Reaccuring Uti's

[Guest ibigcrazy]

My Harley has had 4 UTI's since April. He completes his antibiotics, not missing a dose and the UTI clears up. The vet has sent off 4 cultures, this last one grew nothing. He also drew blood and ran all sorts of test. This time nothing showed up in any of the test except for elevated white cell count. As it stands right now the vet want's to finish this series of antibiotics and run a cbc on the day of the last dose to see if the white count has gone down.

Has anyone else had this problem with UTI's? My boy just turned 3 in June and other then the UTI and this elevated white cell count seems perfectly fine, fit, good natured, eats well. Could this elevated white cell count mean he has cancer somewhere in his body?

 

Bobbi

[Guest whatahound]

Hi Bobbi,

 

I know we have talked on another board about Harley. Has he had a dose of Baytril yet. That is the medication Nikki recieved with her UTI's. I'm sure others will have suggestions. Nikki has not had an infection in about 1 1/2 years. The last thing I did was started with the cranberry relief and filtered water.(Brita water pitcher)Hope Harley feels better soon.

 

Oh, I'm thinking Nikki's white cell count was alittle elevated also when she had the infection.

[Guest MomofSweetPotatoes]

You may want to read this thread - recurring bladder infections

 

Some things to consider:

 

1. have you had a clean catch and urine bacterial culture done to see which antibiotics will be most effective to the bacteria?

 

2. Have you had an ultrasound and/or xray of the bladder to check for stones?

 

3. have you tried filtered or bottled water only?

 

4. Have you had his sheath flushed to rinse away any bacteria that may travel up into his urethra?

 

 

Also, we found adding cranberry capsules (1 a day) to yardman's diet has helped stop the return of the nasties that cause UTI's. It changes the PH of the urine so that they can't flourish.

 

It took us about 6-9 months to rid yardman of a long standing UTI. His final culture resulted in only 1 pill form antibiotic and 3 injectables (1 toxic!) that would kill of the bacteria that he was harboring. So, I am a strong proponent of clean catch and bacterial cultures when UTI's just don't quit.

 

Just so you know, the bacterial culture is where they grow the bacteria in the urine, then place different antibiotics into the culture to see which are effective at killing the bacteria and which are not. It saves a lot of unnescessary pill giving.

 

Hope this helps.

 

P.S. Is Harley and IG? The reason I ask is that DianeFG has IG's and she may have more insight into whether it might be an IG related thing or IG related treatment.

Edited September 26, 2007 by MomofSweetPotatoes

[Greytlady94]

UTI's can be stubborm. If the vet has not tried Baytril I would ask him/her to. Definitely only filtered water, and I would also do the cranberry pills or capsules. Momofsweetpotatoes suggestion on having his sheath thoroughly cleaned is a good one also. He should also never be required to "hold it".

 

Has the vet mentioned doing an ultrasound of the kidneys? Possibe fungal infection?

 

Here is a web page with lots of info link

[silverfish]

Other than what's been posted already, I only have one question. Does he get the chance to empty his bladder as often as he needs to on a regular basis? Some dogs don't do well being asked to hold urine for long periods - most people don't, either.

 

I have no idea what his living arrangements are, but if he's indoors for long periods by himself, you might consider getting someone to pop in and let him relieve himself in the middle of the day.

 

Just a thought.

[Guest ibigcrazy]

I am home every day, all day. If I can't be, maybe a day trip there is someone here the entire time or he comes with us. He is a Greyhound, although I do have 4 iggies. We have done 4 cultures so far with only one growing out a bacteria. This is his 3rd series of Baytril. 4 sets of x-rays have been taken. Blood has been taken twice with a full, can't think of the word, done both times. He is getting cranberry relief twice a day, for the past 10 days. That I started after he finished his last series of baytril. At that time we did a culture and blood and it came out clear except for the elevated white cell count. That is the only thing that stays the same no matter what we do. I have not tried filtered water. His sheath has not been flushed. I will ask the vet about both tomorrow. I am just at a loss and really concerned about the elevated white cells and so is the vet.

 

Bobbi

[silverfish]

Then I think I'd ask for a specialist referral after all this time and using heavy duty meds ... Poor little guy. I hope you find out what his problem is soon.

[Guest ibigcrazy]

If we don't get a clear cbc this time around that is our next step. Thanks for everyones input, it is greatly appriciated.

 

Bobbi

[Guest ibigcrazy]

New blood drawn for cbc friday. Results come back on Monday. Doing ultrasound on Monday at noon. Last night was bad. He leaked all over several beds. He could not even stand up or walk with out trickling everywhere. I slept downstairs with him because he just didn't want to get up anymore. He is still drinking and eating. He tried several times during the night to go pee, sometimes standing and postering 15 to 20 minutes at a time. When he finally jumped back up on the deck he then peed quite a bit.

Today he ate all of his breakfast. His first trip outside he stood forever trying to go and then finally got a good flow. Since then we have gone on our regular 2 mile walk and he stopped and peed 3 times with once being completely normal and the other 2 were a bit stressfull. He has since then gone out and peed one normal and came up asking for treats.

Tomorrow if the Vet's can not find anything then we are off to the specialist.

 

Bobbi

[Burpdog]

I hope you find out the cause. When Burp had recurring infections (actually they were never really gone), we did 3 weeks of baytril and finally it was gone! I did switch to filtered water and it made a big difference.

 

Acupuncture and herbs can help.

[Guest ibigcrazy]

The UTI is gone. It was gone when we started him on this 3rd series of the Baytril. The Vet wanted to keep him on it and take another draw of blood before he finished it and then do the ultrasound. I sure hope they find what the problem is cause I can't stand seeing him like this. Right now he is not understanding why everyone else got to eat and he didn't. He can't have breakfast in the morning either.

 

Bobbi