Bladder Infection Remedies for Dogs

| Modified on Aug 27, 2023
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Bladder Infection Remedies for Dogs

A dog that suddenly is having accidents in the house, needs to go outside more often, appears to have trouble urinating, or has blood in the urine may have a bladder infection. Left untreated, bladder infections can become quite serious and cause fever and kidney problems. Fortunately, natural remedies for bladder infections are very effective and usually work quickly. Effective remedies for urinary tract infections include apple cider vinegar, colloidal silver and herbs.

Dog UTI Home Treatment

Apple Cider Vinegar

Internal Use of Apple Cider Vinegar for UTI

Apple cider vinegar is an easy, inexpensive natural remedy for bladder infections in dogs. When using apple cider vinegar for medicinal purposes, you should use raw and organic apple cider vinegar. However, in a pinch, you can use regular apple cider vinegar, often with good results as well.  Apple cider vinegar can be mixed with a dog's regular food, plain yogurt, or added to drinking water. This page will give dosing instructions for this remedy.

Topical Use of Apple Cider Vinegar for UTI

Not every dog will readily accept apple cider vinegar internally. Watch Earth Clinic's popular video demonstrating two gentle but effective methods to apply apple cider vinegar topically. Your pet will love you for it and it works well for bladder infections when applied to scruff of the neck or the paws. We will also show you how to make a quick and easy apple cider vinegar solution for your dog.

Colloidal Silver

Colloidal Silver is a natural antibiotic and easy to give to most dogs because it is tasteless. You can add it to your dog's food or water or you can give it to them with a syringe. Use 1 teaspoon four times a day for a small dog, 2 teaspoons four times a day for medium dogs and 3 teaspoons 4 times a day for large dogs. You can double the dose if it does not seem to be working. Puppies can have this remedy as well. Use ¼ to ½ teaspoon four times a day. A dog cannot overdose on colloidal silver; it is better to give more than is needed than not enough.

Herbs for Urinary Tract Infections in Dogs

Cranberry

Cranberry capsules can be given to dogs twice a day. You can hide them in peanut butter or cream cheese. Some dogs will even tolerate the powder from the capsules emptied out and mixed into their food. Give large dogs 2 -3 capsules twice a day. Give medium dogs 1-2 capsules twice a day. Give small dogs 1 capsule a day (or if you empty the capsule out to mix with food, give ½ of the contents twice a day.)

Cornsilk

If you can find cornsilk tea or tincture, this is a mild tasting but effective herb for bladder infections in dogs. For large dogs, give 1 – 2 droppers full twice a day of the tincture, or 2 cups of the tea. (You can try giving it in place of water in his bowl.) For medium dogs, give ½ - 1 dropper full twice a day or 1 cup of the tea. For small dogs, give ¼ dropper full twice a day or ½ cup of the tea.

D-Mannose

D-Mannose is a tasteless powder that can be mixed with food. This works well for pets and is easy to dose. It is given once or twice a day. Large dogs will need 1 teaspoon twice daily. Medium sized dogs will need ½ teaspoon twice daily. Small dogs will need ¼ teaspoon twice daily.

What About Puppies and Bladder Infections?

The above remedies are appropriate for puppies as well. Depending on the size of your puppy, you can give the dose recommended for small dogs. Or if your puppy is very small, cut the recommended small dog dose in half or less.

Warnings

If the above remedies are not working for your pet or your pet seems worse, you should get an opinion from a reputable veterinarian to make sure there is not something more serious going on. Bladder stones will often give dogs similar symptoms.

If your dog is having chronic bladder infections, you may need to change his diet. Urinary tract problems are not uncommon among dogs fed grocery store kibble.

Keep reading to learn which remedies worked best for our readers (Hint: ACV).

Have you tried a natural remedy for your dog's bladder infection? Please send us some feedback!




