No More Painful Peeing! Top 5 Home Fixes for Dog UTIs!

Does your dog have a UTI? Frequently urinating, straining to urinate, maybe passing a small amount of blood. These are my top five safe and effective natural home remedies. Are you looking to learn more about natural pet health and wellness? You've come to the right place. Click the link to subscribe to Veterinary Secrets. UTIs or urinary tract infections, they're actually quite common in our dogs. One of the first signs most pet parents see is frequent urination. If your dogs want to go outside, they just want to urinate all the time, they may even be urinating in the house. You may see a little bit of straining as your dog is having difficulty urinating. In some cases, you may actually see this little blood pinch, maybe red. I know with my last dog, Louis, when he was a young puppy, I'm like, he seemed to be peeing a little bit more often. It was wintertime and I saw this marked red urine on the snow. He had a UTI. In some cases, for some dogs, it can be painful. They may cry or whine when they're urinating. You might see that your dog is leaking or dripping urine. And for some of these dogs, one of the first things people notice is their dog is repeatedly licking themselves. More common we're seeing in these female dogs, they're licking their vulva. What's going on? And then for some people, you can actually smell the urine. It's this really strong smelling odor. It's a big red flag, likely a UTI. The UTI is happening when bacteria from outside the body, it's ascending up the urethra. That's the big opening, the big tube that goes from the bladder that exits your dog's body, going up that urethra, making its way into the urinary bladder, causing the infection. Most UTIs in dogs, they're caused by the bacteria E. coli. That's what makes up most of the feces. And there can be other ones. It could be strep, could be staph, maybe your dog is underlying dental disease, bacteria from the mouth, they're circulating, they make their way in their bladder. It may be that your dog has skin folds around their rear, around their vulva, and that's trapping bacteria around the vulva. The bacteria makes its way into your dog's vulva, up into the urethra, up into the urinary bladder. Some dogs with these clinical signs, they could have underlying bladder stones. Could be that your dog is primarily incontinent. Maybe your dog is a spayed female dog, she's lost her source of estrogen, her bladder isn't functioning properly. Dogs that are incontinent, they're much more likely to get UTIs. But regardless, regardless of the underlying cause, regardless of why your dog is showing these clinical signs, the first big thing, bring your dog in, get your dog examined by a veterinarian, have them do a complete urinalysis. At the very least, number one, determine if there really is a UTI. And then secondarily, just make sure there aren't a whole bunch of bladder stones. There aren't anything underlying bigger that needs to be done. If it is just a simple, uncomplicated UTI, so you've got bacteria in the urinary bladder, which is pretty darn common, also very common in people, these are five quick and easy remedies for you to consider. And the other big thing is there have been many pet parents who've had dogs had UTIs and they've used many of these remedies. Had a number of different people that have gone ahead and they've used the honey, they've used green tea and honey, and they've seen that literally within 24 to 48 hours, their dog's clinical signs have stopped. So yes, like these seem are simple home remedies, but guess what? They work. Remedy number one. We have none other than this, honey. First honey, it's a great antibacterial, been well-documented. It has ingredients such as hydrogen peroxide, other specific ingredients in honey, which make it really difficult for bacteria to grow. In part, it's acidic. It inhibits bacterial growth. Honey is also anti-inflammatory and it's soothing. So it's going to help the urinary tract infection in two ways. Number one, it's going to deal with the bacteria, whether it's E. coli, whether it's staph or strep. Then secondarily, it's going to decrease that inflammation, that red inflamed bladder, the red inflamed urethra. It's better if you can get unpasteurized honey, but honestly, most honey is going to be really beneficial. Pretty impressive just how such a good antibacterial it is. Standard dog dose, about one teaspoon for 20 pounds of body weight daily. Tula, she's about 20 pounds. One teaspoon you're going to get and she likes it. Honey for you. You're going to do this once to twice a day. You're going to do it for 10 to 14 days. Number two, we have a tea made from green leaves. This is the awesome natural antibacterial green tea. Green tea contains the ingredient EGCG. It is a well-proven antibacterial, specifically