My dog has UTIs. Are Cosequin and Duralactin safe for his kidneys?

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. If Kansas has an active UTI, I would recommend antibiotics for treatment. If there is not a current infection and an infection was just treated, you can use cranberry supplementation to help maintain urinary tract health. I recommend using Paxon but there are many other choices and you can find them at Petco. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

Thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach with your question about Bella. You are absolutely correct, you need to make sure they are safe before giving them to her. Without knowing the type and brand of supplement, I can't say if they are safe to give to her or not. Speak to her vet about the supplements you want to give her, and they can advise you on the safety and efficacy of them. I hope this helps!

No, there should not be any correlation. As a matter of fact Glucosamine has benn shown to be beneficial for the lining of the bladder also. You can keep giving the chondroitin and glucosamine to MoJo. But do have the UTI diagnosed and treated by a veterinarian. Male dogs rarely get UTIs, so there may be something more serious going on such as a kidney infection or prostate infection.

Thank you for submitting your question regarding your dog. I agree that he requires a further work up. It is not common for male dogs to develop urinary tract infections given their anatomy. I would recommend that he has bloodwork and x-rays of his abdomen. You need to rule out any metabolic disorder and uroliths (bladder stones or kidney stones). Then I would proceed with the abdominal ultrasound. Occasionally prostate disease can cause recurrent urinary signs. This is uncommon in such a young dog though. It may be easiest to pursue a consult with an internal medicine specialist. I hope you are able to get an answer and his problems resolved. Good luck!

Make sure your vet does a culture on the urine to be sure your pup is on the right antibiotic. Then, make sure to recheck the urine at the end of the antibiotics to make sure the infection is resolved. If you haven't yet, get an xray to make sure there are no bladder stones present. Make sure your dog doesn't have a recessed vulva or a vaginal stricture that traps the urine and leads to infection. If these things don't work, there are also supplements like probiotics, herbal products, and even foods that can help. A good holistic vet could help with this.

In dogs, recurrent urinary tract infections are often caused by persistent bacterial infections that can alter the pH of the urine. Sometimes the result of this can be the formation of urinary crystals, and ultimately larger urinary bladder stones. If Ashlynn hasn't had an x-ray ever, I would recommend getting at least one just to make sure nothing has formed or is in the process of forming. As to your question regarding prevention of future UTIs, it would depend upon what bacteria is the culprit in her previous infections (as this would likely be the culprit in future ones as well). There is some evidence both scientific and anecdotal that indicates that cranberry juice or cranberry supplements can help prevent certain strains of e. coli bacteria from sticking to the bladder's wall. There are many different supplements available, I do not have a preference as to one in particular. If the kidneys and bladder are producing / storing urine at an inappropriate pH, there are special diets that can be fed (both long term or short term) that chance the bladder's pH back to the appropriate level. To confirm if this is a problem, a urinalysis can be ran by your primary veterinarian. With regards to the HW and flea medications, it is unlikely that one of these predisposed her to a UTI. This is not a typical side effect of most medications in that class, and they are not known to lower the immune system enough to cause a secondary urinary tract infection. Hope this makes sense.

I'm so sorry Belle is having urinary tract infection problems. I have not used Might Petz Max Cranberry, but am unsure why it has cranberry seed oil instead of dried cranberry extract in it. There is evidence to suggest that dried cranberry extract is of benefit in preventing urinary tract infections caused from E. coli bacteria, but it does not seem to be because of the pH. Most often, the bacteria increase the pH of the urine and getting rid of the infection will decrease the pH back to normal. However, I do recommend urinary tract supplements for dogs with recurrent urinary tract infections, so I would ask your vet for a recommendation for a cranberry supplement. If they don't have a favorite supplement, I often recommend the following https://www.vetriscience.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=900505090 She is not too young to have such a supplement. Good luck with Belle! Please let me know if that was helpful. Thanks for using PetCoach.