Apple Cider Vinegar in Goat Milk

1 User Review
5 star (1) 
  100%


Posted by David10118 (Aubrey, Tx) on 01/23/2017
★★★★★

Our poodle mix Lola is experiencing a UTI that started last night. I just gave her some organic ACV mixed it in with about 4 oz of raw goats milk. Hollywood Feed and other holistic based stores will carry it. I'll see if it works for her. I can tell she's in pain and she's shaking. Her tail is between her legs as if she's quite uncomfortable. I fed it to her the last time she had a UTI along with the meds the vet gave me. She sprung back to herself within a few days. I'm hoping this works. The vet's bill was outrageous for the diagnosis.

Replied by Theresa
(Mpls., Mn)
01/24/2017

Hello David,

If this were my dog I would take her to the vet and get the meds again. I say this because you gave both the meds and the ACV, and then the issue resolved in short order: it is hard to know which remedy worked. Antibiotics tend to act very quickly while the ACV can take time, and your dog is hurting right now. So please, if you do not see immediate improvement with the ACV, take your girl in to the vet. One other thought; UTI's in pets have been directly linked to grain based diets. Please take a look at your dog food ingredient label and if you see corn and grains in the first few ingredients consider changing the diet to a meat based /grain free diet. You may pay more upfront for the food, but you save in the end with fewer vet bills.

Replied by David10118
(Aubrey, Tx)
01/29/2017

Thanks Theresa! We did take her last Wednesday (1-25). The vet checked her out and prescribed Clavamax and some Metacam for the inflammation. She was feeling pretty good for a day or so, then her pain and shaking started up again. She urinated in bed last night, so she is urinating, but mostly inside, and very little too. But no blood as far as I can see. She's not eating much, but I'm able to give her water using a syringe. We do give her grain free food and usually get the better Fromme products. She also loves drinking raw goats milk. I add some ACV in that as well as the water. Does this normally take this long for a small dog to improve? She's been laying around a lot, but the vet said to keep her calm and to let her rest. She doesn't want to jump on the couch or get off once she's up and she squeals a little in pain when she lands on her legs. I hope she gets back to feeling like herself within a few days. I appreciate your reply!!

Replied by Theresa
(Mpls., Mn)
01/30/2017

Hey David,

It can take a week to get on top of the infection and for the pain to go away but you normally see gradual improvement - are you seeing that here? Did your vet check for bladder stones or crystals in the urine? For sure keep up the ACV any way she will take it, and consider D-mannose powder as well.

Replied by David10118
(Aubrey, Tx)
02/01/2017

Hi Theresa, I wanted to inform you that Lola has passed. She spent all day Monday at the vet. Her blood was taken and many tests were run on it to rule out all types of diseases, cancer and pancreatitis. Her urine was also tested and everything looked good there too. She seemed to be fine all day. When we got her home, she had several shaking seizures and finally passed a few hours later. The vet was unsure of what caused her death. I want to thank you for your replies and advice. She will be missed dearly. She was a daddy's girl for sure. We also have an 8 month old Yorkie (Georgia) and a 7 year old Dachshund/Havenese Mix (Mia), both seem to be in very good health. Mia is Lola's sister and does miss her. I can tell she looks for her around the house from time to time. Again, thanks for everything. I hope our 2 remaining little ones live a long and healthy life.

Monica
(Anmore, Canada)
01/31/2021

So sorry for your loss. Hope her passing wasn't from a vaccine. My little poodle girl went downhill after a shot & got auto-immune disease Adissons disease). She's passed away now & I still mourn her death, 6 months ago. I will never ever vaccinate again. Ingredients like formaldehyde in them will surely cause damage or death, resulting in huge business for the vets & Big Pharma who wrote their textbooks & funds their training. Shameful. Same with shots for people. It's a wonder we are all still alive.

andres
(Oregon)
08/27/2023

This reply is disgusting... sounds like you just had to add in your obvious paranoia and political beliefs. your entire statement is a rant, its so rude especially after someone was clearly sharing their feelings about their dogs death. Next time go on a rant with someone else's feelings. Oh and the odds of a vaccine accident are incredibly slim, and nearly impossible to diagnose. Usually there are about 20 enormous culprits, followed by secondary possible culprits and lastly at the very end of the trail is a vaccine accident. So to assume this without hearing anything at all about the dogs condition and then going on ranting about big pharma money ... DISGUSTING!!!

