Crystals in Urine

[Stitch]

My mothers dog, a smallish terrier, has recently been off his food.  When she took him to the vet, the vet found 'crystals' in the urine.  Didn't say what kind of crystals.

No stones were found when they did an x-ray.  He said the dog should only eat the Hills Urinary formula dry dogfood.

I wasn't present when she went to the vet so didn't get the chance to ask any questions. 

Several years ago I managed to persuade her into feeding Leading Raw BARF patties with some added veges.  Previously she had been feeding supermarket dogfood.

Unfortunately despite my advice to the contrary she has continued to feed him highly processed dog treats on a daily basis in addition to the BARF.

I have now got her to stop giving treats and only feed the Hills Urinary dogfood but I am not sure how long she is supposed to feed this.

I haven't had any experience with dogs with urinary crystals and what investigations I have made into the problem say it can be diet related.

If anyone can give me a bit more info. it would be very much appreciated.

[Boronia]

Hi @Stitch   

Zara had Struvite crystals, I had posted about diet below so  you may find it of help.

last year  Zara, developed a UTI and was found to have tiny struvite crystals in her urine, she also had a bacterial infection.

AB's and Urimav were prescribed, UTI cleared, pH showed around 6.25-6.5, it was advised that she stay on the Urimav.

I normally feed raw meat and vegie slops but do add a small amount of kibble to make sure she is getting a more varied intake of vitamins and minerals, on reading some articles on-line.

I had phoned Vets all Natural and the chappy on the phone read out the pertinent points in one of Bruce Syme's articles on bladder stones; vitamin C and cranberry extract was suggested so I have ordered Vets All Natural Complete Mix Adult/Senior and Vets All Natural Health Booster. 

On talking to Zara's vet it was recommended that she has no red meat, including pork, and NO FISH.

After a few months she was gradually weaned off the Urimav and her meals were the Urinary S/O, chicken and the VAN museli-mix stuff, her skin was turning black and she had some hair loss and looked a mess so I took her off the Urinary S/O but that may not have been the problem as she was also on the Niralone ( Composition. Prednisolone 5mg, Chlorpheniramine maleate 2mg. Indications. Allergic dermatitis, asthma, bronchitis, urticaria and anaphylaxis)  so my vet took her off those and she is now on Apoquel and over the last few months it has been decreased to 1/4 tab every 3 days though her skin is still black.

I think she had two problems initially; a mild skin issue as well as the UTI/Struvite and the Niralone has caused the blackening skin issue and this may not go away even though her hair has grown back and she's looking well.

Her Struvites have not returned.

Soooo, the upshot is that your mother's dog will always have the propensity to develop crystals and, according to Zara's vet, it can be managed by diet, it must be low magnesium so Barf is out; even the Barf chicken has red meat in it last time I checked.

It's unfortunate that the urinary food ingredients from Hills and Royal Canine are so crappy but there is no alternative except for a chicken VAN diet to keep the magnesium intake low

 

 

[Stitch]

That's very interesting Boronia and very informative.   I wish I had been there at the vets because I would have asked more questions.  My thoughts were that it could have been an infection but now I guess we won't know.   I am pleased to read about the Royal Canin option as I had a dog with IBD and when she was first diagnosed she was on Hills but I transferred her over to Royal Canin and she did much better.

It is unfortunate that some dogs just can't be fed BARF for various reasons but I suppose the upside of all this is that my mother will find it easier to feed the dog from a bag rather than from the fridge.  When she has finished with the Hills I will recommend she transfers over to the Royal Canin and hopefully she will not go back to giving so many of those dog treats too.

[Stitch]

Forgot to ask, how do they identify what kind of crystals they are?

 

[Boronia]

Zara peed in a dish and the wee was poured into a small test tube, her vet spun it down then we saw the tiny crystal sediment in the bottom of the test tube.

She also x-rayed Zara to see if there was any signs of kidney stones (no sign of stones)

Whereabouts are you and your mother in Qld? if nearby I could drop off somewhere some Royal Canine S/O to try or you can just buy it here as they have free shipping and are excellent to deal with https://www.vetsupply.com.au/dog-food/royal-canin-urinary-so-dog-food-andnbsp/pet-foods-pack-1168-5357.aspx

Edited November 4, 2019 by Boronia

[Stitch]

Thanks for the kind offer. 

Mums in Aspley but she has the bag of Hills Urinary food that she bought at the vets to get through for now and when that's gone I will get her a bag of Royal Canin.

Thanks for the link to vetsupply.  I haven't heard of that one before.  It's got to be cheaper than buying it from the vets!  LOL

 

[Dogsfevr]

Why not just contact the vet & ask them exactly what the diagnosis is,get a printed report for the dog file & that your assisting your mum on understanding the issue but she isn't actually sure herself .
There may be other factors that need to be considered that requires more understanding

 

[Stitch]

Yes, I will do that Dogsfevr.

 

[Boronia]

How is the little dog going @Stitch?