[Delilah S]

Hello! I am new to this site. I have looked at ratings, etc. before, but this is my first post.

I have a 4 year old English Bulldog. Jan 2014 she got a UTI. She had since had issues with recurring UTI’s…she had one in Jan, Feb, May, Oct, Nov, Jan & a trace of blood in her follow up Urine Analysis in Feb. She had done different antibiotics, we tried to supplement her with d-mannose, etc. etc. She has had x-rays & ultrasounds…all clear. Urine analysis(es) showed struvite crystals and a pH around 8-8.5. At a loss, our vet recommended Hills c/d in Feb to see if he headed off the infection. Sure enough, it did. She’s been UTI free since Feb.

Her skin has been mess…her face swollen, ears yeasty, she’s never been stinky & she smelled terrible, irritated face folds, the works (& that was on 2 benadryl twice a day). At the last trip to the vet he gave her steroids, but was pretty adamant about not switching her off of the c/d…talking long term allergy management treatment instead.

We sought a second opinion from another well respected, touted to be “more holistic,” vet in our area a few weeks ago. We were feeding Earthborn holistic meadow feast before the c/d and had not tried any other commercial foods. Based on the allergies, the new vet agreed that it was worth trying another food & ran a blood panel to check thyroid which came back ok. She wants to see a UA in 4 weeks on the new food.

After a lot of research we decided to switch her to The Honest Kitchen Keen because it’s supposed to be good for dogs with urinary issues. I have been monitoring her urine pH at home and it was a 6 when starting the transition from c/d. After one week it remained a 6. I checked it today and it was a 7. Today was the first day she was fully on the Honest Kitchen food.

I know 7 is still considered neutral. But, I am SO anxious now!! I was SO hopeful this would work for us to balance the allergies and urinary issues both. Our vet said 6-8 weeks on the new food to see what would happen with the allergies, but I could tell a big difference after about a week. She’s still not perfect, but there is a definite improvement in her looks & smell and I can’t tell that she’s feeling better.

I guess….are we on the right track?? Does anyone know of anything supplement wise I should talk to our vet about? She is currently on an omega 3 and probiotic as well (both of those are new within the last 3-4 weeks. Any other ideas or suggestions? I am going to keep an eye on it at home every few days vs. once a week and see if it continues to climb.

Thanks!

[InkedMarie]

Hi Delilah,
A wet food is best (canned, raw, dehydrated). For your dogs other issues, a grain and potato free food may be best. I have a yeasty dog & he didn’t get better until I put him on raw (we use ground) with no produce at all.

[Alexa P]

I know this was posted a while ago but did you have any success with the “Keen” formula? I am having the same problems with a newly adopted english bulldog mix- all ultrasounds, scopes, etc come back ok but she continues to get UTIs… currently on HK Force formula. I really want to stay away from Rx formulas if possible.

[Susan W]

My Golden had yeasty issues FOREVER and I have a little mutt who has the most sensitive stomach I’ve ever seen. I had trouble finding a dry food that both could eat, then I tried making their food – which helped some, but I just couldn’t keep doing it, so I had to look for a reasonably priced food. I settled on VeRUS dog food for several reasons: 1) they’d never had a recall; 2) when I sent an inquiry to them, a person emailed me back and asked questions before sending me samples (instead of coupons); 3) They have a very informative website; 4) both my dogs like the food and have improved tremendously while eating this food.
However, food is only half the battle. We still had some yeasty issues, especially bad during the summer. If you go to the blog done by DERMagic, you’ll find some fantastic information on causes and remedies for skin problems.
BTW – The people at VeRUS have been nice enough to continue answering questions for me about diet and nutrition for my dogs – and more recently, my mom’s aging dog. They are super people.

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