Saturday, August 29, 2009

Dog's Urinary Tract Infection

By Moses Wright

A common cause for a dog's urinary tract infection is a bacterial infection. Urinary tract infections often cause pain during urination and difficulty urinating.

The primary cause of most urinary tract infections is the presence of bacteria in the bladder. Bacteria may enter the bladder through the dog's urethra. The urethra is the narrow tube that expels the urine from the bladder when a dog urinates.

Urinary tract infections are most commonly caused by bacterial infections in the bladder. Bacteria enters the bladder through the dog's urethra. The urethra is the tiny tube through which urine passes from the bladder when the dog urinates.

Urinary tract infections in dogs can cause blood, crystals, or pus to be present in the urine. An increased need to urinate, lower back pain, increased thirst, and increased volume in urination can also be caused by a urinary tract infection. A previously housebroken dog may have accidental urination in the house if it has a urinary tract infection.

A veterinarian is likely to press on the dog's abdomen to feel the dog's bladder when diagnosing a urinary tract infection. The veterinarian may also do a rectal exam to feel the urethra. A urine sample may be collected and evaluated.

The urinary tract infection could be an upper urinary tract infection or lower urinary tract infection. Kidney functioning can be negatively affected by upper urinary tract infections. Lower urinary tract infections do not usually affect the kidneys.

A dog's urinary tract infection is commonly treated with antibiotics. The analysis of the urine sample helps the veterinarian choose the best antibiotic to fight the infection.

If the antibiotic does not successfully eliminate the infection, it could be a sign that an underlying disease is causing the infection. In many cases, the failure of the antibiotic is due to the dog not receiving the entire course of the antibiotics.

Diabetes mellitus and Cushing's disease are examples of diseases that can make a dog susceptible to developing urinary tract infections. If the dog is on medication for another condition or has a abnormality of its anatomy, the dog can be prone to urinary tract infections.

Other dog diseases can cause the same symptoms as urinary tract infections. Bladder cancer and bladder stones can cause the same symptoms and also cause urinary tract infections.

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