Update on Barkley with Cystinuria - 1 Year Later!

sunkissedpr1ncs

New member
Apr 3, 2013
296
6
Houston, TX
Country
USA
Bulldog(s) Names
Barkley and Pippen
I just wanted to give everyone an update on how Barkley is doing now and provide some info for anyone else whose Bully has cystine stones

Barkley had cystine stones removed a year ago. He never blocked, we just noticed some blood leaking from his penis so took him to the vet and they confirmed he had stones and had surgery to remove them a few weeks later. His vet said the only thing to prevent them was to switch him to the Hills food, which I did not want to do since the ingredients are so bad.

After doing some research, I found out about the neutering showing to prevent them from reoccurring (he had just been neutered a few weeks before we found out he had the stones.) and also about feeding more of a raw diet. We switched him to the Stella & Chewy Frozen Raw Patties and have also added some water to his food (not a whole lot). After switching to just the raw patties, we noticed he stopped drinking his regular water entirely, which I read can happen since this type of food has so much more moisture than kibble. About 6 months ago, the vet also suggested that Barkley needed to lose some weight, so we have had him on a green bean diet - half of his regular food and half green beans, he loves it! His urine output has also been great, no signs of anything unusual at all.

Anyway, we went to a new vet the other day since we just moved to Houston a few months ago. He is supposed to be a "bulldog specialist" and I was really impressed with him! I told him about the stones and had them check his urine...He started telling me about how this only happens in male bulldogs and about the neutering showing to prevent them and that if they hadn't re-appeared yet then we were probably good since they will usually re-appear pretty quick if they are going to. Every other vet has looked at me like I'm crazy when I've mentioned the neutering, so I was so shocked to hear him telling ME about it!!

He also said the urine looked good and I asked him about him not drinking water since I know they should be getting a lot of water to help flush out the bladder...He showed me the urine results and said the water amount in the urine was way above the average level so he is still getting plenty of water through his food and just doesn't need to drink any extra! I'm so happy to have finally found a vet that actually really knows his stuff with bulldogs and does his own research and doesn't just recommend that crappy Hills food!!!
 
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I just wanted to give everyone an update on how Barkley is doing now and provide some info for anyone else whose Bully has cystine stones

Barkley had cystine stones removed a year ago. He never blocked, we just noticed some blood leaking from his penis so took him to the vet and they confirmed he had stones and had surgery to remove them a few weeks later. His vet said the only thing to prevent them was to switch him to the Hills food, which I did not want to do since the ingredients are so bad.


After doing some research, I found out about the neutering showing to prevent them from reoccurring (he had just been neutered a few weeks before we found out he had the stones.) and also about feeding more of a raw diet. We switched him to the Stella & Chewy Frozen Raw Patties and have also added some water to his food (not a whole lot). After switching to just the raw patties, we noticed he stopped drinking his regular water entirely, which I read can happen since this type of food has so much more moisture than kibble. About 6 months ago, the vet also suggested that Barkley needed to lose some weight, so we have had him on a green bean diet - half of his regular food and half green beans, he loves it! His urine output has also been great, no signs of anything unusual at all.

Anyway, we went to a new vet the other day since we just moved to Houston a few months ago. He is supposed to be a "bulldog specialist" and I was really impressed with him! I told him about the stones and had them check his urine...He started telling me about how this only happens in male bulldogs and about the neutering showing to prevent them and that if they hadn't re-appeared yet then we were probably good since they will usually re-appear pretty quick if they are going to. Every other vet has looked at me like I'm crazy when I've mentioned the neutering, so I was so shocked to hear him telling ME about it!!

He also said the urine looked good and I asked him about him not drinking water since I know they should be getting a lot of water to help flush out the bladder...He showed me the urine results and said the water amount in the urine was way above the average level so he is still getting plenty of water through his food and just doesn't need to drink any extra! I'm so happy to have finally found a vet that actually really knows his stuff with bulldogs and does his own research and doesn't just recommend that crappy Hills food!!!

What a wonderful update! What Vet do you see here in Houston? We go to Brittmore, and they are wonderful! Curious to see if that may be who you saw :)
 
What a wonderful update! What Vet do you see here in Houston? We go to Brittmore, and they are wonderful! Curious to see if that may be who you saw :)

Yep we saw Dr. Dikeman at Brittmoore! I had seen mixed reviews about him but I absolutely LOVED him!! He was so sweet, VERY knowledgeable and took his time to make sure he answered all of our questions!! :)
 
That's great news!! Good job mama!

I love Stella & Chewy's. When Blue was on it, he developed nice toned muscles. He also hardly drank, and yes, it's perfectly normal since the water content of the food is so high.
 
Yep we saw Dr. Dikeman at Brittmoore! I had seen mixed reviews about him but I absolutely LOVED him!! He was so sweet, VERY knowledgeable and took his time to make sure he answered all of our questions!! :)


Wonderful! We have yet to see Dr. Dikeman - but we've seen Dr. Chellappan, and Dr. Burbridge did Tyson's surgery this past Jan. We love Brittmore!!
 
What a great wonderful update and so thrilled Barkley is well :)

Even better, having found a trusted, knowledgeable Vet...priceless!

Thank you, Michele, for updating & educating us. Happy St Paddie's!
 
What a great update! So happy you found a bully vet and you and your boy are both doing so well!! Now, where are the pictures ?? :D
 
Thanks everyone! The vet said he looked nice and healthy and could tell we were taking great care of him!!
[MENTION=2894]2BullyMama[/MENTION] haha ok ok here are some pics of the little nugget [emoji4] The first 2 are him at the vet making himself at home and "helping me fill out his paperwork" haha.

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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Thanks everyone! The vet said he looked nice and healthy and could tell we were taking great care of him!!
@2BullyMama haha ok ok here are some pics of the little nugget [emoji4] The first 2 are him at the vet making himself at home and "helping me fill out his paperwork" haha.

caa475a654f58b955e17da16e5801cb7.jpg


0dacd82a7238078881979eff038d2490.jpg


3df867c780c9158fc505ff3c589fc9f6.jpg


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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


nice pics!
 
Great news, I'm so happy for you.
The reason why neutering helps is that they pee their bladders empty instead of leaving always some in for marking. So there's no time for it to crystallize in the bladder.
 
Thanks everyone! The vet said he looked nice and healthy and could tell we were taking great care of him!!
@2BullyMama haha ok ok here are some pics of the little nugget [emoji4] The first 2 are him at the vet making himself at home and "helping me fill out his paperwork" haha.



480ff28bfe722647dfb62bd6fd2f6dc5.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

:heart: love that face... so happy all is going well and thank you for sharing the information!!
 
Great update! Castor (whose colour is very similar to Barkley's!) is on raw food and drinks little too as there is so much water in the food.
 
Barkley is so handsome! That is wonderful that he is doing so well and that you have a great vet you trust! Thanks for also sharing such helpful information.
 
Thank you for this!!! So helpful and has eased my mind. My George just got diagnosed yesterday with cystine stones and the vet is wanting to have him neutered in a week!
 
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