effective against E. coli, against staph. These are two of the more common bacteria causing UTIs. Green tea catechins, they're great natural anti-inflammatories and by decreasing bladder inflammation, you're providing great initial relief for your dog. Some people have concerns about the caffeine, but the amount of green tea you're giving is minuscule. It's a little minimal amount of caffeine, which is completely safe to give to your dog. I've had tons of former clients use this green tea recipe. It has worked especially well. There have been no side effects, just big upside. They give it for a day or two and their dog's UTI, it ends. So number one, you're getting yourself a green tea bag, one cup of hot water. Let that sit steep and cool. This is sat for about 20 minutes. One cup green tea. The second part of our remedy, I'm scooping out one tablespoon of our local unpasteurized honey being mixed into our one cup of concentrated, cool green tea. Look at me mix. I'm such a professional cook. I've mixed the honey, the green tea well. A standard dog dose, about a quarter of a cup or four tablespoons for 20 pounds of body weight daily. Chula is 20 pounds. What I would do is I would give her two tablespoons twice a day. That would be four tablespoons. And I'm just going to show you that she actually likes it. So I've got the tablespoon of honey mixed with a half a cup or one cup of green tea, but she likes the taste so it's easy to give. Oh, you like the green tea and honey. Good girl there. It also happens to be good for her mouth because it's antibacterial, help treat dental disease as well, which you could use. Oh, look at that. Good girl. I would suggest then treating your dog with this twice a day for 10 to 14 days. Number three, cranberries. Cranberries have long been suggested for UTIs in people, for UTIs in our dogs. And in truth, in veterinary practice, I wasn't completely convinced people would say, oh, I just give my dog sweetened cranberries. It didn't make any sense to me. Most dogs, not really crazy about it. I didn't really find it to be effective, but it turns out what you need to be giving is the appropriate amount of cranberry. And since further studies have actually shown, it really does help prevent recurrent UTIs in people. There are certain phytochemicals in cranberries called PACs are also pro-anthocyanoanidins. And they've been shown to make it more difficult for the bacteria to adhere to the lining of the urinary bladder, right? So the bacteria can attach to it, can cause a UTI. Much the same thing applies to our dogs, right? Likewise, the same thing, they make it more difficult for that E. coli to attach to your dog's urinary bladder. So that's how they're helping with UTIs, but you need to give enough cranberry to be effective. And that's what they found in these long-term studies, right? There is such a range of the amount that was given, how long people were giving it, whether it was effective or not, but when it's given in the appropriate amount and the appropriate concentration, then it works. So that's how we want the capsules, cranberry extract. These here, they are 500 milligram capsules. It's just a dose of about a hundred milligrams per 10 pounds of body weight daily. Tula is a little over 20 pounds. She will be getting about a half a capsule once a day. And I would just sprinkle it into her little food, might even double the dose and give her one a day. And it's something that's going to cause no harm. There's no side effects at all seen in our dogs. It's very safe. Once daily, 14 days. And if we've got a dog that has ongoing repeated UTI, UTI, UTI, they can be on this long-term very safely. Cranberries. Number four, found in things such as apples. Not other than this, it's called D-mannose. There's been a number of different studies with D-mannose, including studies in dogs, and it's clear that yes, it is effective. It can help treat and specifically prevent UTIs. As far as the underlying mechanism, it's generally thought it's similar to how it's working in cranberry. In terms of the D-mannose, this simple sugar, it's making it more difficult for the bacteria to adhere to the cell wall. So if it can't attach to the urinary bladder, then it can't turn into an infection. D-mannose. In one study in people, they were giving 1500 milligrams twice a day for three days. That's three capsules. And then they were giving 1500 milligrams once a day for another 10 to 14 days. And they found after that little over two week period, over 90% of the people who had UTIs fully resolved. They're just all on the D-mannose. Then there was another longer term study. Specifically, this is applying to people that had recurring UTIs. So these are people that were on antibiotics for chronic ongoing UTIs. They found that those people who were on three capsules or 