# Bladder Infection - Cystitis / Urethitis



## JohnM (Mar 26, 2010)

Hi Everyone....Well it's long long story.....but to summarise....after losing our westie in December we decided to get another one. We bought a 4.5 yr old female, that has turned out to be an expensive little dog. 
From day one she has peed inside the house, despite being house trained ( allegedly ).We get her checked by our vet who suspects cystitis, and she gets a 2 week course of Clavaseptin 500 tablets. She then produces blood in her urine, and after a couple of visits to the vet we discover that she has approx 6 stones in her bladder.
The stones were very big, with the largest being roughly equivalent to the size of an adult male thumb nail.

We have had these removed surgically, and although the frequency of her peeing inside the house has reduced greatly, she still exhibits some signs of infection. She continues to pee inside once per day.The vet has changed her antibiotic to Oxycare 250......as sometimes there maybe a residual infection / inflammation caused by the surgery. We started the Oxycare on Wednesday morning.....and we are waiting to see if these will make any improvement.

The current situation is that she piddles in the house once per day (btw...she is walked 3 times a day, plus let out our back garden for a 'quickie' mid morning, and afternoon )

She went through her operation on Friday 25th Feb. She was dressed at the same time.

My questions are

Has anyone else been through this....and how long should this take to clear..?
Are the Clavaseptin / Oxycare adequate treatment..?
If it's not a bladder infection ...what else could be causing this..?
Any suggestions for other medications..?

If this doesn't clear or at least show signs of improvement I fear we may have to rehome her.

She is a lovely dog,...and loving gentle soul.....I don't want to lose her, but my wife is not happy about the continual peeing inside. Even once per day is not acceptable.

I need some help and advice folks......

Thanks for reading

John.


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## Mum2Heidi (Feb 17, 2010)

Hi John - I can sympathise and am really sorry your dear little girl has problems especially after your loss. Life never dishes things our fairly:mad2:

I have a little Westie x and she has had cystitis a couple of times but v minor. The first time she was a tiny pup and the vet suggested Vit C and Cranberry (she wouldnt touch it). Not sure if these would help your little one - obviously we didnt go down the surgery route with stones. Just thinking it may keep her pee a little more friendly.

Also I'm wondering what you are feeding and think if you are using dry, it may help to switch to wet food as that could ease things a little too.

Hopefully someone with a little more knowledge will be along shortly to help.

Sounds like she has found herself a lovely home and I have everything crossed you can get her better. Another home may not be as special for her


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## Dally Banjo (Oct 22, 2009)

Awwwww what a shame poor girl & you 

If she's leaking & does'nt realise the vet can give you some stuff called Propalin Syrup that will help but hopefully the new meds will sort eveything & you can get on with enjoying her company  x


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## Sled dog hotel (Aug 11, 2010)

Is she a spayed female. Sometimes in a spayed female the spincter mechanism can become weak, and they can leak urine, sometimes it is just spots and patches where they lay. Any urinary tract infection can also make them incontinent especially as they often drink more with it, so can bladder stones. It might be that the spincter mechnisism is just slightly weakened, but with the bladder stones and infection and op she has had recently it cannot cope with these problems as well. 

You can get medication, there is about three main ones, propalin syrup, incurin and I think Urilin, might be worth asking your vet about it, as it is only obtainable via the vet, or on line vet pharmacys, but you have to have a prescription. You would need to speak to him, as you would also have to ask if its compatible and wise to use it with the meds shes already on and if its OK for usse with bladder stones. I think there are two types of bladder stones and crystals, one of which I think can be solved with a special diet, but Off the top of my head cant remember which one of the two it is, although if she had that type that responds to diet I would have thought he would have suggested it.


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## ladyalex (Mar 10, 2011)

Cranberry is very for good for the bladder.you can buy a food called Arden Grange which is a hypoallergenic food with cranberry extracts.It costs more than most food but it is very good...look it up and see what you think...


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## JohnM (Mar 26, 2010)

Thank you to everyone who have taken the time to reply. To answer some of the points raised....Yes she is a spayed female....but she had cyctitis, and bladder stones before she was spayed. Infact she was only spayed on 25th Feb...at the same time as the stnes were removed from her bladder.
She isn't incontinent...she has control over her bladder function...- except for once per day when she piddles inside the house. This is a major improvement on her situation before her operation to remove the stones. At that time she was peeing 8 - 10 times a day inside the house....now we are down to once per day...but we don't seem to be able to stop this altogether.

It's a real worry.....however we are not yet completed 50% of her course of Oxycare 250. I'm hoping that by next week we will have stopped this peeing altogether. I must admit as time goes by and I don't see any signs of improvement, I am becoming more and more pessimistic.

John


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## Mum2Heidi (Feb 17, 2010)

Come on John  Sometimes positive thinking is all we have and you would be surprised what that in itself can do:thumbup:

Dont give up till the fat lady sings


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## JohnM (Mar 26, 2010)

Mum2Heidi,..Thanks.....yes you are correct,and I desperately want this to be resolved. It's just that every time I think we are seeing some positive progress,..she does it again,..and my confidence gets knocked down. We've spent £800 on vets bills during the past 3 weeks......I cannot maintain that level of spending. It's becoming a little soul destroying.
Fear not......I will keep trying .


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## Dally Banjo (Oct 22, 2009)

How's she doing


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## JohnM (Mar 26, 2010)

Hello DB,...Cautiously optimistic . She has now been 'dry' inside the house for 2 days. I don't want to say that we are over the worst yet, because we've seen improvements before , only to get brought down to earth with a severe bump.
However so far, so good. She will finish her course of antibiotics on Friday...so we'll see how things go after that.

She still squats down quite often when she is out for a walk,...and that concerns me a little.......as it could signify some infection still present....?

Thanks for asking DB......

John


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## Dally Banjo (Oct 22, 2009)

That sounds very promising, but will keep everything still crossed for her being over the worst


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## Mum2Heidi (Feb 17, 2010)

Will keep everything crossed that she keeps improving. Keep us informed


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