Urinary Infection
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| I would recommend having a specimen taken (sterile) and cultured to determine what antibiotic will treat the infection.
How old is Willow? Sometimes this can be caused by an immature or inverted vulva - but I would think that your Vet would be able to identify that. Be sure you keep the area clean and she gets plenty of fluids. If this continues (and they've done a culture) - I would see if there's a medical cause behind it. Best of Luck! Kristen |
| It's also important that all medication is given as prescribed, on time, until it is gone. If a dose or two was missed, the infection can return, and then be resistant to the antibiotic. Has the vet tried different antibiotics? |
| Has your vet said anything to you about x-rays or an ultrsound?? She may have bladder stones that are causing this. Special urinary diets can sometimes break them down, but it depends on what kind of stone.
Sometimes surgery is necessary to remove them also. If your vet has not talked about this after this many infections, call them and ask some questions!! If she were to have stones, the money you have probably already spent on vet visit, urinalysis, and antibiotics most likely would have already paid for surgery or close to it. Keep us informed |
| Good thought Hannah! Alot of Vets don't think of bladder stones - especially in a young dog - but it's becoming more common! |
| I just remembered that this is "Willow" the excited pee'r - this may have something to do with it too - she may not be "relieving" her entire bladder - which can cause problems with UTIs. If she's just pee'n a little when she's excited - and then doesn't relieve herself completely - she may be having a return flow into the bladder.
If she starts to pee (out of excitement) - take her outside and let her finish. |
| Emptying of the bladder at odd times can also be caused by bladder stones.
At work we have removed stones as small as pin heads or as large as a tennis ball. If you have a large stone that is taking up all the room, she would have to go more often and at weird times. |
| How is Willow's UTI? |
| Thanks to everybody that responded to my message. Today is the last day of Willow's antibiotic, but she still seems to be licking herself more than normal. I'm going to take another urine sample in for analysis tomorrow. Please keep your fingers crossed.
Its interesting that her excitment pee could be a reason for the reoccuring infections. I'm going to try the suggestion about making her go out and finish urinating after someone comes to the house. Maybe not relieving herself totally is the cause. I'm also going to ask the vet to do an ultrasound just to rule out stones. This definitely doesn't seem to be Willow's week. On top of the urinary infection, I've noticed recently that her right eye always has hair in it (literally stuck to her eyeball). It seems to be irritating her and now I've got myself convinced that it might be entropia. Does anyone have any experience with that? |
| Entropia is when the eyelashes grow inward instead of outward, and it can be very damaging. My friend has a weimeraner who had this, and after surgery it recurred even worse, and again after subsequent surgeries. I'm not sure if they have developed a better procedure for it yet, but I hope so! |
| You may want to wait on the sample for tomorrow. If she has been on meds and finished today, they are still in her system and will mess the test up. You should wait at least 5 days before running another urinalysis.
Her eye problem could be Entropion or just a Dry Eye. I have a Shar Pei, and when he was a year, he had to have Entropion surgery. His was caused from all the wrinkles on his head, they were making the eye lids turn under. Everything went great, but it wasn't cheap!! When he was about 6 it was happening again. When he went to have surgery again, I told the Dr. , please remove about 2 layers of his wrinkles (doggie face lift). Dr said absolutely not!!! It will ruin the breed. I said, "yeah well it's ruining my pocket book." Anyway, He hasn't had anymore problems. Both surgery's went fine with no problems. What did we all learn from my story???? Never get a Shar Pei !! Don't get me wrong, I love him very much, but lord what a problem dog!!!!!!!! |
My aunt's bloodhound had the same problem Hannah! That's her lesson as well - never get a bloodhound (there's many other reasons why she warns against this as well!  Madison's eyes drooped so much she would tip her head upside down if she wanted to see something (watch TV, etc.). She was a character!!!
In terms of the urine sample - I would actually request that the Vet obtain one (when it's time) by sterile methods (cystocentesis) and ensure they do a culture and sensitivity (that's a must to determine what antibiotic will be effective in treatment). Good Luck! Kristen |
I have had a few sites saved on entropian, as it effects the Old english sheepdog and from what I have read is genetic. Here are the 2 sites I have saved. Hope this helps. 
http://www.upei.ca/~cidd/Diseases/ocula ... ropion.htm http://www.vrcc.com/docs/entropion.pdf Good luck, and I hope Willow is feeling better soon. Stormi and co. |
| I spoke with Willow's vet last night. The urine sample came back normal. That's the good news. The bad news is that the vet thinks its reoccurring vaginitis that keeps causing the infections. Apparently Willow has a "hood" or flap of skin over her vagina and moisture and bacteria get trapped and cause vaginitis which in turn causes the uriniary tract infections. It may require a vaginal tuck surgery. The vet recommended I seek a second opinion from an internal medicine/surgery specialist in Allentown, PA. I'm going to make an appointment this week. The other good news is that there is an ophthamologist on staff at this clinic, so I can have her eye looked at at the same time. Thanks for all of the great advice and well wishes for Willow! |
| Willow's Mom - where are you from? I live 10 miles outside Allentown, PA.
