Positive Side of an UTI (Urinary Tract Infection)
My Link, 7 mo. male Shiba inu, has just been diagnosed with UTI.
Yesterday when I was still in bed, he jumped onto the bed and released a puddle of urine. It resulted in 7 loads of laundry because of the comforter and bedding. My boyfriend was shocked by Link's behavior and insisted that it could be UTI. I wasn't sure, because Link is at his adolescent period and is going through multiple changes physically and mentally.
What was really out of the ordinary is his 3 -4AM accidents that has been happening recently. It has been nightly accident for a week or so. Out of all the things I have read about urination accidents, they are accidents either due to negligence or doggy changes. And for UTI, Link only has shown one symptom: peeing accidents. No blood or no cries when he urinates though. With these said, most people would hypothesis the recent behaviors are due to sexual changes from a healthy dog.
When I was at the vet. yesterday, the vet. also thought it was a coming of age thing. She said UTI is not common in young male dogs and he looks completely healthy. It is mostly be a behavioral problem and I should start consider neuter him soon. Regardless, we submitted a urine sample for testing yesterday.
I was faced with a dilemma from what the doctor said. The options were to neuter him or to retrain him not to do it. I would feel guilty if I make Link, who is already a calm and well behaved dog, undergoes a surgery that I initially want to wait until he is physically and mentally mature. Removing his testicles seem like a coop out to avoid training. And, I don't know how to retrain him not pee when he appears to have problems holding it.
Out of the two evils, the urine test came back positive with trace of blood and high level of white blood cells. I consider it to be good news, because this medical problem is easier to treat than a behavioral problem (fingers cross). Most of all, I don't have to make a tough decision about neutering my couch potato shiba yet. His balls live for another day (and some more).
When did your dog's bad news sound like good news to you?
Yesterday when I was still in bed, he jumped onto the bed and released a puddle of urine. It resulted in 7 loads of laundry because of the comforter and bedding. My boyfriend was shocked by Link's behavior and insisted that it could be UTI. I wasn't sure, because Link is at his adolescent period and is going through multiple changes physically and mentally.
What was really out of the ordinary is his 3 -4AM accidents that has been happening recently. It has been nightly accident for a week or so. Out of all the things I have read about urination accidents, they are accidents either due to negligence or doggy changes. And for UTI, Link only has shown one symptom: peeing accidents. No blood or no cries when he urinates though. With these said, most people would hypothesis the recent behaviors are due to sexual changes from a healthy dog.
When I was at the vet. yesterday, the vet. also thought it was a coming of age thing. She said UTI is not common in young male dogs and he looks completely healthy. It is mostly be a behavioral problem and I should start consider neuter him soon. Regardless, we submitted a urine sample for testing yesterday.
I was faced with a dilemma from what the doctor said. The options were to neuter him or to retrain him not to do it. I would feel guilty if I make Link, who is already a calm and well behaved dog, undergoes a surgery that I initially want to wait until he is physically and mentally mature. Removing his testicles seem like a coop out to avoid training. And, I don't know how to retrain him not pee when he appears to have problems holding it.
Out of the two evils, the urine test came back positive with trace of blood and high level of white blood cells. I consider it to be good news, because this medical problem is easier to treat than a behavioral problem (fingers cross). Most of all, I don't have to make a tough decision about neutering my couch potato shiba yet. His balls live for another day (and some more).
When did your dog's bad news sound like good news to you?
Comments
About neutering.....I neutered Koda at 5 months. I did it because he plays with a lot of female pups who's owners didn't seem to want to spay anytime soon. I didn't want him to have to suffer through them going into a sudden heat. If he is anything like his dad, it would make him go crazy to have a female in heat near him unneutered. It has not made training any easier.
Neuter when you feel comfortable, whatever time frame that may be.
I really don't see a positive side to the UTI. If left go too long behaviors can become habituated so you aren't out of the woods yet. I would use a crate at night so that he does not have the opportunity to stop and squat or hike on you and yours/ stuff at 4 am and he gets the idea by breaking the cycle . Maybe you can take him out more often since he is not feeling so well.
You should discuss with your vet the white cell count situation and then look into diet changes that may help in reducing it coming back after treatment is complete.
Wishing a quick recovery for your pup.
Snf
My boyfriend and I are both very responsible owners, we walk him at least once in the morning, once in the afternoon, one in the early evening and one before going to bed. So daily, Link gets 4-5 walks a day and he doesn't have accidents during the daytime. To us, he is a well trained dog. It's kind of freakish that Link started to pee on his bed, even when he was in his crate in the middle of the night. Physically at his age, he should be able to hold his pee through the night and he was able to do that for months until recently. We have been very careful to give him little water before bedtime before just to prepare him for a successful night. I really don't know how one can train a 7 month old dog not pee at the late hours, except find a way to live around it, such as leaving a wee wee pad out or taking him out at 3AM.
Right now, Link is on antibiotics and follows his usual routine. We'll wait for a week to get the culture results and hopefully by that time, Link will be healing. If it's something more serious, we at least know what we are dealing with and what's the next step. We are on the right path.