Dear Seth,
My 6 year old Golden Retriever, Henrietta has been urinating in the house. She never had a problem before. In her defense, she has been drinking much more than usual. I think she may have a bladder infection. Should I have her seen by the vet?
Henrietta should definitely be seen by a vet very soon. A veterinarian will base a diagnosis on Henrietta’s symptoms and tests. It very well could be a bladder infection, but there are other causes of urine incontinence. Bladder infections are the most common cause of incontinence in female dogs. Your veterinarian will most likely perform a urinalysis and urine culture. The urinalysis would confirm the presence of white blood cells, thus confirming a bacterial infection. A urine culture will confirm the infection, identify the organism and provide valuable data on which antibiotic your vet should prescribe. After a short period of antibiotics, patients show improvements and incontinence ends. It is very important to finish the entire course of medication to avoid recurrence.
Seth Mayersohn, CVT
