Crystals in Urine

[sparks19]

I need some advice.

My moms dog has had some problems with crystals in her urine. this has been going on and off foer quite some time now.

Shelby (my moms dog) has had surgery once for it and it didn't do ANYTHING to help her. so my mom does NOT want to go this route again unless it's absolutely nessecary. Doesn't want to put shelby through a surgery that isn't going to work.

but she has talked to her vet and done a lot of research online and I told her I would ask here as well.

apparently diet can really help? I k now vets aren't always on the up and up with diet requirements and such so that's why I wanted to turn here.

My mom is considering innova and even feeding raw... whatEVER will help shelby with this problem but she doesn't have any experience with feeding raw.

So any advice? anything in particular she should be feeding shelby (pug/shih tzu mix) that might be more beneficial than others? should she go with a raw diet or should she go with innova... I'm not really sure what exactly to tell her with this particular problem.

for a while apple cider vinegar was really helping but now it's back again and getting worse.

 

[Gypsydals]

Depending on what type of crystals they are. But I would try distilled water, check and see how much purines are in the food and possibly get a lower protien food and cut out any sodium in her diet (that may mean going to raw). Make sure she drinks lots and lots of water with plenty of times to go potty. If you don't think shes getting enough water start floating her food. That way she has to slurp up the food and gets more water at the same time. Many dal owners who feed kibble will float the food.

 

[FluffyZooCrew]

My mom's dachshund has had stones before, and has suffered from crystals for years. The vet put her on C/D, but it didn't work too well, so she's been on K/D for 3 years now and has never had another problem. And she had them severely, and also went through surgery.

 

[sparks19]

OH distilled water. that's something she hasn't tried yet. I think Shelby is drinking lots of water but I'm not positive. I will have to ask when I talk to my mom tonight.

Shelby is on a "prescription" wet food because she had some tummy troubles when she was younger. I don't really think it's prescription food but it is some sort of special gastro intestinal food.

What is K/D and C/D?

 

[GlassOnion]

Well, you're not going to want to hear this but, the prescription food (U/D I think it is) by Hill's helps out quite a bit.

Shelby (my moms dog) has had surgery once for it and it didn't do ANYTHING to help her. so my mom does NOT want to go this route again unless it's absolutely nessecary. Doesn't want to put shelby through a surgery that isn't going to work.

What kind of surgery? To remove stones or was it supposed to fix the problem?

I don't know of any surgery that can fix crystals in the urine, unless there's a kidney problem or something that's causing it. Usually it's diet related though and how the dog handles the foods. Only crystal related surgeries I'm familiar with is removing that which forms when just finding out about the problem and then again when owners just shrug off the suggested dietary changes.

 

[sparks19]

unfortunately my mom has not been given any suggestions for dietary changes. every vet she has gone to just goes right to suggesting surgery. it's sickening. I guess it was just to remove the crystals. but they just keep coming back and the vets just want to keep doing another surgery and another surgery.

but my mom has done her own research and has found some things that are helping and she has found a health foods store with an animal line and a very helpful shop owner and shelby is doing much better already. hopefully it keeps up.

There is no one in her area that prescribes hill's food unfortunately. I can't remember the name of the prescription food shelby is currently on. it's not hills it's something else.

 

[GlassOnion]

unfortunately my mom has not been given any suggestions for dietary changes. every vet she has gone to just goes right to suggesting surgery. it's sickening. I guess it was just to remove the crystals. but they just keep coming back and the vets just want to keep doing another surgery and another surgery.

Right, you remove the stones that form and then 'treat' it with a change in diet. That's how it should be done at least.

We use Hill's U/D since it's easy on us and easy on the owner, and works very well. The vet said she feels most of the prescription diets are gimmicks, but U/D is one she'll swear by.


I guess she's mentioned to the vets that they keep coming back?

Also why kind of crystals are they? Some crystals in dog urine are common, like struvite. A large amount is bad, but it's not uncommon for them to have some.

 

[sparks19]

i"m not sure what kind of crystals they are. but it was getting to where she would be peeing blood or try to pee and couldn't and then she was actually peeing out crystals. so it's definitely more than just the normal amount

so what other kind of prescription food is there? LIke I said no one near my mom prescribes hill's food accordign to their website.

 

[sparks19]

Nevermind.... apparently there are vets in her area that prescribe it. It wouldn't bring it up by postal code but brought it up with the city and province.

 

[FluffyZooCrew]

There's UD and CD for crystals and stones and urinary problems, and there's S/D, which is only for short term use, which actually breaks up large stones. My mom's dog was on that. There's also K/D, which is the kidney diet, but is formulated very similar to C/D, and can be used for crystals and stones as well, which is what the vet has had my mom's dog on for a long time now. The C/D worked, but she was having relapses. She's done very well on K/D since.

Another medication that may be mentioned to the vet is Uroeze, which my mom's dog has been on before, and my vet also had one of my foster rabbits on, when he had crystals as well.

 

[sparks19]

OK so...

Shelby is on 6 weeks of antibiotics. she is on S/D food for now and then theyw ill change her probably to C/D and HOPE that works. if not she will need surgery again... she's 9 years old so I don't know if that's the best idea but if it needs to be done I guess it needs to be done. The vet said absolutely NO treats EVER... just her prescription food. LOL my poor mom. shelby knows where the treats are kept and she will scratch at the cupboard forever and whine lol.

but hopefully this works