Struvite Crystals in my dog's urine

 I wondeering what I can give my little guy for treats? Ive been reading that a high protien diet can ward off the crystals.... so i was thinking some chicken, a piece of a boiled egg???What do you guys give yours for treats?

I don't really use treats much...esp. store bought treats.

but when I do - I use 'people' food - like veggies and cheese (my dog will jump through hoops of fire for a piece of cheese!). He gets a lot of veggies and some fruits, but he's a bit picky about his fruits. He loves carrots. Bananas did not go over well with him - but I've had a lot of fosters that love them.

erica1989

I don't really use treats much...esp. store bought treats.

but when I do - I use 'people' food - like veggies and cheese (my dog will jump through hoops of fire for a piece of cheese!). He gets a lot of veggies and some fruits, but he's a bit picky about his fruits. He loves carrots. Bananas did not go over well with him - but I've had a lot of fosters that love them.

So these are ok for struvites?

 That's probably something you'd want to clear with your vet and/or nutritionist.

Personally, mine is on a prescription diet, and I use her kibble for treats. I place it in cookie jars, around the house, and she gladly accepts that as a treat.

My dog Grace also has struvite crystals.  I got her when she was about 1 year old and had her urine tested when she was having accidents in the house.  The vet said her urine was LOADED with crystals.  I immediately started her on the Hills c/d and it solved the problem.  About a year later while still on the c/d, she started having trouble holding her bladder again, and so did one of my other dogs.  When my other dog tested positive for crystals, I thought maybe something environmental was going on.  I found it odd that both dogs would have this problem.  I called Hills and they suggested maybe my water was the culperit.  I called the water company to ask if they had been having higher than normal calcium, magneium, and phosphorus in the water lately.  They said that while they were currently pulling from a well that is deeper and therefore has more of these minerals, the fact that I do have a water softner and an RO system, these additional minerals should be getting removed by my in house systems.  So I had my water softner and RO system checked and BOTH were not functioning properly.  Replaced the water softner and had the RO membrane replaced and within a few weeks, both dogs were doing fine.  So as they say, it was something in the water (btw, we have extremely hard water in the area where I live which is why I have botha softner and RO system).  I have been thinking about taking Grace off the c/d and seeing how she does on regular food to see if the water was the sole culperit back in the beginning, but haven't yet had the courage to put her through it and chance her having the crystals again.

So, if you haven't done it already, you might look into finding out if you water may be contributing to the problem.

Hi,

 So I just saw this post, and I'm happy I found it, as I'm going through the same thing right now. I now know that it is, like in the OP's case, struvite crystals. My dog Mika is also just over a year old. AND - and this is interesting - she is (and has always been) on Wellness. I am now hearing that it *may* be that food that caused it, as others have had the same thing?

 I, like the OP, don't want to put Mika on Science Diet, due to the poor quality of the food. However, I hear what a lot of you are saying.. it's better to have her on the poor quality food if it helps get rid of the more serious issue. I guess my question would be, if I put her on S.D. for say a month or two, and then change back to a high quality food (but NOT Wellness), will the problem come back? I think I'm starting to see S.D. like special prescription hospital food (the kind that comes in powder, and is fed through a tube). It's specially formulated for the condition, but isn't good for long term... make sense?

 I'm glad to hear the positive reviews on cranberry capsules. We are going to start giving her those right away. I've also heard vitamin C can be good for dogs with bladder infections - it's acidifying and also and immune booster. Thoughts?

 I also live in the country, and have hard water. I'll look into it.

So, I really need help deciding if I should just go with the vets advice and put her on the S.D. for a little while. He's opted not to do antibiotics, as he says the urinalysis only shows a tiny amount of bacteria.

 Thanks for the help,

 -bernerbear

 hi,i am new here and am after some advice too!My 9 year old boxer has struvite crystals,she has had them for 3 years now!when we first took her to the vet she told us she would need medicated biscuits for life!!after my dog not eating her food for a while i asked in the vets what i could do!?i got a very confusing conversation about meat,biscuits and a paste?reading on the tin of meet i got her im now thinking she doesnt need these biscuits all the time!!?can someone shed some light on this one for me?!!

many thanks

lynsey

STruvites thrive in urine that is too alkaline -- that has to do with the PH of the urine.  There are foods you can use and sometimes you can simply acidify the urine. 

I home cook for mine -- and I control the urine ph that way.  You might want to look into http://www.monicasegal.com -- she can help guide you (as can Mordana if you'd rather use her) -- she has a Yahoo group in addition to her own website.  But she can do a consult and work *with* your vet if you want her to.  But you can do a whole lot better than the crappy Science Diet food to be honest, if you are willing to either home cook or work in that direction.

Struvites are actually a whole lot easier to deal with than oxalate crystals.

calliecritturs

  But you can do a whole lot better than the crappy Science Diet food to be honest, if you are willing to either home cook or work in that direction.

I disagree.  I don't think you can homecook and duplicate a prescription diet.  MHO.  That said, I truly don't believe a prescription diet is necessary for struvites.  It was never advised to give her a prescription diet for this problem.  And, she had UTI and struvite issues pretty often when I first got her. 

willowchow

calliecritturs

  But you can do a whole lot better than the crappy Science Diet food to be honest, if you are willing to either home cook or work in that direction.

I disagree.  I don't think you can homecook and duplicate a prescription diet.  MHO. 

Not sure I'd want to use the word "duplicate" -- I may be misunderstanding you here but the goal of homecooking isn't so much to "duplicate" as it is simply to follow the vet's prescribed wishes as far as both ph, specific vitamins/minerals and whatever the vet wants and arrive at that with fresh, better quality ingredients so the nutrition is absorbed more fully.  Actually Monica will specifically work *with* a vet and do a prescripton diet according to what the vet wants exactly.  I can't speak to whether Mordana does or not - I don't know her at all.

Now when I mean Monica will work with your vet that's if you do the consult with her -- I don't mean you can get that just from her Yahoo group.

Science Diet simply uses really lesser quality materials (particularly their meat sources & how they are preserved) -- and I'm talking about anything Hills manufactures.  I'm really not talking about the prescription part of it -- I'm specifically talking about the ingredients themselves.  About the only one you can't come close to is the Z Diet simply because of how they hydrolyze the food so it avoids the allergy issue all together.

But no -- I completely agree, I don't think you would usually use a prescription diet for struvites anyway. 

I was specifically alluding to quality -- you don't usually find me talking about kibble but it really burns me that they use meat sources that have already been treated BHA, BHT & ethoxyquin.  The canned doesn't use it specifically as a preservative, but they do use meat sources that have already been preserved in those before reaching the Hill's plants.