1 year old bully with bladder stones!?!

jackisanders

New member
Feb 22, 2013
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0
Sierra Vista, Arizona, United States
Bulldog(s) Names
Bully
So, my one year old bully (whose name is Bully, btw) was diagnosed today with a bad UTI and bladder stones. The vet put him on antibiotics for the UTI and he will be having surgery Wednesday to remove the stones. The vet said once the stones are removed she will have them analyzed to try and determine our best course of action. She mentioned that we may have to put Bully on a low purine diet and distilled water to help lower his risk of developing stones again. (I do already give him filtered water from a store-bought water filter)

My question is this: Has anyone had to deal with bladder stones in their bullies? Every time I research it I get tons of information on dalmatians and bladder stones but not English bulldogs specifically. If so, what's the best commercial low-purine dog food out there? Right now I have him on Blue Basics, Grain Free Salmon & Potato but I've read that salmon isn't low-purine (not sure how true that is because I have no knowledge whatsoever in dealing with low purine diets). Any info would be greatly appreciated as well as keeping Bully in your prayers since he will be having surgery :-(

Thanks!
 

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bullmama

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The Home of the Desert Sky Pack
[MENTION=3354]RiiSi[/MENTION] [MENTION=3123]agingermom[/MENTION] may be able to help support you on this, the biggest question is whether or not the UTI caused the stones.


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RiiSi

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So sorry, you're going through this, I've been there. My bully has the same genetic defect as most dalmatians do, so you can take that advice that they give you. That is if your bully has urate stones. It is called hyperuricosuria and some other breeds than dalmatians are prone to it too and yes, bulldogs are one of them.
In my opinion though, it would be better to analyze the stones before the surgery, that is if he is not totally blocked. Not all stones require surgery and can be dissolved with prescription food. Well, my boy had surgery and I opt to feed him raw food, not prescription food. It requires more work, but pays of. He's healthy and fit.
You can google "dogaware hyperuricosuria" there's some good info there how to maintain his health. And if you're interested learning how to feed raw google "feeding a raw diet to Dalmatians".

There is other kind of stones too that he can have.

Cystine
Struvite (usually does not need surgery and can be caused by UTI)
Calsium Oxalate
....
 

Mia Amore

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Apr 28, 2014
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I'm so sorry to hear your little guy is going through the this. I hope he is not in to much pain from both uti and stones. I hope you find what you need to help him get through this. Best wishes to the both of you. He is definitely a cutie 😊

Sent from Mia's s4 (Mia Amor)
 

2BullyMama

I'm not OCD....now who moved my bulldog?
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I have no experience and those that do have been tagged to help out..... just wanted to wish you and Bully the best
 
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jackisanders

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Feb 22, 2013
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0
Sierra Vista, Arizona, United States
Bulldog(s) Names
Bully
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Thank you so much for the information! I think whether I have to change his food or not I want to try the raw food diet, but I'll have to research that because I have no idea where to start. When I asked the vet about other alternatives to surgery she mentioned doing the diet but that's when she brought up the fact that the stones could obstruct his urethra and cause his bladder to rupture. The x-ray showed 3 stones and she just said the best and quickest alternative would be the surgery. I'm going to call up there and talk more with them about it. Right now he's still straining when he urinates and not a lot of urine is coming out, and he's still going more frequently. But he's only been on the antibiotic since yesterday morning so I'm hoping once he's on it for a little longer I'll see a difference.
 

agingermom

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Aug 31, 2011
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Arnold Schwarzenegger and Miss Bertha Bacon and Petey Herman (Frenchie)
Thank you so much for the information! I think whether I have to change his food or not I want to try the raw food diet, but I'll have to research that because I have no idea where to start. When I asked the vet about other alternatives to surgery she mentioned doing the diet but that's when she brought up the fact that the stones could obstruct his urethra and cause his bladder to rupture. The x-ray showed 3 stones and she just said the best and quickest alternative would be the surgery. I'm going to call up there and talk more with them about it. Right now he's still straining when he urinates and not a lot of urine is coming out, and he's still going more frequently. But he's only been on the antibiotic since yesterday morning so I'm hoping once he's on it for a little longer I'll see a difference.
Sorry it tiik me so long to respond, I just ran in a 7.4 mile run that is real big here in the Northwest, Bloomsday. Now I am dying!! I agree with everyone that you should have the stones analyzed for the cause but hesitate about no surgery unless the ultrasound only indicates stones. It depends on the length of time he had the UTI. My poor Bertha's UTI occurred around the same time her first heat was due. Arnold acted a fool and she was swollen. However, due to the bad timing and me being a rookie bullie mom, she not only had stones but polyps that did indicate surgery. I would follow @riissi advice with regards to food before I bought the prescribed diet. She also told me about testing her urine"s ph. I read the same articles about stones and dalmatians and they were great. I would also tell you that me going knowledgeable changed the game as well. I told the vet what I would do and would not be willing to do unless all methods failed. But my vet is cool that way. Please keep us update. I would caution a males ureter is nothing to mess with
 

sunkissedpr1ncs

New member
Apr 3, 2013
296
6
Houston, TX
Country
USA
Bulldog(s) Names
Barkley and Pippen
So, my one year old bully (whose name is Bully, btw) was diagnosed today with a bad UTI and bladder stones. The vet put him on antibiotics for the UTI and he will be having surgery Wednesday to remove the stones. The vet said once the stones are removed she will have them analyzed to try and determine our best course of action. She mentioned that we may have to put Bully on a low purine diet and distilled water to help lower his risk of developing stones again. (I do already give him filtered water from a store-bought water filter)

My question is this: Has anyone had to deal with bladder stones in their bullies? Every time I research it I get tons of information on dalmatians and bladder stones but not English bulldogs specifically. If so, what's the best commercial low-purine dog food out there? Right now I have him on Blue Basics, Grain Free Salmon & Potato but I've read that salmon isn't low-purine (not sure how true that is because I have no knowledge whatsoever in dealing with low purine diets). Any info would be greatly appreciated as well as keeping Bully in your prayers since he will be having surgery :-(

Thanks!


I'm so sorry you have to deal with this! We have just gone through the same thing with our 1.5 year old bully, Barkley. He was neutered and had his soft palate repaired in late February and then a few weeks later we found out he had bladder stones and needed surgery again! :( He had the surgery about a month ago and the stones were removed and came back that they were Cystine. I'm not really sure what to tell you since you don't know yet what type of stones they are, but I'll let you know everything I've come across in my research in case they do happen to be Cystine (which I really hope they aren't since these seem to be much harder to manage than others!)

The vet told me the only thing to prevent them from forming again was to feed him Hills U/D, which I was not happy about since it doesn't have good ingredients and is low protein, which I've read can cause heart disorders in large breed dogs. So I half-way switched him to that for a few weeks while I did research and tried to figure something else out. After reading everything I could (and there isn't a whole lot out there since these are pretty rare) I found out that it seems like Bulldogs fall into the category of the cystine stones being testosterone dependent and neutering seems to prevent them, while diet does not. So I'm hoping that since he was neutered right before we found out about the stones, that he won't form them anymore. There is a study being done at UPenn and I will be sending them a sample of his urine soon to make sure he isn't dumping cystine in his urine anymore and then we should be good it seems.

I have also started switching him to a commercial raw food diet because it seems they need to be as hydrated as possible to help flush the bladder out and the raw food has much more moisture than kibble.

I'll be praying for you and Bully and hope everything goes well! Hopefully the stones aren't Cystine but I hope some of this info helps you if they happen to be!
 

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