lorihuntdvm July 3rd, 2008
My 5 year old Frenchie has been plagued with recurrent UTIs. We have done antibiotics repeatedly. We recently took her to an Internist and he discovered she only had one kidney. Is this common in Frenchie and is there something we can do to help prevent these reoccurring infections?
The Internist wants to discuss some surgical options. I am a little hesitant about resorting to surgery.
Any suggestions or something that might have been overlooked?
Dr. Lori writes -
I do believe recurrent UTIs can be common in frenchies, but your little girl is the first I have heard to only have one kidney. I suspect that this is at the root of her UTI problem.
One suggestion may be changing her food to a more urinary tract friendly diet, whether it be prescription or cooked.
I have also found some help with recurrent bladder problems in using some of the joint support supplements, like GlycoFlex III, there is anecdotal evidence to support that it lubricates the surface of the bladder making it tougher for bacteria to take root.
Joint sumplenets are never a bad idea for frenchies, so you don’t have much to lose by trying…
Good luck with your sweet girl and kudos to you for going for the best vet care you could get to help her out!
Lori Hunt, DVM
Tags: advice, French Bulldog, French Bulldog Veterinary, French Bulldog with UTIs, Frenchie, kidney problems, urinary tract infections, UTI
lorihuntdvm May 20th, 2008
I just got my first frenchie about a month ago. She was in heat when I got her (still bleeding).
The breeder told me that one of her dogs had tried to breed her, but she had separated them quickly and there was no tie. She said I shouldn’t be worried because it was too early in the heat cycle and that my little girl can’t be pregnant. It has now been almost a month since I got her and her teats are still swollen from her heat. When should the swelling go down? I took her to the vet and she palpitated her and said she didn’t think she was pregnant.
Should I be worried?
Dr. Lori writes -
This is a tough call, as we don’t have any info on when she ovulated and we didn’t actually see this boy try and breed her.
Male sperm can live up to 11 days on occasion so it is possible while it was early, it could have gotten her pregnant… It can be normal for a bitch to experience mammary enlargements after a season without being pregnant, but certainly with a possibility of being bred, you may want to have her checked out via ultrasound approximately 30-35 days after the “breeding” to be sure she isn’t.
If she is not pregnant, the mammary swelling should go down in about 6 - 8 weeks after her season and then you can have her spayed at that time.
Good Luck!
Tags: advice, canine, French Bulldog, French Bulldog Veterinary, Frenchie, pregnancy, pregnant
