Antibiotic Resistant UTI

rootbeerlove · 08-22-2010, 01:14 PM

A few weeks ago, (about 4, actually) I posted about poor miss Harriet having a urinary tract infection. We went through one urinalysis, one round of antibiotics, and 4 days after she finished the medicine, her symptoms were back.
Back to the vet we went, another urinalysis and another round of antibiotics (did you know dog antibiotics can be $46?!?!?!). He said it must be an antibiotic resistant UTI. She finished the second round of antibiotics on Monday night, and today, of course, symptoms are back.

Has anyone else had any experience with this? We're headed back to the vet tomorrow, but frustrated and worried. She's 6 months old, is crated sometimes, but not for over 5 hours at a time, and while she's on the antibiotics, her symptoms disappear. Thanks for any insight....

Scully · 08-22-2010, 05:02 PM

Was she on the same antibiotic each time? And, how long was she on it for? It could just be that she needs to be on the antibiotics for a bit longer, or maybe even needs to be on a different antibiotic.

Our Scully (now at the bridge), had some extremely stubborn UTI's, and some of them took a few rounds of different antibiotics to finally make her better. Our vet always had us do a urine culture and not just a urinalysis, to make sure that the most effective antibiotic was used to kill off the type of bacteria she had (hers tended to be e.Coli). There was one time that she had to be on antibiotics for 6 weeks.

I hope she's better soon. I know it is very frustrating!

Lightning&Stomps · 08-22-2010, 05:31 PM

Is there a food additive you can give dogs to increase the acidity of their urine? Like cranberry juice for people? High doses of vitamin C are supposed to be good for preventing UTIs in people. But I don't know if this works or is safe for dogs.

CharlieSue · 08-22-2010, 09:15 PM

When Charlie went on an antibiotic, it was atleast for a week. 4 days seems kind of short. Charlie's symptoms went away after the first day but she was kept on the medicine for atleast a week because the antibiotics are still killing off the infection.

Mikey T · 08-23-2010, 02:23 AM

Quote:

He said it must be an antibiotic resistant UTI

Rather than guessing the vet should be culturing the bacteria and checking for resistant and vulnerability to specific antibiotics An no it is not uncommon but trying to get by on feel and queswork and not actual knowledge is. Also if the dog has bladder stones in conjuction with the UTI the bacteria is actual contained in the stones. as the bacteria infecture is cure the urine ph decreases and starts to disolve the stone release the bacteria traped to reinfect for just another possibility.

rootbeerlove · 08-23-2010, 09:31 AM

Each time she was on the antibiotics they were for 2 weeks. We've got another appt this morning. We had actually had to see 2 different vets because ours had emergency surgery. So, hopefully, we'll get a real cure today....

Mikey T · 08-24-2010, 04:01 AM

the follow articles may be of interest

Antimicrobial drug use and resistance in dogs

Chronic Bladder infection in Rottweiller

Quote:

When bladder infections keep coming back over and over again, there is usually a problem that is interfering with the bladder's ability to fight off infection. The most common contributing problems are bladder stones, anatomic defects allowing urine pooling, hyperadrenocorticism, diabetes mellitus, kidney infection and bladder cancer. In some cases, antibiotics are not used long enough to eliminate the infection and it never really goes away but this is probably not an especially common cause of bladder infections that appear to be recurring over and over. We think that obesity is a factor in some cases of recurrent bladder infections

TREATMENT OF ROUTINE & RECURRENT URINARY TRACT INFECTIONS

Dennis J. Chew, DVM, DACVIM (Internal Medicine)

Quote:

Urinary antibacterials remain the hallmark for treatment of UTI, though correction of predisposing factors is also

important. The concentration of antimicrobial that is achieved in the urine (micrograms/mL) is the most important factor in predicting eradication of UTI. Tissue levels of the antimicrobial will be important in those with renal and prostatic infections, as well as those with markedly thickened bladder walls from chronic infection. Antibacterial treatment for UTI is usually given for 10 to 14 days in those with uncomplicated UTI, at least 30 to 60 days for those with upper UTI, and for at least one month to sexually intact males. Antibacterials should be selected after confirmation of UTI by quantitative urinary culture. UTI can be treated on the basis of susceptibility testing, or on the basis of predicted biologic behavior in those with uncomplicated UTI.

...

