How often should my dog be checked for recurring bladder stones?

Bladder stones often do recur. I would use the food at least six months, and I would have a urinalysis done every six months to make sure there are no crystals or urinate tract infection. Your veterinarian is correct that using the urinary food for life gives Bollie a better chance of not having another bladder stone. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Bollie.

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.

I would recommend seeing your veterinarian for a recheck. Struvite stones often form secondary to a urinary tract infection so your vet may want to test Beemo’s urine to make sure there is not currently an infection present. If you’re able to save a stone for your vet they might want to send it out for analysis - occasionally dogs can have multiple types of bladder stones and it’s possible your vet may want to change the diet or add a supplement if this is the case.

It is likely that Charlie has new bladder stones. While this may not be urgent as long as he is able to urinate, I suggest you have him x-rayed again to see the size of the stones and whether they may be able to pass through the urethra.

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!

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.

It is recommended to have Rigby's urine checked. We would want to make sure that the food is still working and he is not developing crystals. It is always recommended to have twice-yearly checkups to make sure animals are still ok and to catch things early but especially with urinary issues. If there are crystals starting in Rigby's urine then a change in food would be recommended. This is ideally best medicine. If you are unable to bring in Rigby, I would discuss other options with your veterinarian. You have to have a physical performed at least yearly to keep with the laws of having a veterinary - patient - client relationship inorder to write prescriptions. Your veterinarian may allow you to collect the urine at home by using a non-absorbant litter. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.