Dogs with hypercortisolism are predisposed to developing bacteriuria with or without clinical signs of cystitis present. Antibiotics were commonly prescribed irrespective of clinical signs of bacteriuria, which changed in 2019 when guidelines were published highlighting the unnecessary treatment if no clinical signs were observed.

This study aimed to understand the relationship between hypercortisolism in dogs associated with the presence of bacterial cystitis or subclinical bacteriuria, highlight the pathogens responsible and assess outcomes of antibiotic treatments. A total of 161 newly diagnosed hypercortisolism dogs between 2005 and 2015 who had a urine bacterial culture available, were included in this study.

The most commonly isolated pathogen from the urine cultures was E. coli. Presence of bacteriuria was not associated with gender or neutered status. This study found the prevalence of bacteriuria in hypercortisolism dogs was lower than previously reported, and also showed that the majority of bacteriuria was subclinical.

The majority of follow up urine bacterial cultures came back negative after antimicrobia treatment, although a few resistant bacteria were detected in persistently positive urine.

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Impact of hypercortisolism in canine urinary tract infections