Urinalysis...

[Daisy211]

Thanks so much! Ill keep everyone posted. This one has been through so much in her young age and wish she would feel better. She's had five bloody diarrhea episodes with vomiting. Her last one was two weeks ago. She's had a million tests done and even exploratory surgery and everything has come back negative. I've kept a journal on her for almost two years now and the only thing I can think of is maybe stress is causing it. I'm tempted to test for addisons and whatever all these dogs are dying of. I live in the area where a bunch of dogs are dying from bloody diarrhea. Right now I have her long term on cerenia and tylan plus the bladder infection medicine. Hopefully I can figure out this bladder infection so I can focus on her flare ups.

[Wylie's Mom]

I hope your kiddo feels better soon. I agree with all the advice given by EllieMay - she definitely knows what she's talking about, so I wouldn't hesitate to follow her advice.

[Daisy211]

urinalysis came back they didn't see any bacteria under the microscope and they did see a few crystals but no calcium crystals. We are waiting for the culture to come back. They said it should be back by Saturday. If there isn't any bacteria in the culture we will go ahead with the xray. They recommended that I order some uro-eze to help with the crystals and to continue the cranberry supplement and clavamox. Im very anxious to hear the results of the culture. I hope shes been on the right antibiotics and we are just dealing with crystals at this point...

[Nancy1999]

Originally Posted by Daisy211

urinalysis came back they didn't see any bacteria under the microscope and they did see a few crystals but no calcium crystals. We are waiting for the culture to come back. They said it should be back by Saturday. If there isn't any bacteria in the culture we will go ahead with the xray. They recommended that I order some uro-eze to help with the crystals and to continue the cranberry supplement and clavamox. Im very anxious to hear the results of the culture. I hope shes been on the right antibiotics and we are just dealing with crystals at this point...

Thanks for the update, it sounds like a good plan, hope she's on the road to recovery!

[Ellie May]

It could just be an infection. However, with blood and a history of stones it is very important to do imaging. An xray should have been done when they felt the stones were gone to make sure.

Even if a culture turns up positive for bacteria, stones still need to be ruled out.

[Daisy211]

The culture came back no bacteria grew so far. She passed her biggest stone yet yesterday. I'm hoping that is the last of them since he said there wasn't very many struvite crystals in the sample he took. I'm thinking since bigger chunks are coming out that there was one big that's been dissolving. Does anyone know if this could be caused from a food allergy. She's allergic to chicken and grains so I have her on venison and split pea. If like to keep her on a food with no potatos and something low fiber and fat. The low fat is the hard part when looking at grain free foods. She's been having a lot of flare ups in the last couple months so I'm wondering if maybe the foods not helping.

[Nancy1999]

Originally Posted by Daisy211

The culture came back no bacteria grew so far. She passed her biggest stone yet yesterday. I'm hoping that is the last of them since he said there wasn't very many struvite crystals in the sample he took. I'm thinking since bigger chunks are coming out that there was one big that's been dissolving. Does anyone know if this could be caused from a food allergy. She's allergic to chicken and grains so I have her on venison and split pea. If like to keep her on a food with no potatos and something low fiber and fat. The low fat is the hard part when looking at grain free foods. She's been having a lot of flare ups in the last couple months so I'm wondering if maybe the foods not helping.

I really don't know much about this, but I was wondering if the new foods could be helping to break down the stones so that she's passing them? Does she drink much water?

[mimimomo]

Originally Posted by Daisy211

The culture came back no bacteria grew so far. She passed her biggest stone yet yesterday. I'm hoping that is the last of them since he said there wasn't very many struvite crystals in the sample he took. I'm thinking since bigger chunks are coming out that there was one big that's been dissolving. Does anyone know if this could be caused from a food allergy. She's allergic to chicken and grains so I have her on venison and split pea. If like to keep her on a food with no potatos and something low fiber and fat. The low fat is the hard part when looking at grain free foods. She's been having a lot of flare ups in the last couple months so I'm wondering if maybe the foods not helping.

Glad that stone passed, it was the cause for bleeding...was an xray done to see if there's any more stones? That's the protocol @ our new vet's, x-ray 1st, then ultrasound if needed. It's a good idea to get an xray done bc it gives an idea of how many stones she has & if they're small enough to pass on their own. Struvites are disolvable, so it might not be of great concern.

