By Tess Thompson
The structure of the urinary tract in dogs is as simple as it
can be. It consists of the following:
─
Kidneys that filter the daily metabolic wastes from the blood
and dissolve them in as little water as possible.
─
A set of two tubes called ureters that transport liquid waste to
a storage area.
─
The urinary bladder which is the storage area for urine.
─
Urethra, the tube through which this waste is eliminated during
urination.
The simplicity, however, ends here because a lot can go wrong
with this simple system that is responsible for eliminating
wastes. To start with, diet, water consumption, pH balance of
the urine and stress can cause urinary tract problems. In
addition to this, disease causing bacteria can enter the sterile
tract through the urethral opening at the end of penis (in
males) or just within the vaginal vestibule (in females) and
cause canine and feline urinary infection
http://www.nativeremedies.com/petalive/uti-free-urinary-tract-infection-cats-dogs.html?kbid=5918.
If the prostate gland, the seminal vesicles or the testicles are
infected or inflamed in males, they can cause urinary problems
as well. This is because these organs are closely associated
with the urethra. The ureters are the least affected and seldom
pose a problem unless damaged by injury, cancer, surgical
accident, or kidney stones that pass through them.
Urolithiasis is a condition caused due to the formation of
stones or calculi or excessive amount of crystals. These are
formed due to the disturbance in pH balance in the urinary tract
of the dog. Although these may form anywhere in the tract, the
bladder is the most commonly affected part. A urinary bladder
stone can cause irritation, damage to the lining and often pain
for the patient. Extreme conditions ultimately lead to blood in
the urine or a completely blocked passage, causing canine and
feline urinary incontinence
http://www.nativeremedies.com/petalive/uti-free-urinary-tract-infection-cats-dogs.html?kbid=5918,
severely painful urination or a complete cessation of it.
Infections caused by the bacterium E. coli are the most common
urinary problems. The infection starts from the urethra and if
not treated in time it can move further inside and affect the
proximal and distal urinary organs. A kidney infection can be a
direct outcome of unchecked urinary tract infection in dogs
http://www.nativeremedies.com/petalive/uti-free-urinary-tract-infection-cats-dogs.html?kbid=5918.
Kidneys are major organs for filtering out urea from the blood
so that it can be excreted with water as urine. Malfunctioning
of the organs causes accumulation of toxins and may ultimately
lead to death.
Urinary infections in dogs are normally treated with
antibiotics. For the removal of bladder or kidney stones surgery
was the only option some years back. However, there is now an
increased realization that stones can be managed through an
increased consumption of water, special diets and homeopathic
treatment.
Before starting any treatment a proper diagnosis is necessary
since incorrect diagnosis is one of the major issues during UTI
treatment. For treatment, a complete urinalysis and culture is
required to identify the pathogen since specific bacteria need
to be tackled with different antibiotics. Moreover, canine and
feline urinary infection can be persistent and hard to treat and
require long use of antibiotics in prescribed dosages to avoid
recurrence.
References:
http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=C&C=9&S=1
http://www.petcaretips.net/canine_urinary_tract.html
http://www.executec.com/urolith.htm
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