Puppy Problems - Crystals in her urine. Any advice?

[Swetha & Elsa]

We brought Elsa home from the breeder at 8 weeks.  A week later she started peeing a lot and straining at the very end to get some drops out.  Took her to the vet, they took a sample and we started her on Clavamox.  Urine was negative for bacteria but they found a lot of crystals in it.  The issue continued and we were terrified when the drops at the end were pink/reddish.  The vet asked us to give her Vitamin C 500mg twice a day for 2 weeks because the pH in her urine was really high.  So we started that and after one week she was peeing normally again. 

Week 2 of Vitamin C - imagine my terror when, yesterday, I see her straining and peeing a lot and the pink/reddish drops were back again.  Took her to the vet.  They say she might have some physical abnormality with her bladder/urachus and they will be able to fix it when spaying her.  She is 12 weeks old now.

I asked if they can do an ultrasound to see if the abnormality can be detected, so we scheduled an ultrasound for her tomorrow.  I guess we'll go from there.

 

Has anyone else had such an experience? Any advice/suggestions would be very much appreciated!  Please share.

 

Swetha

 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I am sorry to hear this. Hopefully the ultrasound will help the vet diagnose the problem. Without knowing exactly what is wrong, I don't think anyone in an on-line forum could or should be giving you advice or suggestions on this. It's possible that she has a congenital or physical abnormality, in which case she may need surgery. 

I would definitely notify the breeder once you have a diagnosis.    

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

No but I'm so sorry your sweet little puppy is going through this.  Hoping for a favorable diagnosis.  Please keep us posted.

[Kyoko]

I am so sorry to hear about this... poor little baby.....

I second to Karen's suggestion. Once diagnosed, I would contact the breeder in regard to their health policy.

[Swetha & Elsa]

Thank you all. 

I've talked to the breeder a couple of times since the issue started happening.  I will continue to keep her posted.

[Swetha & Elsa]

UPDATE -

We got the ultrasound done.  Everything looks normal physically except there are several small stones in her bladder and a small amount of crystals in both kidneys.  The radiologist called them struvite crystals.  He did not mention any underlying cause for the crystals but he did suggest putting her on a special diet immediately.

I spoke to the vet and they contacted some nutrition experts.  They said to put her on the Hill's prescription S/D for two weeks only plus antibiotics and then go back to other food.  They also took a sample for the culture and sensitivity test.

Although I'm not a big fan of the ingredients in the S/D I think the bigger issue is to dissolve the crystals right away so we went ahead and started her on it yesterday.  She didn't like it at first but ate a little bit after sniffing around the bowl for a long time.  Much better this morning when I mashed it up with some water - she finished it.

I also emailed the breeder with the update and she very graciously offered to help with some of the vet's bills. 

 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Sounds like you have a very good breeder. 

I agree with you on the diet. The important thing right now is to get rid of the stones. 

Some information on struvite stones in dogs: 

http://www.vcahospitals.com/main/pet-health-information/article/ani...

[Swetha & Elsa]

Another update plus a question.....

Elsa's been on the Hills S/D diet for 2 weeks now (today).  The vet recommended what we do not go back to TOTW High Prairie puppy food (The breeder was feeding her TOTW and we continued with the same until we switched to the S/D for the 2 weeks).

The vet now recommends that we put her on one of the three below because they have "low mineral content" and Elsa needs food with low mineral content:

1. Purina

2. IAMS Ekunaba

3. Hills science diet

I'm so very disappointed that these are the options available to us.  I mentioned to the vet that I'm not comfortable with the choices and he understood but he said with her issues, she needs to be on one of the above.  

Does anyone know if the low mineral content claim is really true?  Is there any other better quality food that we can feed Elsa?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

It's very unclear as to what causes bladder stones and whether mineral content plays a role or not. There are also different types of bladder stones, and the veterinary literature says that diet plays no role in the development of struvite stones.

 However, even if the mineral content does play a role, the list of foods your vet gave you doesn't make sense. Those are not Rx foods and don't have low mineral content anyway. Those are just the brands with which the vet is familiar, like most vets. The mineral content in any of the formulas within any of those brands is no different from the mineral content of any food in the world. I mean, any Purina food????? Your vet really thinks that Purina Puppy Chow has low mineral content???? 

Your vet really just told you to buy any Iams or Purina or Hill's food???

If you look at the nutrition information on any package of any of those foods and compare the mineral content to your TOTW, you will see that the mineral content is not lower. You need to point that out to your vet.

He is recommending these brands because those are the only ones with which he is familiar, thanks to their advertising to vets.

Did the RX diet dissolve the stones? How do they know? Did they do another test? Is she still on antibiotics? All of these things play a role in deciding where to go with food right now. 

[Swetha & Elsa]

She has been doing so much better on the RX diet - the frequent peeing and the straining/pink urine issues all disappeared almost immediately.  We are doing much better with potty training because of that.  

We are scheduled for another urine test this Saturday and another in a couple of weeks to see how she does after the switch to the new food.  She is still on Clavamox (She's going to be on it for a total of 4 weeks - so 2 more weeks.)  I'm also giving her about one tablespoon plain low-fat yogurt everyday.

I forgot to mention - the vet said NOT to give her puppy food from any of those brands.  He specifically asked us to get Adult food.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The thing is, she is so much better because of the medicine. That much we know. Whether the food is helping at all, we don't know. You have no way of knowing that she wouldn't be doing just as well if you had kept her on the TOTW and just used the medicine. 

The yogurt is very important to maintain the good bacteria in the gut which the meds are destroying. But she needs more than one tablespoon a day. Give her 2 tablespoons twice a day. AND- your vet probably didn't tell you this, but the yogurt must not be given within two hours of the Clavamox, or the benefits will be cancelled out; the antibiotic will destroy the live cultures (good bacteria) in the yogurt if you give it too close together.

So just to make sure I have this straight, your vet thinks it would be a good idea to switch to Purina Dog Chow? Because i am going to look at the mineral content in that versus TOTW to show you there is no difference, but i need a specific formula. Your vet said any Purina or Iams or Hills adult food? 

If so, it's ridiculous. 

[Swetha & Elsa]

I agree - I have no way of knowing which resolved the issue - the food or the medicine.  

Goodness - I give her the antibiotic with yogurt!  Going to change that today.  Thanks for mentioning that, Karen!

He did not mention a specific formula for any of them. I'm sure I will end up going crazy because I just looked on the internet and found a gazillion adult formulas for each brand!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Swetha, the ingredients in most of the formulas made by these brands are absolutely dreadful. And unless you can see that the specific minerals that have an effect on the development of struvite crystals are comparable to those in the Rx food, it is just plain foolish to feed your dog a mixture of by-products, corn, and dangerous chemicals because your vet is not familiar with the better dog food brands. That's the only reason he is recommending the brands he did. 

You might consider a consultation with a veterinary nutritionist. I would certainly do that before feeding my dog a food that could shorten his life.