A couple of mornings ago my old girl Bonnie woke up feeling pretty sick. She was trembling and she didn’t want to eat breakfast. I was worried she might have a bladder infection because she has had them before.

I collected a sample of her urine that morning and took it in to work. I ran a test to check for bacteria and sure enough she had an infection. 12 hours after her first dose of antibiotic she was still not completely back to normal, but did eat breakfast.

24 hours later she was back to barking at the mail man and eating bird seed off the ground.

Her recent episode of feeling sick made me want to discuss bladder infections and what symptoms owners should monitor for.

Typical Symptoms

The classic signs of a urinary tract infection in dogs are asking to go outside more often, having accidents in the house, or straining to urinate. This isn’t due to a blockage of the urethra or bladder, but due to the pain and the spasms that occur when there is an infection. So they continue trying to urinate even once the bladder is empty.

Sometimes there will be visible blood in the urine but this can be hard to see on the ground. Sometimes cat owners first find out their pet has blood in the urine when they urinate in the bathtub where it’s very visible.

Most dogs in my experience, honestly do not look very sick. They are asking to go outside more often and having accidents. But most owners report to me that they are still eating normally and there are no other major symptoms. Obviously some dogs, like my own,  will be more sensitive than others.

During an examination there also do not tend to be any other symptoms. Most dogs are not painful in the abdomen, although I have had a few react when I push around the bladder. My own dog actually screamed when I touched her belly so there can be a range of severity.

But usually they have a normal temperature and appetite. And unless there is another underlying issue, or the infection has spread to the kidneys, their blood-work is also usually normal.

Cats with a urinary tract infection can present similarly. They may be urinating outside the litter box or the owners may actually notice blood in the urine.

If you notice any of these symptoms I do recommend contacting your veterinarian for an appointment. For this post I am going to focus just on bladder infections, but there are other potential causes for blood in the urine such as a bladder stone or even stress induced cystitis (bladder inflammation without infection).

Although both males and females can get bladder infections, it happens more often in females due to their anatomy.

The bacteria that causes a bladder infection almost always comes from the outside environment. It could be introduced from poop if your pet has diarrhea and gets feces around the vulva. It can also be from bacteria off the ground, or even be from bacteria in the mouth if your dog licks their vulva a lot.

This bacteria will then start to ascend, or move up the urethra, until it reaches the bladder. This is more likely to happen in female dogs because there is a shorter distance between the outer genitals and the bladder.

Most dogs are able to prevent an infection from taking hold due to some natural defenses. One is having a strong immune system to fight and kill these bacterial organisms. Another defense is that when they urinate this helps flush the bacteria back out to the environment.

But these defenses will fail occasionally and we are left with a bladder infection.

Diagnosis

In order to diagnose a bladder infection there are 2 main tests. The first is a simple urinalysis. This is a very quick test that will check if there is an increase in red or white blood cells in the urine. A sample of urine is also looked at under the microscope and if bacterial organisms are observed this confirms an infection.

But it’s not the best test because it has some limitations. It can’t say exactly what type of bacteria is present because they will look the same as similar bacteria. It also won’t be able to differentiate what antibiotic is best to use for this infection.

The gold standard test is a urine culture. This is when a sample of urine is plated on a culture medium and actually allowed to grow. The type of growth that is observed will then allow the laboratory to say exactly what type of bacteria this is. They will also be able to use antibiotic infused pap to say which antibiotics prevent the bacteria from growing and which don’t.

This allows your veterinarian to choose the best antibiotic for your pet so you aren’t left with a pet who is still showing symptoms after finishing a course of antibiotics.

But sometimes, even with a culture to know which antibiotic to use, we don’t get the infection cleared the first time. I currently have my own dog on a 10 day course of antibiotics. This should clear the infection, but some animals will need a much longer course of treatment.

Some dogs will need a 4-6 week course of treatment to clear the infection. This can be due to having a suppressed immune system or from having a very large number of bacteria in the urine. Sometimes we  will recommend culturing during the middle of treatment and at the end of treatment to be sure the antibiotic is working.

So does this mean male dogs and cats can’t get bladder infections?

No, they aren’t immune. It’s just less likely than in female dogs. I have had a few male patients who are on medications for other health issues, that have the side effect of suppressing their immune systems. These dogs have periodically had bladder infections as a side effect.

Male cats can get bladder infections as well but it’s just less common. Typically if a male cat presents for urinating outside the litter box, or for blood in the urine we are more concerned about something called idiopathic cystitis. This can be an entire post on it’s own, but it’s a sterile infection of the bladder so antibiotics usually aren’t needed.

Prevention

Once an infection is present your pet will need antibiotics to get them feeling better. But there are some things you can do to prevent infections. I don’t usually recommend these steps for every dog, but if your dog has had more then one bladder infection in their lifetime these steps can help prevent a future infection.

One thing is to wipe the outside of your dogs vulva after they go to the bathroom. Some dogs who are prone to infection have skin folds around the vulva that trap dirt and bacteria. Keeping this area clean will reduce the amount of bacteria that get in to the urethra. I recommend using a gentle baby wipe or just a washcloth with water.

There are also some supplements you can start giving to your pet that may help reduce the frequency of bladder infections. One thing you can try is a cranberry supplement. In women we know that cranberry juice helps to prevent bacteria from sticking to the bladder walls, so they can be flushed out more easily when women urinate. The same may be true for dogs as well. I don’t recommend cranberry juice, but there are supplements containing cranberry extract that are safe for dogs.

Another supplement that might help is glucosamine, the same supplement used for joint health. We have found that glucosamine actually helps keep the bladder wall healthy as well which also may prevent bacteria from sticking to the bladder walls. There are many of these supplements for dogs such as Cosequin, Dasuquin and Glycoflex.

For cats I usually recommend Cosequin for Cats. It comes in a capsule which means you can pull the capsule pieces apart and just sprinkle the powder on their food.

If you have a pet prone to bladder infections or are just curious about what the typical symptoms are I hope this post was helpful for you.

Have you had a pet prone to bladder infections? Did they have severe symptoms like my own dog or were they more mild? Let me know your experiences!