You should be able to get a sample at home. Use a clean pie plate to catch the urine. If it is delivered to the vet fairly quickly, any bacteria present in the plate won't have a chance to grow out, so all the vet will find will be from her sample.

How old is your dog? And I assume it is a female, is that right? Sometimes young females have frequent UTIs that do go away as the dog matures. If the dog is an adult, I personally believe diet can affect the frequency of UTIs. We have one dog that had frequent infections as a puppy, but had outgrown them and had not had one for six years. We had to change foods when the recalls came around, and boom! She had a recurrent UTI. We changed to another food that did indeed have cranberry extract in it and she no longer had issues. Maybe coincidence, but I believe the acidity of the second food helped out.

Poor dog, it must be miserable for them just as it is for humans.

The best thing you can do for any animal with a urinary infection or crystal formation problem (as long as the animal isn't completely blocked) is to convince her to take in as much water as possible every single day AND to take her outside to empty her bladder as often as possible. The more water you can keep flushing through her system, the healthier her urinary tract will be. You can increase water intake by feeding her canned food mixed into a gruel with hot water. You can do the same with dry kibble by soaking it in hot water until it turns mushy, then mashing it into a gruel with more warm water. You should also place additional water bowls all around your house to prompt her to drink more. You might also consider spiking her water with some salt-free (garlic-free and onion-free) chicken broth.

Laurie

Prairie,
Thanks for your advice. My dog is a female, and she is a 9-year-old lab. She never got UTI's as a puppy. She got one here and there throughout her life, but lately she's been getting them frequently (she has one now and had one a couple of months ago...and I think she had 2 other ones pretty close together about a year before). I know how she must feel, because I used to get them a lot as a child...it's horrible! As for food, I used to feed her Nutro, but I recently switched to human grade food. I started to give her Fromm's several months ago, and then switched to Wellness (senior) about a month ago because I didn't like the loose consistency of her stool. Of course I did both food switches gradually. Maybe I should try and get some Cranberry extract since it worked on your dog? Or try some cranberry pills?

Laurie,
Thanks for your advice too. Once she starts with the antibiotics she gets better pretty quickly...I'm more concerned with how to prevent the problem in the future. However, she always has a full bowl of water and I take her out as often as I can (I work full time, so it's not every 2 hours....but that's been her schedule since she was 2 months old - plus, I have no choice..I need to work in order to pay her bills!!). The reason I thought the infection came back is because when I walked her she would urinate very little, but several times in one walk - usually, she does one big pee. Anyway, I will take your advice and add some water to her kibble for now - I don't like to do that normally since the dry kibble helps to clean her teeth, but for now I'll do what I can. Again though, I'm not worried about *this* instance of the UTI, I want to find a way to prevent recurrence.

Thanks for your input,
Gabi

Increasing her water intake IS one of the best ways to prevent a recurrence. If her system is being constantly flushed with water, bacteria and urinary crystals don't have a chance to build up and multiply in her urinary tract. More water = fewer infections.

Dry food is the WORST option for an animal prone to urinary infections. It will actually draw water out of the urinary tract while processing the dry food. If you speak to your vet, I'm sure that (s)he will recommend that you switch to a canned diet to increase fluid intake with the food. You can always brush your dog's teeth to remove plaque. It's not as easy to deal with urinary infections, as you already know.

You should be looking for ways to increase her fluid intake on a permanent basis if you want to try to prevent recurring UTIs.

Laurie

I just checked your previous posts. Is this the same dog with neuro signs, back issues and declining anal tone? The UTIs are likely part of continuing deterioration. Has she seen a neurologist? Yes, cranberry capsules preventively may help, and lots of fluids, but you also may want to consider other options to treat the medical issue which is making her more susceptible to the UTIs. You can feed kibble with water but don't let it soak. Feed immediately, many dogs will drink the water to get to the kibble before it gets mushy.

Laurie,
Thanks for your suggestions, but I will not switch to canned food. I've seen what it does to teeth. I do brush my dog's teeth frequently, and I give her hard bones to chew on...but I am just not into canned food. I will find other ways to prevent the UTI's. Also, she drinks tons of water as it is. Thanks for your input though.

