Urine crystals, rx diets, and new puppy — new diet questions post 18

[pompeiii]

So, my now 18 (?) week old puppy has been having some issues that pointed to a UTI, but 2 urinalyses and a urine culture nixed that theory. They did reveal that she has a lot of crystals. A significant amount for her age. Due to the presences of protein in her urine, we ran bloodwork, but everything, including her kidneys, was within normal range. Exams did show lots of irritation so we’ve been operating under the theory that the crystals are the issue.

We also did an xray to rule out a bladder stone (none) and then the practice owner did an ultrasound to get a better look (thankfully that was her choice and there was no charge for that one) and that revealed lots of crystals.

At 18 weeks old, my vet(s) typically don’t put pups on a urinary diet but would like to try it for a month (or 2) with the hopes of dissolving crystals and seeing if that resolves her symptoms. The only other change she’s had since we adopted her is water – I’m on well and she was on city water. It’s possible that the high mineral content in my water isn’t helping. But, we’re not entirely sure. Anyway, I will investigate better filtration (which we need anyway – puppy issues or no puppy issues).

Has anyone had crystal issues in a young dog? Have a preference is urinary diets? My practice carries purina but my vet will write an RX if I prefer a different brand. My puppy’s preference is food so anything that she can eat is good with her.

[3horses1]

We have a 15 year old pug who has been to the vet twice for urinary stones, until someone suggested Science Diet CD dog food. He has been on it for several years now and never another problem. It is quite expensive but a 40 pound bag lasts him 6 months. About 125$ on Amazon This started when he was well into adulthood, so not exactly the same circumstances, but the diet has definitely helped.

[Red_Dust]

check with Dalmatian fanciers. The breed is well known for having issues and a somewhat different metabolism regarding proteins. It’s been too long and the science probably added a few more pointers, but generally speaking you don’t want the high protein foods. No innards.

[PonyApocalypse19]

Bottled water is best if the minerals in your water are contributing. A water filter like Britta or something similar may help if you don’t want to go straight bottled. I switched to that at my old place for the dogs since the city water was not great. Once we moved to the farm, the well water is actually much better and I give it straight without filtering.
Did they say what type of crystals and what the urine pH was? There’s two types and the pH of the urine is a factor. Treatment depends on the type of crystals. My dog had the struvite crystals and he went on the Purina OX - got it from Chewy. It makes them drink a lot of water to help dilute the urine but can treat both types of crystals. The excessive water consumption complicated his diabetes insipudis and caused more UTIs. So we struggled with it till the end - one prescription to make him drink more and one prescription to keep his thirst in check. He was a mastiff (not very large only 100lbs) so it was pretty expensive to feed - about a bag a month. It’s manageable if you have a smaller dog. He would eat anything so it was no problem feeding - just have to do the recommended transition time between foods.

[LookinForSpace]

Everything depends on what TYPE of crystals/stones your pup is forming. Diet recommendations may be OPPOSITE depending on pH. If it’s related to UTI’s, likely struvite, which is high alkaline. Feed accordingly.

What breed is your puppy? Some breeds are more prone to urate (high acid) stones.

Put her on strictly distilled water, not well water or tap.

Go to www.thedca.org and look up the health page on stones. It has plenty of good info to share with your vet (to clarify: share if the crystals are urate, as many vets see few dogs with urate stones; struvite are common) on various types of stones.

[pompeiii]

Struvite crystals. Diets vet recommended are good for struvite, just couldn’t remember specific names without looking at vet notes on app. Sorry!

Breed unknown but we suspect she’s part jack russell part pittie part who knows. All cute lol

[clipper]

@pompeiii

Has anyone had crystal issues in a young dog?

I will suggest you ask the breeder if they have an info for you. Sorry I have no info on urine crystal diets.

[pompeiii]

Thanks. Unfortunately, she’s a rescue with a spotty history. Pulled from a high volume kill shelter.

All good, I’m following my vet’s advice, I was just curious if folks had personal experience.

[foursocks]

We had a young (at the time) dog many years ago who had to have three hours of surgery to remove all of the struvite crystals in his system. I reluctantly bought a bag of the prescription diet and he wouldn’t touch it. I did my research and switched him to a raw diet and added cranberry powder (to boost acidity) and b vitamins (to boost immunity, since it was originally caused by an infection), and he lived the rest of his long life crystal-free. Sample size of 1, but that’s what I got!

[MunchingonHay]

@pompeiii

Breed unknown but we suspect she’s part jack russell part pittie part who knows. All cute lol

We are going to need a picture to determine her cutness.

