Urinary Tract Infection Dogs Medication

Antibiotics For Utis In Dogs

Choosing the right antibiotic to treat a UTI is extremely important. For a first-time infection or a simple UTI, some vets will empirically select an antibiotic. This means they base the antibiotic choice on their knowledge of which bacteria most commonly cause UTIs and the antibiotics that are typically effective against that organism.

In other cases, the vet will recommend a culture and sensitivity test to assist in antibiotic selection. This is because some bacteria have, unfortunately, developed resistance to certain antibiotics over time. By knowing which organism is growing in the urine and which antibiotics the organism is susceptible to, the vet can select the antibiotic that is most effective for that particular infection.

Antibiotic resistance continues to become more and more prevalent. A recent study indicated that almost 66% of bacteria isolated from dogs with bladder infections were resistant to multiple drugs. This is a big problem.

You can do your part to slow down the development of antibiotic resistance by only using antibiotics as directed by your vet. This means you should finish the entire course of antibiotics even if your dog seems to be feeling better. And you should never use leftover antibiotics from yourself or your dogs to try to treat your dogs suspected UTI at home.

Urine Drug Concentration And Clinical Efficacy

Antimicrobial drugs must achieve an adequate urine concentration, which must be maintained for a sufficient time for a drug to be effective in treating UTI.16 It has been suggested that clinical efficacy is observed when the urine drug concentration is maintained at a concentration 4-fold higher than the isolates MIC throughout the time between doses.9

Experimental studies in rats have shown that the time for which the plasma drug concentration exceeds the isolates MIC correlates to the magnitude of bacterial colony count reduction the longer the time for which the drug concentration remained above the MIC, the lower the urine colony counts.12 Successful eradication of bacteria within the renal parenchyma or urinary bladder wall is correlated to the plasma, not urine, drug concentration.

When prescribing time-dependent antibiotics, shortening the interval between drug administration is the most effective method to allow the tissue/urine drug concentration to exceed the MIC for the majority of the dosing interval.

• Drug elimination follows first-order kinetics, where 50% of the drug is lost in 1 half-life.
• In contrast, doubling the dose would only add 1 half-life to the dosing interval.
• To add 2 half-lives to the dosing interval, the initial dose would have to be increased 4-fold. The peak serum drug concentration achieved by this approach may exceed the window of safety, producing adverse drug effects.

What Can I Do To Prevent A Uti From Occurring In The Future

Your veterinarian will let you know if there is anything that can be done to prevent your dogs UTI from recurring. Often, a diet change may be recommended. They may also recommend some medications or supplements that can help to change the pH of the urine, making it harder for an infection to take hold. It is best to discuss UTI prevention with your veterinarian in order to put into place strategies that have been shown to be effective.

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Symptoms Of Urinary Tract Infection In Dogs

Since urinary tract infections in dogs are internal processes, it is common for us not to notice early stages of the infection. Dogs are also good at hiding their discomfort and pain, one of the reasons we need to pay attention to any possible signs of pain. It is common for some infections to only be diagnosed when at a veterinary checkup. In others, the symptoms will be more obvious.

The symptoms of UTIs in dogs can range from the following:

• Increased frequency of urination
• Mood swings

Hematuria may not look like fresh blood. However, you may notice their urine is a darker rust color than its normal urine. When there is or vulva themselves, it is less likely to be a urinary infection, but it still requires diagnosis.

If the dog cannot urinate or only urinates a little, it implies an obstruction. This can be due to inflammation of tissue from a UTI or as a result of kidney or bladder stones. Early detection of the latter can be seen if the dog has crystals in their urine.

What Does A Urinalysis Look At

If your cat presents to your veterinarian with urinary signs, your veterinarian will first perform a urinalysis. The urinalysis can reveal so much important information about the urine when a UTI is suspected. Your veterinarian will look at the following:

• urine-specific gravity

Once these levels are measured, the urine specimen is placed into a centrifuge and spun down to allow cells and other debris to accumulate at the bottom of the sample tube. That debris can then be evaluated under magnification, and this examination can reveal the presence of red blood cells, white blood cells, bacteria, and crystals.

