UTI that wont go away...

Question
QUESTION: hello there, i will try to be brief but get all the facts...we bought a female black lab puppy & brought her home march 17th.  she was having so many accidents in the house ! when outside a few days later, i watched her squat, then take a step and squat again...i told my husband she had a UTI and we took her and urine up to the vet.  sure enough she did...they put her on amoxicillen for 2 weeks. we took her back due to showing no signs of imperilment and re checked her urine via a needle straight into the bladder.  the results showed that still had the UTI with no crystals but alot more bacteria in the culture. the bacteria she has (klebsiella) and is amoxicillen resistant (hence the increase of bacteria) so started her on bactrium.  she was on it for 2 1/2 weeks and showing improvement but then got worse again.  we just had her urine re tested and it shows all the bacteria is gone but she still has a high level of white blood cells in the culture.  she is also a rapid growing puppy whos bactrim (liquid) dose was never increased over these current 3 weeks.  so now the vet is saying she could have a ectopic ureter and wants us to get a $500.00 ultrasound.  i told her that its only been 3 weeks on the antibiotic, she needed a med change or if not, at least a dose increase and that it wasnt uncommon for a puppy to have a UTI.  she feels very strong in there something else way more wrong with her since shes had this for "so long".  i reminded her the amoxicillin was a huge waste of time and that its only really been 3 weeks.  can you please give me any kind of hope or advice on what your next step would be?  should she continue on bactrium for another week and re test or would you try another antibiotic (stronger one)? or do you really think we should get the u/s done?  she said that the white blood cells still there could mean that the infection is going away or that theres inflammation in her body...thanks in advance...kerry

ANSWER: Some times they do need to be treated longer since the bacteria had a hey-day in there with the amoxicillin. I would go another week but it is important to make sure that she doesn't have a physical anomaly that is causing this.

Ectopic ureters are pretty rare but nothing is impossible. If that is the case, this is a breeding problem and you should address this with the breeder. It sounds like you brought her home with the UTI and that makes the breeder at fault and thus liable for all of these vet bills. Just a thought for you.

I would also call around and ask different vets about their charges for a simple abdominal u/s- $500 seems a bit steep.

As far as there being inflammation, the bladder is going to be inflamed from all of the bacteria but if there are no crystals, white blood cells are a sign of the body fighting off the infection. If there is no blood in the sample that is also a good thing.

I hope that they are actually culturing her urine- which takes a week- to get the correct antibiotic for this infection.

It is actually not a common thing for puppies to have UTIs but they do get them now and then. It's not like most puppies that are seen have them.

It would be a good idea to get a real culture, keep her on the antibiotics for at least three weeks, maybe four, then as a last resort, get the u/s done.

Good luck and please let me know how she does.


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi there and thank you so much for getting back to me (and so quickly)

we did culture the urine and thats how we knew what bacteria she had/has (klebsiella) and the lab sent a list of meds that would treat that bacteria.  (and that is why we are on the bactrium)

we got another fill of the med yesterday and the does was increased from 5ml to 7.5ml and that was one of my questions...she was a growing puppy and the dose wasnt adjusted at all (but i have no idea how important that is, what are your thoughts?)  also, does it matter that its a liquid med and not a pill?  would you suggest a pill rather than the liquid?

lastly, i did mention that we had a period of at least 4 days with NO accidents in the house last week but now its back to squatting alot...what are your thoughts on that?

i am going to call around for other quotes on the u/s...i thought 500$ was a bit much too.

that is interesting to hear you say that the breeder should be responsible for these UTI vet bills but when we called her to ask if any other puppy had this issue, she actually suggested that if the vet bills were becoming too much that we should put her down !!!!!!!!! can you believe she said that ????!!!!  and yes, we brought her home with the uti...she was being treated less than a week of bringing her home.  (how do we go about researching that the breeder IS actually liable for the  UTI vet bills?)

again, thank you so much for your time.  this really means alot as this on going problem is so frustrating and we cant even enjoy the puppy half the time since we have to let her out every 10 min.

Answer
Your clue to her liability is in her suggestion to you to put this puppy down. That way she can cut her losses as well and start over by giving you a new puppy. It is a common thing for a breeder to say. Needless to say, vet techs like me and vets don't have a lot of respect for breeders like this.

It is commonly known amongst breeders that they KNOW they are liable but some do not have the honesty and integrity to follow up and cough up the money- so you may want to get a lawyer on this one.

She sold you a defective puppy basically. When you forked out the money(which I am sure wasn't cheap) for this dog, you probably signed a contract as well. Hopefully this dog comes from parents that were also tested and certified through the OFA for hip and elbow problems.

So look over your contract or talk to your vet about it- although they are not quite up on all of this. I am not a lawyer either, but I do know that the breeder is responsible for the bulk of these bills since you picked up this puppy with this infection. Keep all of your receipts from every trip to the vets, every medication you get etc. Keep them with your date of purchase of this dog.

She squats because UTIs give them a burning sensation that makes it feel like they have to pee every few minutes even if there is nothing else in the bladder. If she isn't better in a week you really should get the u/s done or at least a contrast xray series.

I feel sorry for the poor little thing. This is not her fault. Yes her dosage should be adjusted upward due to her size but a pound or two every week doesn't make a huge difference unless this bacteria is really dosage sensitive.

I sure hope you get this cleared up soon. Please let me know how she does.