Urinary Issues... thoughts??

[jessymoka]

My Papillon/Amer. Esk Mix is now 2.3 years old.
She just went for her vaccinatations and health check. During her internal function tests the only abnormality found was the Kidney Enzymes.
They were not concerned because it was only 1 point above the normal range... and said her next visit in 6 months that if the levels were abnormal again then that would be cause for concern since last year everything was fine. I however thought back to when she was 6 months old and something was going on with her... her old vet did a urinalysis and x-ray and thought possibly we could be dealing with kidney stones or something.

Fast forward I let them know all this and they asked me to bring her back in like 3 days later and they wanted to do more blood work and a urinalysis. I brought in her chart from the old vet as well when I brought her.
Her urine was alkaline, she had crystals and there was protein in her urine.
The did some type of extra test, a urine protein test after they found the initial protein in her urine and that came out okay.
So for now what they are doing is they changed her food.
She was eating Nutro food at home. They gave her a presciption diet for Royal Canine Urinary SO. And then we go back in three weeks to retest and see if the food made a difference. OH how I am praying the food make a difference.
I am so scared for her and us. We love her SO much! We want her with us 14/16 years if possbile I don't want anything to cut her life short... because initially they were talking about Kidney problems to the extreme, that was a possibility.

Has anyone else dealt with anthing like this with their dog, and how are the dogs faring now? Looking for something hopeful.

[Praellwyn]

Hi!

You're not alone w/ dog UIs. Search the threads for my "Bulli Urinary Infection" posts + phrases like "blood in dog's urine" etc. Be careful about the Royal Canin vet food. It is not the same as their pet food. Read the ingredients. Even if my Bulli, Scarlet, hadn't been SEVERELY allergic to it (skin irritations/breakouts/refusal to eat it) it is $$$ & the vets want to sell it to you so that they make money. It's like dentists' selling teeth whitening products. I went w/ my then vet because he is the director of the emergency/speciality vet clinic & I thought that he knows best. Scarlet's infection reoccured 4x while he was "treating" her w/ no mention of crystals, or stones, or any of the specialized tests that I am finding out about just now. I FINALLY found a trustworthy vet & I haven't looked back since. Her infection is still ongoing & she is on a nutrtionalist-approuved home diet now. The vet food isn't the best option. If there is a holistically or naturally inclined pet food store in your area see if they know of a nutritionalist. It just may be the food you were feeding.

[ec140466]

I have a few suggestions for your problem with UTI/kidney concerns. I work in a pet health food store and among other conditions UTI infections mostly in male cats but dogs as well is one of most common issue I help customers with in the store. Firstly, I definitely agree with the post above that you should get your puppy of the vet food. The first 5 ingredients in the pet food are the most important if you look at the ingredients in the medi cal that you are feeding and it contains any wheat, soy, or corn I would highly reccomend you to switch. These contants are highly undigestable for dogs and can cause even more health problems in the long run. You should try and look for a more natural food which contains none of these undigestable additives but, has meat as the first ingredient (salmon, beef, chicken meal, etc.) Another recommendation is to start your dog on a supplement specified to aide with UTI. One product I would highly recommend is Cran-UTI, it is a highly concentrated, natural product of cranberry, and everything about it is natural. It truly works wonders. I hope some of these suggestions help.