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Ask the Veterinarian/2 week old puppy with WBC's in urine

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Expert: - 1/26/2011


Question
I'm a vet tech student and we ran urine today and were encouraged to bring some from our animals at home, so i brought in a sample from my 2 1/2 week old female toy poodle puppy that we are bottle feeding.  Under the microscope we saw numerous WBC's, enough that my teacher was stumped as to the cause.  I estimated about 25-35 WBC's/hpf but it may have been even more. I know that WBC's are usually an indicator of a UTI but she is so young.  I was wondering if you would have a suggestion as to what is going on, I'm a bit worried about her now.  She has no vaccinations obviously but she was given her first dose of puppy dewormer just last night, pyrantal pamoate. Please give me your opinion.

Answer
There are many reasons that a puppy can have WBCs in their urine but I wouldn't worry too much about it unless the urine is cloudy or blood tinged.

But since I am a vet tech and not a vet myself, you might want to post this to one of the vets in here. We have seen bladder stones in dogs as young as 7 weeks old so nothing surprises me in this respect.

So no dog is ever too young for a UTI either....  

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Jana Connell RVT, CVT

Expertise

PLEASE READ BEFORE SUBMITTING TO ME: I am NOT a vet and do NOT diagnose diseases. That is only for a licensed Veterinarian to do. I will give you suggestions and steer you toward calling your vet for help. You can call the vet's office and talk to the technician there or the vet at times. Don't be afraid to call them! If you have a serious issue with your pet please post it to one of the veterinarians in here- I will tell you the same thing in my answer. IF your pet is injured or in an emergency situation, CALL YOUR VET- Do not wait and post in here. Just call the vet's office and get them in to see the vet right away. Critical treatment time is lost if you seek answers here when you should have your precious pet at the vets!! Don't sit at home waiting for an answer when your pet is critically ill or injured!! I can answer most questions about small animal and wildlife care as well as small animal nutrition. I can also answer questions about all phases of dental care for small animals. I DO NOT answer questions about birds (unless it is wildlife or songbirds) or HAMSTERS/GERBILS/CHINS/GUINEA PIGS/REPTILES/FROGS/RABBITS/PET BIRDS OF ANY KIND so please submit these questions to the appropriate sections. I, as well as other experts in here, do NOT do homework questions- that is for YOU to do! Please respect these rules for all of us. Thanks!

Experience

I have over 35 years experience in the field of veterinary medicine. I specialized in small animals and did wildlife rehab for over 25 years, mostly raptors, squirrels and opossums. I am a Small Animal Nutritional Consultant with 6 certificates from Hills Pet Foods, CNM and Purina. I also specialized in Small Animal Dentistry which is a field I truly love.

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Audubon,World Wildlife Federation, American Society of Veterinary Dental Technicians.

Education/Credentials
Licensed with California and Oregon, RVT and CVT. Certified Veterinary Dental Technician Have over 500 logged hours of Continuing Education Credits(that means I keep up to date!).

Awards and Honors
Nominated for Expert of the Month for the last 5 years.

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