Vaginal Discharge And Infection

[macoduck]

Pudge, my 12 y. o. mutt, has had some recurring infections over the past 4 months. The first 2 times it was on her belly near her vagina. The skin was red, slightly bump, she kept wanting to lick it. She didn't mess her vaginal area. Vet did a swab and found lots of bacteria. Each time she was put on a course of Clamavox and I used Pharmaseb skin wipes (from the vet). By the end of each round she had cleared up.

 

Now she has a snot-like discharge from her vagina. When she isn't trying to lick it she's leaving gobs of it wherever she's resting. I just noticed it today and will be calling in for an appointment in the morning. She is otherwise her normal, semi-active self, given her age.

 

A big concern is that she is in end stage renal failure. We don't want an infection to retrograde into her kidneys. Her labwork hasn't been great over the past year but at least it's stable. She's on Atenolol and Royal Canin's kidney kibble.

 

Regarding this awful discharge, what other meds can I ask the vet about? Will a culture or other testing necessary? Is Clamavox the strongest stuff out there?

 

 

[GreyPoopon]

FWIW:

 

I've had four kidney dogs in the last couple of years. Three of the four had the discharge, at least part of the time. The worst was Jessie. We could sometimes clear it up with antibiotics, but it would recur. The vet tried flushing her out, and that made it much worse. We stopped treating her. I wiped her with a baby wipe after she urinated (or when we got home for a walk), and otherwise just cleaned up after her.

 

I'm hoping someone else has found a better solution both for you, and for my remaining kidney girls.

 

ETA: I've also found that my kidney dogs have had very leaky eyes. I mentioned both the discharge and the eye leaks to my vet, and she thought it was more related to the immune system than the kidneys per se. Again, it would be interesting to know if someone else has a better answer.

Edited December 17, 2013 by GreyPoopon

[Guest IrskasMom]

No Advice Ducky , just hoping your Pudgie is alright

[krissy]

There isn't really such a thing as "strong vs weak" antibiotics. There's really just different antibiotics that work against different bacteria. So a particular antibiotic might be very strong against bacteria A, intermediate against B, and C is totally resistant. If you have bacteria C you won't see the results you want, but not because the antibiotic is "weak" but because it doesn't have good activity against that particular bacteria. That's why cultures can be important depending on the results we want/need and the importance of avoiding resistance and treatment failure.

[macoduck]

A swab showing an overabundance of bacteria. Pudge will now be on Baytril for 10 days. I'm to call with an update after 5 days.

She also had her anal glands expressed. She has the firmest poop of all my dogs but still needs expressing every few months.