What is seen under the microscopes magnification can lead to the next steps of assessing the dogs urinary tract disease. For example, if there are crystals in the urine, your veterinarian may recommend radiographs or an ultrasound of the abdomen in order to look for bladder stones.

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Symptoms Of Bladder Infection In Dogs

The most common signs of bladder infections in dogs include pain or difficulties urinating, blood in urine or in some cases you may notice that your pup is only urinating very small amounts but frequently. Other indications of bladder infections or urinary tract infections include:

• Straining to urinate

• Increased thirst
• Lack of energy

If your dog is exhibiting any of the symptoms above it’s time to head to your veterinarian. Bladder infections and urinary tract infections are very uncomfortable and often painful for dogs. That said, when caught and treated early these infections can often be cleared up quickly and easily so the sooner you can get your pooch to the vet the better.

Bacterial Urinary Tract Infections : Symptoms Diagnosis And Treatment

A urinary tract infection usually refers to a bacterial infection of any or all parts of the urinary tract, but it most commonly involves the urinary bladder .

UTIs are common in dogs, especially females, but are uncommon in cats less than 10 years of age. However, cats older than 10 years of age have a higher risk for a UTI, which is often associated with other diseases .

Two things must occur for presentation of a bacterial UTI:

1. There must be a break, either temporary or permanent, in the animals defenses.2. Bacteria must migrate into the urinary tract, catch hold and multiply.

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Symptoms Of Uti In Dogs

Signs that your dog may have a Urinary tract infection UTI symptoms in dogs can be distressing for the pet owner, as well as uncomfortable for your pet dog. If your dog has a UTI, you may notice one or more of the following symptoms:

• Frequent urination
• Symptoms of pain when urinating
• Excessive licking after urination
• Straining or whispering during urination
• Need to go out more often
• Lick around the urinary opening

Sometimes dogs show no symptoms of urinary tract infection at all. In these cases, your veterinarian may discover an infection by examining, among other things.

Treating Urinary Tract Problems

Just like UTIs in humans, UTIs in our canine companions are painfuland waiting too long to take your pup to the vet for treatment can make symptoms worse. The infection can spread to kidneys and the prostate. While you might want to run out and pick up over-the-counter treatment to help your pup now, Marx says to avoid medications meant for people, since they’re toxic to pets.

If you suspect that your dog has a UTI, contact your veterinarian for advice. You may need to schedule an appointment for an exam and testing. Your vet may ask you to bring a urine sample, but be sure to ask first. Some situations warrant sterile collection of urine in the clinic, which means you’ll want to prevent your dog from peeing right before the vet appointment.

Your vet may start with a urinalysis, a test to look for bacteria, abnormal blood cells, and crystals, the latter of which may signal that your dog has bladder stones. Your vet may also recommend a urine culture, which requires a sterile sample of urine to test for bacterial growth. A urine culture and sensitivity can help determine which, if any, bacteria are growing in your dog’s urine and how that bacteria responds to various antibiotics.

Antibiotics are typically used to treat UTIs in dogs, but the exact type of antibiotic prescribed will depend on the signs and severity of your dog’s condition as well as current veterinary medicine guidelines.

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Complicated & Recurrent Uti

Antibiotics should never be selected empirically for complicated UTI without culture susceptibility results . Management of pyelonephritis, prostatitis, and relapsing or recurrent UTI is often unsuccessful without therapy guided by culture and susceptibility results. However, therapy should be instituted while culture and susceptibility results are being awaited. Rational initial drug choices for complicated UTI include amoxicillin, fluoroquinolones, or trimethoprim-sulfonamide.3

Uti Symptoms Return Repeatedly Can It Be Something Else

Repeated presentation of typical UTI symptoms could the be the sign of a more serious condition canine bladder cancer . Often, a positive diagnosis of TCC/UC will be found after rounds of antibiotics to treat symptoms do not fully resolve. The dog may then be evaluated for the presence of a tumor, usually via urine cytology, abdominal ultrasound, and/or cystoscopy. These procedures are expensive, invasive and take additional time, which allows for the mass to continue to grow and spread within the bladder and potentially beyond.

