Struvite crystals and high ph in urine - advice please

[3bugsmom]

Josie is 12 weeks old and was just dx with a "ton of crystals" and urine oh around 8. We started her on an antibiotic for 2 weeks. Since she is so young the vet is worried this is more of a congenital issue with her kiddnies/bladder etc. if the crystals do not go away she said she will need to be on a special diet for life.

Does anyone have any experience with this?

[Hankster]

yes there are some here who know about this so hopfully they will pop on soon!! I don't know so will leave it to them but........ you may type in "struvite crystals' in the search area here as you will find some good stuff there pertaining to what your looking for... Good luck. Sorry this is happening to your little girl.

[2BullyMama]

@RiiSi @Cbrugs


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[Cbrugs]

Your vet will probably try to suggest a "special" prescription food but they are usually crap. I believe you can help struvite crystals by feeding a fresh, raw diet.


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[MFrey2012]

Josie is 12 weeks old and was just dx with a "ton of crystals" and urine oh around 8. We started her on an antibiotic for 2 weeks. Since she is so young the vet is worried this is more of a congenital issue with her kiddnies/bladder etc. if the crystals do not go away she said she will need to be on a special diet for life.

Does anyone have any experience with this?

IIIII DOOOOOO!! - NO SPECIAL FOOD (I resisted 2 Vets who wanted to) - Ellie was in that boat from 8 weeks old, and is now 1.5 years - its been a long road of testing, as Ellie has been on tough little cookie to house train!! We have to two vets (one who a bully specialist, and Internal medicine specialist, to make sure all her stuff was working right.

I have lots questions so bear with me.

Was there testing done, for the vet to believe it was congenital rather than not, more than just a Urinalysis?? Xrays, Ultrasound??

Is it just crystals, has she ever had a UTI??

Urine PH can be affected by a couple things that we can control, food and water.

Water - do you give Josie, Tap or Well (if so Test for Alkaline Level - this is what raises the PH, you can get a cheapo water kit at lowes or home depot)or Bottled, the PH of the water can MOST certianly RAISE Josie's PH, with Ellie our Well Water PH was off the charts, so we switched to bottled water. PLUS make sure she is well hydrated, this is a necessary Evil, water will flush the crystals out, and she will lots of outdoor potty time.

Food - SOME Vets get kick back from special food sales, so what we did for Ellie, was get the highest protein, NO Potato (white) lowest Carb, NO GRAINS (Carbs and Grains raise urine PH) diet we could afford.

Also Ellie is on an Urine Acidifier, that might be something down the road, to suggest to your vet. Ellie is on Methioform, or Petmeth, this helps keep the PH in balance and the crystals at bay.

If she is low rider when she pees, make sure to get bacterial wipes, and keep her girl parts clean, this helps on the germy side of keeping crystals from forming.

My brain is mush from work, hope this makes sense, Hang in there mama!! Please feel free to contact me anytime!!

Ellie has been Crystal free now for 4mos!!

[Dollys Owner]

I would agree you feed your pet a low-carb,high protein, grain-free, potato-free, and preferably raw, dehydrated raw or at least canned food diet for the increased moisture content.
eg. Real Meat air dried beef ( only 27% carbs ), Stella and Chewys Simple venison ( only 13% carbs ), Nature's Variety Instinct Raw Market nuggets beef ( only 16% carbs ).
Honest Kitchen Embark has 41% carbs in comparison.

You need pH to be below 7, optimally between 6-6.5 which you can check with a pH meter once a week or more frequent that you dip into the urine. eg. https://www.amazon.com/HiTech-Digita...ustomerReviews

You should also feed a good probiotic like Herbsmith Microflora Plus or Proviable DC.

It's also helpful to give d-mannose powder to prevent further E.Coli urinary tract infections.

[3bugsmom]

Thank you all!

Let me see if I can hit most of the questions.

Yes- the vet didnan ultra sound to look at internal anatomy and look for stones/crystals. Her bladder looked normal size but inflamed- not quite sure how they could tell that part.

She does have a uti. So treating that first. Vet said if it's the infection causing crystals itnwill self resolve with antibiotics.

She's a super low rider lol. Will start the hygenie routine

We give her tap water.

Currently she is on a no- grains kibble. I would like to know suggestions for canned food? DH will absolutely not go for a raw food diet .

Her ph was 8-8.5 so not way way high but high.

