Willow has a UTI and KC has a new urgent care vet

[Stacy]

I feel like reasonably often I see the suggestion of a UTI as the potential cause for housebreaking problems. So I wanted to share what an actual UTI looked like for us, in case it helps someone. Willow was fine until about 4pm yesterday. She has been doing well with housebreaking. Then we went outside and all of the sudden she was peeing every 15 seconds. She even seemed to be trying to walk and pee at the same time. This went on and on and on. There was no mistaking what was going on. I would not have seen her do that in the house and thought we had just regressed in potty training. The part I thought was so strange was the rapid onset. It seemed to come on in an instant. But maybe something was going on before and it just got worse? I'm not sure. 

But of course it was late enough in the day that we couldn't get into our vet. Honestly, I didn't even try. First I thought, this isn't emergent, we can wait until tomorrow morning. But then, she seemed uncomfortable and self-servingly I wasn't that excited about cleaning up after her all night long. I had seen on FB (see? it's good for something!) That there is a clinic that just started offering after hours walk in appointments. Not full on emergency care, just regular vetting that came up after everyone else closed. So we checked it out and I was very happy with them. I had her started on antibiotics within about 3 hours of her first symptoms and we managed to both get some sleep. Added bonus, I can still afford my mortgage this month. I'm not sure it was more expensive than my regular vet at all. 

Today she's about back to normal. The vet told me that it usually only takes 1-2 doses to see an improvement in symptoms. I've never had a dog with a UTI before, and hopefully it doesn't become a recurring thing. But I really like the after hours business model. 

Now my only question is this: I've had her on probiotics since she came home 2 weeks ago. I was just getting ready to transition her food. Should I do that now, or wait until we're finished with the antibiotic thing?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'm really sorry poor Willow has a UTI, but glad you caught it and got her relief so quickly. After-hours vets sound wonderful and I hope that catches on in lots of places. (I feel pretty sure they have them in Chicago, but I'm too far from the city for that.)

Don;t switch food yet; wait til she's done with the antibiotics for a few days, at least. And I know you know this, but for the sake of those reading it, the probiotics need to be given at least two hours apart from the antibiotics, and longer is better.
I'm wondering if you should copy this for the Health and Medical Group. That's where I would go to search for UTI info. 

[Stacy]

Thanks! That's kind of what I thought you would say about the food, but I am just so anxious to get her on something better. I feel like I'm feeding her toxic sludge. 

Always a good reminder about spreading out the probiotics! 

I can definitely put it in the health group. I just wasn't sure it was important enough for that! 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Of course it is. A lot of dogs here are going to have a UTI at some point, it's good for people to know what it looks like.   

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I appreciate you posting your specific observations.  Poor Willow, but lucky Willow also.  We have no after hours type vets here. We do have a couple of ER vets that are expensive and, according to reviews, perhaps not that great either.  I am so glad that Willow was able to get diagnosed and treated quickly. 

[Stacy]

I've been lucky with the emergency vet when I've needed them. They've been really great. But I know not everyone is that lucky. But the cost of walking through the door is prohibitive if it isn't a real emergency. And honestly, they're so busy that going in for something like that might have had us sitting there waiting for hours. Urgent care was perfect. And I'm surprised that more people haven't done it. It just makes sense. It's funny. I triage as part of my job, human beings, not dogs. I'm confident in my assessment skills. But when it's my dog instead of someone else's child all of my brain cells disappear. I get a little panicky. I'm glad it was an easy fix. 

[Stella]

My previous male doodle had a uti once. The only sign was he started to have accidents in his sleep, he had absolutely no other symptoms.