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 [log in to unmask] OR Chief Pathologist, AccuPath [log in to unmask] [Posted in FML issue 1307]