Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dog with kidney abscess and resistant infection healed without surgery
By Ribeiro, Diego et al.Ā·Published in Open veterinary journalĀ·2025Ā·Department of Veterinary Clinics, BrazilĀ·View original on PubMed ā
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Original publication title: Nonsurgical resolution of renal cortical abscesses in a dog with multidrug-resistant-induced urosepsis.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 3-year-old female Shih Tzu was brought to the hospital with serious symptoms including vomiting, lack of appetite, jaundice, and fever. Tests showed she had a severe urinary tract infection that led to kidney abscesses and urosepsis, a life-threatening condition. The vet started her on a combination of antibiotics and provided supportive care, including fluids and medications to stabilize her condition. Thankfully, the treatment worked well, and she recovered without needing surgery or drainage for the kidney abscesses.
People also search for: dog vomiting and jaundice Ā· Shih Tzu kidney infection treatment Ā· urosepsis in dogs antibiotics
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Urinary tract infections caused bycan significantly affect the renal parenchyma, with urosepsis being a potential outcome. Renal abscesses may also occur, and surgical interventions may often be required. This article reports a case of urosepsis and renal abscess caused by multidrug-resistant, describing a successful outcome of renal abscess resolution using antimicrobial therapy alone. CASE DESCRIPTION: A 3-year-old female Shih-Tzu was referred to the intensive care unit of a teaching hospital in Brazil. The patient exhibited anorexia, vomiting, pale mucous membranes, jaundice, halitosis, hyperthermia, hypoglycemia, and hypotension. Stabilization included the administration of fluid resuscitation, vasopressor, antipyretic, and glucose. Laboratory findings included anemia, neutrophilic leukocytosis, thrombocytopenia, hyperfibrinogenemia, and elevated serum concentrations of creatinine, urea, phosphorus, alanine aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, and total and fractionated bilirubin. Abdominal ultrasonography revealed images compatible with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and renal abscesses. Empirical antibiotic therapy was initiated with enrofloxacin (5 mg/kg IV q 24 hours) and ceftriaxone (30 mg/kg IV q 12 hours), followed by a switch to meropenem (8.5 mg/kg SC q 12 hours for 10 days) based on positive urine culture results forspp. and susceptibility testing indicating sensitivity exclusively to carbapenems. The patient underwent peritoneal dialysis as renal replacement therapy. The treatment successfully resolved the uremic crisis, induced renal abscess regression, and reversed urosepsis. CONCLUSION: Conservative clinical management with antibiotic therapy proved effective in resolving urosepsis and abscesses located in the renal cortex, measuring approximately 4-5 cm, without the need for percutaneous drainage or surgical intervention. This finding highlights the need for further research into the efficacy of different therapeutic strategies based on the anatomical location of renal abscesses.
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Search related cases āOriginal publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41246401/