Cynthia,
Yes, same dog. That's what my vet said...he said it may be from the neuro issues. I couldn't see why, but the truth is that it's gotten worse since she had the spinal meningioma. She does see a neurologist, and had an MRI 6 weeks ago which showed scar tissue in the area where the tumor was removed (and also radiation was done). Her current neurologist (and also a top neurologist in my state that did the initial surgery) both say that surgery to free up the scar tissue is way too dangerous and probably won't fix the situation, since scar tissue is WAY too difficult to remove...and the surgery could likely end up in paralysis. She also has bad reactions to steroid treatment. So there is nothing I can do "medically". However, she goes to a chiropractor weekly (I know, I thought it was crazy too...in the beginning - but I had to find other ways to help her), and since she has started going she is able to JUMP into my SUV (couldn't do that for 3 years...which was when this all started) and she also immediately stopped having BM accidents (which was a result of the decline in anal tone). So the chiropractor visits are helping. She's also taking a holistic anti-inflammatory pill daily. I started putting water in her food last night as per Laurie's suggestion, and I will continue to do that indefinitely (I hear what you are saying about not letting it soak...I also don't want to do that because that will defeat the purpose of giving dry food for her teeth). And I will go get some cranberry capsules today. Thank you so much for your suggestions - I really appreciate it.

Gabi

One of my shih tzus was getting frequent UTI's and the vet I worked for recommended Science diet prescription food to keep her on for life that would be more suitable to her needs. After many rounds of antibiotics, several UTI's, and several urine samples and cysto procedures- the vet recommended Royal Canin prescription food- we went through the ordeal all over again.
I started researching foods and came to find these were both poor quality foods with a very hefty price tag. I found that Solid Gold carried a formula that met her needs as far as not contributing to UTI's. I started her on the Solid Gold dry food (Holistique Blendz) and she is fed 1/4c. dry food with 1/4c. water added to it twice a day and she has not had a problem since then and it has been almost a year.
She also used to smell like Frito's, infected ears, itchy/flaky skin, and this was while she was always on Science Diet's line of food- the Royal Canin made the ear infections worse. But the best part is no more UTI's and her improved health.

Thanks Groomingal. That's quite helpful to know. I just came back from picking up some cranberry capsules, and if these don't work by the time her bag of food is done, I will try that food you recommended. I just bought a 30lb bag of Wellness a few days ago, so it would be wasteful for me to switch foods now. But it's nice to know there's a food that works for UTI's.

Gabi

I highly recommend Solid Gold Berry Balance. It completely cured the UTI's for one of our dogs and our cat.

Thanks Tinkybell. I appreciate both food recommendations and will keep them in the back of my mind in case the UTI's continue, but for now I need to finish my $58 bag of Wellness Super5 Senior. That's a great food as well (human grade, and was recommeded by my vet), and I recently switched to it, so maybe that will help. I've also been giving her 1 cranberry capsule a day (extra strength), and lots of water.

Thanks again,
Gabi

tinkybell- where did you get the Berry Balance from solid gold? I didn't know they carried that, well at least the store here doesn't. I'm going to have to check into that one.

Solid Gold Berry Balance is a supplement, not a food. Ingredients: Rice Flour, Cranberry Extract, Ascorbic Acid, Blueberry Extract, Marshmallow, Silica Gel, Natural Flavoring. It's the cranberry that helps, I'd stick with the human grade capsules.

This has been a very interesting topic to read. I have a 3 year old that has gastrointestinal problems. She is currently being treated for Inflammatory Bowel Disease. The vet has her on Royal Canin Duck and Potato. It seems to be the only food that she has been able to keep down -- venison made her violently ill. She has been on this diet since early September. On December 28 she started urinating blood. It was so bloody that her urine looked black. She was diagnosed with a UTI and is taking antibiotics, which she loves and does tricks to get -- silly dog.

Anyway, now I'm not sure what to do. I'm afraid that her food may have caused the UTI after reading this thread, but I'm afraid to change her food for fear of her throwing up blood again.

Any suggestions? Sorry Gabro for the threadjack.