My dog was bleeding from his penis recently, so I got him checked out, and it looks like he has a few struvite crystals in his urine. We also did an ultrasound to check for stones, and the ultrasound showed that he had no stones at this time. The vet recommended switching his diet to the prescription Royal Canine diet that is designed to control crystal formation. I personally would prefer not to switch him from his current diet (EVO salmon formula), so I was wondering if you guys had any experience with this and could make some suggestions. My vet told me that I could also try to put him on ester C vitamins to help keep his Ph levels low and to also switch to canned foods, so that he intakes more liquids. Do you guys have any other ideas that I can try?

As a side note, the original urine test showed he had blood in his urine and some crystals. We just did another urine test today (three weeks after the first one), and it shows that he has no more blood in his urine and minor crystal formation. I'm just trying to take on a preventative approach, so that it does not happen again.

I appreciate all your guys' help.

- Ali

The urine was cultured? Urinalysis is not sufficient with blood in the urine, IMO.

I'll get you some material about that.

I'm not a health professional.

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

I'm not a health professional.

Right, but how many of us have felt much better going to a vet armed with information that we've gotten from you, Connie? I would bet that the vast majority of us have- including me. We probably don't tell you enough how much we appreciate you, but we would never be the same without you and your excellent advice/ information. Our dogs enjoy good health, in large part because of you, Connie.

Just wanted to throw that in there- didn't mean to derail anything.

--Kel

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

The urine was cultured? Urinalysis is not sufficient with blood in the urine, IMO.

I'll get you some material about that.

I'm not a health professional.

http://www.b-naturals.com/newsletter/utis/

Generally, if a urinary tract infection is suspected, your veterinarian will do a urinalysis and a blood panel. A urinalysis is done to determine the specific gravity of the urine (to see how well your dog is concentrating the urine), to see if protein and/or blood is evident in the urine and to look for the presence of bacteria. However, seeing no sign of bacteria will not rule out urinary tract infection ....

... 19% of dogs with positive cultures had neither pyuria nor bacteriuria on urinalysis. ....

The three biggest mistakes seen in UTI treatment are:
- Incorrect diagnosis (not finding any bacteria through urinalysis and thus believing no infection is present)
- Using the wrong antibiotic (different bacteria need very specific antibiotics to be effective)
- Not using antibiotics long enough (generally UTIs can be very persistent and difficult to treat)

.... Lastly, let’s address the question of diet changes. Evidence shows that diet does not cause urinary tract infections. Prescription diets do not to help in treating urinary tract infections. I always encourage dog owners to feed the best diet they can, as this helps with the overall system of the dog. .... Please do not be led to believe that a different brand of kibble or a prescription diet will help in the case of a UTI or struvite crystals.

... Also note that many vets want to use prescription diets if struvite crystals are found in the urine. This, too, is unnecessary and ineffective.



Also, http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues/13_4/features/Detecting-Urinary-Stones-Dogs_16215-1.html

... Struvite stones usually form when large amounts of crystals are present in combination with a urinary tract infection from urease-producing bacteria such as Staphylococcus or Proteus.

... Whether your struvite-crystal dog has a urinary tract infection is the key question. Researchers estimate that more than 98 percent of all struvite stones are associated with infection. Failing to eradicate the original infection and prevent new bacterial infections is the main reason struvite uroliths recur.


The quotes I pasted above really need to be read in context, though. Both URLs contain links to vet med sites citing sources, and there is much more explanation on both.

Honestly I'm not sure if the urine test was cultured. I know we also did a blood test in addition to the urinalysis. The vet told me that they did not see any signs of infections. The ultrasound did also reveal that he had a thickening of the bladder walls, so they gave him 80 mg of convenia just in case he had an infection.

 Quote: Alex Madsen

Honestly I'm not sure if the urine test was cultured. I know we also did a blood test in addition to the urinalysis. The vet told me that they did not see any signs of infections. The ultrasound did also reveal that he had a thickening of the bladder walls, so they gave him 80 mg of convenia just in case he had an infection.

It will say on your bill.

I don't agree with antibiotics guesswork.

QUOTE from above: Using the wrong antibiotic (different bacteria need very specific antibiotics to be effective) END QUOTE

JMO!