PatricksMom

Leo's gone 2 days with no accidents, basically since the 2nd dose of his new antibiotic and tonight, Henry's hesitating, hesitating, then peeing in the house all of a sudden. We asked the vet if there was anything that could been causing multiple UTI's and she said no, not without crystals in the urine. This spring, Murphy had a UTI, but it was right after we got him so we assumed he'd come in sick. This fall, Henry came up clean, but I was pretty sure it wasn't behavior, so we put him on an antibiotic and the problem stopped right away. Then Leo... any ideas? I know it sounds like they just don't behave, but I really don't think that's it. There's no marking, and they haven't been hitting the same spots.

Yep, go with the capsule, Tramadol is a great drug but nasty stuff. If you use cosequine or knows someone who does, it fits nicely in the leftover capsules.

If you want them to stitch it, I'd go tonight.

I don't know--but I've heard this from multiple practices here about UTI checks on Fridays. This is our 3rd vet down here, I'm not thrilled but vet care just doesn't seem to be what it was in Philly. This practice sees a lot of the dogs of the track, so I'm hoping they'll be better.

Vet felt culturing on a Friday (can't do in house) wasn't a good option. She prescribed sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim together. (smz tmp tabs) which she said were a broad spectrum (unfortuanately she called before I saw the baytril recommendation). We started him on them tonight, hoping for a good outcome for our boy. Also, how common are UTI's in boys? Patrick never had one and it was my impression boys didn't get them much, but then Murphy, Henry, and Leo had one (admittedly several months apart each). DH asked her if it could be something in our water or their food. She said definitly not, she would be seeing crystals in the urine, which were not there. I miss my old vet a lot.

Arg, last night he wet his crate. I called the vet and they said they can't culture because he's on an antibiotic--so why didn't you culture in the first place!. Waiting to hear back from the actual vet, I guess we'll just switch antibiotic and hope for the best? All of his bloodwork (run because he's got an upcoming dental) came back fine. He's currently taking amoxicillian, so any suggestions?

Frontline doesn't work for fleas here--we've been using Trifexis with no problems.

The vet checked for crystals in the urine. I'm annoyed with her and DH for not culturing in the first place, but I couldn't take him when he first went in. His belly band and crate were dry this morning and I just called DH, he seems to be doing just fine today and is staying dry, so hopefully last night was an a one off. As for the baking soda, I don't remember where I read it and I can't imagine getting a dog to drink it, but I've found it helps a lot , even if it does taste disgusting.

Okay, belly-band on him, don't know why I didn't think of that. I'll call the vet in the am--any ideas though? I've dealt w/UTIs in two other male dogs and both have improved right away after starting the antibiotic, is it normal for them to improve then regress this much?

Leo clearly developed a UTI over the weekend. We had him testing on Monday, tested positive, started him on Amoxicilin 500mg, 2x/day w/food. He was getting better, but tonight he peed in the apartment twice and now has started dripping--i.e. we take him out, he pees, he comes in and is still dripping urine seemingly uncontrollably. Any suggestions for getting through the night w/out pee all over the apartment or in his crate? Will call the vet first thing AM, but evets here aren't that good and it doesn't seem like an emergency. Maybe TMI, but when I start getting a UTI, I drink baking soda in warm water. Is this a good idea to try w/him, assuming he'll drink it? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

This is a very timely thread--I was just asking the new vet what her dental anesthesia protocal was, good to see it repeated here.

Can you borrow a bite not collar? They're like a really stiff plastic turtleneck and she might tolerate it better than the cone.

I've dealt with this more than once. The first time we tried stitches (I think 17) + splint, it was horrible, all kinds of pressure sores from the splint, still didn't heal closed. Second time, soaked it 3x a day in warm water with epsom salts, used antibiotic cream, and kept it wrapped lightly with gauze, vet wrap, and then a baby sock the rest of the time. The end result was the same.

Can you take her to Penn for neuro next time? While the medical outcome wasn't positive (not their fault), the treatment we received from the neuro folks there was fantastic, and I had great phone and email communication from the vets themselves. Eta: Maybe we were spoiled, but with my regular vet she always called us with results herself, to let us know Patrick was out of surgery, etc.

UTI check, and even if it's negative try antibiotics. I'm the last person to take antibiotics myself and I know they're over used, but twice I've had dogs test negative for UTI's with random peeing in the house, politely asked to try antibiotics anyway, and have the behavior vanish.

I'm so terribly sorry. Gentle hugs from me and from Henry in SC.

No idea so we didn't vote, we've always adopted very kid friendly dogs, ironic for people who don't have children.

That's a dog figuring out how to save some spoons by getting his alone time.

A friend of mine wrote this piece that I thought was worth posting. She talks about the importance of being aware of and managing your dog's stress to avoid negative outcomes. http://yourdogsfriend.org/spoon-theory-and-funny-dog-gifs/

I'm so so sorry.

I am so sorry, so sorry. Lymphoma is a truly horrible disease and it moves so quickly. We put Murphy on predisone (I believe 25 mg) as well as Tramadol just in case he was in pain and a medication for liver support because his liver was affected (I have no idea if that helped). We had almost 4 good weeks with him, spoiled him rotten, and were able to let him go at home, before he became unhappy. The only side effects from the prednisone at that dose were increased appetite (solved by feeding him 4 meals a day + treats) and increased drinking and urination--nothing that seemed to bother him. These decisions are so difficult and personal and unique to every dog, but I'm pretty sure if I had to do it again I'd do the same thing. But I don't know for sure, if it had been Patrick, who loved rather than feared the vet, I might have done chemo.

I'd take him in. Murphy had excessive discharge in one eye and it turned out to be quite serious.

Ah, Tramadol, that stuff is supposed to be truly disgusting--if Patrick got the slightest taste of it he would foam at the mouth and it was all over. What I used to do was use leftover gel caps from cosequine, put the Tramadol in it so the dog can't taste it at all, then put the gel cap in a treat. If you don't use cosequine, you can usually buy gel caps from a compounding pharmacy or maybe someone on here can save you their gel caps.

Have you checked with a compounding pharmacy? Sometimes they can make up flavored liquid versions of medications that would appeal to a dog. When we've had to give the gross deworming drug, I mixed that w/canned dog food and there was no spitting it out. Also, have you tried holding her mouth closed and firmly stroking her cheeks and throat--sometimes if you do it for long enough that will get them to swallow.

I'm 99% certain Henry has a UTI--appointment is at 9:30 tomorrow morning. In the meantime, is it okay to give him cranberry juice (assuming he'll drink it)? Hopefully this isn't TMI, but I keep straight, undiliuted, unsweeted cranberry juice around for me, mix it 1/2 with water, and it helps a lot. But I didn't know if this was safe for him--I thought I'd try a little bit of it in his water to see if he it helps him feel better until we can get him on an antibiotic.