Food Issues, Struvite Crystals And Allergies..

[will_454]

I don't believe that she has had a culture done, I know there was talk about it at the last vet. I will check her records tomorrow when we go in for our appointment.

Funny that you should mention stress, she is a bit of a needy dog and does stress her self out/get a bit frantic especially when we get home from work, or if it looks like we may be leaving the house. She also sometimes leaks a little bit of urine if she is excited and has a full bladder - most recently this happened last night when I arrived home from work with a friend (I forgot to mention that earlier), afterwards she went outside and went to the toilet normally.

[perfect partners]

I would also try a raw diet. I have a rescue Border Collie who had a huge bladder stone removed just before I got him. It was about the size of a double yolk hen's egg - vet said it was the largest he had ever seen. He was put on the Royal Canin S/O food and medication to lower ph. He didn't like the RC so vet said I could add some mince. Within 12 months I gradually changed him over to a completely raw diet and weaned him off the medication - gradually making changes as each urine test came back with no crystals and correct ph. Dogs on a raw diet have a lower gut ph than those on commercial diets. He went from being underweight and having the driest, most bleached coat I have seen on any animal, to a beautiful healthy chocolate and white coat. I have now had him almost two years, and no more problems. He has a meaty bone most mornings, or sardines or mackerel once or twice a week and mince with pureed vegies, calcium ascorbate,kelp,salmon and cod liver oil or Natural Animal Solutions oil blend and sometimes coconut oil, for tea. I also add about a cup of water to his dinner to help flush his urinary tract as he doesn't drink a lot of water. It is pretty much as set out in Kymythy Schultz's book 'Natural Nutrition for Dogs and Cats'. Good luck with sorting things out for your little dog. The photo of the two of them is gorgeous.

[will_454]

Thanks for the advice and tips - I will keep them in mind and have a look for that book online. I think the RAW elimination diet is the way to go,

Another point I guess is that whatever I do with Asha I will also have to do the same with Ace, because if she is getting meats, fish and veg that smell great I can't imagine he is going to want to eat his kibble.. but he won't be transitioned over until we find something that Asha is stable on.

[~Anne~]

Thanks for the advice and tips - I will keep them in mind and have a look for that book online. I think the RAW elimination diet is the way to go,

Another point I guess is that whatever I do with Asha I will also have to do the same with Ace, because if she is getting meats, fish and veg that smell great I can't imagine he is going to want to eat his kibble.. but he won't be transitioned over until we find something that Asha is stable on.

My two have different diets and it doesn't worry them.

Boof has cooked meat, veges and fruit. Olivia just has her kibble. Sometimes ill add a touch of Boof's food to her kibble but not much.

Edited September 6, 2013 by ~Anne~

[dancinbcs]

I haven't read all the posts but did manage to successfully cure a dog of bladder crystals and infections and re occurring fungal infections that went on for several years. She had bladder crystals like sand, would get a bladder infections that we treated with ABs, and then get fungal infections in her ears. Round in circles for years. This followed a mystery liver problem, following a litter, that saw her liver shrink and nearly disappear at the age of 4 but she lived to 14. The only thing she did not have was any form of allergy. Anyway the cure proved to be Traditional Chinese Herbs provided by Dr Anne Neville from Sth Rd Animal Health in Bentleigh Vic (she does phone consults), combined with a mostly raw diet. The only thing she had cooked was barley which is brilliant for bladder problems so ditch the rice and use barley with some of the cooking liquid left in. I fed all meat and veg raw and also gave her cranberry juice until everything settled down. She was cured within a few months of both the bladder problems and yeast infections and an ultrasound showed the bladder crystals had completely disappeared. None of these problems were hereditary it was just that her whole system was out of whack and one problem was causing another.

[persephone]

My cats/dog eat different things - they are fed in different rooms , so there isn't a problem :)

[will_454]

I haven't read all the posts but did manage to successfully cure a dog of bladder crystals and infections and re occurring fungal infections that went on for several years. She had bladder crystals like sand, would get a bladder infections that we treated with ABs, and then get fungal infections in her ears. Round in circles for years. This followed a mystery liver problem, following a litter, that saw her liver shrink and nearly disappear at the age of 4 but she lived to 14. The only thing she did not have was any form of allergy. Anyway the cure proved to be Traditional Chinese Herbs provided by Dr Anne Neville from Sth Rd Animal Health in Bentleigh Vic (she does phone consults), combined with a mostly raw diet. The only thing she had cooked was barley which is brilliant for bladder problems so ditch the rice and use barley with some of the cooking liquid left in. I fed all meat and veg raw and also gave her cranberry juice until everything settled down. She was cured within a few months of both the bladder problems and yeast infections and an ultrasound showed the bladder crystals had completely disappeared. None of these problems were hereditary it was just that her whole system was out of whack and one problem was causing another.

