Alright ladies, this one's for you. Well, not really, but you may understand a bit better than the males out there reading this blog. 
Bladder infections. Who has had one? I’ve had too many of them. Therefore, when a client comes to me and tells me that their dog or cat is urinating frequently, they are seeing blood in the snow when the pet is urinating, or if the cat is urinating out of the litter box, I know this needs immediate attention.
I’m a worker. A really hard worker. At the time I write this, I’ve been a Veterinarian for 15 years. I work 80 hours a week, including nights, weekends, and Holidays. I have only missed two days of work, the last one about 13 years ago. Why? A bladder infection. I will be sick or in pain for other reasons, and as long as I’m certain I will not pass my sickness on to others, I know my role in the Veterinary world is extremely important. Especially those 7 ½ years as a solo practitioner, I went to work every single day. But, a bladder infection brings me to my knees.
Enough about me. Dogs and cats are tougher than us in so many ways, but if we first know what a certain sickness feels like, it spurs us into action to take these symptoms away from them as quickly as we can. There are certain things we will notice if our pet has a bladder infection. 
These may be: urinating more frequently than normal, urinating small amounts of urine in numerous places around the yard, blood in the urine, smelly urine, not eating well, vomiting, and hiding. With cats, the main symptom is urinating out of the litter box. While this may not make sense, consider that in the cat’s mind, if every time you urinate in the litter box you feel pain, it must be the litter box that is causing pain, right? Even though it hurts just as much to urinate on the carpet, that is how the mind works.
The first step is calling your Veterinarian. Second step, if you can collect urine from your dog right before you take him/her to the clinic, that would greatly reduce the time needed at the clinic before we can start treatment for your pet. All you need to do is put a clean Tupperware container under them as they are urinating, and then put it in the refrigerator until you go to the appointment. Fresh urine from that day is best. For cats, a urine sample is often obtained by your Veterinarian at the Animal Hospital by gently laying your cat on his/her side, and extracting urine from the bladder with a syringe/needle. While this sounds scary, it is a very easy and quick procedure, and pets rarely mind. It also provides the best sample for a urinalysis as it is sterile, having come right from the bladder. A free catch sample (caught in a cup when the dog urinates), is acceptable most of the time.
This urine sample will give us many of the answers we need to treat your pet. It tells us how well the kidneys are working, what the pH of the urine is and if we should expect to see crystals which may indicate a bladder stone. The urinalysis will also tell us if there are red blood cells, white blood cells, bacteria, etc. in the urine. Your Veterinarian may also recommend a urine culture, where the bacteria in the urine is grown at the lab and then tested against numerous antibiotics to tell your Veterinarian the best antibiotic to use in your pet’s specific infection. In the image below supplied by IDEXX, the large arrow points to a red blood cell, and the small arrow points to a white blood cell. Neither of these should be seen in normal urine.
How did your pet get this bladder infection? Most bladder infections are ascending infections. This means that bacteria starts on the skin and goes up the urethra to the bladder. Bladder infections are more common in females of all species because the rectum and urethra are so close together. Many bladder infections are caused by E. coli bacteria, which is one of the primary species of bacteria found in feces. Also, bladder infections are more common in females because we have much shorter urethras. That bacteria doesn’t have to travel far in the female urethra to get to the bladder lumen. In males, the urethra is much much longer, and oftentimes, males will urinate prior to the bacteria reaching the bladder, flushing the bacteria out as the urine flows out.
Many times a short course of antibiotics is all that is needed to treat a bladder infection. However, if the symptoms do not resolve quickly, or resolve and immediately return, your Veterinarian may recommend an x-ray or ultrasound to see if there are bladder stones (Click here to view my Cool Case Friday post on Bladder Stones) or growths in the bladder causing additional problems. The image above from ResearchGate shows a urine sample full of crystals of all sizes and shapes. This pet DEFINITELY needs an x-ray! I often recommend re-checking your pet’s urine 5 days AFTER discontinuing the antibiotics to make sure the infection has completely resolved.
