My dog has UTI symptoms, negative culture. Should I see a specialist?

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.

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!

Many times there is an underlying cause of recurrent UTI-like symptoms. Daisy likely needs additional diagnostics, like: Urine sediment exam: to look for crystals in the urine Abdominal x-rays: to look for bladder stones that cause inflammation and can create an environment for UTI Abdominal ultrasound: to look for possible tumors Urine culture: to look for resistant bacteria, this will also help your vet determine the best antibiotic to use. Other medications to consider are anti-inflammatories, prescription urinary diets, and bladder support supplements; you can discuss this with your veterinarian.

As long as he can urinate and is acting otherwise normally, it is likely not an emergency situation. Consider allowing your veterinarian to collect a sterile urine sample to submit for a culture and sensitivity panel. This may identify the bacteria responsible for Red's infection as well as the most effective antibiotic to use in treatment. Stones in his bladder or kidneys and masses may be ruled out with the ultrasound. He may need to be on long term or pulsed (alternating weeks or month on/off meds) antibiotic therapy.

If a urinary tract infection is suspected and your vet has tried with two different antibiotics thus far without any luck, it is time for a more thorough diagnostic work up to try and rule out some other possibilities. Firstly, I would recommend a urine culture / susceptibility test that is sent out to the lab. This will tell us the specific microbe present in the urine sample and what antibiotics are best to use against it. You will need to have your vet obtain a sterile sample for this test as a free catch sample will obtain bacterial from the environment. Secondly, I would recommend obtaining a diagnostic ultrasound of the abdomen and bladder to make sure there are no obviously structural issues contributing to Maggie's current situation. Thirdly, I would get some baseline blood work to rule out any other common systemic conditions that could affect a dog that is getting a little bit older. Hope this makes sense. Good luck!

Hi, and thanks for your question. These signs are definitively compatible with a urinary tract infection/inflammation. Stress related (idiopathic type of inflammation) infection and presence of crystals are the most common causes of it. Another clinical examination at your local veterinarian is essential to confirm these clinical suspicions and treat appropriately. Ultrasound or x rays of the abdomen may be needed as there may be stones inside the bladder (which does not show up on urine analysis). Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further. Please find the time to give us a feedback about the consultation as that will be used to improve our service.

We see sterile inflammation of the bladder in cats that people sometimes incorrectly term a UTI, but this is not seen in dogs. A true urinary tract infection (UTI) is a bacterial infection. Parvo virus does not cause residual problems in the body once the dog gets rid of the infection. The diet you mentioned appears nutritionally incomplete which can certainly cause a number of problems, but I would not expect it to worsen a UTI. A UTI needs to be diagnosed based on lab results and the resolution of the UTI also needs to be confirmed with lab results. If the first round of antibiotics does not resolve the infection, we will often perform a bacterial culture and sensitivity and possibly additional testing to further investigate the problem. I have attached more information for you on UTI's below. https://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=2457 Good luck! I hope that was helpful. Thanks for using PetCoach.