Urine problems and diet change
 

We took Layla in this morning because of mucus in her urine. The vet took samples and found a bunch of crystals in her urine, and super high acidity. She said we can not afford to let Layla get bladder or kidney stones, because she does not want to operate on her bladder. There's no way we could express her bladder with stitches in it. She told us we need to switch her food ASAP and gave us Medi-Cal Urinary SO.

Layla was on Medi-Cal Hypoallergenic when I first got her as a pup and didn't know much about foods, but the vet recommended it, and of course I bought it from the vet (Medi-Cal is owned by Royal Canin, but they sell exclusively through veterinary clinics). Now I know this is not the best food, but of course right now we need to make a switch so we got a bag while we were there.

Here is information on the food:

http://www.royalcanin.ca/index.php/V...-Small-Dog-Dry

We are going to use this bag up, but I was wondering if there might be a better quality food out there that will help with urine problems. We know Layla has food allergies, but we don't know exactly to what. We try to keep corn and grains out of her diet as much as possible. She used to chew her back feet, although she can't feel them now, but she will chew her front feet every so often too until they are red and swollen between the pads (although it has been awhile since that has happened).

I'm not sure where to go from here. We will see how she does on this food, but I am hoping someone can give suggestions for other options to look into as well!

I'm sorry about Layla's problem. When my Gina had crystals in her urine I was told to feed her California Natural. I did and she recovered by her recheck appointment 3 weeks later.
Good luck.

I'd stick with your vet's advice.

My vet put Gabby on Urinary SO after her urine showed crystals. No more crystals since! :) I give her the canned and mix water in it so that she gets extra water.


I have another pup in my home who had two surgeries for bladder stones. He was put on Urinary SO two years ago and has not had another occurrence of stones!!

It is not a bad food if it keeps a pup from being ill! So many people give Hills, Purina and Royal Canin RX foods such a bad rap...they save dogs' lives! I have had many, many pups in my home over the years who did amazingly well on those foods.

Awww ~ poor Layla. I agree with others - I would listen to the Vet on this one. Sounds like you really DO NOT want her to get a kidney or bladder stone.

Lucy just had bladder surgery herself. We're waiting on the results to come back to see what the stones were made of and then the vet will probably suggest a diet change. I certainly don't want her to have another surgery so as long as I can get her to eat it - we'll feed whatever we have to.

Thanks guys. I was just wondering if there were other options in case this does make her allergies flare up again. We'll just see how she does for now! Luckily she LOVES the food. She had it for the first time last night and she gobbled up the whole bowl immediately!

It's good she likes it! I'll post which food my vet rec ommends - once I find out!

Hoping Lucy likes hers. I just hit on a food she likes this past year and now I guess we'll have to change . .

Sorry to hear about Lucy. I hope she likes her new food too!!!

Well the vet just put Lucy on Royal Canin SO for her bladder stones which turned out to be struvite stones.

She had a lot of infection so she will be on another round of antibiotics. They are thinking the stones might have formed from the infection but they aren't sure.

I sure hope she likes this food well enough to eat it. Also, no more putting Wellness canned Chicken on her dry food. She's so picky . . . fingers crossed.

My two pups love it! I have them on the canned and add water to it, but they don't have a lot of teeth! :)

Layla eats her food like candy. She can't get enough.

The vet warned us that it would make her drink more. Yesterday I stayed home because I was sick, but today I was back at work. When we got home after work this evening, her bladder had overflowed and she leaked all over the floor. That's really bad for her bladder.

Now something needs to change again. We have been through putting up posters around town, putting ads online for someone to take care of her during the day. We'll have someone interested and after a couple of days or a week, they let us know they will not be coming the next day because they don't want to do it anymore. We just can't rely on other people. I switched jobs to have more flexible hours so I can get home an hour sooner than I did before, but I can't flex it any more than that and I don't live in the same town I work in.

I feel so defeated. We are trying to do everything for her and I love her so much and it feels like just when I think things are going to be okay, we get slammed with another hurdle. I wish that none of this had to happen to her.

I'm not sure where to turn next. I guess tomorrow we have to call the vet and see how much she will charge to board Layla there every day so she can express her, and we can see if we can afford it. I am just so upset.

I am so sorry Lindsey. I wish we lived close...I would be happy to help out with Layla. She could play with Gabby. I know how difficult it is....whenever I go somewhere, I usually take Gabby with me. It is easy to have my son care for my other pups, but not Gabby. He is uncomforable with it. Thankfully I don't have a job .. I cannot imagine how stressful this is for you.
I will keep you in my prayers...hoping that something comes up that makes it easier on all of you.