Thanks for you input, and the tip about barley that's great, ill have a look into Dr Anne and touch base it's her. I have a lot of people to call and see what sort of responses I get.

The raw diet is the biggest constant in all of the replies in this thread, so I definitely think this may be the way to go - or at least transition her into it.

We went to the vet this morning and had her urine spun, they were really happy with how much her crystals had reduced in two weeks on the S/O food and gave us Nizoral for the yeast infection. We discussed a raw diet and the response was quite positive from the vet, she didn't want to keep her on the S/O if it is causing her problems with allergies.

I am going to look into goat or rabbit with possibly barley or sweet potato and veg (ones that mat help lower pH) are there any supplements or additives I should be looking at in addition to this apart from the cranberry powder, ACV and salt?

[minimax]

If you haven't had a sterile urine sample taken, directly from the bladder as Rappie suggested, definitely do it.

I got dramatically different results with the amount of crystals in Max's samples from when it was collected normally to when it was done via a needle into her bladder. The results from the sterile sample showed almost none whereas the sample from when the vet stuck a pan under her and then immediately under the microscope showed a lot. Not sure how that works though!

[dancinbcs]

I haven't read all the posts but did manage to successfully cure a dog of bladder crystals and infections and re occurring fungal infections that went on for several years. She had bladder crystals like sand, would get a bladder infections that we treated with ABs, and then get fungal infections in her ears. Round in circles for years. This followed a mystery liver problem, following a litter, that saw her liver shrink and nearly disappear at the age of 4 but she lived to 14. The only thing she did not have was any form of allergy. Anyway the cure proved to be Traditional Chinese Herbs provided by Dr Anne Neville from Sth Rd Animal Health in Bentleigh Vic (she does phone consults), combined with a mostly raw diet. The only thing she had cooked was barley which is brilliant for bladder problems so ditch the rice and use barley with some of the cooking liquid left in. I fed all meat and veg raw and also gave her cranberry juice until everything settled down. She was cured within a few months of both the bladder problems and yeast infections and an ultrasound showed the bladder crystals had completely disappeared. None of these problems were hereditary it was just that her whole system was out of whack and one problem was causing another.

Thanks for you input, and the tip about barley that's great, ill have a look into Dr Anne and touch base it's her. I have a lot of people to call and see what sort of responses I get.

The raw diet is the biggest constant in all of the replies in this thread, so I definitely think this may be the way to go - or at least transition her into it.

We went to the vet this morning and had her urine spun, they were really happy with how much her crystals had reduced in two weeks on the S/O food and gave us Nizoral for the yeast infection. We discussed a raw diet and the response was quite positive from the vet, she didn't want to keep her on the S/O if it is causing her problems with allergies.

I am going to look into goat or rabbit with possibly barley or sweet potato and veg (ones that mat help lower pH) are there any supplements or additives I should be looking at in addition to this apart from the cranberry powder, ACV and salt?

I forgot to mention that we have cured allergies in my current dog that were caused by a bad reaction to the heartworm injection, with Chinese herbs as well. This time treated by Lyn Stevens at Alternative Therapies in Austral, NSW (also does phone consults). It has been an interesting and expensive experiment over nearly two years but my boy is finally itch free, in full coat and off all the stuff we were treating him with. Chinese Medicine doesn't treat the ailment, it treats the body the make it healthy so disease cannot exist. It works with cancer as well if you have time to get a couple of months treatment in and both Ann and Lyn have had a lot of success treating a variety of cancers and chronic problems that normal vet medicine cannot fix.

[will_454]

If you haven't had a sterile urine sample taken, directly from the bladder as Rappie suggested, definitely do it.

