How to Tell if a Puppy Has a UTI

Urinary tract infections can lead to serious long-term problems in puppies, if left untreated.

Puppies can be funny, and quirky behavior is often just that. However, some types of strange or unusual behavior can indicate a serious health problem for your dog. One such problem can be a urinary tract infection, or UTI, which can lead to serious discomfort and other health problems. Fortunately, there are some indications that your puppy may be suffering from this type of problem. If you notice any strange behavior you should take your puppy to the vet immediately.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Take note of unusual accidents. If your puppy is largely housetrained and abruptly suffers a major relapse, this may indicate a UTI. Particularly if it is constantly going all over the house even when it has access to the outdoors, this can indicate a problem.

2. Track your puppy's behavior to determine if it is urinating more frequently. If your puppy has to go out all of the time or is leaving little puddles everywhere, this can indicate a lack of control or even total unawareness of his "leakage." You will have to start taking him out more frequently so that he does not forget the housetraining that he has learned, but you also need to get him to a doctor.

3. Note the location of any accidents. Even pups that are not fully housetrained tend to have their "accidents" in the same spots most of the time. If the accidents no longer are predictable or start appearing everywhere, you may have a problem.

4. Note how much your dog is eating. A decrease in appetite--particularly in young dogs--is often a sign of something not feeling quite right. Puppies generally eat three meals a day, so if your puppy starts refusing food or declining treats, there may be a problem.

5. Work with a veterinarian to determine if your puppy has a problem. Take your puppy--and a stool and urine sample if possible--to the vet to have things checked out. If your puppy does have a UTI it is fairly easy to treat. Your biggest problem will likely be keeping it calm once it starts to feel better and not having a major housetraining relapse in the interim.

Tips & Warnings

• Puppy behavior is quite strange a great deal of the time. Most funny things are simply personality related, but if your puppy acts depressed, angry or snappy then there is likely a real problem.