YvetteVal Posted October 28, 2009 Share Posted October 28, 2009 Gracie keeps getting UTI's and I was wondering if anyone had any experience with this. My vet said maybe it's structural and she could get a vulvectomy to make sure urine wasn't getting left in her vulva . Also, it may be that she squats too low and gets germs on her that way. One other thing he suggested is that I wipe her after she pees. The vulvectomy seems a little drastic to me....any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinM Posted October 28, 2009 Share Posted October 28, 2009 Was she on Clavamox for 10 days? Quote ROBIN ~ Mom to: Beau Think It Aint, Chloe JC Allthewayhome, Teddy ICU Drunk Sailor, Elsie N Fracine , Ollie RG's Travertine, Ponch A's Jupiter~ Yoshi, Zoobie & Belle, the kitties. Waiting at the bridge Angel Polli Bohemian Ocean , Rocky, Blue,Sasha & Zoobie & Bobbi Greyhound Angels Adoption (GAA) The Lexus Project Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaliforniaGreys Posted October 28, 2009 Share Posted October 28, 2009 A Vulvaplasty sounds terrible but I can tell you that a number of people here have had it done and are happy they did so. Hopefully they will chime in. Misty needed it but we never did it because we had to insure she couldn't lick the incision area and nothing worked that would insure that. What I had to do was everytime I saw her pee, I would wipe her clean and apply creamy desitin to the area which helped to keep her clean and helped not allow the bacteria to form in that area. Are you sure that the UTI was totally cleared up? Quote Missing my little Misty who took a huge piece of my heart with her on 5/2/09, and Ekko, on 6/28/12 For the sick, the lost, and the homeless Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burpdog Posted October 28, 2009 Share Posted October 28, 2009 How long on antibiotics and was the urine cultured? Which antibiotics has she been on? Do you have well or city water? Filtered? Quote Diane & The Senior Gang Burpdog Biscuits Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Energy11 Posted October 28, 2009 Share Posted October 28, 2009 Cari does this (Squats low), and she does get some UTIs. I wipe her off after she urinates, and she seems fine. She does have one right now. Me? Wouldn't do the surgery unless it was the last resort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest longdoglady Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 Anna has the same problem, the vet says she has a juvenile vagina and vulva. She takes Incurin ( 1 mg Estriol) which has made a huge difference. Her vulva is now more "pushed out" so urine is not being trapped behind it. She is so much happier in herself and infection free. Dogs are very interested in sniffing her butt when infection is there so I use that as a guideline. She takes one tablet a day, I tried reducing it to half but her vulva shrank and she got an infection again. They can take up to two a day. Estriol is shortlasting so does not affect the bone marrow. I hope you manage to resolve this without surgery. Anna sends Gracie her sympathy and hopes she is better soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YvetteVal Posted October 29, 2009 Author Share Posted October 29, 2009 She was on a 7 day anitbiotic. Her urine wasn't cultured but I just had it rechecked yesterday and she is clean. We have city water. Today I am going to talk to our regular vet and see what she thinks. I am going to ask her about the Estriol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batmom Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 How long since she finished the last course of antibiotics? You want to wait a good 7-10 days after finishing to recheck. If she gets another one, I would culture and give a longer course of antibiotics. Quote Star aka Starz Ovation (Ronco x Oneco Maggie*, litter #48538), Coco aka Low Key (Kiowa Mon Manny x Party Hardy, litter # 59881), and mom in IllinoisWe miss Reko Batman (Trouper Zeke x Marque Louisiana), 11/15/95-6/29/06, Rocco the thistledown whippet, 04/29/93-10/14/08, Reko Zema (Mo Kick x Reko Princess), 8/16/98-4/18/10, the most beautiful girl in the whole USA, my good egg Joseph aka Won by a Nose (Oneco Cufflink x Buy Back), 09/22/2003-03/01/2013, and our gentle sweet Gidget (Digitizer, Dodgem by Design x Sobe Mulberry), 1/29/2006-11/22/2014, gone much too soon. Never forgetting CJC's Buckshot, 1/2/07-10/25/10. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Greensleeves Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 (edited) I would *definitely* try a *much* longer course of antibiotics before committing to surgery. And can you clarify what you mean by "recurrent?" In your first post you say she "keeps getting UTIs," but in your update it sounds like she's just been treated for the one? Our experience is with recurrent bladder infections, which have pretty similar symptoms, and Jasmine did eventually have to have a cystotomy (surgery to remove bladder stones), but we treated with more conservative measures for more than a year before we went that route. Jasmine was on one antibiotic for *at least* three weeks. I can't recall the name of it--it started with a C and came in little individual packets (may have been the Clavamox). ETA: IIRC, one of the more conservative routes you can try is to change her diet (which is something we had to do with Jasmine). I think there may be a couple of prescription urinary diets available (I know there are for cats, and I'm assuming there are for dogs, as well). Edited October 29, 2009 by Greensleeves Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Spencers_Greyt Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 Spencer used to have recurring UTIs as well. The vet would take a look at the urine in office and then prescribe an antibiotic. After about 3 times, he said that we should probably send out the results for a full complete analyisis which cost way more but it narrowed it down to the exact problem so he could prescribe the exact right antibiotic for the problem. Spencer hasn't had a problem since. So ask your vet for a full culture of the urine if he hasn't already done that instead of looking at it under a microscope or whatever they do in office. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sja5032 Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 Cranberry juice or pills sometimes help flush out the system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YvetteVal Posted October 29, 2009 Author Share Posted October 29, 2009 Gracie is on a prescription diet already..Royal Canin S/O for crystals in her urine. Her last UTI was in July and the most recent just last week. The antibiotic was Orbax/Baytril/Dicural which they said was pretty strong. They did recommend a full culture if she gets another UTI. Thanks for all the advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest eaglflyt Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 (edited) Please click on THIS ARTICLE. Our girl, Ady Bea, has this issue. She was on a long course of Clavamox for her UTI a few months ago. We had a urine culture done to make sure the bacteria she was infected with was treated with the appropriate antibiotic. Our vets (both our regular vet and the Emergency Vet) suggested that we lift the fold of skin she has that covers over the top of her vulva (this takes a bit of coordination) and clean with a warm wet cloth the external parts and especially in the fold of skin that overlaps the area. We do this daily and follow with a thin coating of Neosporin ointment on the area, then letting the fold of skin go back to it's original position. Also, be sure to wipe away from her vaginal opening when cleaning. If you wipe toward it to clean, you can be pushing bacteria toward the opening. I hope this is helpful. We havent' had any more UTIs since we've been doing daily, or every other day, maintenance. If this does become an ongoing issue of UTIs for our girl, we will have the surgery done. Oh, I'd also suggest having a urine culture done after the antibiotic treatment has been completed to make sure the infection has been completely cleared. It could be your girl is just having a single infection that has never completely been cleared and it is just becoming symptomatic again after a period of time when everyone thought she had been successfully treated. edited to add information Edited October 29, 2009 by eaglflyt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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