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Did my dog's recurring UTI cause his sudden, unexpected death?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

dog got recurring utis. He had infection in Jan. He was on Clavamox 2 wKS then zeniquin 4 wks. He seemed to bounce back. 3 weeks later he died. Could that first infection not have cleared up? When he seemed OK they did not do more blood work. We had to rush him to ER, heart rate-250, hypoglycemic, high rbc,wbc,postassium,bun/urea,glob,phos,hct,hgb,lymps,monos,neut,retics..own eos,hc03,ph,tc02.vet said septic,bacteria infection. Another vet said cancer or environmental bacteria. Did I miss a UTi

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Lauren Jones VMD

Veterinarian

Published on March 22nd, 2017

I'm very sorry for your loss. With the lab changes you described, sepsis and cancer certainly were possibilities. A UTI would have to be quite severe to cause sepsis. If you were accustomed to monitoring for signs of a UTI, I highly doubt that you would miss one severe enough to cause sepsis. Again, I'm sorry for your loss and hope this helps you to find some closure.

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    Answered By Rosemary Barber, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on March 22nd, 2017

    Hi! I'm so sorry to hear about your dog. It sure sounds like she got good control of her UTIs with her antibiotics, so it is unlikely that she would have died from bacterial infection stemming from her bladder. But, it is hard to know for sure. Generally if there is an ongoing bladder infection, the pet will continue showing signs of painful urination, bloody urine etc. It could well have been Addison's, as this can cause low blood sugar and high potassium, and can definitely cause sudden death. Hope this helps!

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