Dogs and UTI

What a day we have had in the Soard house! It is days like today, when you just grab on to your sanity and have to trust that the Lord is in control. I won’t go into all the details on everything as some is still a private family issue, but wanted to share a picture of our sweet baby Scarlette. Scarlette is a 13-year-old Golden Retriever. You can see where her face has turned gray in recent years. I think it has added some more character to her face, don’t you? Don’t ask me why she’s sticking her tongue out at the camera. My youngest daughter takes millions of photos of our pets and this one was really cute.

Last night, Scar-Scar (my nickname for her), kept wanting to go outside. I didn’t think much of it. I figured the kids had fed her scraps and she had the big D. I laid out some blankets in the bathroom and left her in there when I went to bed.

This morning, she wanted to go outside three times within 20 minutes. The last time, I followed her outside to see what was going on. She only urinated. Ten minutes later, the same thing. I went online and looked up info on a dog urinating frequently and what I read got me really concerned. I followed her outside yet again, and noticed a bit of blood on the snow when she urinated (just a tiny bit). I immediately phoned our vet, who was out of town, so I phoned a secondary vet we sometimes use. They gave me an appointment for 3:30 and asked me to collect a urine sample.

Have you ever tried to collect a urine sample from a dog? Think about how hard it is to get one of your own, add to that how hard it is to get one from a child and times it by about a gazillion. I can still hear my girls laughing as the dog and I walked in circles as I attempted to get her to pee in a little plastic container. After several attempts (she was going to the bathroom every 10 minutes, after all), I was able to collect a small amount, which I figured was enough.

In the end, the vet said she has a raging urinary tract infection and put her on antibiotics. However, he is a little concerned about bladder cancer. We have to go back in two weeks to see if the signs are looking better (lots of bladder cells in urine was the bad sign). I realize my sweet baby is thirteen and that is old for a big dog, but I’m hoping we have more time with her and this was just a bad UTI. It came on so fast! If it is cancer, we’ll just have to hope she lives a while longer and doesn’t suffer.

The moral of the story is that you should always err on the side of caution. Even though our budget was tight and the $116.00 vet bill was painful to pay, my dog now feels better after a couple of doses of antibiotic and seems to be resting comfortably. And, I have a little peace of mind in knowing that she isn’t in dire straights for today.

If you have a dog (or other animal), go give him or her a hug. Our pets truly love us as no one else does. A dog loves you when he stink; she loves you when your breath is rank; she loves you when you laugh and when you cry; she loves you when you don’t share your food but especially when you do; she is always happy to see you without fail; when you cry, she will comfort you and give you the sad-dog eyes to show you she understands; she is your best friend and your most loyal companion. Treasure the time that you have with these, one of God’s most special creatures, man’s (and woman’s) best friend. Sniffle. Excuse me while I go hug my dog.