Bladder tap or regular sample: How to confirm dog's UTI is gone?

Yes, urinary infections can be difficult to clear up so to make sure the infection is gone they will do the culture. It's best to do this as you don't want Koda to get UTIs frequently. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help answer your veterinary questions.

The culture is helpful for identifying the organism responsible for the infection, but is not necessary to determine the presence of infection. An infection can be detected by a routine urinalysis, which would include a microscopic evaluation of the urine. Considering this, a urine culture would not be necessary unless there was other reasons for doing it. I hope that helps and all is well with Hanz.

Cultures need to go through a sterile procedure because a free catch urine will grow bacteria since bacteria naturally live at the end of the urethra. I recommend to discuss your concerns with your vet who may be able to put you at ease. Please feel free to post any additional questions.

It may be that Goofy has a bladder stone or has a tumor in his bladder that is an underlying issue. If a bacterial culture hasn't yet been done, that should be considered as well to determine definitively whether or not there is an active infection. Talk to your vet about an X-ray or an abdominal ultrasound to further investigate. While the ALT and globulin are slightly high, they aren't terribly high out of the normal range. Its reasonable to repeat these blood tests in 1-2 weeks and see if the values have normalized. Neither of those bloodwork findings are terribly alarming to me, especially if Goofy isn't showing any symptoms. Follow up with your vet in a week or so to recheck bloodwork and discuss doing X-rays or an ultrasound (sonogram). Thanks for asking Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

A urine culture every few months is a good way to monitor and ensure that she doesn't have a "hidden infection," and the trouble is that with many infections, the pH of the urine will increase which increases the liklihood of struvite formation. I know that cystocentesis sounds scary, but actually most dogs tolerate it very well, and most vets and vet techs are extremely competent with this technique. Repeat urine cultures are great. If you aren't comfortable with that, though, talk to your vet. A simple UA could be done to watch for building crystal numbers, (however, any UA is best obtained via cystocentesis to minimize contamination). Feed soft or canned food or add some water to dry food to increase her moisture intake; the more dilute her urine is the less likely that stones will form. I am sorry that we weren't able to get to your question sooner. Thank you for asking Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach, and good luck with Maggie!

Surprising, most dogs and cats do not react when the needle is inserted. The pets are typically rolled on their backs and pressure is applied to the bladder to isolate it. I think the pets are focusing more on this than the needle. The bladder should be located just under the skin (just like a vein in your arm). It is expected to be quick for most pets (30 seconds or less). The bigger the bladder, the easier it is. My clinic opens at 7 am so I will have clients waiting for me at 7 am and will not have let their pets go to the bathroom since the night before. This makes things easy and fast in general. Talk with your vet about your options.

In general, a dog should be off antibiotics for 10-14 days prior to a urine culture, but sometimes we will culture a dog that has not been off antibiotics that long if we suspect that there is still an infection. I would certainly discuss that with the specialist and get their recommendation. I'm so sorry that you are dealing with a challenging problem in such a young puppy, but I hope the specialist is able to help Jett. Good luck! I hope that was helpful and answered your question. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.