Last Fall Storm had symptoms that were not normal for her. I suspected a urinary tract infection.  In relating Storm’s experience to friends and acquaintances I was surprised how many did not really know the symptoms.  Do you know the symptoms of urinary tract infections in dogs?

Recognizing Urinary Tract Infections In Dogs

In Storm’s case her symptoms came on suddenly.  Normally she takes forever to urinate.  She has to find the exact right spot.

However, one evening last Fall not only did she find her spot quickly, she would walk a few feet and then go again.  She repeated this 4 or 5 times in a row.

Once she was in the house, she wanted to go right back outside again.  This was probably the biggest clue that something was amiss.

She had a some other vague symptoms.  She was drinking more water and when I took her temperature it was slightly higher than her normal.  She was also doing a lot of licking of her urinary opening.  One other thing that you will not find in any medical book, the male dogs were after her like she was in season but she has been spayed.

Other Symptoms Of Urinary Tract Infections In Dogs

According to Web-MD-Pets these are some additional symptoms of a UTI:

• Inability to urinate or only passing a small amount of urine
• Bloody or cloudy urine
• Loss of bladder control, dribbling urine
• Straining and/or crying out in pain when trying to pass urine
• Soiling in inappropriate places
• Strong odor to the urine
• Lethargy
• Vomiting
• Changes in appetite
• Weight loss
• Severe back pain

Seek Veterinary Care

If you suspect that your dog has a UTI, you should seek veterinary care.  UTI’s can be caused by some serious things like trauma, cancer, or stones or crystals in the bladder or urethra.  Or it can be caused by a bacterial infection which was the cause of Storm’s UTI.

Storm Goes To The Vet

We noticed Storm was having issues one evening.  Since we were heading up to the cabin the next day and I knew she probably needed an antibiotic, I headed off to the vet with her.  We are lucky because our vet is a walk-in clinic and they are open until 9 pm every night.  I think we arrived around 8 pm.

The vet examined Storm and based on the symptoms I related, agreed that she probably had a UTI.  Normally our vet would start by taking a urine sample to send to the lab to be analyzed for the presence of bacteria or blood.  If the UTI is caused by bacteria, the lab would also determine the type of bacteria which is important because if an antibiotic is prescribed, you want one that is effective for that bacteria.

However, since we were heading to the cabin the next day, I asked the vet if she could look at Storm’s sample and at least get Storm started on the antibiotic.  When the vet looked at the sample under the microscope she indeed saw bacteria and believed, based on the shape, that it was E. coli.

The vet prescribed an antibiotic that was normally effective against E. coli but we agreed to send a sample to the lab just to double check.

Within 12 hours of taking the first dose of antibiotic Storm’s symptoms were mostly relieved.  The lab also confirmed the diagnosis.

I asked the vet how Storm might pick-up this type of bacteria and she replied that she may have squatted over some feces and picked it up that way, or she licked it in.  Both are kind of gross, but in Storm’s case either are possible.  Storm had been out hunting a few days earlier and she likes to mark on animal scat if she comes across it in the forest.  She also has been know to sample it as well.  Yuck!

We have been lucky because Storm is a very healthy dog.  Some dogs are prone to UTI’s but Storm never had one until this past Fall when she was 8 years old.

Can you recognize the symptoms of a UTI?