Recurrent UTI 12yr old collie

Hi Vets, I hope this is okay to post but my heart is breaking and I just want to know I'm doing the right thing. I have a 12 and a half year old border collie girl, (who is the most special 4 legged lady ever!) She struggles with painful joint after a broken hock, and had some time on inflacam. Since October she's had 2 UTI's and the most recent dip test has shown raised proteins, nitrates & something else which I can't remember 🤦‍♀️ but basically it's looking like another UTI. Both the other infections were treated with a 1week course of antibiotics, this time its been recommended for her to have a bladder & kidney ultrasound before any antibiotics are given. She's eating, wanting to play, drinking normally and if it wasn't for regular dip tests, she isn't showing any signs of being poorly! Is there anything else I could be doing, checking for, or asking for? TIA

Hello!  The problem with a strangers viewpoint of this is that, even with all the medical research in the world, I cannot know what details of the story are for your particular dog (who is, by the way, beautiful). At the same time as a diptest, most vets will measure something called the specific gravity of urine, which is inexpensive and will help to determine the state of the kidneys.  Furthermore, there are a number of blood tests that can help to lend weight or otherwise to the various possibilities regarding the liver and kidneys.  With UTIs, it is rarely the case that an infection has simply turned up in the bladder from nowhere;  might there be underlying disease in the bladder or kidneys, for example?  I suspect that this is what your vet wants to look for with their scans.  I am pleased that the patient is feeling better, but can understand your vets' desire to find the underlying cause.  Great questions are:  What could be going on with my dogs' liver and kidneys?  What are the possibilities?  (Get a list).  What have you ruled out / can you rule out from here?  And, crucially if you are feeling brave for this, which of these possibities are things that we might be able to treat if we find them?  What would treatment involve?   Hopefully, your vet will be making decisions using this kind of method and understanding what they want to do and why, will help you to make decisions.  Whatever's going on, sone way of treating your dogs' skeletal pain is likely to be a must; your vet may be very keen to find ways for this that dont interfere with any other problems that may be going on.  Vets are also very good at discussing situations pragmatically- if you want to know whether a certain course of action is age-appropriate or financially appropriate, always talk to them.   The scientific part is only one aspect of managing an animal's healthcare.  Wishing you both all the best from here.

if ok for a non-vet to ask a question- are you referring to an infection that was cultured, identified, and then a specific antibiotic was identified as sensitive but hasn't 'worked'?   i don't know what dip refers to sorry. i just know, from experience with a dog whose one time ear bacteria revealed that only one drug was sensitive, that it is so key for the culture and antibiotic sensitivity test is done. I also don't know what dip refers to so this may be stupid sorry. i am also confused if you are referring to a UTI based on a bacteria showing up as positive and to what extent any sediment was cultured at all. also i live in south america so it's possible that my questions are even relevant- i think what iam going for is that i would be sad if a culture/antibiotic test has not been done. can you ask for a secretion culture to be done? Or a bacteria specific cytology?  My dog has had 9 ultrasounds that have not been overly helpful in ways that have been specific to anything- i mean, they show terrible things but those things did not lead to any clarity. I am totally unaware in what capacity any ultrasound could ever suggest an specific antibiotic. that sounds bonkers to me, but i also dont understand science at all. i do understand that my dog was given 4994849448 antibiotics and that there are bad consequences of those choices. sorry. not sure if this was linear or coherent.  

Just a quick note here to say that I agree with Pips and would generally only treat a proven urine infection in a stable patient.  Vets evidence urine infections by collecting urine in a sterile manner and it seems likely that your vet was intending to do this at the time of the ultrasound.

.... if they haven't already.