1500 milligrams of the mannose daily, they had equivalent prevention of UTIs recurring, as for those people on those antibiotics. In other words, the D-mannose, it was as effective as the antibiotic in preventing recurring UTIs. And best of all, it's this naturally occurring sugar, and it's not causing a host of all other secondary side effects. It's not damaging the gut microbiome. It's not causing recurring diarrhea, et cetera. You don't have those secondary side effects. Just natural, simple product, natural, simple ingredient, working. Suggested dog doses, 100 to 200 milligrams for 10 pounds of body weight daily. Tula's 20 pounds. I'd be giving her 200 to 400 milligrams a day. So initially with Tula, she had a pretty big raging UTI, frequently urinating, maybe stranded urinating, and seeing a little bit of blood. I would start her on the twice daily high dose of 200 milligrams for 10 pounds of body weight daily. I would be giving her half of this capsule twice a day, or just one capsule once a day. I do the first three to four days. When I see the symptoms start to slow down, then I would just be giving her a half of a capsule once a day. And then total, I do that over a 14 day period. So I'm doing half a capsule twice a day, the first three days, then half a capsule once a day for the next 10 or 11 days. And the D-mannose, like the cranberries, it's especially safe as well. It's this naturally occurring simple sugar, found in fruits, found in apple. So once again, very safe to give your dog. You are not going to do any harm. It can actually do a whole lot of good treating the UTI. Number five, last but not least, the good bacteria. A good multi-strain probiotic formula such as this guy. It's a 12 multi-strain human formula filled with primary lactobacillus, and or something like this one. I think you might recognize this guy. Dr. Jones's Ultimate Probiotic Formula for Dogs and Cats. The big benefits of these probiotics, like this guy or this guy, is that these good healthy bacteria are what's needed around the surface of your dog. They're needed around the vulva. They need to be present because if they're there, then they're going to decrease the likelihood of the pathogenic bacteria, i.e. E. coli, i.e. staph, then making their way up into the urinary tract. Because there are no normal bacteria sitting in the urinary bladder. They're not sitting in the urethra, in the urinary tract. We shouldn't do any bacteria. What's happened, they're coming from somewhere. And often, they're coming from just outside the bladder, just after your dog pees. Very common in our female dogs. What's happened is that the wrong bacteria, you know, they're hanging around here. They've colonized in between your skin folds, right? Your dog might be dribbling urine, being a little bit incontinent. That little bit of urine, it pools in the skin folds, allows the bacteria, the staph to grow, the E. coli to grow. Then it's going to make its way up into the urethra, into the urinary bladder. So you want to eliminate that source of that bacteria causing the problem in the first place. These probiotics can do exactly that. And this one really interesting study, actually took children that had recurring UTIs, and they compared one set of children. They were given just antibiotics preventively. Yeah, they seemed to prevent the UTIs. The second set, they're given probiotics, specific lactobacillus species, like a range of the different lactobacillus species. They found the kids that were on the lactobacillus species, the probiotics, they had equivalent success. So whether either the antibiotic was going to work, great, you know, it's going to work, cause a whole host of other problems. The probiotic was as effective. So yes, especially if you've got a dog with a recurring UTI, you want to make sure they're on a good quality multi-strain probiotic. It can make a big, big positive difference. Last but not least, if you have a dog that has a recurring UTIs, you don't want to get all those ingredients, you want to make your life simple and easy. We happen to have a urinary support formula, which includes cranberry. It includes D-mannose. It's all here in one simple, easy to give chew. And let's just give Tula a little sample and see what she thinks of them. Tula, what do you think of the urinary chews just for you? Good girl. Yeah, if I'm a dog, I'd much rather get a chew than I would get some person forcing capsules down my mouth. Okay. Oh, that was good, wasn't it? Good girl. These guys, Dr. Jones's Urinary Support Chews for Dogs. Thank you so much for watching this edition of NRA Secrets of Urinary Tract Infections in Dogs. My top five natural remedies. Click up there to subscribe, the bell to sign up for notifications. And when you click that link directly in the box below, I can send you a copy of my free book.