Diagnosis is now easier with the free-catch urine analysis test: CADET BRAF Mutation Detection Assay. The CADET BRAF Mutation Detection Assay is a non-invasive, free-catch urine analysis test that can detect canine bladder cancer months before symptoms present, allowing for the earliest therapeutic intervention.

Note: The information in this article is meant to inform you about urinary tract infections in dogs and is not meant to take the place of a veterinary diagnosis. If you have questions about your dogs health or possible symptoms, contact your veterinarian right away.

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Prostatitis Pyelonephritis And Recurrent Uti

Management of these conditions is often unsuccessful unless therapy is guided by culture and susceptibility results. While culture and susceptibility results are awaited, empiric therapy should be instituted .

For patients with prostatitis, the antibiotic must achieve a high enough concentration in the prostatic tissue to cure the infection. Many antibiotics may be inefficient for treating prostatitis because most are not capable of crossing the bloodprostate barrier. Patients with prostatitis should be given a fluoroquinolone until culture results are available. The recommended durations of therapy are 4 to 6 weeks for prostatitis and 2 weeks for pyelonephritis.

Patients with recurrent UTIs often require a wide diagnostic evaluation to determine the cause. Evaluation typically includes urinary tract imaging , cystoscopy, urinary bladder wall biopsy and culture, endocrine testing, and more. Diagnostics should be selected individually and be based on the most likely risk factors.

Patients with reinfection should be evaluated for predisposing risk factors, such as urinary incontinence, anatomic abnormalities , systemic immunosuppression, or endocrinopathies.7

What Is The Best Food For Dog Uti Treatment

Natural and nutrient-dense foods are best for dogs with UTIs. Here are some foods that can help with the dog UTI treatment.

• Cranberries. Cranberries and cranberry juice are the most often recommended at-home treatment for UTIs. Although the common belief is that they are powerful treatments against UTIs, there have been no studies to confirm this in dogs. For this reason, vets will often recommend cranberries be used as a supplement to a UTI treatment rather than be relied on as the treatment.
• Fruits. Fruits are a great source of vitamins and antioxidants that help to support the immune system. These foods provide naturally sourced nutrients that are easy to digest and readily available to support your pets health and help to treat and prevent urinary tract disease.
• UTI-Specific Dog Food. Dog foods formulated to treat a dogs UTI or incontinence often contain antioxidants and immune system supporting vitamins that help to fight the underlying causes of UTIs.

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Nsaids For Pain Relief

Since urinary tract infections can be quite uncomfortable, your vet may also prescribe a NSAID to help reduce pain and inflammation.

Its important to note that not only are UTIs distressing for your dog, but they can also be quite dangerous. Thats why it is important to seek treatment from a vet right away rather than trying to treat your dog at home.

Preventing Urinary Tract Infections In Dogs

To prevent urinary tract infections in dogs it is important to allow them to urinate frequently and to always have clean, fresh water available to drink. Proper hydration helps remove bacteria from the urethra.

The frequency with which the dog urinates is a common influence in UTIs. Bacteria cannot be eliminated from their organism unless the dog urinates frequently.This can occur when the dog remains locked up for too long or when they suffer from diseases which reduce their mobility, such as osteoarthritis. In the latter case, movement is often painful and difficult, so they move less.

For dogs predisposed to developing kidney and bladder stones, the veterinarian may recommend a specific diet that reduces the formation of these structures. The pH of the dog’s urine is also influenced by food. A diet that alkalizes the urine facilitates the appearance of infections.