I got dramatically different results with the amount of crystals in Max's samples from when it was collected normally to when it was done via a needle into her bladder. The results from the sterile sample showed almost none whereas the sample from when the vet stuck a pan under her and then immediately under the microscope showed a lot. Not sure how that works though!

interesting, next vet visit I will speak with them about it, I completely forgot to ask when we were in last.

I forgot to mention that we have cured allergies in my current dog that were caused by a bad reaction to the heartworm injection, with Chinese herbs as well. This time treated by Lyn Stevens at Alternative Therapies in Austral, NSW (also does phone consults). It has been an interesting and expensive experiment over nearly two years but my boy is finally itch free, in full coat and off all the stuff we were treating him with. Chinese Medicine doesn't treat the ailment, it treats the body the make it healthy so disease cannot exist. It works with cancer as well if you have time to get a couple of months treatment in and both Ann and Lyn have had a lot of success treating a variety of cancers and chronic problems that normal vet medicine cannot fix.

Great thanks for the feedback, it seems as though the holistic and alternative therapies are also a worth while path to look down, now its trying to decide how I approach this whole thing.

Because we were short for time this weekend, we went to Pet Cafe here in Adelaide who supply raw foods and ended up with a pre-packaged low-allergy kangaroo, barley mix with vitamin supplement, we are going to slowly add a little to Asha's meals over the next week or so and see how she handles it. I am keeping up with the cranberry and ACV and so far she has had the new food last night and this morning and will go for that first over her kibble which is a good sign. This morning her ph is at 6.5, so it still needs to drop but its much better then Saturday when it was at 7.5.

[Tara8430]

Hi Will,

Canine Vitality did a facebook post this morning which relates the the issues you are having thought you might find it interesting.

https://www.facebook.com/caninevitality?hc_location=stream

[westiemum]

Minimax :

If you haven't had a sterile urine sample taken, directly from the bladder as Rappie suggested, definitely do it.

I got dramatically different results with the amount of crystals in Max's samples from when it was collected normally to when it was done via a needle into her bladder. The results from the sterile sample showed almost none whereas the sample from when the vet stuck a pan under her and then immediately under the microscope showed a lot. Not sure how that works though!

Come to think of it, I had the same thing happen to me with my Sarah while I was at the Vet School. Her sample I collected with a kidney dish had crystals but the sterile sample the vet collected directly from her bladder didn't .

[westiemum]

Will:

will go for that first over her kibble which is a good sign

Yep Will, I find the same thing - given a choice of raw or dry they go for the raw first every time. I know this is humanising the whole thing, but I can't imagine eating the same dray day in day out ( except for medical purposes).

[will_454]

Hi Will,

Canine Vitality did a facebook post this morning which relates the the issues you are having thought you might find it interesting.

https://www.facebook.com/caninevitality?hc_location=stream

Thanks for the link - that's quite interesting. We went through a stage of washing Asha's feet in the calendula/dandelion tea which did seem to help quite a bit. There are so many things we are doing at the moment, we have to pick and choose which treatments to stick with. I also know there are quite alot of forum members who have had good luck with calendula tea.

[Tara8430]

Yes have tried canendula tea as well but have found it can make the dog smell a bit sour.

[will_454]

You are right with that one, it really has a distinctive smell.

[minimax]

Minimax :

If you haven't had a sterile urine sample taken, directly from the bladder as Rappie suggested, definitely do it.

I got dramatically different results with the amount of crystals in Max's samples from when it was collected normally to when it was done via a needle into her bladder. The results from the sterile sample showed almost none whereas the sample from when the vet stuck a pan under her and then immediately under the microscope showed a lot. Not sure how that works though!

Come to think of it, I had the same thing happen to me with my Sarah while I was at the Vet School. Her sample I collected with a kidney dish had crystals but the sterile sample the vet collected directly from her bladder didn't .

That's interesting. I wonder how it works, does it mean there are crystals in the pee tubes not actually the bladder? It didn't make sense to me when it happened with Max, but I took the positive news and ran with it without really questioning it!

[Rappie]

They probably form in pooled urine in the external urinary tract and get swept out with fresh urine.

[will_454]

interesting, I will definitely talk to the vet about this at the next appointment, may be worth it to see exactly what is going on.

[Rappie]

For a recurrent UTI I would generally always do a culture from a sterile sample. As I said before, the crystals reflect other aspects of urinary tract function and diet and I don't get that excited if I see them on an otherwise normal sample from a normal dog.