Recurrent Bladder Infections

[Guest greymary]

I was reading the thread about recurrent bladder infections and noticed a few had tried Naturvet Cranberry Relief. I have an 11 year old female who has yet another bladder infection, and so I'm wondering how many of you have tried adding this to their dog's food and how successful it was.

 

I'm also going to suggest to my vet that we put our girl on a low-dose antibiotic long term. I believe I read someone had done this for 6 months.

 

Thanks for sharing your experiences.

GreyMary

[Sighthounds4me]

I wouldn't think you'd need to use a specific brand name cranberry tablet. I would think it would cost more, and you should be able to just go to the local drugstore and buy any old cranberry tablet.

 

I have been told, though, by a vet, that cranberry does little for dogs. I don't know how true that is, just throwing it out there.

 

Cranberry is unlikely to hurt, though, even if it does not help, so it's worth a shot!

[VinnieAndRexsMom]

Our friends use Solid Gold Berry Balance powder. Bandit has done great with it and has had no new infections.

http://www.solidgoldhealth.com/products/sh...25&code=509

 

 

[Batmom]

Have you had a urine culture done? That can be very valuable in pinpointing which bacteria are causing the infection and thus which antibiotic will knock it out.

[Guest greymary]

I wouldn't think you'd need to use a specific brand name cranberry tablet. I would think it would cost more, and you should be able to just go to the local drugstore and buy any old cranberry tablet.

 

I have been told, though, by a vet, that cranberry does little for dogs. I don't know how true that is, just throwing it out there.

 

Cranberry is unlikely to hurt, though, even if it does not help, so it's worth a shot!

 

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond. I'll be talking to the vet about this, and I appreciate your information. GreyMary

 

Our friends use Solid Gold Berry Balance powder. Bandit has done great with it and has had no new infections.

http://www.solidgoldhealth.com/products/sh...25&code=509

 

 

Thank you. I've written this down and will check it out.

GreyMary

 

Have you had a urine culture done? That can be very valuable in pinpointing which bacteria are causing the infection and thus which antibiotic will knock it out.

 

 

Oh yes. I always bring the vet a sample when I suspect a bladder infection, and the antibiotic has seemed to work each time; but then a couple of months later we're back again with the same problem. I will say, though, Amber doesn't seem too uncomfortable. So, that's a good thing. Anyway, thanks for taking the time to respond.

GreyMary

[Xan]

Another thing to try is Cantharis. It's a homeopathic, and I use it for myself and my male cat for bladder infections. I would suggest using it either as a regular supplement, or at the very first sign of infection, or if she's under stress (which can trigger bladder infections in those who are prone to them, like me and my cat!) If the symptoms don't improve, then go the antibiotic route, but this helps us to nip the little buggers in the bud, FAST!!

[Guest MomofSweetPotatoes]

GreyMary, the urine culture is a bit different. What they will do is catheterize your dog or put a fine needle into the bladder and extract a clean catch of urine. Then they will grow it to find the exact bacteria that is causing the bladder infection. From there, they put a bit of antibiotics in each area of the dish. This will pinpoint which antibiotic is appropriate for the bacteria. With this, it will make it easier for them to kill off the bacteria in the bladder, because sometimes even after a repeat urinalysis that comes back negative, it can be false with a few bacteria lingering, but not reading on the urinalysis.

 

 

We did this several times with Yardman. Part of what set back his recovery is that we did too many rounds of broadspectrum antibiotics which made his bacteria become resistant. So, please be careful if you decide to go that route. It took us about 6 months before he eradicated a long standing bladder infection. With the clean catch we found that there were 3 antibiotics that would kill off his particular bacteria. 2 were injectable and 1 was pill form. We did the pill form in a longer than normal dose and finally he is bacteria free.

 

To answer your question, we just give plain old cranberry tablets. Nothing fancy. So far, so good

Edited October 28, 2007 by MomofSweetPotatoes

[Guest whatahound]

My Nikki has had reoccuring UTI's. They were happening every 6 to 8 months. I started giving her cranberry relief and filtered water. It's been a year and 8 months with no problems.

Edited October 29, 2007 by whatahound