Those that fail to get better (reduction in signs, pyuria, and quantitative urine culture results) or have multiple new positive cultures (with or without clinical signs) are by definition “difficult.” Animals that have received antibacterial treatment within the past two months are at increased risk that the organisms causing their UTI will be more resistant than are those who have not recently been exposed to antibiotics. Complicated cases have identifiable
defects in host defense mechanisms, including anatomical, functional, or metabolic defects. They may have mucosal damage due to urolithiasis or neoplasia, alteration in urine volume or composition, be affected by a concurrent systemic disorder (diabetes mellitus, hyperadrenocorticism, neoplasia), or have received long-term exogenous steroids.

Recurrent infections are repeated episodes of bacterial urinary infection (positive quantitative urine culture often associated with clinical signs) usually following therapy. Recurrent infections are reinfections, relapsing infections, or persistent infections. Since treatment is so different, it is important to distinguish between recurrent infection that is due to reinfection, relapsing, or persistent infection. The only reliable way to do this is with quantitative urine
cultures that are taken before treatment, while on antibacterials and at various time intervals after treatment has been discontinued. Imaging studies are important in the evaluation of recurrent UTI (radiographs, contrast urography, ultrasonography, cystoscopy).

rootbeerlove · 08-24-2010, 10:28 AM

We got x-rays this time and. thank God, there's no stones. We've got one more round of antibiotics to get with the promise "anything the last pills didn't get, these will". It would have been my preference to get the culture as well, but neither the substitute or our regular vet even mentioned it. I don't know if it's a cost, or time thing, be here's hoping that this clears it up.

08-22-2010, 01:14 PM	#1 (permalink)
rootbeerlove Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 43	Antibiotic Resistant UTI A few weeks ago, (about 4, actually) I posted about poor miss Harriet having a urinary tract infection. We went through one urinalysis, one round of antibiotics, and 4 days after she finished the medicine, her symptoms were back. Back to the vet we went, another urinalysis and another round of antibiotics (did you know dog antibiotics can be $46?!?!?!). He said it must be an antibiotic resistant UTI. She finished the second round of antibiotics on Monday night, and today, of course, symptoms are back. Has anyone else had any experience with this? We're headed back to the vet tomorrow, but frustrated and worried. She's 6 months old, is crated sometimes, but not for over 5 hours at a time, and while she's on the antibiotics, her symptoms disappear. Thanks for any insight.... Last edited by rootbeerlove; 08-22-2010 at 01:17 PM. Reason: stress induces spelling

08-22-2010, 05:02 PM	#2 (permalink)
Scully Senior Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: West Coast of Canada Posts: 230	Was she on the same antibiotic each time? And, how long was she on it for? It could just be that she needs to be on the antibiotics for a bit longer, or maybe even needs to be on a different antibiotic. Our Scully (now at the bridge), had some extremely stubborn UTI's, and some of them took a few rounds of different antibiotics to finally make her better. Our vet always had us do a urine culture and not just a urinalysis, to make sure that the most effective antibiotic was used to kill off the type of bacteria she had (hers tended to be e.Coli). There was one time that she had to be on antibiotics for 6 weeks. I hope she's better soon. I know it is very frustrating! __________________ Mary, Mom to Larsen, Ninja, and Scully (ATB ~ forever in my heart) www.countercruiser.com

08-24-2010, 10:28 AM	#8 (permalink)
rootbeerlove Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 43	The vet... We got x-rays this time and. thank God, there's no stones. We've got one more round of antibiotics to get with the promise "anything the last pills didn't get, these will". It would have been my preference to get the culture as well, but neither the substitute or our regular vet even mentioned it. I don't know if it's a cost, or time thing, be here's hoping that this clears it up.

08-22-2010, 05:31 PM	#3 (permalink)
Lightning&Stomps Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Versailles, Ky. Posts: 1,075	Is there a food additive you can give dogs to increase the acidity of their urine? Like cranberry juice for people? High doses of vitamin C are supposed to be good for preventing UTIs in people. But I don't know if this works or is safe for dogs.

08-22-2010, 09:15 PM	#4 (permalink)
CharlieSue Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Madison, WI Posts: 78	When Charlie went on an antibiotic, it was atleast for a week. 4 days seems kind of short. Charlie's symptoms went away after the first day but she was kept on the medicine for atleast a week because the antibiotics are still killing off the infection.

08-23-2010, 09:31 AM	#6 (permalink)
rootbeerlove Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 43	Each time she was on the antibiotics they were for 2 weeks. We've got another appt this morning. We had actually had to see 2 different vets because ours had emergency surgery. So, hopefully, we'll get a real cure today....

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