Urinalysis: Struvites and Glucose
 

Hi YTers,

London's urinalysis showed struvite crystals and glucose. :( We are going in for a sterile urinalysis and blood work tomorrow morning.

Reading old threads dating back to 2007 to learn more about struvite causes, treatment, and prevention, it is disheartening to see that a special Royal Canin or Hills diet may be necessary. I would not normally feed her those brands because of the poor nutritional value and low-quality ingredients. :thumbdown If it stops the stones though, maybe it is the lesser of two evils.

Anyway, the question is, if you have had issues with struvite stones/crystals, what was your treatment course, and what treatment and prevention (including diet) worked for your dog?

I know the vet is going to recommend something but I'd rather go with what works best for other yorkies.

The glucose in urine is higly abnormal, the vet says, and possibly an indication of diabetes. I'm a little overwhelmed with just the struvites right now, so trying to learn about struvites and glucose/diabetes separately right now, and then figure our how to deal with the combination of them later (soon, but just cannot handle it all today!).

Thanks for letting me share. Yorkie Talk rocks.

Sorry to hear about your baby. Cali has a UTI and had crystals in her urine. They put her on antibiotics and some cranberry type powder on her food and it cleared up and she hasn't had another problem. That was about 2 years ago. Hopefully others will have some ideas.

Thanks, that is great to hear that just a course of antibiotics and cranberry did the trick, no long-term lifestyle alterations needed.

Diabetes is very easy to diagnose with a simple blood test. My Lady has been diabetic for seven years and I check her blood glucose myself.

Please have your vet check her blood glucose asap. Undiagnosed diabetes is very hard on the organs, especially the eyes. Unfortunately, most diabetic dogs go blind within the first few months as a result of glucose collecting in the eyes.

I know you have a lot on your plate now, but please determine asap if London is diabetic now rather than later.

Oh definitely, she is getting blood work this morning to confirm diabetes (and a sterile urinalysis to better understand the struvites). I believe the vet will send the sample away for analysis, so I'll have a couple days to read up on diet and lifestyle changes for managing diabetes.

If the blood glucose test happens to be done on-site instead today, I'll be back here searching old threads all day today. Don't want to lose a minute of time when it comes to furbaby's health.

Thanks!

Just checking in to see how the vets went.
Will check back later, hope all went well.

Your vet can test her blood glucose in house so you will know today. If it is diabetes, don't panic. My Lady has been diabetic for seven years. She is almost 14 now and still going strong!

Good luck today!

Dang, I wish I had realized blood glucose could be tested in house, then I would have pushed the vet to do that one separately. Instead they are sending it out to a lab (I guess for a whole battery of tests), and should have results by Wednesday.

Thanks Ladymom for the good advice to not panic. Sounds like you and your baby are doing just great!

Yes, blood glucose is part of a basic CBC and only takes a couple of minutes.

Have you noticed excessive drinking/urinating? Those are classic signs of diabetes.

Yes, exactly! She used to sleep thru the night in her crate, but recently started waking up at 3am crying to go potty. And she has been drinking more water too.

Interestingly, on the weekends she gets to sleep in the guest bed with me (hubby doesn't like her in our regular bed), and she sleeps thru the night just fine :rolleyes:

If it were my dog, I'd get her blood glucose checked on Monday without waiting for the other tests results. It only takes a drop of blood.

Unregulated diabetics can go into ketoacidosis which is very serious and can be fatal. Dogs have also been known to lose their vision in a matter of days. I don't want to scare you, but it's just such a simple blood test, it's not worth taking the risk IMO.

BTW, new diabetics often present with urinary tract infections, too.

Wonderful suggestion, I'll go back for the blood glucose check on Monday. Let's get this show on the road!

:thumbup::thumbup: You can check blood glucose with a meter in just a few seconds with one drop of blood. No need to wait and take any unnecessary risks with her health.

I'm really surprised the vet found glucose in the urine and didn't immediately test her blood right then. Glucose is part of a chemistry not a complete blood count if sent to a lab. But they can easily check it with a glucose meter in the office, for an instant reading. I do agree the urinary tract problem could very well be the first sign of diabetes, this happens frequently. Remember, diabetes should be controlled, so it does not control you/her. Best wishes to you, it'll be okay.

Update on London
 

Thanks for your reassuring words. Here is a little update.

As soon as the vet office opened this morning I called to request an instant blood glucose test right away today. They said actually the lab results from Saturday will probably be ready later today, and also they do not feel the immediate tests are as reliable. (Not saying I agree, just sharing what the vet said.)

Also at a 4th of July cookout next door there was a vet visiting. I asked him about London's situation, and he strongly felt London's vet did the right thing by running full bloodwork, not just a quick blood sugar check. Even though it takes a little longer, it is important to have the full picture and make sure we treat the right thing, because treating the wrong thing could have awful consequences. (Again, not saying I agree, but in case anyone in the future is searching old diabetes threads, wanted to note the other perspectives)

Anyway, over the last few days I have been reading loads on diabetes management....including a wealth of helpful info on caninediabetes.org which Ladymom posted in an old thread. I want to be prepared to make quick decisions (diet, insultin type, home meter, needle brand/gauge, etc....don't want to just blindly follow the vet's suggestion without doing my own homework) for London in the event she does have diabetes. As the previous poster said, we want to manage the condition, and not let it manage us. Well said! It looks like there is a really strong support network online, which is encouraging.

Anxiously waiting for the phone to ring with vet news....thanks for your support, opinions, and suggestions in the meantime.