Giardia.... Campylobacter... UTI?

[Sarah Trott]

I brought Wally home at 8 weeks. He had soft stools from the beginning, which the breeder warned could happen from the dewormer, so I paid little mind. However, about 3 weeks in, Wally had a major accident with diarrhea overnight and went many times that morning, so I brought him into the vet. He tested positive for giardia and campylobacter. Vet decided to treat the giardia with metronidazole and panacur. Apparently campylobacter can be harmless, but is aggravated by other illnesses such as giardia, so we didn't treat for it.

He got his last dose of panacur on Monday. He still had diarrhea, so I brought him in again. Still tested positive, so his dosages are increased and he will be on panacur for longer periods. He is also on a new medicine for the campylobacter.

Now I think he has a UTI. My sister watched him overnight this past Saturday and he urinated in his crate, which he has NEVER done. Then today he was barking to go out every hour or less. Tonight he peed in the house. He hasn't had an accident in two weeks. After the accident, I brought him outside and he peed a little bit. Less than half an hour later he peed in the house AGAIN! No warning, and he is usually very vocal. So I took him out and he tried to pee twice. The first time I don't think anything came out, and it was just a little bit the second time. On top of that, he has been licking himself an awful lot.

I'm pretty confident it's a UTI. I just would love to hear other opinions and experiences before I call in the morning. I feel terrible because I want my baby to feel better... he has been sick since I got him and it's hard to not feel responsible. My heart breaks for the little guy. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'd definitely have him checked for a UTI. The symptoms sound right.

It would be a good idea to put him on a good probiotics with all these antibiotics he's taking. Proviable and iFlora are two good ones. You can order those on line if your vet doesn't carry them. Many vets sell Purina's Fortiflora, which is not a great choice. Be sure to give the probiotics at least two hours apart from the antibiotics, and longer is better. 

I hope your little guy feels better soon. 

[Sarah Trott]

Thank you for the recommendations! I will have to check those out.

[Sarah Trott]

Wally's symptoms started to seem more like a house training issue so I decided to wait on the vet appointment since he had one today anyway for vaccinations. Apparently I should trust my gut next time. They did the urinalysis and found white and red blood cells and are sending in the culture. I should hear back about that in a few days. For now the vet prescribed amoxicillin. Hopefully that is all that's needed. I also ordered the proviable after reading other threads about metronidazole. Wish I had before doing two rounds of it. He hasn't seemed to react poorly to it at all. I will keep my fingers crossed for the future. Thankfully the little guy doesn't seem to be in any pain from all of his issues!