I have a 5 month old female GSD which I got at 8 wks. She was always very active & playful but the past few weeks I've noticed a decrease in her activity level. In addition, she always seemed to be "licking herself". This past week her appetite wasn't as good as usual but she began teething at the same time so attributed it to sore gums. Took a urine sample to vet today. She called this evening w/the results. Increased WBC's & "many, many triple phosphate crystals". The vet wanted to start Inga on an antibiotic which I agreed too but she also wanted to change her diet to canned Hill's S/D for several months. She said this can be the only food Inga can eat. I told her I wanted to reflect on her findings and would call tomorrow.

I read that S/D is restricted in protein & not suitable for long term use. Not sure how beneficial this would be to her in this critical growth stage.
I was thinking of asking the vet to do a urine C&S to make sure dog is on the right antibiotics & recheck her urine after 7 - 10 days of drug therapy before I rush to change her diet.
Does anyone have any experience with this? I'd really like to hear about it or general thoughts.

Thanks!
Dee

S/D dissolves the crystals in the urine; however, I'm pretty sure that an animal should NOT be on that diet for more than 1 month. I don't know of a better food for getting rid of crystals...you may want to consult a holistic vet for other options.

You should recheck the urine before you finish the antibiotics.

Thanks! One month I could live with...three was worrying me. I'm going to speak to the vet in the morning. I have faith in her but didn't want to change the food without giving it some thought, research & asking others who may have encountered the same problem.

Doe she have a tucked vulva? Sometimes that is the cause of urinary tract infection.

what do you normally feed the dog?

s/d is something I would never feed any dog, especially a compromised dog (i.e a TEEHTING PUPPY on antibiotics)

Angelique is right, the tucked vulva can cause a problem. Is your puppy intact? Usually going through one season corrects the vulva problem.

Here are the first ingredients of canine s/d!!! Unbelievable that vets sell this crap and can sleep at night!

Water, corn starch, egg product, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols, and citric acid), pork liver, sucrose, powdered cellulose, vegetable oil

here is a link for info on a tucked vulva

http://www.woodhavenlabs.com/ins-outs.html

Hope she gets better fast

When my adult male had a UTI, (don't know if the treatment would be the same for a young female)my holistic vet put him on increased amounts of NON- bromilated vitamin C ( he was already on almost 1000mg already daily but the bromilated kind) & some other holistic remidies & told me to be sure that he drank lots of water.( to delute the urine & flush the crystals that had formed) I addend additional water to his raw diet food & freequently ask him if he wanted a drink to encourage drinking even though the water bowl was always there & full for my dogs to drink from anytime day or night. He did not prescribe any antibiotics, but that's a holistic vet not a western medicine vet. He did fine & we checked the urine several times after that to be sure that it had cleared up. Never had the problem again. As far as that s/d food is concerned, I'm with Cindy: how DO vets sleep at night recomending that kind of CRAP to their clients. That is the most awful list of dog food ingreedients that I think I have ever seen & prescribed for a sick animal to boot. GEEEZZEEEE!

She eats Nutro Natural Choice w/Nupro supplement added. She also gets Grizzly Salmon Oil. I don't *think* she has a tucked vulva based on the information in the link Marie provided.

Still waiting for the vet to call me so we can discuss alternatives.

Thanks...

P.S. There are no holistic vets within 100 miles or so from me.

 Quote: dee molise

She eats Nutro Natural Choice w/Nupro supplement added. She also gets Grizzly Salmon Oil. I don't *think* she has a tucked vulva based on the information in the link Marie provided.

Still waiting for the vet to call me so we can discuss alternatives.

Thanks...

P.S. There are no holistic vets within 100 miles or so from me.

I think I would consider asking for the chart and faxing it to the best holistic vet with a nutrition specialty available and requesting a telephone nutrition consultation.

If you don't care to have a confrontation, you could ask for the diagnostic notes to be read to you on the phone so you can "study and become familiar with" them..... and then fax them to a holistic vet with a nutrition specialty.

I hate the idea of giving S/D. 100% in agreement with Cindy.

IMO, I would also as for copies of the chart and talk to a holistic vet at least via phone.

"In many cases, antibiotics are prescribed which invariably relieve the animal’s symptoms rather speedily. However antibiotics tend to have a general weakening effect on the immune system which can cause further problems"

maybe try a google search on natural/holistic care for dogs??