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Originally Posted by simbasmom  My almost 5 year old Yorkie, Sasha, had surgery about 3 weeks ago to have bladder stones removed. They turned out to be calcium oxalate stones which means I had to change his dog food. The vet said I had three options of the prescription Hills food that he recommended. I went with the one with the lowest calories in order to prevent any weight gain because Sasha is already a little on the large side weighing in at about 8 1/2 pounds. He's not overweight but doesn't really need to gain much more or he could easily be. So the vet said that in addition to the food I choose I would also need to give him a potassium supplement as well. The only one the vet has access to is a powder that you sprinkle over the food which wasn't going to work because I have a second Yorkie that eats out of the same bowl as Sasha and while the vet said the food is fine for him he doesn't need the extra potassium. So I had to get some in a liquid form from my local pharmacy. The food is around $22 a bag but the supplement is $37 for a one month supply. So I'm thinking that I may switch to the higher calorie food since it won't require me to give him the extra potassium and I'll just have to monitor his food intake closely to make sure there isn't too much weight gain. Before the surgery both of my dogs were eating Wellness, the small breed formula, and they loved it. I'm currently switching them over to the Hills and mixing the two together and they both pick the new food out and leave the old stuff laying on the floor so they seem to be pretty happy with it so far.
As far as the recovery went Sasha did pretty well. He wouldn't eat for the first few days so the vet had me mix some chicken broth in with his food and microwave it and that helped. He got his stitches out after 10 days but the vet said the internal stitches will take up to 120 days to dissolve. The only issue that I've noticed is that for the first week he would lay on the couch and he wouldn't indicate that he needed to go outside until I asked him if he wanted to go and then it was as if once he realized he had to go he could barely hold it for more than a minute. That resulted in a few accidents but since then the only thing I've noticed is that he'll go outside and pee and then a few minutes later he'll hike his leg again and just stand there for a little while but nothing comes out. I asked the vet about it and he said that's normal, that it takes quite a while for the bladder to stretch back to it's normal size so it will take some time for him to get used to feeling normal "urges" to go. |
Thanks so much for all the information. We should know tomorrow what food he goes on. I also will be putting Lucy on it too. He does like chicken boullion so that should work if he doesn't like it (which could very well happen- very picky eater) It won't help on the way up to TN- 2 day drive- so maybe the surgeon will have some ideas. We'll talk to him tomorrow. Thanks so much for answering me.