Replied by Kelley
(Missouri)
02/21/2017

So sorry for your loss of Lola. I came across this thread as I was searching for a UTI home remedy for my dog. Your post saddened me so that I felt I had to extend my sympathy to you for your loss of a very dear friend. May your heart be filled with many happy memories of Lola.


Apple Cider Vinegar Mixed in Food

27 User Reviews
5 star (27) 
  100%


Posted by Jai (Los Angeles ) on 07/09/2016
★★★★★

ACV worked perfectly for my dog's bladder infection. I am so grateful, thank you to each and everyone of you who posted about the acv, it's good to help one another!

Replied by Tammy
(St Louis)
04/24/2017

My 18 lb shitzu has bladder stones. How much ACV is put on the food?


Apple Cider Vinegar Mixed in Food
Posted by Mrs. Little (Mississippi ) on 05/28/2016
★★★★★

My 5 pounder was unable to urinate...I took him outside, he squatted but nothing came out...after reading the information on this site, I decide to try the apple cider vinegar before running to the vet...I must admit I was quite skeptical about trying this method, but I can truly say that it WORKS! After the first dose my Rasco was feeling better....I gave him 1 1/2 tbsp of ACV in his water bowl...about 30 min later he went out to pee, he ate his food (which he hadn't ate in 2 days), and drank most of his water.

Replied by Hannah
(Seattle)
06/24/2016

Hi guys I have a question. I have two 8 week old chihuahua/wiener puppies. The female has been squatting but not peeing all day. At least 5 times every 30 minutes that she is awake. I read online that this could be a UTI. Do you think it would be alright to try the ACV on her or is she too small? If I do try how much should I give her?

Replied by Suseeq
(Sydney, Australia)
06/24/2016

Yes, but very diluted as you don't want to make her sick with too strong a dose.

Replied by Katy
(Grand Canyon, Az)
08/08/2016

I have 6year old chihuahua mix that has a urinary tract infection. The vet put her on Amox w/clav, been use it for five days now. Still no change. The amox c/clav is for 10days. Pay $120.00 at vet. I changed her food to hill's.


Apple Cider Vinegar Mixed in Food
Posted by Jim (Covington, Ky) on 01/12/2011

My 2 year old female cat was going outside the box. She didn't show any signs of weakness, bloating or pain, so I assumed the problem was behavioral in nature. For two months I tried to modify the behavior with a spray bottle of water but when I mentioned it my neighbor, she said to take Ruth to the vet "IMMEDIATELY".

Instead, I came here and just a few days after adding the ACV to wet food (and cutting out dry food) Ruth is back to going in the box and is more lively, playful and affectionate as she has ever been.

Replied by Jo
(London, Uk)
03/23/2012

How much vinegar did you put in your cats food?


Apple Cider Vinegar Mixed in Food
Posted by Sofie And Mia (New York, Ny) on 08/13/2009
★★★★★

I noticed yesterday that my little yorkie, Mia was urinating more often and hanging out in the bathroom by herself. This is really unusaul for her because she loves to be with me all of the time. I also remembered reading or hearing that when animals are ill, they will often hide. After not seeing her for a couple of hours, I called to her and she finally came out. Her entire backside was wet. I looked in the bathroom to see of there was any leak but there was not. I thought that she may have been licking herself because I noticed earlier that she was licking herself more often than usual. I smelled her, and there was not a foul odor, but it smelled like it could have been urine. I immediately bathed her. Afterward, when she was dry, I put her on my lap and felt something wet. I looked and saw that it looked like she might be leaking urine. I began furiously searching the internet (mind you, this was about 2AM. I found that these could be symptoms of a "UTI." I looked for for something I could do immediately until I could take her to the vet and I found this website. It listed Apple Cider Vinegar and Yogurt, two things that I had on hand as an effective home remedy.

