Why does my dog's UTI keep coming back after antibiotic treatment?

She should have an x-ray and/or ultrasound of her bladder to look for bladder stones. Dogs with stones tend to have chronic urinary tract infections. If your vet has already ruled out any stones than her urine should be cultured to make sure the right antibiotic is used. She may need to stay on an antibiotic for an exteneded period of time.

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.

Frequent licking and blood in the urine are signs of an infection. However if it flared after the start of the antibiotics then I would pursue further testing. Did they do anytime sample tonxhexk for cells and crystals and see what bacteria what present? From there you need an X-ray or an ultrasound to make sure there are no bladder stones as this can require surgery or the problem will keep occurring without.

I would recommend taking Crybaby back to the vet for re-evaluation. Some dogs can have recurrent UTIs, but often they are secondary to a bigger issue, such as bladder stones, cancer, or anatomical issues. Another round of antibiotics may help, but may just cover up the bigger issue, again.

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 sorry that Daisy is having this problem. It sounds like you are doing everything right. I have a few suggestions for you. If your vet has not performed a urinalysis, that should be done. If there is still evidence of infection after 2 weeks of Augmentin, then I would recommend performing a urine culture which involves sending a sample to the lab to determine what bacteria is present and what antibiotics will work against them. If the urine sample just has blood, then I would recommend taking an x-ray since sometimes we can't feel small bladder stones on exam. If all that is normal, then I think the next step would be to perform an ultrasound of the bladder and kidneys to find the source of the bleeding. You vet may be able to do that or may have to refer you to a specialist. Good luck! I hope that was helpful and you can figure out what is going on with Daisy. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concerns! My next concern is are we dealing with some predisposing factor leading to these UTIs or is there a resistant bacteria in the urine that is not responding to the current rounds of medications? I would recommend ultrasounding the bladder and obtaining a sterile urine sample for culture and go from there. Have the crystals resolved yet? If there are still crystals in the urine, then these need to be resolved as the presence of crystals will lead to recurrent UTIs and symptoms. I hope this helps!