As for food, my guys are eating Canine Caviar Duck & Chickpeas (Open Sky). The food gives off a urine pH of 7. They can't have any potatoes (yeast) or grains (allergic) either, it's hard finding a food w/out those ingredients! Struvites form when the pH is too high, @ 8 or higher, could be in conjunction w/or w/out an infection. Stones develop when there's an infection.
My 2 didn't have an infection, but their pH was 8 & they both had struvites. My other guy didn't have any struvites, but his urine pH was also high @ 8. I purchased pH strips from Solid Gold, tested the water I give them & it was high @ 7.5, so I'm giving them only bottled water which is 7. You can also use the strips to test their urine pH, best to do it in the morning.
Also read that high protein foods makes the urine more acidic, so I give them premade raw for 1 meal. Princess had a vet visit for her colitis recently & her urine pH came back as 6, where it should be & no struvites. I moisten the kibble w/warm water for her other meal & she drinks a lot of water b4 we go out for their walks.
You might want to try premade raw for her if you feel comfortable enough, it has done wonders for my guys. Has she had a bile acids test? (BATs)

[Daisy211]

Daisy sounds a lot like your princess! I bought the strips but haven't used them lately. Last time I used them her ph was really high. It was an 8 I think. I feed her canine caviar venison and split pea. It was the only grain and potato free food that I could find that was somewhat low in fat and fiber. I've been giving her equal parts distilled water with her food and crunch it up for her so its like canned food. Hoping it makes it easier for her to digest. They think she has stress colitis along with food allergies. She had bile acid tests done when her flare ups first started but its been a while. I would like to do a tli test next and check her vitamin b levels. I would also like to test for Addison's disease. The initial tests she had done had something that tested high that could indicate addisons but since she was stressed the vet didnt think so. Right now I'm trying to keep the vomiting and diarrhea under control. I think the vet visit on Wednesday and the huge stone yesterday may have messed up her belly really bad. At first when she started passing stones they were all very small and long. The last three have been pretty thick but not as long. They are by far bigger then what she was passing in June. When I started her on clavamox in June I was seeing them come out once if not more a week. The last couple have taken a couple weeks to pass. I'm hoping this means that it was one big and it's dissolving the bigger chunks now. We haven't done X-rays since they have been coming out. But I guess that would be the next step. I'm hoping since there's no infection that I can take her off clavamox and just give her the cranberry supplement. I've been looking into vitamin c for her but I can't find one for dogs that have nothing extra in it. I like solid gold berry balance but it had beef something in it I think.

[mimimomo]

Yeah, they have a lot of not so good similarities loll! I just feel so bad for you bc Princess is 5 #'s & Daisy is so much smaller...you must get so worried for her. I hope you'll find answers soon & all her stones are gone. If her BATs are w/in normal range, I really think you should consider trying premade raw for Daisy. It's so much easier on their digestive system. I wasn't sure about the high percentage of fat (bc of colitis), but they burn it off & Princess does so well on it, small firm poopies. She does best w/Primal & OC Raw Dog Rabbit, she loves it.

[107barney]

Dogs can have struvite crystals with pH lower than 8. My dog Teddy currently has them AGAIN and his pH is 6.5 and no other abnormalities.

[mimimomo]

Originally Posted by 107barney

Dogs can have struvite crystals with pH lower than 8. My dog Teddy currently has them AGAIN and his pH is 6.5 and no other abnormalities.

Really? So sorry to hear that Teddy has them again, how often do you check? Princess' last urinalysis was 4 months ago, but since we were @ the vet, did it anyway. I did read that some dogs & cats just have them, that it's normal to see some struvites in the urine, as long as there's no bacteria.

[Daisy211]

I'm so sorry that he has them again. That has to be horrible to watch him continue to have issues even with his ph level around 6. I feel so horrible for my little one. It's too the point where I don't even leave her home alone any more. I always try to find a sitter. If I leave her longer then 3 hours she gets extremely sick and it takes her a few days to recover. It's been really hard. We just got married and we are in our early thirties. I've pretty much have been stuck at home with her for the last year trying to keep her healthy. We were really active before we got her and I grew up with dogs that never had any issues. I had no idea dogs could have stomach problems the way she does. I'm just so confused because the tylan and cerenia that she's on long term doesn't prevent anything. It just helps make the flare up not as bad as it would be if she wasn't on them. I often wonder what others do when they have a dog with stomach issues like ours does. It's to the point where I want to cry every time her stomach gurgles and this bladder infection on top of everything else has just made me sick to my stomach. = (

[Ellie May]

107barnry and I do have dogs with those kinds of stomach issues - so severe that a lot of food can cause life threatening illness. Tylan did nothing here. It was about finding the exact right food.

I have another dig with a bladder abnormalty (thought to be a birth defect). An rx diet prevents crysas for him, thankfully.

I don't know why your vet is not doing imaging. Somebody needs to make sure there isn't a stone in there that dan't oass. And she couod have different types. She will never feel good until the get gets to the bottom of this. Have they referred you to an internist?

[107barney]

107barney's dog teddy has had more ultrasounds and cultures than 107barney can count. These crystals are incidental lab findings for teddy and he has zero symptoms. We are keeping an eye on his bladder every couple of months, I'm talking to my vet Thursday and coming up with a long term plan.

Daisy211's dog needs an ultrasound, along with a new vet.