She is a tiny dog, so I mixed 1 teaspoon of Apple Cider Vinegar, with 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of lite vanilla yogurt. She loved it. I kept an eye on her throughout the night (I hardly slept myself. She did not get up to relieve herself, and there seemed to be no leakage.) When we got up for our morning walk, she urinated as usual. It is now 1 pm, and there is still no leakage, and she hasn't had to urinate again.

She is laying in her bed, playing and not hiding in the bathroom anymore, nor has she licked herself. I am keeping an eye on her. I took today and tomorrow off, thinking I was going to the vet, and wanted to keep an eye on her. It looks like I may not need to go to the vet. I will definately keep an eye on her, and I will repeat the treatment again later. But as of right now, she seems much better.


Apple Cider Vinegar Mixed in Food
Posted by Mary Ann (Canton, Ohio) on 08/03/2009
★★★★★

After waking up to a bathroom with several pee puddles on the floor laced with a tiny bit of blood, we quickly realized that our yellow lab Sadie had a problem. She's never had pee issues and simply couldn't stop squatting to pee. Naturally, this happened early on a Sunday, so the vet was unavailable. When I read all of the feedback about apple cider vinegar, I was a skeptic. But, not wanting her to suffer, I decided that I should at least give a couple of rounds of the stuff a try. I mixed two tablespoons of ACV into Sadie's dry food and added a bit of warm water, then stirred thoroughly. Surprisingly, she gobbled down the mixture quickly (of course, what Lab ever refused food?). I repeated this about four hours later and then one more time before we went to bed. During the evening, it was obvious that she started to feel better and the trips outside lessened considerably. She slept through the entire night with no incidents, had another dose this morning, and spent a normal day at home today. I'll continue to give her the mixture for three days since that seems to be what others have done. Thank you everyone for your wisdom on this canine treatment! I am a believer!

Replied by Donna
(Orange Springs, FL)
01/28/2015

Thank you for the advise for the ACV for your lab. I have a black lab and I started seeing blood in her urine. I will definitely give this a try, because we love our baby, but being a single mom, it's hard for me to spend the extra money to go to the vet.

Replied by Deb Goodman
(Milan, Il)
04/12/2016

My dog is showing signs of uti and refuses to get in car to go vet. So I am trying this remedy to give my 9 year old fur baby some relief hopefully.

Replied by Brian
(Arkansas)
08/05/2016

I want to try this sooooo bad with my female pug, but I can't get her to eat anything!!!!

Replied by Suseeq
(Sydney Australia)
08/05/2016

Brian, I know someone who cured dog's bladder infection with 15 drops each sasparilla, red clover and barberry twice a day for two weeks. Also, one teaspoon liquid vitamins every day syringed down the throat.

Replied by Marian
(British Columbia)
08/21/2016

Use a syringe, and squirt it into his/her mouth.

Replied by Katherine
(Wesley Chapel, Fl)
04/21/2017

My 95 pound, 7 yr old black lab has all the symptoms of a UTI. I just gave her a 2nd dose of 2-tbsp ACV mixed into her kibble. I was wondering... how long did it take before your dogs UTI cleared up?


Apple Cider Vinegar Mixed in Food
Posted by kcm (Mt Laurel, NJ) on 06/11/2009
★★★★★

I read some of the previous comments about the acv and yogurt to cure a dog's bladder infection. I have to admit I was a bit skeptical, but I thought what do I have to lose. I couldn't get a vet appointment for several days and Daisy (my 19 month old golden retriever who is 75 lbs) was peeing or trying to peeing many, many times throughout the day. You could tell she was struggling to pee and was just not a very happy dog. I put 2 tblspns of apple cider vinegar with 2 tablespoons of plain activa yogurt in her dog food and mixed it around. She ate it all and within 24 hours she was a completely different dog. I feed her the mixture twice a day, once in the morning and once at dinner. She is now back to normal. I am going to give her this mixture for several more days to make sure her infection is completely gone. This is the best solution ever! Not only did it save me a ton of money in vet bills, it works so quickly to bring her back to her active self.


