frequency and discomfort, and might even cause some blood to be in the urine, which causes many vets/docs to diagnose UTI, when in fact it is inflammation. 

The cranberry pills are an excellent idea, especially if her urine is overly concentrated or acidic.


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## Mini golden (Sep 8, 2013)

Ruby13 said:


> It could be several things!
> 
> 75 % of the time, when we're told an animal has a urinary tract infection, there is no true infection involved. It could be inflammation of the bladder lining, or any of the things mentioned above.
> 
> ...


They did a 'clean catch' for the specimen for the culture. Bringing in a sample wasn't enough, they took the sample directly. They culture came back positive for ecoli and enterococcus. Neither is uncommon, but the high numbers of ecoli was surprising after two antibiotic rounds, and the enterococcus was unusually resistant to any of the antibiotics they tested in the lab. That combo was what stumped the regular vet.

I don't know about the crystals. Would that cause high white blood cell counts and those two bacteria in her urine? No one has mentioned blood in her urine. We have used cranberry pills since her first UTI diagnosis, but they haven't made a difference. We've stopped for now, until the antibiotics are through. Will they help even now during antibiotic use?

Her symptoms are refusing to pee outside, frequent accidents in the house, dark, strong urine, constant 'dribbling' when excited, and licking her vulva more than I imagine is normal.

Yes, cytoscopy is the name of the procedure, to look at bladder, urethra and ureters, not kidneys. Ectopic ureters was the main one mentioned.

Dog food has been hard, and once we found one that didn't cause diarrhea we haven't gone trying others since. I hadn't thought it could cause all these urinary and infection type issues...

So Ruby, with the two bacteria mentioned, do you think it sounds like a UTI or something else? What else could cause that kind of bacteria in her urine, plus high white cell count?

Thank you. I appreciate your thoughts and experience. She is my first female, and my previous dogs, all male, never had any issues like this at all.


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## Deblog (Sep 27, 2010)

I wish I would have found this information sooner about trying cranberry tablets. Our 3 1/2 year old Golden has had recurrent bladder infections and the last time was peeing blood. The vet said the only way to take care of it was to have surgery. She had a vaginoplasty today and boy does it look painful. Poor thing looks so sad. We also had them xray her hips while asleep as she has had some problem with her hip popping out on one side (2 times with sudden running). Vet looked at them at checkups and moved them, no pain and flexible so said no problems. Well, after xrays he wrote on home care instructions- Terrible hips. I have to call Monday to find out more information on that. My kids picked her up as I was in a car accident and could not get there. Looks like I will being doing a lot more research here on what I can do to help with the hip problems. This is a great dog and we love her so much. I am feeling pretty sad about it all right now.


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## Kmullen (Feb 17, 2010)

Deblog said:


> I wish I would have found this information sooner about trying cranberry tablets. Our 3 1/2 year old Golden has had recurrent bladder infections and the last time was peeing blood. The vet said the only way to take care of it was to have surgery. She had a vaginoplasty today and boy does it look painful. Poor thing looks so sad. We also had them xray her hips while asleep as she has had some problem with her hip popping out on one side (2 times with sudden running). Vet looked at them at checkups and moved them, no pain and flexible so said no problems. Well, after xrays he wrote on home care instructions- Terrible hips. I have to call Monday to find out more information on that. My kids picked her up as I was in a car accident and could not get there. Looks like I will being doing a lot more research here on what I can do to help with the hip problems. This is a great dog and we love her so much. I am feeling pretty sad about it all right now.



Yes, I would get with your vet for more information and to see the X-ray. If horribly positioned, it can make hips look worse.


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