Jennifer - I'm ansering this on the FML with a copy to you...
 
>Ronnie's been on antibiotic for three weeks now and no improvement at all.
>Last week the vet tried to culture his urine TWICE and nothing would grow.
>The vet also did a contrast study on his bladder...
 
     The vet is doing pretty well here.  I might consider doing an
exploratoryt at this point, rather than coming off the antibiotic - it may
take weeks before he can culture the urine - when you give antibiotics of
almost any type, you decrease the numbers below those needed to culture,
even if you don't eradicate it.  jthis is why an initial culture before
therapy is started is so important.  The fact that Ronnie is acting fine is
still a good sign.
 
     Bladder infections are usually easier to cure - in this case, there
may be another site in which the infection is hiding out - ureter, kidney,
prostate, and when the bladder - the easiest organ in the urinary system to
clear of infection - clears for a while, it may be "reseeded"
 
     Renal failure is always a consideration when dealing with bladder
infections, as it tends to ascend up the ureter.  However, as he is on
antibiotics, and this doesn't appear to be a "raging" infection, I don't
think it will be moving as fast as the normal, untreated silent infection.
 
     Keep doing what you're doing.  The vet sounds like he's on the ball
(a welcome occurrence, judging from the type of mail I get).
 
Bruce Williams, DVM, DACVP
Dept. of Vet Path, AFIP
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Chief Pathologist, AccuPath
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[Posted in FML issue 1307]