My dog on diet, still passing struvite stones after removal. What now?

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!

A urine culture every few months is a good way to monitor and ensure that she doesn't have a "hidden infection," and the trouble is that with many infections, the pH of the urine will increase which increases the liklihood of struvite formation. I know that cystocentesis sounds scary, but actually most dogs tolerate it very well, and most vets and vet techs are extremely competent with this technique. Repeat urine cultures are great. If you aren't comfortable with that, though, talk to your vet. A simple UA could be done to watch for building crystal numbers, (however, any UA is best obtained via cystocentesis to minimize contamination). Feed soft or canned food or add some water to dry food to increase her moisture intake; the more dilute her urine is the less likely that stones will form. I am sorry that we weren't able to get to your question sooner. Thank you for asking Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach, and good luck with Maggie!

Poor Boi, I would have him checked over to make sure everything else is fine. Then check with your vet or vet technician if the amount Boi is eating is appropriate for his seize and that the stones have actually dissolved. According to all the above, decide on the next step. Hope this helps !

Hello. Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, some of these dogs keep developing stones, & we just do not know the total reason & mechanism for this. So you are perfectly right to feel confused, & frustrated with this. The Royal Canin S/O has been one of the best options in terms of preventing stones through the diet, & of course, the more water he takes in, the more water there is to flush the oxalate elements out of his bladder before stones reoccur. Sometimes we do recommend potassium citrate, if urine pH is consistently lower than 6.5, & some newer thinking is to add hydrochlorothiazide if he does seem to be redeveloping urolithiasis frequently & he does not have high blood calcium levels. You could monitor his urine for blood with urine dip strips manufactured for this purpose ( your vet can help with this ). A full urinalysis should be done every 3-6 months to keep pH between 6.5 & 8 & to maintain urine specific gravity to 1.020 or lower. Imaging, with either ultrasound or x-rays every 6-12 months is useful to identify very small stones that can generally be removed without surgery.removed . Hopefully, Casper will remain stone free for a very long time. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

The appropriate diet here would be the urinary diet either Urinary S/O or Hill's C/D, and then placing your pet on a liver protectant medication to address the liver issues. The liver protectant medication is called Denamarin, and has to be prescribed by your vet. I would then consider getting your pet an abdominal ultrasound to better define what is specifically going on with the liver, so that we know what mode of therapy would be best to manage things going forward, because these values (ALKP, CHOL) can be changed by not just the liver, but also the gallbladder and adrenal glands. I hope that your pet Ceca is able to manage both of her conditions well moving forward. Best wishes and take care. : )

I agree that it looks like Buddy has bladder and urethral stones. A diet might help to dissolve them, although the stones in his urethra are a bit more concerning and may not dissolve. He is at risk for urethral obstruction at any time which would be an emergency. Surgery to remove the stones might be another option. If you feel like you want a second opinion you certainly could make an appointment with another vet, or you could ask about referral to an internal medicine specialist.

Sophie is gorgeous. I would recommend discussing other types of prescription food with your veterinarian. I would also make sure no one in your home is feeding her anything else. If they are struvite stones they can be caused due to infection, so making sure you keep up on repeat urinalysis to make sure there is no infection. The other thing is with looking at the pictures I would recommend Sophie lose some weight. When female dogs are heavier they can have skin fold over their vulva which can prone them to urinary tract infections When they have recurrent urinary tract infections this can lead to urinary crystals and stones. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.