I'm glad Layla likes her food - are you feeding the wet or the dry? Or some combination of both? Lucy has recently discovered the joys of me adding water to her dry food and then heating it up in the microwave ~ makes a little 'gravy'. I'm hoping this works with her new food.

I'm so sorry your sitters are backing out on you but I know you will find a way. You jump one hurdle and there sits the next.

I feel defeated too. Lucy has MVD; just had bladder surgery; she has grade 3 LP in her back leg and she is living with a jealous Westie who just gets more jealous of her every day - what with the medication and all the attention she has been getting.

Saturday - some of my friends came over and of course they all love Lucy and want to hold her. I told them over and over again to please pay some attention to Ringo - but he standing there muddy all over from digging and with dirt all over his face only a mother could love. Long story short - Ringo went after her Saturday night and she has been terrified ever since. I've got to find a way to give him more attention. This is the second time in a few months span.

I don't know what to do anymore. I'm wondering if I can bear to part with Lucy if I had a chance to find her a home where she could have peace and not be scared. I know I could probably never find Ringo a home - he digs; he barks; he needs miles and miles of exercise . . . I must do the right thing for everyone and I no longer know what that is. I love Lucy so much - probably more than any other dog and I'm sure Ringo senses it even though I try to play fair.

Going to have to sleep on it tonight and hope tomorrow looks brighter. I hope your tomorrow looks brighter as well.

I am so sorry for all you're going through. I try not to let the thought of giving up Layla enter my mind, but I can't help it sometimes. I just know deep inside that nobody can care for her like I do. Nobody else KNOWS her outside of this condition, and I do. I know it doesn't define her.

Our situation is pretty much the opposite though.. we adopted two more dogs and Kash is the attention hog. Layla seems to get pushed aside now. He even pushes her around. She gets so upset at him and barks at him constantly. We try to give Layla special attention, but Kash will weasel his way right in. I have to be totally alone with Layla for her to relax, or her eyes are always on Kash and what he's doing. And EVERYONE falls in love with Kash. He is everyone's best friend. Scott and I say we don't know why everyone likes him so much, he's kind of a jerk! I mean, we love him too, but our girls are the sweet hearts, and Kash pushes them around.

Anyways, we don't have a solution yet. We left a message with the vet assistant last night for the vet to call us back, but she never did. Scott was pretty upset when he called so I'm upset that she didn't call back. I hope she got the message.

Yesterday I noticed an ad online from a 19 year old girl who just moved to the town we live in, looking for babysitting jobs. Well, maybe she's an animal lover and wouldn't mind learning to express Layla every day. It's a long shot, but I will send her a message today. I did contact a few pet sitters last night and they want to charge $40/day just for the 20 minute drive to our town :( And that's just a starting point, it will probably be more for a special-needs dog. That's just not do-able.

I hope she works out for you. Hey - babysit a kid or babysit a dog. Money is money and I hope she needs it!

Today, every time I give Lucy her antibiotic syringe - I fill it with water and then give Ringo some 'medicine'. Sheesh. At least they are both getting the same amount of attention; maybe this will help.

Hopefully she's not just looking for evening work or something. We kind of NEED this to work out!

That is so cute that Ringo gets "medicine" too! I hope it helps with the jealousy issues.

I have not had replies from anyone else. We called the vet again after work and she was too busy and has not called back. We got home today and Layla had peed all over herself. I don't know what to do. I'm at the end of my rope.

Lindsey, I don't have any advice, but want you to know I am thinking of you and your sweet Layla girl. I hope you find someone that can help with her during the day. We'll keep you and Miss Layla in our thoughts.

Thank you. The vet did not call us back tonight. She was open until 8 but we told her assistant that no time is too late to call. She said she'd write her a note and let her know in person, since she was leaving at 8 but the vet would be in later (I think she was doing a surgery... a cat had just come in that was bitten by a dog) It's 10:30 now and she hasn't called. We don't know what to do tomorrow. We will have to leave her at home again. I am going to tell work that I need to stay home Friday to take care of her, but I have important meetings all day tomorrow. I feel like I'm stuck. I wish more than ever that none of this had to happen to Layla.

I emptied her bladder at 5, and Scott picked her up at 7 and again she was squirting all over the floor. I put her in the shower to wash her off and she was so thirsty she was drinking the water coming off her in the shower. I just don't think this food can work out for us if it's changing her this much, but there's nothing else to do!

We need to talk to the vet so badly and I am getting really angry that she just will not call us back!!!! I have been crying almost all evening. I just can't hold myself together.

