[Lisa P]

My 12-year-old toy poodle has had to have surgery twice for bladder stones: once in June 2015 and again in January 2016. I am now resolved that I cannot feed him treats anymore, and will have to feed him special food. My vet recommended Purina ProPlan NF prescription food and wants me to keep him on it. That’s fine, I don’t mind the expense, but I just want to make sure that’s safe for him to eat all the time. I’ve heard that you’re NOT supposed to feed them the prescription diet for extended periods of time. Help?!?

[InkedMarie]

I personally would work with a nutritionist or holistic vet for a homemade diet.

[anonymously]

Via the search engine here, search “bladder stones”
Come back if you have more questions.
I think it’s best to work closely with your vet.

[anonymously]

Here is a good thread /forums/topic/crystalstone-in-bladder/

[crazy4cats]

Hi Lisa P-
Sorry to hear about your pup’s bladder stones. I have a cat with urinary tract issues also. It can be scary stuff. After his blockage, I researched the prescription foods a bit and was led to believe that the only Rx food that cannot be fed long term is the Hill’s s/d food. It’s meant to be fed short term to dissolve the stones and then be followed up by the Hill’s c/d food for long term. I think is safe to feed all the other urinary Rx foods long term, but you may want to work with a vet on whether it’s safe to supplement with some fresh foods or recipes for some safe homemade meals.
I chose to feed my cat mostly the Rx canned food with added water to keep his urine as diluted as possible. Also making other changes to ease his anxiety. It seems that urinary crystals and stones are common in stressed out male cats. In dogs, it seems that they are more commonly associated with urinary tract infections. Which type of stones does your dog get?

[Lisa P]

I called the vet yesterday but they still don’t have the report back as to what type of stones they were. As soon as I find out, I will provide that information. Thanks everyone!!

[crazy4cats]

Here are a couple of helpful (hopefully) links:

http://www.cvm.umn.edu/depts/minnesotaurolithcenter/recommendations/home.html

http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues/13_4/features/Detecting-Urinary-Stones-Dogs_16215-1.html

Keep in touch!

[Jaclyn C]

Hello,

This is my first time posting so I apologize if I should have started a new thread. I have read many of these forums, but haven’t found anyone with a similiar case.

My Lhasa Apso is 13 years old. She has had 3 surgeries for bladder stones and despite following all instructions/diet from different vets her entire life, she has them for a 4th time.

The first surgery-stones were struvite and she was already on Urinary SO which wasn’t working. Six months later she had stones again even after continuing the Urinary SO and had to have another surgery. This time they were Calcium Oxalate. Vet said they never seen that happen before. The 3rd time it was Oxalate again and now I have no idea what type they will be, but I am concerned because the last surgery was really hard on her. Her liver level has always been elevated so the last time they couldn’t give her good pain meds so she was in so much pain after the surgery. I can’t stand to see her go through that again. She doesn’t have a UTI and has had the current stones for over a year. The vet said that they are extremely small, so just to keep an eye on them since my dog is acting normal with no crystals in her urine or UTI.

The Urinary SO seems to give my dog bad food allergies, but she has been on it all her life. It obviously hasn’t done anything to help her, but only make her overweight and itchy with dry skin. I have tried multiple vets, all telling me different things more like they are experimenting with her. At this point I am beyond fustrated and don’t know what to do. My dog has other health problems such as a bad cough which won’t go away as well as shaky legs with athritis. She seems happy and tries to play, but I feel like switching her food will help her lose weight which might help with the cough and strain on her legs. I have no clue what food to feed her because all the vets say the reduced calorie Urinary SO or another Urinary prescription diet to treat another type of stone. None of the vets seem to know what to do and and sometimes diagree with each other. Does anyone have any recommendations? At this point I feel like changing foods will help her more than hurt her. Thoughts?

Thank you in advance.

[Lisa P]

Hey, Jaclyn. I must confess after my toy poodle’s first surgery, I fed him the prescription food for a while and then went back to feeding him Iams and treats as normal. I’m feeding him nothing but Purina ProPlan NF (their prescription brand for urinary issues) per my vet’s instructions and leaving off treats. I’m still waiting on the test results as to what kind of bladder stones he had this time, and don’t remember what kind they were last time.

I don’t have any answers on the proper diet to remedy your baby’s stones but Jack (my toy poodle with the stones) had a cough for a few days and did that gagging thing, so I did some research on kennel cough. I was going to take him to the vet for that but saw where coconut oil was a good remedy for that so I tried giving him about a tablespoon or so per day and it cleared up!

They say coconut oil is good for just about everything so i’m thinking that might soothe your baby’s cough as well as her skin issues. You can check with your vet to be sure it’s okay before trying her on it, but I don’t see how it could hurt.

Good luck!

[Lisa P]

Jaclyn, one other thing…I ordered a cranberry supplement for Jack, too. I’m hoping that will help. Again, good luck to you and your sweet baby!

[Jaclyn C]

Lisa,

Thank you for your response. I never feed my dog anything else except for the Urinary SO because I never wanted to see her go through more surgeries. Even if I give her a treat it is a piece or two of the Urinary SO. Unfortunately nothing has helped.

Please keep us posted on what type of stone your baby has and what the vet recommends. I will ask about the coconut oil as I have heard that before as well, but never give her anything outside of instruction because of the stones. I really want to get her to lose some weight to help with her other problems.

Hopefully I find some help soon.

Thank you!

[anonymously]

Coconut Oil for Pets?

http://skeptvet.com/Blog/category/nutrition/ Scroll down to Coconut Oil for Pets? blog

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