Unpleasant Trouble In-the-house

That's what a UTI (aka a Urinary Tract Infection) is in my mind. It became clear to me that Dionne was developing one somewhere in the mists of last night. She's had TWO peeing accidents during the day, but I'd blamed both on handler error (as they may well have been.) When I took her out for the final pee of the night (around 9), she stayed in a squatting position for what seemed like a strangely long time.

But I didn't put it together. Not even when she woke at 11:45 p.m., crying to go out (something she has not done since the night or two after we got her.) Only when she woke me AGAIN at 3 a.m. -- and then squatted for a long, long, long time in the cold dark back yard, did the tumblers fall into place.

Steve and I have seen this kind of behavior before -- in Darby, when we first got her from CCI (as I recorded in this blog). So I knew what I had to do. First -- try to collect some of the urine, as vets always insist they must have it. When Tucker and Dionne and I set off on a long walk up the hill first thing this morning, I took a clean plastic container with me. But though Dionne stopped and squatted 8 times during that 40-minute outing, I only caught about a teaspoon, she was peeing so little each time (and doing it so quickly).

Steve, it should be noted, is out of town at the moment (the man does have great timing.) I called the veterinary clinic shortly after 8, only to learn that our regular doctor there was out of town AND they had no appointments for today. I then called our wise and experienced puppy mentor, LeAnn Buchanan, who urged me to call her vet, Dr. Hani Shatila. Steve and I have taken our pups to him upon occasion and would rely upon him all the time, if his office weren't almost 30 minutes from our house (as opposed to the 5 minutes it takes to get to Dr. Scoggin's place). Desperate, I did call Hani's office and was delighted to score a 9:30 appointment.

It must be noted that Dionne isn't acting very sick.  She was racing around energetically first thing, and she looked fine in the office. But a quick urinalysis showed many white cells in her urine, according to Hani, and the suggestion of a staph infection. He said it was essential to culture the cells to better identify the cause of the infection -- and thus choose the best antibiotic for treating it. This meant we had to depart with no medicine, and Dionne and I will have to return tomorrow morning.

All of which has made me... not a very happy camper. I have to go to my book group tonight and thus must leave Dionne at home in the exceedingly loose care of Elliot (our 23-year-old so). When I get home, I also look forward to a night of multiple trips out into the cold and dark.

Dionne probably isn't having the greatest time either.  She did like Hani's office, though, where there's a flat-screen TV mounted at dog's-eye level playing Dog TV.

THAT was cool.