Immune Mediated Chronic Bladder Infections
Posted on June 13th, 2016Immune Mediated Chronic Bladder Infections
Has your dog or cat ever suffered from chronic bladder infections? You take them to the vet and when their urine is tested ‘in office’ with a dip strip, and inflammatory cells or white blood cells (WBCs) are present, you’re told that your pet has a urinary tract infection. The vet prescribes a general antibiotic and the bladder infection seems to subside, only to return at a later date. So, back to your vet you go.
This time your vet decides to get a closer look. He takes another urine sample and sends it out to a laboratory to see if any unusual bacteria are present. If they discover any bacterial growth, the colony of bacteria will be exposed to several other different kinds of bacteria to see if any of those many antibiotics applied will kill this specific unusual bacterium.
Often a bladder x-ray and/or an ultra sound will be done to make sure there are no bladder stones or bladder tumors present. If the bladder scans show no complications, they turn their focus to the results of the urine culture and sensitivity to decide which specific antibiotic they’ll be using to kill this unusual bacterium.
This is the chain of events that occurs in most instances of UTIs. If this is the case, the bladder infection should subside and not reoccur, Still, there are many cases where the urine culture and sensitivity may show no bacterial growth whatsoever, even though inflammatory cells or WBCs were found in the original urinalysis.
What does this indicate?
This indicates that your dog or cat may have an endocrine immune imbalance which has allowed for an immune mediated, chronic bladder infection to be recurring. If this is the case, it is easy to have your healthcare professional do an endocrine immune blood test and send it to a special laboratory that is qualified to do this type of testing. This specific Laboratory is listed on my website*. I am in no way associated with this laboratory but at this time, it is the only veterinary laboratory that has the ability to provide credible laboratory results.
The test results, in all probability, will reveal that your pet has, the Plechner Syndrome, a hormone antibody imbalance, indicating imbalanced cortisol and elevated adrenal estrogen. It will also expose either a primary T3 T4 deficiency or normal thyroid hormones that are “bound” (elevated estrogen will bind the receptor sites rendering the Thyroid hormones unavailable for use in the body).
While the B and T lymphocytes (a type of WBCs generated to fight infection and inflammation) don’t appear to be deficient they are actually deregulated. Not only have they lost their ability to protect your pet, they have also lost recognition of self-tissue and can begin to attack the normal tissue inside your pet creating an autoimmune disease. My findings have shown me that this Syndrome may also be the cause of allergies and even cancer.
It is easy to see why all those products that are touted to stimulate your pet’s immune system, are actually furthering the deregulation and, in all reality, are turning off their natural immune defenses leaving them exposed and vulnerable to a myriad of diseases and disorders. Please, make sure you measure this endocrine immune deficiency before initiating any use of immune stimulants!
*Also in Chapter 2 of this book.
When a lack of antibody production by the B lymphocyte occurs in animals, all the immunoglobulins will be deficient including the mucous membrane antibody IgA whether secretory or circulatory.* When the IgA level is deficient, your pet may be subject to food allergies, vaccine reactions and insect sensitivities.
Impact areas are often genetically predetermined and the bladder seems to be one of those genetically targeted. This is why an immune mediated bladder infection due to the IgA imbalance can be triggered by a food allergy, a vaccine reaction or a simple insect bite.
Even if you feed your pet the most unprocessed, organic, natural food diet available you may have innocently introduced them to a food allergy that has initiated an immune mediated, chronic bladder infection. If that’s not bad enough, food sensitivities may also cause a primary upset in the stomach and intestines.
The reaction in the bladder may be so subtle that a urine sample might need to be tested for occult blood (unseen by the naked eye) as opposed to copious amounts of visible blood including constant urination because the bladder is inflamed.
The IgA imbalance may also cause a secondary effect which may lead to itching of the face, feet and skin of the ventral abdomen where mass cells, that contain histamine, will degranulate (lose granules from mass cells) the skin and cause inflammation.
If your pet is suffering from this endocrine immune imbalance, Plechner Syndrome can be determined by a simple blood test and applying the Plechner Protocol (hormonal replacement therapy) is the only way you will be able to control this condition. Please feel free to come to my website and look at the article on elimination diets. It will help you find the proper food to feed your pet in order to help avoid immune mediated chronic bladder infections.
Healthfully Yours,
Dr. Al Plechner DVM & David Spangenburg
* People apparently have subgroups of B cells and show different variations in levels of IgA, IgG IgM, IgD and IgE.