Apple Cider Vinegar Mixed in Food
Posted by HappyHonu (Poland, NY) on 04/22/2009
★★★★★

My 2yr old shepard/husky mix started to exhibit signs of a bladder infection after I brought her home from being boarded for a week. She was frequently trying to pee and was unable to. She also had accidents in the house overnite which never happened before. I found your site while trying to verify, online, that her symptoms could actually be a bladder infection before making a Vet appointment. I tried the ACV & yogurt the same day (Monday). She is about 80lbs so I used 1 tblsp ACV and 2 tblsp of plain yogurt. That same nite there was no accident and she seemed calmer and not so anxious to go out all of the time. I gave her the combo 2 times per day. The second morning she vomited so I knew it was bothering her stomach. She is not a big eater and hadn't eaten much in the past few days so on tues I mixed half of her food with the mixture and she loved it. I also have her sister who is a picky eater and wants everything her sister gets so I added the yogurt only to her food and she actually ate it all! Bowls of food stay all day untouched usually. It is wednesday and I am confident that the bladder issue is cleared up. I will continue with the ACV for a couple more days to be sure. I will also continue to use the yogurt in their food because it has finally gotten them to eat after much trial and error with various foods. Thanks so much for the wonderful information on this site. I feel much better being able to help my dog with natural products instead of antibiotics. I realize that the antibiotics would be necessary if more serious symptoms persisted but to be able to avoid them when possible is much better.


Apple Cider Vinegar Mixed in Food
Posted by Rebecca (Austin, Texas) on 04/19/2009
★★★★★

My 5 month old puppy began to have urinary frequency and small drops of blood in her urine on Friday night. As soon as we got home from training class, she was urinating more frequently, having frequent episodes of dysuria in between and still having some drops of blood towards the end of her stream. I quickly researched home and natural remedies. I came upon this one and just happened to have unfiltered organic apple cider vinegar in my fridge. She is nearly 50 lbs, so I mixed 1 tablespoon with 2 tablespoons of yogurt right then. Later with her dinner, I again mixed 1 tablespoon with the yogurt and her normal meal. She was back to normal in the morning! We are still continuing the treatment to see if it will help her with problems she has been having with skin allergies, so far we have noticed some relief and improvement. =) Thanks.

Replied by Dogmommi26
(Toronto, Ontatio, Canada)
02/06/2013

To the person with a 5 month old dog, unless you've been to a vet to dignose a uti/bladder infections it's likely she's just in HEAT.

My Olde English Bulldogge is 4 and she has never had a bladder/uti issues and is fed NOW Fresh adult food (for 2 years now, previously was Orijen but the protien levels weren't to my liking).

That being said last March she had pups and was spayed afterwards, now a year later she has a infection and I am looking for dosages on Cranberry Juice (pure, not from concentrate) for a 54 Lb dog?


Apple Cider Vinegar Mixed in Food
Posted by Rebecca Hazell (Tampa, FL) on 03/12/2009

I was trying to find a solution to my Boxers excessive leaking after she went to the bathroom. I am not sure what is causing this but am pretty sure it's a UTI and am trying the ACV treatments that I am reading here. I lost my job in Oct. and have been jobless since and can't afford a vet visit. So I went online and googled home remedies for UTI for dogs and this site came up. I read a lot of the testimonials and was glad to find something so easy for my baby. She is a seven year old Boxer who is just such a wonderful companion. I too didn't understand why she was peeing in the house out of the blue when she has been so good at not peeing indoors. She hasn't had alot of the other symptoms that I am reading like whining, or getting up in the middle of the night.. but she has been leaking really bad after she goes pee (for about 20 minutes). Sometimes it just dribbles and other times it waits until she lays down and then there are pools of pee there.. it's gotten progressively worse and so I am trying this home remedy in the hopes that this is what is ailing her. I gave her a dose of two tablespoons with a two tablespoons of yogurt with about half of cup of food and mixed it all together. She ate it up right there on the spot... so it's still too early to know what kind of response she is going to have... but I am praying for some relief for her and us- as we are constantly having to put a diaper on her or making her lay down on a mat so that she doesn't leak onto the carpets... I will check back in - in a few days and let you all know if the treatment worked. It was a pleasure reading all of your testimonies and hearing all the stories of your beloved pets.. I too am trying to avoid a huge vet bill as I just can't afford it right now.. so if this works I will be soooooo thankful. Thanks for the care and concern of all who took the time to write. So others like myself can try to find healthy alternatives to the industry of Vets who insist we take our pets to see them when there are easier and less expensive means to treat our animals. Thank you to whomever monitors this site and keeps it running for our benefit.