Chris |
| Inverted Vulva (an "INNIE") is a common genetic problem. The vaginitis can sometimes be helped with cleaning the area and there is a prescription wipe to treat this as well (like a Yeast Infection cream cloth). Urine incontinence can make this worse - because the urine gets trapped in the folds of skin - leading to a build up of bacteria.
Often surgical treatment is required. I think it can be a rather expensive surgery though! 
My aunt's Golden Retriever puppy, Brady, has this condition. Her breeder identified the problem before my Aunt took her home - and called hysterical - they were apologetic and explained the situation - informing my Aunt that they understood if she didn't want to take her. They had spoken to their Vet and the future was unsure as to what they would need to do in terms of treatment and/or surgery. So - they told my Aunt that if she wanted to take the puppy anyway - they would give her to them for free!  She took some time to think about it (not long) and decided that she wanted the puppy - she didn't care what was wrong (and was very grateful that the breeder was so honest). The breeder cried they were so happy! Brady is doing fine (so far) - but they have been advised to keep the area clean and they will take it day by day.
If you have a relationship with Willow's breeder - let them know - because this is genetic. I hope surgery isn't required for Willow - I'll keep her in my thoughts. Good Luck! Kristen |
| We have an appointment on Monday afternoon with a specialist. So we'll see what he says. You guys/gals are a wealth of information. I am so glad I found this forum. I'm also glad to hear that you have heard of this before. Its a bummer that it is a genetic problem and even more of a bummer that corrective surgery is pretty much the only way to fix it. I have been wiping that area when Willow comes in from outside, but with her excitment pee and the fact that she has had reoccurring problems with it, I think if the specialist recommends surgery, I should probably do it. I hate the thought of Willow continuing to have UTIs. They are painful.
Thanks for all of the wonderful advice! |
| Well, we saw the specialist today and he confirmed that Willow is going to need surgery to correct her inverted vulva. Its the only way to prevent the urinary infections from continuously coming back. On top of that, she does have an entropia and will need to have the corrected as well. Oh and Kristen, you were right, it is expensive. The specialist in Allentown wanted $975 for the vulva tuck surgery and an additional $600 for the eye surgery. I am consulting with Willow's normal vet to see if these procedures are something they do on a regular basis and what they charge. I'll keep you all posted.
Thanks for the well wishes for Willow. As much as I didn't want to put her through surgery, I think its going to be the best for her in the long run. |
| I'm sorry that Willow will require surgery - but it is what is best for her. It's so upsetting to find out things like this - but once she has surgery she should be fine. Hang in there!
My thoughts and prayers are with you both! Kristen |
| Wow, that is expensive, but not really if you think in terms of better quality of life for your fur kid, and also it will probably save you more money than the initial cost because you hopefully won't have to deal with any more recurring infections, and repetitive vet visits!
You're being a great mommy to Willow, and she will love you for years which is priceless in it's own right  |
| I totally agree that the surgery will be better for her in the long run. I hate to think of her continuing to get urinary tract infections (they are painful). So I'm waiting for her regular vet to call me back to set up a time. They say it will take about 2 full weeks of recovery time and that she will have to wear an e-collar. Does anyone have any experience with these collars? Do the dogs adjust easily to wearing them? |
| Willow's surgeries for the inverted vulva and eye entropia are scheduled for Tuesday, February 15th. Thanks to all of you who have been asking about her. I will keep you all posted on the surgery and her recovery. |
| We'll be thinking of her! I'm sure she'll recover quickly, and will probably feel better than ever before in no time, since she won't be dealing with constant infections. |
| After xrays and ultrasound and sterile culture and months of treatment with cephalexin and, subsequently, clavamox, my girl (three-year-old female OES) still has blood in her urine.
Today we went to NC State vet school. As I write this, they are taking blood and another sterile sample to culture and another ultrasound. If whatever antibiotic indicated by the culture doesn't work, the vet thinks her hooded vulva might be the problem because it creates a nice environment for bacteria to infiltrate. Next step would be to do a little surgical modification of the hood. Thought I'd share since nowhere in my surfing research did I find anything about a hooded vulva nor did her regular vets who charged over $1000 for her tests and treatment to-date give it a thought (guess they prefer the steady income stream). Will post outcome. |
| I emailed you privately but wanted to say, we used the Comfy cone instead of the e collar for recovering from surgery. We tried the bite not collar and the doughnut thing and they didn't work. The "Comfy Cone" worked great and they can drink and eat and its soft - unlike the plastic e collar.
Only problem, we needed the largest size and it was hard to find. If you're thinking of getting it, start looking to order it now. I got mine at Pet Co bu they are available on line too. I think entirely pets has it. Good luck with the surgery! |
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