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Types Of Urinary Tract Infection In Dogs

As occurs with humans, a urinary infection in dogs receives different names depending on the area in which it is located. The major urinary tract infections fall under one of the following types:

• Urethritis: infection of the urethra.
• Cystitis: bladder infection.
• Nephritis or pyelonephritis: both kidney infections.

Symptoms Of Urinary Tract Infections

During the first stage, the urinary tract infection might not show any symptoms. It is only when the bacteria have invaded the urinary tract that symptoms appear. There are two types of urinary tract infections, and the symptoms are different.

An upper urinary tract infection comes with:

• Lack of appetite
• Drinking more water than usual

A lower urinary tract infection will present symptoms such as:

• Polydipsia
• The dog is in pain when urinating
• The urine might contain traces of blood
• The dog urinates significantly more than usual
• The dog tries to urinate, but cannot

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What Causes Utis In Dogs

The area around a dogs genitalia is exposed to bacteria from urine, feces, and other types of debris. When bacteria travel up through the urethra and into the bladder, an infection develops. E. coli is a very common cause of UTIs, although there are several other types of bacteria that can also cause infection.

When a dog is very young, elderly, or has a weakened immune system as a result of an illness, the body has a harder time fighting off infection.

If the infection makes its way up into the kidneys, more serious issues like kidney infection , kidney stones, or even kidney failure can occur.

What Are Urinary Tract Infections In Dogs

Urinary tract infections in dogs are usually caused by bacteria in the urine. There are lower and upper UTIs, but lower UTIs are more common. Lower UTIs affect the bladder and/or, in male dogs, the prostate. Upper UTIs affect the kidneys and/or ureters .

UTIs in dogs are considered either acute or chronic. Acute UTIs usually occur infrequently and are easy to treat with antibiotics and pain medications. Chronic UTIs are defined as three or more episodes of UTI in a year, or two or more episodes of UTI within a six-month period.

A UTI is also considered chronic if it cannot be fully cleared with antibiotic therapy. Chronic UTIs can be frustrating, and though they are often treated and cleared, they tend to return.

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How Do Dogs Get A Uti

The most common cause of a UTI in dogs is bacteria that enter the urethral opening and travels up the urethra and into the bladder, where it then multiplies and causes infection. This bacteria can come from feces or debris that enters the area. Bacteria is also more likely to develop if your dog has a weakened immune system.

Signs & Symptoms Of Uti In Dogs

Unlike humans who develop a UTI, dogs are often asymptomatic. But when signs of a urinary tract infection do present themselves, they may include the following:

• Excessive drinking

• Passing small amounts of urine very frequently

• Acting uncomfortable or distressed while urinating

Dogs with diabetes or an endocrine/hormonal disorder dogs receiving chemotherapy or immunosuppressive drugs and dogs that are on long-term cortisone-type medications are at a higher risk for developing UTIs. In these cases, your veterinarian may recommend regular urine tests to check for signs of infection.

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Diagnosis Of Urinary Tract Infection In Dogs

When you decide to transport and bring your canine companion to the clinic, the veterinary team will be ready to quickly diagnose the reason for your pets discomfort. The veterinarian may begin the visit with the following questions.

• How long has your dog been unwell?
• Can you tell us about the behavioral changes you have noticed, such as dietary habits or activity level?
• Has your dog been prescribed any medications of late, and how did he respond to the treatment?
• What kind of urinary changes have you observed?

A physical exam will take place and will most likely include palpation of the abdomen to check for pain or renal abnormalities. Diagnostic tests could comprise of a biochemical profile , and a complete blood count . A urinalysis will likely be recommended, which may indicate the presence of proteins, pus, and blood, and to analyze the PH level of the urine. The urine may then be cultured in order to grow and verify the bacteria responsible for the UTI.

The veterinary specialist may also want to perform an ultrasound or radiograph, to look for stones or lesions. A contrast study could be possible because it is an excellent way to look for anatomic defects.