Posted by Tori (Huntington Beach, CA) on 03/29/2015
My vet basically told me that my dog had to stay on Hill's Prescription (UTI) food or Royal Canin for the rest of her life. Both of these brands (the only dry dog food for UTI) are cost prohibitive at $60-$85 a BAG for 30lbs....$120 or more per month for DRY dog food! Hill's food is considered inferior and Royal Canin is only a little bit better. There was at least one study that I read out of UC Davis that indicated that the reduced amounts of protein in these foods is not good for dogs on a permanent basis. The purpose of the food is to help break up stones, not to stop bladder infections. The infection is a separate issue....is that correct? The crystals only become a problem when there is a bladder infection?
The wonderful Theresa from Minneapolis, MN has been helping pet owners and their beloved pets around the world on Earth Clinic since 2013.
About Theresa
Theresa from Minneapolis was born and raised in the inner city, always wishing she had been raised on a farm.
Her love for creatures great and small began at an early age, starting with caterpillars - which continues to this day, along with an interest in all insects and 'creepy crawlies'.
Theresa's interest in pet health started with a bird keeping hobby at age 14, where she learned from another hobbyist that the simple addition of Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) in a bird's drinking water kept fungal infections away; she was able to share this with her avian vet who in turn prescribed it to her own clients; Theresa was surprised to learn that she could teach her vet a thing or two. This important lesson - that each of us can be a teacher - was a turning point for Theresa, and fueled her quest for the knowledge held in lore, and remedies passed by word of mouth. That quest for knowledge continues to this day, as new and old remedies alike are explored. She may not have experience with a particular issue, but she will research it to the best of her ability and share what she finds freely, in the hopes that you can heal or improve your pet's health.
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I agree with your vet; your dog needs a special diet for life. Now, there is no saying it must be Prescription Hills or Royal Canin - but it does need to be designed to help dissolve and prevent crystals; consider daily supplementation with D manose powder to help prevent UTIs.
The Prescription Hills and other prescription diets that are so expensive actually do a good job at what they are formulated to do: while the OTC Hills diets are essentially crap, the prescription lines do a good job of keeping a pet with certain disorders alive. NO diet is fool proof - I have a friend with a pug with stones who has been feeding prescription Hills since day one who is now on the canned diet to dissolve stones: the reality is, if your pet is genetically predisposed to a disease condition there is no magic diet. All you can do is monitor your pet carefully, try to prevent the formation of stones or crystals and monitor your pet carefully to provide vet care or surgery if it comes to that point.
You mention crystals - did you get a diagnosis of struvite crystals for your dog? Adding ACV to your dog's diet may help to dissolve and prevent the formation of these crystals.
The wonderful Theresa from Minneapolis, MN has been helping pet owners and their beloved pets around the world on Earth Clinic since 2013.
About Theresa
Theresa from Minneapolis was born and raised in the inner city, always wishing she had been raised on a farm.
Her love for creatures great and small began at an early age, starting with caterpillars - which continues to this day, along with an interest in all insects and 'creepy crawlies'.
Theresa's interest in pet health started with a bird keeping hobby at age 14, where she learned from another hobbyist that the simple addition of Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) in a bird's drinking water kept fungal infections away; she was able to share this with her avian vet who in turn prescribed it to her own clients; Theresa was surprised to learn that she could teach her vet a thing or two. This important lesson - that each of us can be a teacher - was a turning point for Theresa, and fueled her quest for the knowledge held in lore, and remedies passed by word of mouth. That quest for knowledge continues to this day, as new and old remedies alike are explored. She may not have experience with a particular issue, but she will research it to the best of her ability and share what she finds freely, in the hopes that you can heal or improve your pet's health.
-----------------------------
How To Show Theresa Your Appreciation
If you would like to thank Theresa for her helpful posts, she asks if you would please consider making a donation to one of her favorite local rescue organizations, or by making a donation to help the genius contributor, Ted from Bangkok, recover from his stroke.
Use a quality sea salt - the aquarium stores tend to sell the best.
A crisis dose is 1 teaspoon of sea salt into a litre of pure, non-chlorinated water, for 1-2 days [play it by ear; you *should* see a rather immediate resolution to the symptoms in that time frame, but if not go for 3 days and consider adding cranberry juice to the water if you are not already dosing the cranberry in conjunction with this therapy]
A maintenance dose after the crisis resolves is 1/4 teaspoon sea salt into 1 liter of water
Ted also adds: "As to the apple cider vinegar for UTI, I do not think it to be as effective as a sea salt remedy. However if ACV is used then it is likely to be mixed with a pinch of baking soda."
