My Bailey

[rookiemum]

I have one of those big disposable plastic Gladware containers to catch the urine, and then I keep smaller ones for taking the urine to the vets. I became quite the expert urine catcher last summer. Our other dog Buddy had a UTI off and on for months.

Playyards might be too big for our family room (I have to keep Bailey in there so he doesn't have to do steps). We werelooking for hours tonight (2 stores and lots of Internet time) to try to find something that will fit. I have an area about 4' by 6' I could block off, just need something light weight enough so I can move it to get bailey in and out. Ideas?

He seemed pretty good again today until just a little while ago, he started panting and looking miserable again, poor boy.

Pam

[Caroline]

That is what is so great about the x-pen. The x-pen folds so you can ajust it to the right size. Look at the picture again, I could leave it wide open, so I could get in and out when Buster was messing every 10 mints,( steroids) or I could put him in lock down mode when I needed more room in the house.

I got the pen from my mother in law she shows dobbies, the dog show people have all kinds of crates and pens because they travel with there dogs, maybe hit a link on show dog stuff.

There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face.
Ben Williams

[rookiemum]

Bailey does have a UTI, the vet said it was probably caused by the Prednsione. The medicine for 2 weeks was $96.00.

Thanks for the tip about the dog show people. I'll have to research that.

[Caroline]

96$ what a rip off, sorry but that seems high I only paid around 20$ for Busters UTI anti-biotics. He was on amoxicilln.

OH well, such is life, the fact is you should see a big diffence in Bailey in a matter of a few days.

Keep the faith

[rookiemum]

How did the Amoxicillin work? Baileys on Clavamox-it is very pricey. I guess I should have asked if they had anything cheaper.

[critters]

Clavamox is amoxi with an additive that increases the range.
http://www.pfizerah.com/product_overvie ... species=FL

[CarolC]

Bailey does have a UTI, the vet said it was probably caused by the Prednsione.

I woke up thinking about this, not sure.

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/prednisone.html

Here is information on Prednisone. It seems strange that it would cause a UTI, I've never heard that before, maybe someone else has. It makes the dog drink more, which makes the bladder fill up faster, which makes the dog need to urinate or be expressed more often. I can see where drinking extra water might change the pH of the urine slightly, but at the same time flushing extra water through the bladder would help flush out the bacteria.

I don't know, I'm not a vet, but I'd be more likely to think the UTI was caused by expressing incompletely. My dog got a UTI the second week after her accident and she was not on Prednisone. I thought I was expressing completely, but then the vet expressed her right after I had just finished expressing her, and he got a flood. She was put on antibiotics like your dog, and it gave me 2 weeks of protection while I improved my expressing.

[critters]

VERY good points, but the vet was probably alluding to pred's immunosuppressant tendencies.

[Tinker's Mom]

Bailey does have a UTI, the vet said it was probably caused by the Prednsione.

I woke up thinking about this, not sure.

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/prednisone.html

Here is information on Prednisone. It seems strange that it would cause a UTI, I've never heard that before, maybe someone else has. It makes the dog drink more, which makes the bladder fill up faster, which makes the dog need to urinate or be expressed more often. I can see where drinking extra water might change the pH of the urine slightly, but at the same time flushing extra water through the bladder would help flush out the bacteria.

I don't know, I'm not a vet, but I'd be more likely to think the UTI was caused by expressing incompletely. My dog got a UTI the second week after her accident and she was not on Prednisone. I thought I was expressing completely, but then the vet expressed her right after I had just finished expressing her, and he got a flood. She was put on antibiotics like your dog, and it gave me 2 weeks of protection while I improved my expressing.

I agree with you, Carole. Right now Tinker is on a tapering course of Prednisone, due to some lower back soreness- so we're right on top of this issue at the moment.

I don't believe that Prednisone causes a UTI. However, it does cause excessive thirst, and the cycle of water intake and need to urinate or express urine, lends itself to the possibility of incomplete emptying- which can lead to a UTI.

In our case, Tinker has recovered well from disk surgery from 3 years ago, but he still requires help with emptying his bladder completely (most days it's about 85% him/15% expressing). So, as a regular preventative, we keep Tinker on a daily dose of D-Mannose that also contains cranberry powder (it keeps bacteria from adhering to the bladder wall), and that seems to be a good UTI preventative. Of course, if he showed signs of a UTI which was confirmed by a urinalysis and culture, we'd put him on an antibiotic.

Critters, you're right too... Prednisone is immunosupressant. So maybe this was a bit of semantics. Prednisone doesn't cause a UTI, but if bacteria gets in, the body isn't have its usual ability to fight it off... which can lead to infection.

Good point.

[rookiemum]

I just assumed it was because the Prednisone can suppress the immune system. Thanks to everyone for the information.

Pam

[Caroline]

Hi Rokiemum,

How are things going? IS he feeling a bit better? Have you cut back on the steriods ?
The UTI meds worked just fine on Buster, I still have my share of worry with him but all in all things are good.
We are just happy to still have him around.

Take care
Caroline
PS you little boy is a doll !

[CarolC]

Ah, maybe that's what he meant.

[rookiemum]

I'm supposed to try going to every other day for the Prednisone starting this week. Hoping he will be okay, he has been doing better, but then today was not so good again. Our electric went out today and the house was cold-I wonder if that could have affected him? He seems better on the days when its warm, and worse on the cold, wet days.

DH got a pen Saturday, Bailey looks so much more comfortable-he can really stretch out! I was worried he might try to move around too much, but so far he's stayed quiet.

I work again on Wednesday, so I'll check his urine then and see how the (expensive) medicine is working. Our other dog was on it for almost 2 months last summer, I hope it works better for Bailey.

Pam

[Caroline]

Thank you for the update!
So glad to hear that you now have the pen, and if he moves himself in it let him. Most dogs know there own limits he will let you know what he can and cannot do ;just be careful with the standing.
His is an older dog so that may explain why he get sore on cold wet days.

Old dogs, like old worn shoes are comfortable. They might be a bit out of shape and a little worn around the edges but they fit well.
Bonnie Wilcox

[rookiemum]

Today's Baileys first day without the Prednisone (we're going to 10 mg every other day). He's panting a lot, and doesn't seem very comfortable. I don't know if he's in pain or its just a side effect from the Prednisone. He had problems when we went from 20 mg to 10 mgs, so I'm not surprised. Hopefully he will adust to the lower dose in a couple days. I gave him some Tramadol, hopefully he will take a nap soon.