How Long Should Abs Be Given For A Stubborn Uti?

[Dilly's Piggies]

My 1.5y old sow is currently having bladder problems, she has diagnosed bacterial cystitis. She has been to the vet 3 times already and is going again for a 4th visit on Friday as this UTI will just not clear up. She was first prescribed baytril, 0.2ml x2 daily for 5 days, baytril seemed to help although once the course stopped the UTI came back again. She then went back and was prescribed Septrin, 0.25ml x2 daily for 7 days, UTI came back again so she went for an ultrasound of the bladder, all seems healthy and we were told to give her another 7 days on Septrin. She came off antibiotics 1 week ago, and of course the UTI is back again.

Neither baytril or septrin seem to be working fully, or maybe the dosages or duration of the course is wrong, I hear UTI's can be stubborn and often require a longer course than other infections? Whilst on both antibiotics I noticed she seemed better in herself overall, she became more social and playful, also ate more (I was giving fibreplex probiotic also as recommended, I believe this helped a tremendous amount) but she still had pink tinted urine, I did notice squeaking whilst peeing stopped though. It just seems like these antibiotics weren't given for long enough, I would just like to know how long she should be given them for the best chance at clearing this nasty infection.

Personally I think she did a bit better on baytril than septrin, but I've read that septrin is the better drug for a UTI, so I don't know... I'm considering asking my vet to try baytril again but for a longer period, how long would you say is adequate for my girl in this situation? The next plan of action is an xray to check for bladder stones.

Many thanks in advance, I just want to do the best for my piggies.

 

[chesca_27]

It sounds like the course of antibiotics is too short. I have had piggies prescribed antibiotics for up to 6 weeks at a time.

Try using this dose calculator to see if she is getting the right amount of medication.

Guinea Lynx :: Calculating Doses

I wish her better x

 

[DM030819]

Relying completely on my rubbish memory I think one of mine that a 28 day course of antibiotics.

 

[sport_billy]

@helen105281 @Adelle

 

[Freela]

It's safe to do a longer-term course of antibiotics (one of my pigs has bladder issues making her prone to infections and actually takes Baytril as a suppressive antibiotic and has for several years with no ill effects.) I would request a longer course- at least a month or so to try to knock out the infection for good.

 

[Adelle]

Id request a 4-6 week course (have had a sow on this for a UTI) of either antibiotic. Baytril is stronger but Septrin is more specific to bladder so it really would be a judgement call on that one.

The other approach to take would be trialling Metacam- the blood may be from inflammation of the bladder as a result of the infection, which can linger on even after all bacteria has even killed. You can try that for a week or so before trialling the long antibiotic course to see what is actually helping

Keep up with probiotics on a long course especially with the baytril to prevent her having any gut issues.

All the best x

 

[Dilly's Piggies]

Id request a 4-6 week course (have had a sow on this for a UTI) of either antibiotic. Baytril is stronger but Septrin is more specific to bladder so it really would be a judgement call on that one.

The other approach to take would be trialling Metacam- the blood may be from inflammation of the bladder as a result of the infection, which can linger on even after all bacteria has even killed. You can try that for a week or so before trialling the long antibiotic course to see what is actually helping

Keep up with probiotics on a long course especially with the baytril to prevent her having any gut issues.

All the best x

Yes this is what I've heard hence my reasons for asking, I want to know what I'm asking for when I take her to the vet just to make sure both me and my vet are doing it right, better safe than sorry! I forgot to mention that she is also on metacam, 0.2ml once a day, I stopped giving this to her after 2 weeks though because I didn't see any improvement, I was concerned about how much medication she was on too, the latter is most likely me over worrying though because I didn't notice any gut problems or soft poops when she was on it, so it should be fine to try the metacam again. I do still have half a bottle of metacam and septrin from last time, is it still okay to use these or should I ask for new medication? (They have been opened for 1 month). I think given that baytril is much stronger and I've heard horror stories I would feel safer giving her a 4-6 week course of septrin, she did respond better to baytril but it was only very slightly, not enough for me to choose it over septrin which is as you say more bladder specific, worth a try at least! So tomorrow she should start septrin, metacam and fibreplex again, I just hope this time she gets better and I also need to book an xray. Would you say it's better to wait until after the long antibiotic course has ended for an xray or should I get it done sooner whilst she's on them? Thank you so much for your help