Replied by Ivana
(Tampa, Florida)
04/17/2009

How is your furbaby doing ?


Apple Cider Vinegar Mixed in Food
Posted by Blanche (Orland Park, IL) on 12/05/2008

Our 8 year old Bullmastiff has had regular Bladder Infections for the last 5 years. Most recently she has been on Antibiotics from our vet anywhere from 2 weeks to 1 month at a time. Each time she get her infection back usually as soon as a couple of weeks after finishing her pills. This time we were told her infection was back and to start her up again, and we decided it was time to try another alternative. I am hoping and praying that the Apple Cider Vinnegar works for our Blanche as we are concerned about so many antibiotics in her system. I am mixing 2 tablespoons of ACV with 2 tablespoons of yougart 3 times a day to start. She is a big dog about 117 lbs so I increased it a little. I will let you all know what her outcome is as soon as I see any changes.

Replied by Lisa
(Anchorage, AK)
02/09/2009

Blanche I just found this site and your situation seemed simiular to mine. Ladybugg is a 9 year black lab and has had recurring UTI for 2 years (usually 1 every 3 mo. or so). My vet put her on Macrobid since November, so far so good. However, it cost $78.00 p/month not to mention any possible long term side effects. After reading all these postings I decided to give it a try, althought not sure if she will need it every day or not. I think I will try the PH testing and see where she is at. But, would be definitely intrested on how it is working for your girl.


Apple Cider Vinegar Mixed in Food
Posted by Anne (Preston, MD) on 12/05/2008
★★★★★

I just want to comment on the UTI in regards to dogs. I have an older german shepard that was on antibiotics for weeks and everytime I took her off the drugs the infection came back, seemingly worse. The dog was in pain and the vets said there was nothing to do but put her on SRONGER meds, I was not willing to do that. I gave her 2 tablespoons of ACV in her food and within several hours she was no longer in pain. Amazing! For about 3 months I gave her ACV about 3 or 4 times a week and then stopped giving it and she's never had symptoms again. I now give it maybe 3 or 4 days a month just to help keep everything in check. The vets said there was nothing they could do after I spent hundreds if not thousands of dollars. Makes me wonder.....


Apple Cider Vinegar Mixed in Food
Posted by Karen (Enfield, CT) on 11/29/2008
★★★★★

I have a 6 month old Newfoundland female and she once again developed the signs of a urinary tract infection. The first time I had her treated with antibiotics from the Vet, this time I tried some Yogurt and ACV and IT WORKED! I was so excited that this natural cure actually worked and it worked right away! I tried two teaspoons of ACV with two to three Tablespoons of Yogurt. She ate it right away-my older male Newfie had some yogurt too and loved it. Now I need a remedy for dog hiccups-my pup gets them several times during the day.
Thanks for the help! Karen


Apple Cider Vinegar Mixed in Food
Posted by Trysch (South Florida) on 11/23/2008
★★★★★

THANK YOU! I gave my precious princess 1 tsp ACV and 1 large tbsp yogurt for what appeared to be a bladder infection which started on a Friday. Saturday she got the mixture three times, and by Sunday she felt well enough to want to run and play with her toys again! She's still having some problems, but the incontinence is GONE!


Apple Cider Vinegar Mixed in Food
Posted by Yellowlab (Charlotte, NC) on 11/19/2008
★★★★★

Thank goodness for this site. My puppy had back to back UTI's beginning at 4 months. (She's currently 7 months)We actually had to take her in for surgery to fix her "area". She was doing very well and suddenly got another UTI. We were at our wits end and really can't afford to take her in for anything serious anymore. I mixed in the ACV with yogurt and not only does she love it but it seems to be working. Thank you so much. =0)



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