Would you have a urinanalysis done?

[Louise]

Willow has been to the vet, she has got Doxy and Batril to take, .4cc twice a day, Batril for one week doxy for two.  
The vet said that if she has a bladder infection that should help to clear it up.  She also weighed, prodded and listened to Willow and said that she sounds quite congested.

Willow has been our noisiest rat since we got her, she came from a local shelter and we were told she had been given a clean bill of health from the vet before we took her.  I guess my vet  Dr. Oliarnyck has validated my concerns about Wills.  Hopefully the meds will put her back on track.

If Willow will be kind enough to supply us with a urine sample we can have a urinanalysis done.  I just paid over $100 for this visit, and I'm wondering whether testing her urine is going to be of any benefit.  (dopey me - didn't ask)  It will show whether her problem is kidney or infection related.  If it's kidney related there's not much they can do is there?

I guess I'll see whether I can get her to pee somewhere that makes it collectable and take it from there.

Sigh, whoever said being a rattie mum was easy.

--she was very well behaved at the vet, I was soooo impressed with her!  She even sat on the scales long enough for her weight to register.  Now I think she's sulking, she's at the back of the computer monitor with her back to me, she took her bubblegum flavoured doxy, but isn't quite so keen on the idea of grape baytril.  Looks like it's time for a little cuddle.

[Marybelle]

If she doesn't seem uncomfortable, and she's eating and drinking normally, I'd wait to see what effect the antibiotics have before doing a urinalysis.  If they clear it up, you'll know it was just a bacterial infection.

It is possible the antibiotics won't clear it up if it's a resistant strain, but that's not very likely.   If it is kidney related, she'd most likely be showing other symptoms, such as loss of appetite, excessive drinking, etc.  Whereas a urinary tract infection would most likely just cause a mild discomfort, if that.  

Just my 2 cents, anyway.    Especially since I know how hard it can be to collect a urine sample.  And you'd need more than one go to get enough to do an adequate urinalysis.  

I hope she feels better soon!

[Louise]

Thanks Mary, that was kind of my feeling too.  She's got a good appetite and isn't acting any differently than normal.  I'm hoping the antibiotics will do the trick.

[Ali]

I agree with Mary - if she seems fine in other respects I would let the antibiotics have a bash at knocking this out. If they don't work, you can be fairly sure it's the other problem.

Hopefully this will help her congestion too.
Keep us updated,
Ali

[kim]

problem is, not all antibiotics work effectively on bladder infections. if things dont clear up in a week or so, i would definitely take her in. doing a urinalysis wont be hard - ask them to do an inhouse strip (not a full one) and its cheaper.

[Yresim]

I would do the urinalysis now.

But, then, I also take my rats to my vet (regardless of what the shelter/store/etc says) as soon as I get them, which no one else seems to do, so I guess I'm just the strange one.