UTI in female golden doodle puppy:(

[Jill DeMartino]

Hi. I was just wondering if anyone has any experience with female golden doodle UTI. She is 5 1/2 months old. On Friday I started noticing her squatting a bit more than the norm. Brought her to emergency vet (ours was closed) on Sunday evening. I was able to obtain a clean catch urine sample at home and was not willing to allow a doctor I was not familiar with to get sterile sample via needle aspiration. They started her on Clavamox 2x/day for 14 days based on her symptoms and sent her urine to lab. Urine results still pending due to holiday.I called my vet today and notified her that she still is excessively squatting and straining despite 4 dose of the Clavamox. She also is excessively drooling since starting the Clavamox. I got her out of her crate this morning and her beard and front of chest were all wet from salivating:( My vet said she could be a bit nauseous from the Clavamox (I am giving it with food) and suggested giving Pepcid with the Clavamox and to call her in 24 hours if squatting does not improve. Her energy is still there (still will go for short walk, gets a bit playful at times, chews her toys), but she seems to tire out easily. Eating and drinking as usual. Anyone know how long the Clavamox takes to start working? I had a female doodle before and she had a UTI as a puppy and from what I remember she was improved after 2 doses of the Clavamox. My mind is racing….LoL. Worried bacteria that is causing UTI is resistant to Clavamox and worried it may be a stone rather than a UTI :) Although my vet says stones are pretty rare in young pups. Also, very worried she may have to have a sterile sample obtained via needle aspiration:) Any advice much appreciated!
Jill

UPDATE:  I also had gotten back the results from the urinalysis that the emergency vet had sent off.  It came back completely normal:( I was so confused!  So I had kept Lily on the the Clavamox for a few days and there was absolutely no change in the excessive squatting when trying to go pee.  Just a note, the Pepcid prior to giving an antibiotic really helps!  I brought her back to my vet.  My vet said that dogs can have a UTI even with a normal urinalysis.  She was however, concerned that Lily had not responded to the Clavamox after 4 1/2 days.  She said you usually see results with 24 hours.  So she was thinking with a normal urinalysis and no response to the Clavamox that Lily could have a possible kidney and/or bladder stone(s).  She did an X-ray and also attempted to get a sterile sample of urine, but Lily did not have enough urine in her bladder to obtain the sample:(  She suggested changing her antibiotic to Cephalexin 3x/day.  So we started that antibiotic on Thursday night and low and behold by Friday afternoon the excessive squatting has come to a stop:)  She is also tolerating this antibiotic much better.  No more salivation and she also has her normal energy back.  She has to do a 14 day course of the Cephalexin.  Now that she is looking better and we know what it is, I am a happy mama:)

Read more here: http://www.doodlekisses.com/forum/topics/uti-in-female-golden-doodl...

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I can tell you that Pepcid AC works great for nausea due to antibiotics. I had the same problem when Jack was on Keflex for a different type of infection, and giving the Pepcid AC about 30 minutes before the antibiotics stopped the nausea. 

[Jill DeMartino]

Thank you Karen:)

[F, Calla & Luca]

So far it seems all the advice and treatment is good. Give things a little time and see what the test results are. Good luck.

[Jill DeMartino]

Thank you;)

[Lori, Winnie, Bob and Indie]

I'd give it another day or 2, and if no improvement bring her back in.

I see you are a nurse... I wouldn't worry about the possibility of needing a sterile sample. If you had a 1 year old baby that needed a sterile sample, you'd let the nurse cath him/her, right? :-)  Vets and tech techs are just as skilled at obtaining urine samples via either a cath or a bladder tap. It's actually a very simple procedure with very little risk- not at all like trying to get a needle into a pericardial sac... :-)

Best wishes!

[Jill DeMartino]

Hi and thanks for response. Yes, I am a nurse and that's how I know that there are both great medical professionals (like my vet) and not so great medical professionals (like the vet I saw over the weekend). It doesn't really matter how simple or complex a procedure may be... An error can still be made. I have no issue with her having the procedure if it will help her get better, but what I was saying, is that if she is going to have it done, I would prefer her regular vet, the one I am quite familiar and comfortable with, to do the procedure. Unfortunately, they were closed over the weekend. If she's not feeling better by tomorrow, I already have an appointment for her to see her and have the urine sample drawn. Thanks though!

[Lori, Winnie, Bob and Indie]

I hear you- there are great and not so great medical professionals everywhere!

I think you might have misunderstood the intent of my comments. It wasn't meant to admonish you for not letting the emergency vet do the procedure. It was meant to encourage you since you mentioned that you are very worried about having your usual vet do it, too. I was trying to help you "rally" by looking at the big picture. That's the trouble with words on the internet- they don't always convey intent, even if I try to add the smiley faces to help show intent.

[Jill DeMartino]

thank you:)

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I hope she perks up soon.  Please keep us updated.

[Jill DeMartino]

thank you:)

[Jill DeMartino]

Update on Lily added:)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Thanks for the update, Jill. Sounds like you're on the right path now!