Don’t delay…..call your Veterinarian today! Your dog or cat will be tremendously thankful when it no longer hurts to pee!
I’m a worker. A really hard worker. At the time I write this, I’ve been a Veterinarian for 15 years. I work 80 hours a week, including nights, weekends, and Holidays. I have only missed two days of work, the last one about 13 years ago. Why? A bladder infection. I will be sick or in pain for other reasons, and as long as I’m certain I will not pass my sickness on to others, I know my role in the Veterinary world is extremely important. Especially those 7 ½ years as a solo practitioner, I went to work every single day. But, a bladder infection brings me to my knees.
Enough about me. Dogs and cats are tougher than us in so many ways, but if we first know what a certain sickness feels like, it spurs us into action to take these symptoms away from them as quickly as we can. There are certain things we will notice if our pet has a bladder infection.
These may be: urinating more frequently than normal, urinating small amounts of urine in numerous places around the yard, blood in the urine, smelly urine, not eating well, vomiting, and hiding. With cats, the main symptom is urinating out of the litter box. While this may not make sense, consider that in the cat’s mind, if every time you urinate in the litter box you feel pain, it must be the litter box that is causing pain, right? Even though it hurts just as much to urinate on the carpet, that is how the mind works.
The first step is calling your Veterinarian. Second step, if you can collect urine from your dog right before you take him/her to the clinic, that would greatly reduce the time needed at the clinic before we can start treatment for your pet. All you need to do is put a clean Tupperware container under them as they are urinating, and then put it in the refrigerator until you go to the appointment. Fresh urine from that day is best. For cats, a urine sample is often obtained by your Veterinarian at the Animal Hospital by gently laying your cat on his/her side, and extracting urine from the bladder with a syringe/needle. While this sounds scary, it is a very easy and quick procedure, and pets rarely mind. It also provides the best sample for a urinalysis as it is sterile, having come right from the bladder. A free catch sample (caught in a cup when the dog urinates), is acceptable most of the time.
This urine sample will give us many of the answers we need to treat your pet. It tells us how well the kidneys are working, what the pH of the urine is and if we should expect to see crystals which may indicate a bladder stone. The urinalysis will also tell us if there are red blood cells, white blood cells, bacteria, etc. in the urine. Your Veterinarian may also recommend a urine culture, where the bacteria in the urine is grown at the lab and then tested against numerous antibiotics to tell your Veterinarian the best antibiotic to use in your pet’s specific infection. In the image below supplied by IDEXX, the large arrow points to a red blood cell, and the small arrow points to a white blood cell. Neither of these should be seen in normal urine.
How did your pet get this bladder infection? Most bladder infections are ascending infections. This means that bacteria starts on the skin and goes up the urethra to the bladder. Bladder infections are more common in females of all species because the rectum and urethra are so close together. Many bladder infections are caused by E. coli bacteria, which is one of the primary species of bacteria found in feces. Also, bladder infections are more common in females because we have much shorter urethras. That bacteria doesn’t have to travel far in the female urethra to get to the bladder lumen. In males, the urethra is much much longer, and oftentimes, males will urinate prior to the bacteria reaching the bladder, flushing the bacteria out as the urine flows out.
Many times a short course of antibiotics is all that is needed to treat a bladder infection. However, if the symptoms do not resolve quickly, or resolve and immediately return, your Veterinarian may recommend an x-ray or ultrasound to see if there are bladder stones (Click here to view my Cool Case Friday post on Bladder Stones) or growths in the bladder causing additional problems. The image above from ResearchGate shows a urine sample full of crystals of all sizes and shapes. This pet DEFINITELY needs an x-ray! I often recommend re-checking your pet’s urine 5 days AFTER discontinuing the antibiotics to make sure the infection has completely resolved.
Don’t delay…..call your Veterinarian today! Your dog or cat will be tremendously thankful when it no longer hurts to pee!
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