My dog had bladder stones. How long for urinary prescription food?

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Charlie. It is necessary to continue monitoring him to prevent the stones from recurring. He should have a urinalysis every 3-6 months to look for crystals in his urine, signs of a urinary tract infection and to monitor the pH of his urine. I recommend that the dog fasts for 12 hours before the urine sample is collected. I also routinely take x-rays to look for bladder stones every 6-12 months. He should eat the prescription diet exclusively. I hope this information helps!

If Monkey has had bladder infections and is on a diet to dissolve the stone, then your vet most likely suspects that the stone is a type of stone called a struvite stone. I am attaching a handout on struvite stones below. https://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=460 Whenever we are trying to dissolve struvite stones with diet, we need to keep a dog on antibiotics for the entire time we are dissolving the stone. I am including a quote from the handout below. "The therapeutic diet must be the only food fed until the stone is dissolved. Antibiotics are needed as long as stones are in the bladder (bacteria are encrusted within the stone and as the stone dissolves, they are released). Every 4 to 6 weeks, new radiographs are taken to evaluate the stone size. If it is at least 20 percent smaller, the process is continued. A urinalysis is also checked to be sure the proper urinary conditions for dissolution are being created by the diet." So, I would recommend discussing this with your veterinarian, but if Monkey has been on the diet since September, it may be time to take x-rays again to make sure that the diet is working and you will need to keep Monkey on antibiotics as long as you are trying to dissolve the stone. Good luck! I hope that was helpful. Thanks for using PetCoach.

Poor Leo! If he has a history of bladder or kidney stones, then I strongly recommend for him to stay on the urinary food. This food is designed to lower the risk of future stones. It does not prevent them 100% of the time but it definitely decreases the risk. Other foods are not specifically designed for this problem and therefore will increase his risk of having stones again in the future. I hope this helps!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! It is ok to feed him a regular diet (meaning any dog diet) until you are able to get his Purina diet for stones. As long as he is able to return to his bladder stone diet within a week or two, it should be ok. Best of luck!

Hi and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Sorry to hear about Wookiee but it sounds like things are much better. So I can assume that the crystals and stones were struvite because of the c/d food and I can assume you tried s/d first but maybe not. Struvite crystals and stones are most often tied to infection in the bladder and urinary system. You may be able to try another diet but only your vet should make that call for you. They are much more familiar with his particular case. If you monitored his urine with dip sticks (again consult your vet) you may be able to feed something else. Ask you vet. The kibble shouldn't hurt his teeth unless he develops severe periodontal disease which lots of small breeds develop due to their genetics. Sure you can wet the food plus that increases water consumption which is crucial in pets with a history of urinary problems. Yes, I would advise against the table scraps as these can definitely play a role and alter the pH of the urine (how acidic or alkaline). Good luck with Wookiee. Great questions.

Unfortunately there are no over the counter that will help dissolve stones once they form. There are diets that claim to encourage urinary bladder health, however there are no clinical trials to substantiate those claims. What Scooby really needs right now is the Rx food, although it is a bit costly and I can sympathize with that. However it works and is effective because the necessary trials were done to formulate the food properly. It can take several months to even a year to dissolve the stones depending on the quantity and size.

The answer partially depends on the type of bladder stones that Boo had. I am attaching handouts on the 2 most common types below. http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=460 http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=662 If Boo had struvite stones, those can often be managed without a prescription diet. If Boo had calcium oxalate stones, then diet will be a very important part of preventing him from forming stones again in the future. Unfortunately, the prescription diets tend to have both by-products and corn. The best option I have found for dogs with calcium oxalate stones are to make a homemade diet for their dogs. A diet can be created by a board certified nutritionist or with the help of Balance It. https://secure.balanceit.com/ Good luck! I hope that was helpful and answered your questions. Thanks for using PetCoach.