Lindsey, the food is not doing this to her. My guess about the urine squirting is that she may still have a UTI. Gabby leaks urine whenever she has one. Not sure about the thirst...have they checked her labs recently? Does she have any kidney issues?
I am so so sorry this is so difficult for you.
I am praying for all of you. I know how stressful it is for me some days and I don't have a job. I cannot imagine how you must feel. Just wish I had an answer for you.
You are a very strong young lady...you can hold yourself together! It is perfectly normal to be upset and crying right now. This is a very trying time for you....but it will pass! I wish I knew what to say about the vet. Can you just take Layla there in the morning before you go to work? I would probably leave her there for the day and let them figure it out...and express her!

When our vet gave us the food, she said the biggest side effect is we will notice her drinking more water because this food makes dogs feel more thirsty, and as a result her urine will be much more diluted. I asked if we'd have to express her more often and she said she can't say for sure, it depends on the dog and we'd just have to see how much more she drinks and adjust to that. She's had the UTI since December and has had no problem with leaking for the 9-9.5 hours a day we're away at work. A day and a half after she started the new food is when we noticed her drinking tons and overflowing constantly. It's like a full bladder completely emptying. Yesterday it was puddles halfway across a room, and today the floor was full of puddles and her whole back end was completely soaked. She drank so much water last night, I had to refill her whole water bowl 4 times in 5 hours.

The vet was pretty sure she didn't have any kidney issues and that all the infection was just located in her bladder. I don't know if she knows that for sure though.

The vet here is not open until we're already at work. I am in meetings from first thing in the morning, so I told Scott to please call her as soon as possible from his work and see if she has any ideas what to do, and he can give her the code to get into the house to get Layla if necessary. If he can't get ahold of her, I want him to call the vet college where Layla had all of her IVDD issues dealt with, and see if we can get another opinion. We just can't deal with it any longer.

I am feeling sick about this. Last night I was seriously talking to Scott about selling our home, our dream house, to move back to the city to be closer to pet sitters and emergency vets and anyone who could help out with Layla. He said no. He wants to stay here and deal with it here. But I kind of feel like I'm falling apart right now.

I just really need to vent I guess. It's past midnight and I have to get up in 5 hours and look professional and ready for meetings with some of the big people in our company that I am meeting for the first time tomorrow. It's hard for me to not let it show that I am a complete wreck at home, and while I'm at work I can't stop thinking about Layla and wondering if she's already sitting in a puddle of her own pee and she doesn't know it. I just hate everything right now. I hate feeling sorry for myself but I can't stop thinking why me?

This is the Urinary SO? I have two pups on it...Gabby is one of them and never had anything like that.

I am just so sorry. I don't know what to say. :(

Yeah it's Medi-Cal Urinary SO.

The thing I don't understand is that she can last through the night without peeing. She doesn't even seem to drink much at night (maybe half a bowl over 8 or 9 hours). She used to sleep all day while we were gone too. Now she just seems to drink water all day.

Okay so we're meeting with the person who had the babysitter ad this weekend. I thought it was a girl but the email says Aaron so I guess it's a guy! He loves animals and would love to take care of Layla.

I am staying home tomorrow to take care of Layla and hopefully this person can be trained to start next week! Wish us luck!

Awesome! Do hope it goes well! :)

The vet quickly called Scott back at lunch. She said that Layla's body might just be getting used to the new food and she will adjust on her own, or there may be something more going on. She was in the middle of something though, and would call us back probably tonight.

I also asked about this on Dodgerslist, and I was told that Medi-Cal SO is designed to have a high salt content, which makes dogs thirsty and flushes out their systems with all the water they drink. I guess that's fine when the dog has the option to pee whenever it wants, but it doesn't help much in our situation. This person also told me that a high protein diet might help to make the urine more acidic and get rid of crystals that way.

So those are some things I can bring up to the vet when we get a chance to talk to her.

If you are not happy with the rx diet, you might want to do a consult with a vet nutrionist. That can be done on the telephone and/or through emails.

My vet sent the records for one of my pups to the vet nutritionist at Texas A&M years ago and I did a home cooked diet suggested by him.

As for this food, as I said, I am really surprised. Gabby, who is also in the same position as Layla, is on Urinary SO and doing well. She does not have any of those symptoms, so maybe something else is going on.

Yes, I'm not sure if this is really "normal" behaviour because although the vet did say it would probably cause her to drink more, she didn't really press the issue so I didn't think it was going to be this much of a change. I guess if she wants to see her, I will be home all day tomorrow and I'll be available to take her in whenever I can. I think it would be a great food if she weren't peeing so much :( Obviously it doesn't happen to all dogs if Gabby is fine and they are pretty much the exact same dog lol. I'm glad I have you around for some comparison!

Maybe this link will be of interest to you:


Canine Struvite Bladder Stones

Checking in on Layla...I bet she is happy to have her mom home today! :)