My little man, Norman Jenkins, is a Boston Terrier. He's almost 14 years old and he's my shadow. I think he'd live in my pocket if he could fit. Bless his heart, he's going blind and his hearing is all but gone, but he's special and is the only one of our fur babies that sleeps in our bed. I think our bullies may be jealous - in fact, I know Merry Jane Monroe is.
Poor Norman is suffering from an urinary tract infection. It actually started over New Year's weekend when of course, our local vet was closed for the holiday. We took a trip to the emergency vet in south Orlando and 4 hours later we were diagnosed and sent home with antibiotics. Why am I telling you this? Because dogs get UTIs too and sometimes they don't tell you.
Norman started having accidents in the house, and I noticed the puddles were getting smaller and the smell of the pee was getting stronger. I chalked it up to old age because Norman wasn't complaining in any way. But then, over New year's weekend, we found a small puddle with blood in it. When I took him outside, I noticed Norman was squatting to pee several times (yes, my little man pees like a girl - so what?) but no pee was coming out. This is bad, very bad. If left untreated, they can lead to dysfunction of the lower urinary tract, kidney or bladder stones, inflammation of the prostate gland, infertility, blood poisoning, and even kidney infection and kidney failure. Likewise, some symptoms could be a sign of something far more serious than even an UTI.
Thankfully the emergency vet did not find crystals in his bladder, but she did find rod shaped bacteria which are tough to get rid of. The treatment, a 14 day course of STRONG antibiotics and 3 days of anti-inflammatory medicine to try the cystitis which is inflammation of the bladder.
Even after the full 14 day course of the antibiotics, 2 weeks later, Norman has blood in his pee again today. I loaded him up, took him to our local vet and she ran an urinalysis. The infection is back. More antibiotics. The prognosis is good, we'll go the 2 weeks on antibiotics then do another urinalysis to be sure the infection is gone. My poor Norman - bravely dealing with his discomfort and not wanting to tell us. I'm sure he just doesn't like talking about his private parts - he's a gentleman you know.
Signs of Urinary Tract Infections in Dogs
Not all dogs with UTIs will show signs of illness, but most will display some specific signs like:
Frequent urination
Inappropriate urination (house soiling)
Urinating small amounts at a time
Urine with a strong odor
Dark-colored and/or cloudy urine
Bloody urine
Incontinence
Straining to urinate
Painful urination
Licking genitals more than usual
Pain in the abdomen
Unlike humans, don't give a dog cranberry juice to ease the UTI symptoms. Cranberries aren't poisonous to dogs, but the juice is high in sugars and not as beneficial to dogs as to humans. While some studies have shown that 200 mg of unsweetened cranberry juice can be effective in the management and prevention of UTIs, pet owners should keep in mind that too much cranberry juice can increase your pet's chances of developing kidney stones.
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