Urianry Tract Infection 14 week boxer female

Summile · 11-09-2009, 03:17 PM

I have only had Jasmine for 5 weeks, she is 14 weeks old. She has been on an atibiotic almost fromt he day I picked her up. Her first problem was a tick head that was embedded in her head, and it had to be extracted at 9 weeks old. Around 11 weeks I noticed a yellow pus oozing from her PP.. The vet subscribed Amoxicillian, after it had not cleared up in 10 day I called and he changed her anitbiotic. I do not have the name of that right now, but a week later it has still not cleared up. I am desparate. I contacted the breeder whom I bought her from and she suggested to much protein in her diet. Her food is now Science Diet Natures best (first bag from breeder was original S Diet) however my Vet suggested feeding her Peanut Butter, Yogart, eggs because she is young and needs all of the protein she can get to keep her strong. I beleive most of the foods I have been adding to the dry are protein. She loves a Kong full of Peanut Butter, I have been giving her that as a treat. Am I doing it all wrong, who is correct, my Vet or my Breeder? My poor little thing has been on Antibiotics almost since I have gotten her. It can not be good for her. She was 12 .4 pounds on Oct. 7th, and Nov 3rd. she was 22.4 pounds. Is this a natural growth rate.

KeeperBoy · 11-09-2009, 03:43 PM

Welcome! I'm so sorry your baby is feeling so crummy!

There is not a Science Diet on the market that has too much protein. If you are interested in a higher quality kibble, Orijen makes a great puppy food. Check out www.dogfoodanalysis.com for some more ideas. Some people do advocate a lower protein for puppies, but what is important is the quality of the protein more than anything. I would eliminate wheat and corn asap, as those can cause LOTS of problems. Boo was eating Science Diet when we got her and she had nothing but problems her first 6 months. Once we got her on a food without the corn/wheat/byproducts/soy, she was like a different dog. Also, I would get some probiotics either at the health food or pet store, to give her. Those antibiotics are probably trashing her insides.

The Honest Kitchen is a great food for UTIs, as you can control the water intake with the food. This type also has cranberry in it, although not a ton... http://www.thehonestkitchen.com/products/embark.shtml

daisy'smom · 11-09-2009, 04:07 PM

I agree with Andrea. She needs to be on a high quality grain free diet. When I thought Georgie had a UTI someone suggested the cranberry tablets you can get from the health food store. Good luck and please post a picture of Jasmine!

Spyglass Sally · 11-09-2009, 04:42 PM

Hi Summile,

I agree with the others that you want to get on a better food. Science Diet has great marketing but poor quality of nutrition. I also agree she needs probiotics since the antibiotics kill off good bacteria as well as the ones causing the infection.

If you are having a problem with UTI's I would suggest trying d-mannose. D-mannose is a naturally occurring sugar and the active ingredient in cranberries that helps prevent and eliminates UTI's. (Btw, since only small amounts of D-Mannose metabolize in your body, it doesn't interfere with normal blood sugar regulation.) It doesn't kill the bacteria, but instead prevents them from being able to cling to the bladder so they are naturally eliminated. But the good bacteria - necessary for her immune system - are still intact. It's unfortunate that by using antibiotics to treat an infection you actually lower their immune function since a high percentage of the immune system is gut associated lymphoid tissue in the intestine. D-mannose works great in humans too, btw.

You can use it regularly as a preventative if she is prone to them. I found it for a pretty good price on Amazon. Those are the caps, but you can also buy it in powder form if that's easier for you.

Welcome to BoxerHub. Hope to see some pics soon!

AussieGirl · 11-09-2009, 07:47 PM

Hi and

I too echo the previous posters in recommending a better quality food, did you know that it has been estimated that up to 90% of the ailments that affect dogs are diet-related! The dog food analysis site KeeperBoy gave you is fantastic for looking up dog foods and explaining things in terms you can understand you need to aim for a four star or higher food. I too would recommend giving probiotics especially when on antibiotics. Adding raw egg is good for them but I do not recommend more than two per week - I give my girl one per week.

Love to see some photos of your girl - I love puppy pics

Summile · 11-10-2009, 06:21 AM

I am so glad I found this site. Thank you for all your replies. The current antibiotic she is on is Clavamox. Hopefully when I change her food I will be able to get this all behind us. I live in a very rurual area, and I do not have a great choice when it comes to shopping. I will have to order online. I will be looking at the sites listed above. Since the vets push the Science Diet, I really thought I was doing a good thing..

KeeperBoy · 11-10-2009, 06:49 AM

Good luck finding something that works for you! I had no idea what Boo was eating was so bad. I thought "oh, the first ingredient is meat, that has to be good". And now I look at The Honest Kitchen or Orijen's ingredients and I realize how bad what she was eating was. I didn't even know there was a dog food on the market without corn and byproducts, since the big pet stores didn't really carry any good foods.

daisy'smom · 11-10-2009, 07:55 AM

Vets do push Science Diet. I understand they get paid to do so. They get their education on nutrition from the pet food companies. I always bought what I thought was good food for my pets. I was shocked when I found out what I was feeding.

http://www.fuzzyfaces.com/lfood2.html This is a good link that tells you what is in most dog foods.

Your baby is a doll!

bruinsBoxers · 11-10-2009, 08:51 AM

I want to say that many dogs will get puppy vaginitis , this is soo common and it can keep coming back whether they are on antibiotics or not . It is usually a bit of yellowish discharge from ther vulva usually after peeing .

For many dogs it will go away once they have their first heat cycle or are spayed .For others ( the minority) it will be off and on for years.

If she were mine I would stop giving the antibiotics for the discharge and just let it run it's course - many times the discharge clears up on it's own. I think her immune system out of whack being on AB for such a long time .

I would try to boost her immune syatem by giving her some probiotics and some Vit C & E .

Did they do a urine culture to diagnose the urinary infection?

AussieGirl · 11-10-2009, 06:17 PM

Oooh what a gorgeous looking girl!