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Natural Remedies for Dog UTI: Effective, Easy Treatments

| Modified on Jan 13, 2024
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Bladder Infection Remedies for Dogs

When dealing with a dog that shows symptoms like frequent accidents in the house, trouble urinating, or blood in the urine, it's crucial to consider the possibility of a bladder infection. Untreated bladder infections can escalate to more severe issues, including fever and kidney problems. However, several natural remedies can effectively address these infections and provide quick relief.

Dog UTI Home Treatment

Apple Cider Vinegar: Most Popular

  1. Internal Use: Apple cider vinegar, particularly raw and organic, is a simple and affordable remedy. Mix it with your dog's food, plain yogurt, or drinking water. For precise dosing instructions, refer to specific guidelines on this page.
  2. Topical Use: If your dog resists internal consumption, apply apple cider vinegar topically. Effective methods include applying it to the scruff of the neck or the paws. A diluted apple cider vinegar solution can be made for this purpose. 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 the 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, a natural antibiotic, is tasteless and easily administered. 10 or 20 PPM (Parts Per Million) of CS can be added to food or water or given directly with a syringe. The dosage varies based on the dog's size, and increasing the dose is safe if needed. Puppies can also receive this remedy in adjusted smaller doses. A dog cannot overdose on true colloidal silver, the color of baby shampoo; giving more than is needed is better than not enough.

Herbs for UTIs in Dogs

  1. 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 one capsule a day (or if you empty the capsule out to mix with food, give ½ of the contents twice a day.)
  2. Cornsilk: This is a mild-tasting but effective herb for dog bladder infections if you can find cornsilk tea or tincture. Give large dogs 1 – 2 full droppers of the tincture or 2 cups of the tea twice daily. (You can try giving it in place of water in his bowl.) Give ½ - 1 dropper full twice a day or 1 cup of tea for medium dogs. Give ¼ dropper full twice a day or ½ cup of tea for small dogs. 
  3. 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.

Puppies and Bladder Infections

These remedies are suitable for puppies, too, with doses adjusted according to their size. For very small puppies, halve the recommended dose for small dogs.

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 ensure there is nothing more serious going on. Bladder stones will often give dogs similar symptoms.

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

Please 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!

The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.
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Apple Cider Vinegar Mixed in Food

28 User Reviews
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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!

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.

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

Editor's Choice

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.

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.

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)

Apple Cider Vinegar Mixed in Food
Posted by Edna (Kansas City, Mo) on 10/30/2008
 ★★★★★

It worked! I tried the apple cider vinegar remedy yesterday morning and my little 1 yr. old 4 lb. chihuahua-rat terrier mix seems back to normal today. No more "accidents" and her temperature is back to normal too.

i mixed 1 teaspoon of organic apple cider vinegar with about 2 big tablespoons of plain whole yogurt (organic) and some water, about a tablespoon or two, for hydration and she lapped it right up. I did this three times yesterday and gave her regular potty breaks. Tonight I added some of her dry kibble into the same mixture and the bowl was licked clean.

Her symptoms started a week ago. She peed on my boyfriend's shoe....while he was wearing it. I gues she was trying to tell us something was wrong then.

Replied by Lisa
(Lafayette)
12/04/2015

Maybe she's trying to tell you something about the boyfriend...? LOL sorry, just joking...I couldn't resist!

Replied by Juanita
(Conway Sc)
10/27/2017

I am trying this today. My shitz-zu is having problems urinating. I don't have the money to have all those tests run. I'm crossing my fingers in hopes that this works.

Replied by Theresa
(Mpls., Mn)
10/29/2017

Editor's Choice Hey Juanita,

If your dog is unable to urinate you are dealing with a very serious problem and should take your dog to your vet. If you are dealing with a UTI, with frequent urination voiding very small amounts at a time, watch her closely on the ACV remedy and if she does not improve please call your vet and have a conversation about which tests are needed and what would be the most economical path forward for you and your dog.

Replied by Cathy
(North Carolina)
11/05/2017

How did you guys get the dogs to eat it - I just put it in a bowl for my girl and she will not touch it!!!!

EC: Try the topical application method... explained here: https://www.earthclinic.com/pets/acvfordogs.html

Apple Cider Vinegar Mixed in Food
Posted by HappyInNC (asheville, nc) on 10/13/2008
 ★★★★★

ACV (apple cider vinegar) Today was my first visit to this site...found it on a search engine, and I have now bookmarked it! My little girl (22lb corgi mix-dog) was showing typical signs of a urinary tract infection. I tried the ACV suggestion about 6-8 hours ago and her lethargy has done a 180, as has her warm nose, the constant peeing, and obvious discomfort. On the "magic-8-ball"..."all signs point to yes"...Thank you SO much for the suggestion, it saved me $300 I dont have for a Dr Visit. I first tried it in H2O, wouldnt drink it, in wet food, didnt like it, then in plain yogurt, and she ate it in that put about a tsp and mixed it in good.I will update if things do not continue to improve, but from everything I have read, dont think i'll be back!

Apple Cider Vinegar Mixed in Food
Posted by Rebecca (Winter Park, Florida) on 10/05/2008
 ★★★★★

I found this website last night while searching for home remedies for my dog's UTI. I thought why not lets give it a shot. With the horrible economy I can't afford a $200 dollar vet bill. I started using the ACV last night. I gave my 65 pound 5 year old boxer 1.5 tablespoons mixed in with some plain yogurt. When she went out for her morning potty break she urinated only one time. It was normal in color with no blood. Just the night before she was going every 5 minutes or so and nothing was coming out and when urine did come out it was bloody. I have continued to give her the ACV today and plan to keep her on it for about a week. Boy was this one of the most effective home remedies I have ever found.

Replied by Alicia
(Mississippi)
07/06/2016

What type of yogurt did you use to mix it with?


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