I felt the congenital talk came up because of the amount of crystals and how young she is. The vet didnsay we won't know that part until the 2 week course of abx. If it's not healed then we can assume it's just her individual make up etc. royal canin s/o was her recommended food if we need to do that in 2 weeks - yuck.

Thank you for taking the time so give me so much info!

[Hankster]

But it the K-9 caviar that's real good for dogs with crystals? Or hi ph? Needs to be checked with that's what I was remembering

[Cbrugs]

Is there a reason raw is out of the question? Fresh raw has many benefits including a lot of moisture. It is very high in protein and if go prey model (no fruits or veggies) there are pretty much no carbs. There are a couple of brands that make already ground up patties that are just meat/bone/organ.


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[MFrey2012]

Thank you all!

Let me see if I can hit most of the questions.

Yes- the vet didnan ultra sound to look at internal anatomy and look for stones/crystals. Her bladder looked normal size but inflamed- not quite sure how they could tell that part.

She does have a uti. So treating that first. Vet said if it's the infection causing crystals itnwill self resolve with antibiotics.

She's a super low rider lol. Will start the hygenie routine

We give her tap water.

Currently she is on a no- grains kibble. I would like to know suggestions for canned food? DH will absolutely not go for a raw food diet .

Her ph was 8-8.5 so not way way high but high.

I felt the congenital talk came up because of the amount of crystals and how young she is. The vet didnsay we won't know that part until the 2 week course of abx. If it's not healed then we can assume it's just her individual make up etc. royal canin s/o was her recommended food if we need to do that in 2 weeks - yuck.

Thank you for taking the time so give me so much info!

You are welcome!!

One more question, did the vet take a Urine Culture directly from the bladder, this is done with a needle, to determine if the infection is upper UTI or just lower UTI, and exactly what bacteria is causing the infection to make sure they use the right meds? Sounds scary but its not...

Definitely get a water test, the alkaline could be super high in the water you give, which will jack up her Urine PH, keeping her prone to Crystals that when mixed with dirt and bacteria make the famous UTI, that was the BIGGEST thing with Ellie, so we switched her to bottled

Yes the crystals/and Infection WILL make the bladder inflamed, Antibiotics will help, do you happen to know if just one or more were prescribed??

When did the Vet Suggest a Retest, we always went the day after the antibiotics were finished

Sorry for my crazy, Ellie has had 4 UTI's and battled Struvite Crystals (yes they can have JUST crystals with no infection) in her short 1.5 Years, we are pros!!

I have no experience with Canned, but we use Fresh Pet Vitals in the fridge section of the Petstore, with a splash of Orijen dry food, and that was the magic formula for us with bottled water, and a daily acidifier.

You can get Pet Urine testing strips on Amazon, I am a helicopter mom, and would chase Ellie with these a couple times a day till we were consistent 6-6.5

Do not let the Vet talk you into that food, sometimes a longer course of antibiotics are needed, once Ellie needed 3 weeks of two types of medicine.

Ellie and I send our best!! Keep us Posted!!

[3bugsmom]

They did try the needle route but she was way to squirmy and upset. Definitely did not want them risk hurting her. She's on clavamox for the uti as well as something for the Inflamation and pain. I do not know if they know the specific strain of bacteria.

We are set to return theblst day of meds. If things look good we will retest again in 5-7 days to see if it stays gone.

I will check out fresh pet. The raw idea just freaks the crap out of DH. We could probably do one of the pre packaged versions. We do have 2 puppies and 3 kids so it can't be complicated. With her 10 minute potty schedule he's not exactly feeling the love right now.

Poor Ellie having 4 uti's! I am so thankful you found her winning combo.

[helsonwheels]

They did try the needle route but she was way to squirmy and upset. Definitely did not want them risk hurting her. She's on clavamox for the uti as well as something for the Inflamation and pain. I do not know if they know the specific strain of bacteria.

We are set to return theblst day of meds. If things look good we will retest again in 5-7 days to see if it stays gone.

I will check out fresh pet. The raw idea just freaks the crap out of DH. We could probably do one of the pre packaged versions. We do have 2 puppies and 3 kids so it can't be complicated. With her 10 minute potty schedule he's not exactly feeling the love right now.

Poor Ellie having 4 uti's! I am so thankful you found her winning combo.

Ive been through the same thing with Nyala at 5 months old. Sammmmme thing. Vet suggested Royal Canin which was OUT of the question. After a couple weeks of issues and suggestions I decided to home cook for her. NEVER had an issue after that. Boiled turkey, veggies n great broth. Cured my baby girl!!!