As for the powdered cranberry dosage, some contributors have used 2 capsules [Cranactin brand] diluted in 1 oz water for a cat, while others have used 1 capsule for a 65 pound dog. This is something you will have to compare brands and potencies and work out for your dog, but it makes sense to me to start out with 2 capsules with food am and pm during a crisis and then scale back to 1 capsule am and pm for maintenance.
As for the yogurt and ACV - many mix the two together and feed with the am and pm meals. 1 to 1-1/2 tablespoons of raw, unpasturized, unfiltered, "with the mother" ACV into wet food or yogurt. If you are looking for probiotics from the yogurt, it may be easier to simply buy the probiotics in powder form and add to the diet, as some dogs don't do well with dairy.
The ACV can be used as a maintenance dose with the food; if you dose a probiotic as well its a good idea to switch brands every couple of weeks to rotate the species of probiotic for proper balance in the gut.
Now, balancing out your dog's PH is critical in addressing crytals in the urine [aka Crystalluria] but crystalluria represents a risk factor for kidney stones so you should continue to work with your vet to monitor if the crystals resolve or continue to be present, and to be on the lookout for potential complications of urinary obstruction or kidney stones.
Would you tell me what brand of Ester C did you purchase? My Duke takes Gabapentin 100 MG twice daily; I will have to search the Internet to try and find outhe if there would be drug interactions. Any idea if maybe the ACT would be okay to give him?
Can y'all please tell me why a dog would take gabapentin? my 12 yr old JR Shortbread has a recurring stone and we got the "special food" which he does not like-forget about 'leave the food out til he eats it'! He's already stuck in place for 2+ minutes trying to push this thing out. I'm taking notes on all the comments-thanks! ACV though, he smells it a mile away lol
The wonderful Theresa from Minneapolis, MN has been helping pet owners and their beloved pets around the world on Earth Clinic since 2013.
About Theresa
Theresa from Minneapolis was born and raised in the inner city, always wishing she had been raised on a farm.
Her love for creatures great and small began at an early age, starting with caterpillars - which continues to this day, along with an interest in all insects and 'creepy crawlies'.
Theresa's interest in pet health started with a bird keeping hobby at age 14, where she learned from another hobbyist that the simple addition of Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) in a bird's drinking water kept fungal infections away; she was able to share this with her avian vet who in turn prescribed it to her own clients; Theresa was surprised to learn that she could teach her vet a thing or two. This important lesson - that each of us can be a teacher - was a turning point for Theresa, and fueled her quest for the knowledge held in lore, and remedies passed by word of mouth. That quest for knowledge continues to this day, as new and old remedies alike are explored. She may not have experience with a particular issue, but she will research it to the best of her ability and share what she finds freely, in the hopes that you can heal or improve your pet's health.
-----------------------------
How To Show Theresa Your Appreciation
If you would like to thank Theresa for her helpful posts, she asks if you would please consider making a donation to one of her favorite local rescue organizations, or by making a donation to help the genius contributor, Ted from Bangkok, recover from his stroke.
The wonderful Theresa from Minneapolis, MN has been helping pet owners and their beloved pets around the world on Earth Clinic since 2013.
About Theresa
Theresa from Minneapolis was born and raised in the inner city, always wishing she had been raised on a farm.
Her love for creatures great and small began at an early age, starting with caterpillars - which continues to this day, along with an interest in all insects and 'creepy crawlies'.
Theresa's interest in pet health started with a bird keeping hobby at age 14, where she learned from another hobbyist that the simple addition of Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) in a bird's drinking water kept fungal infections away; she was able to share this with her avian vet who in turn prescribed it to her own clients; Theresa was surprised to learn that she could teach her vet a thing or two. This important lesson - that each of us can be a teacher - was a turning point for Theresa, and fueled her quest for the knowledge held in lore, and remedies passed by word of mouth. That quest for knowledge continues to this day, as new and old remedies alike are explored. She may not have experience with a particular issue, but she will research it to the best of her ability and share what she finds freely, in the hopes that you can heal or improve your pet's health.
-----------------------------
How To Show Theresa Your Appreciation
If you would like to thank Theresa for her helpful posts, she asks if you would please consider making a donation to one of her favorite local rescue organizations, or by making a donation to help the genius contributor, Ted from Bangkok, recover from his stroke.
I know that cranberry juice is belived to be most effective as form of UTI prevention. However; I would like to know if pets taking cranberry juice are more prone to develop crystal and stones such us oxalate stones? My cocker spaniel takes cranberry juice daily 1 cap. a day, she has not been sick since last year. The last time she had UTI the vet said that she has high level of crystals, could she get them form cranberry juice?
I have a female German Shepherd that is peeing blood. Dr. put her on antibiotics which doesn't seem to be working. I was wondering about trying Apple Cider Vinegar but not sure how much and how to give to her. Can anyone help? Thank you.
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