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I posted a while back, and got some good information. Now I'm back for more.
My dog is a female shepherd mix. She is 14 years old, and untill several months ago, in great health.
She started peeing frequently with blood and in March, I took her to the Vet. We did a bunch of tests, xrays, ultra sounds, urine, blood, etc. and they said she had bladder stones. Said they did not see infection. They wanted to do surgery to remove stones, I said no. Started her on S/D diet. Did the diet for 3 months, more tests etc, then they said she did not have stones...still urinating alot. Guess she did not have stones afterall.
Next, Vet then said she had arthritis that was causing a reinfection..what? Have no idea, so I went ahead, got her on arthritis meds. Also, started Proin for the incontinence...Nope, didn't work, still has frequent pee, and blood.
Next, vet said she did in fact have an infection, did culture to get correct antibiotic. Antibiotics are done and still no change, still same old thing.
So, now it is 5 months later, and I have no idea what to do. Have lost all confidence in my vet. I have added diatery suppliments to her diet for urinary and joint health.
Help, does anyone have any idea what could be causing this?
WEAK BLADDER SPHINCTER Aging, obesity, reduced sensitivity of neurologic receptors in the sphincter and possibly other factors all contribute to this condition which is especially common (up to one in five affected) in female dogs.
I hope you're able to get it all worked out. Maybe a visit to a different vet will yield better answers?
Sorry, Jodi, but IMO those "vets" need to be put out of business, and I encourage you to seek the advise of a Holistic veterinarian, with NO conflict of interest -ties to commercial pet food manufacturers.
For starters, please look at the ingredients in that so-called "prescription" food. That. alone, will shed some light.
If I were you, I'd demand a refund, citing the ingredients in that food for starters (and I'd be looking for a consumer lawyer, but that's just me, who found out the truths too late -- the hard way. MANY threads on that right here.)
See www.dogfoodanalysis.com to see into what they into the foods. Foods are rated in 1-6 star categories and they base their ratings solely on ingredients used -- not opinion.
Sorry, Jodi, but IMO those "vets" need to be put out of business, .
I agree. Just so many of them and it is hard to find a good one!!! I am sorry that the only advice I can give you is to find a good vet. Personally, I don't know where to find a good one.
First of all, stones and infection go together like hand in glove. If there are stones there IS an infection, even if the cultures didn't grow out anything. The stones lend themselves to infection and infections are a set-up for stones. It's a vicious cycle.
What kind of stones were these? Because depending on the KIND of stone (which the vet should be able to tell you from looking at the urine in the microscope) you need to alter the diet - each kind of stone has a completely different diet requirement! So this is important information.
Second, older dogs do have incomplete bladder emptying. Meaning that the urine hangs out in poorly emptied areas of the bladder. Normal urine is STERILE. But, particularly in female dogs, the urethra (the way the urine gets from the urinary bladder to the outside) is very short and bacteria EASILY ascend from the outside to inside the bladder and set up light housekeeping in the bladder. As a result, older female dogs are particularly prone to repeated urinary tract infections. Some dogs get rotating antibiotics so that what is resistant to one antibiotic will be susceptible to the next one used.
This also happens in people!
What's important is to try and get a GOOD culture (especially first thing in the AM) after your dog hasn't been on antibiotics for about a week. If there's less of a gap between the last dose of antibiotic and the culture, it's highly likely that nothing will grow in the culture. It's important, however, to start antibiotics based on what is mostly LIKELY growing and then switch if the cultures come back with something different.
Your vet is doing the RIGHT THING! I treat infections (human, though) for a living - but animals aren't very different from people.
If I understand correctly, you said that your dog was diagnosed with bladder stones, you started feeding her S/D, then at another visit there were no longer stones. That's probably because the S/D worked! It is designed to dissolve certain kinds of bladder stones (struvite aka triple phosphate). It should only be used short term though. If the stones are gone you should consider switching her to C/D to prevent the stones from coming back. As ViralMD said, the infection is probably still there. Bladder infections can be tough and frustrating to treat. Once I had to have my female pug on high-powered antibiotics for 6 weeks. And that wasn't even the first thing we tried. It's not uncommon.
My girl has the same problem. She has reoccurring stones. Was on the s/d which dissolved them in about 5 months, they recommend you don't keep them on the food any longer then 6 months. My vet showd me the x-rays each time so I could see that the stones were getting smaller. She is now on c/d and antibiotic Baytril for the next 30 days. I have started adding a supplement with cranberry and blueberry extract to her food. We'll see what happens.
Did the diet for 3 months, more tests etc, then they said she did not have stones...still urinating alot. Guess she did not have stones afterall.
Next, Vet then said she had arthritis that was causing a reinfection..what? Have no idea, so I went ahead, got her on arthritis meds. Also, started Proin for the incontinence...Nope, didn't work, still has frequent pee, and blood.
Next, vet said she did in fact have an infection, did culture to get correct antibiotic. Antibiotics are done and still no change, still same old thing.
So, now it is 5 months later, and I have no idea what to do.
With all due respect to the Medical Professionals here on CD -- as with Human MDs, veterinarians study Medicine - NOT Diet/Nutrition, therefore hopefully will refer the patient to a Doctor-Nutritionist who specializes and is knowledgeable in such. Unfortunately, this is not the case here. While my MD can tell me to eat fruits and veggies and what is wise to avoid, he can NOT sell, nor advocate commercially prepared foodstuffs -- especially under the pretense of Medicine. He'd get sued!
Sorry I feel so strongly about this, but I don't believe in masking symptoms for a false sense of (temporary) well-being, nor in the "prescription" food gimmick. Not fair to the dog or pet-sumer. I think examining the ingredients in said food, while considering just what causes these issues in the first place, suffices in justifying my opinion on this.
She already had surgery once to remove stones. Next step was to try her on the dry c/d, stones came back. They suggested can s/d to dissolve the stones, more water in the can. Which did get rid of them. Now she is back to can c/d and Baytril for 30 days. So it was either try that or surgery again. I voted for the food. I am not going to put her through another surgery if I can help it. I trust my vets, I have 2, one here and one in Fl. If keeping her on this food keeps the stones from coming back until we can figure out something else then thats the route I'm going.
I have worked with animals (and vets) for many years. As was said before the special foods do help. I have seen many elderly animals benefit from these. My prayers are with you. If you have lost confidence in your doctor seek a second opnion or ask a lot of questions. A good vet should eager to inform you of what & why he does what he does.
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