According to Dr. Jennifer Coates of PetMD.com she tells us about Urinary Tract Infections and how easy they are to treat. She also tells us that treating dogs is a lot like treating humans.
The standard of care for uncomplicated UTIs in dogs has traditionally been quite different. In the past, my go-to recommendation (which is fairly typical) involved a 14 day course of an antibiotic called amoxicillin-clavulonic acid given twice daily. This protocol is backed up by years of experience that demonstrates its efficacy.
But now, research is providing evidence that we can treat dogs with uncomplicated urinary tract infections more like we treat people suffering from the same condition. A study that compared my twice-a-day for 14 days, amoxicillin-clavulonic acid protocol to a once-a-day for three day regime using high doses of the antibiotic enrofloxacin demonstrated little difference in cure rates between the two groups of test subjects. How cool! Is there an owner out there who wouldn’t rather give three doses of an antibiotic to their dog versus 28 doses, all other things being equal?
Pets should respond very quickly after starting antibiotics for an uncomplicated UTI. If you have any doubts that your dog is getting better, whatever medication has been prescribed, call your veterinarian. He or she will probably recommend testing another urine sample and making a plan based on those results.
How cool is this article! I totally enjoyed it! I love how we can better take care of our animals because of this article. My dog has had urinary tract infections before and this is exactly how they treated her. Let's all do our part to take care of our dogs and take them to the vet when they are sick just like we go to the doctor when we are sick! Thanks Dr. Coates for the great information!!