Just kidding… no really, we need pictures.

I am sorry to hear she is going throught this. I hope you have a solution soon.

[anonevent]

The Royal Canin foods are good in that they have a variety or recipes and different textures. If your dog doesn’t like one, there are a lot of options. You might be able to improve things by feeding 50% prescription and the other half a puppy food appropriate for her size?

I have two dogs with kidney issues and they drink bottled water. I have a well and softener and I wouldnt want them to drink that.

[pompeiii]

Ask and you shall receive!

[MunchingonHay]

@pompeiii I 100% agree with you. She is ALL CUTE!!

Maybe just pick up a brita filter pitcher to start? Everyone in our house (four legged and two legged) only drink water from the pitcher. I keep a glass jug in the fridge for myself, I like cold water, DH and the dogs drink room temp from the pitcher.

I do agree with the other poster, that she needs to be fed pup food so she can grow up healthy.

[pompeiii]

Thanks!

We ended up with a new in fridge water pitcher/dispenser (went with waterdrop brand) as our Brita was on its last legs. If nothing else, we don’t need to fill it multiple times a day and the water tastes better than Brita water. And with the dispenser, it’s easy to fill the dog bowl. So far so good.

Right now we’re mixing rx food with puppy food (both purina Proplan). I’m not sure if we’ll swap 100% or stay mixed. She seems a little more comfortable but who knows. She likes any and all food so I can’t judge her thoughts on the food itself. lol. Stay tuned.

[jetsmom]

The distilled water only solved my mom’s dog’s issue with crystals. Needs to be distilled, not just bottled, bc many botyled waters have high mineral content.

[pompeiii]

Instead of starting a new thread, might as well just add on here. Lol

Urine issues seem to be resolved and I’m giving credit to the wonderful new water dispenser. Honestly, she seems super happy and comfy now. But, we did start on rx UR food at the vets urging for (a planned) 2 months which brings me to this list of issues.

(Yes, she has been back to the vet — Friday — and will go again today or tomorrow — I’m chatting with the vet office)

Since transitioning to Purina UR, she had increasingly soft poop. Then, ended up with awful diarrhea last week. She had been on a mix of the Rx and her puppy food before we fully transitioned to just the Rx. Vet did a full exam, other than diarrhea, she looked fine. Full appetite (raging appetite—this kid does NOT want to miss a meal), full of play, soft belly, good looking gums and vitals, etc. Basically, she looks fine. The did put her on metronidazole and a probiotic and bland diet with plans to reintroduce kibble as she improved. After a few days, poop look much better, we added a handful of kibble to her meals.

And then the diarrhea came back. Which makes me suspect that the food is the trigger. We pulled it again (she’s less than thrilled about that lol) to see if it makes a difference, but I’m thinking this rx food just doesn’t agree with her at all.

To be honest, it took a while for the Proplan puppy to agree with her too (though she never had diarrhea from it). I suspect she may have a super sensitive belly.

While I’m not changing anything now, any suggestions for puppy food for a sensitive belly? Just looking at ideas, but price may not be an issue if it’s cheaper than constant vet visits!

[thatmoody]

Have you tried another brand of crystal-reducing food? I’ve tried Hills with good luck, although admittedly the dog in question didn’t have a particularly dodgy stomach.

[pompeiii]

I thought about the hills but I don’t think she actually needs to be on the Rx food (it seems to be a water issue). That said, I’ll definitely try the hills or royal Rx if the vet wants her to stay on for a few more weeks.

[Simkie]

I toss pepcid at pretty much every GI thing in my small animals. It’s cheap, available, and easy, and nearly always resolves puking, inappetance or weird diarrhea for me. It’s worth a shot here, and even if it doesn’t help, it sure won’t hurt. Especially with some history of an iffy belly & veterinary issues & being in the shelter.

There’s a great dosage table here.

Using Famotidine For Dogs: The Complete Guide

Hooray that the crystals have resolved!

[pompeiii]

This was a great suggestion! I’m not sure if it was the Pepcid or just being back off the Proplan (again) for a few more days but she has super solid, normal poop.

We decided that she’s not going back to Proplan (Rx or puppy version). A friend reminded me that I was whining about soft poop when I switched her initially (though not diarrhea) so I suspect the food just doesn’t agree with her. We’re just going to give her a few more days of a bland diet and slowly move her to a limited ingredient puppy salmon. It’s available in small bags so I’ll be safe until I buy a large bag! Everything goes wrong when we buy large bags!