mshifflett
Boxer Pal
Okay, I know this is the same old story but here it goes. Maggie, our fawn 1 year old female spayed boxer was peeing her cage when left for any length of time. She also had a couple of accidents in the bed where she would pee and then wake up all upset and wanting to go out and finish. She also drinks about a gallon of water a day (maybe not quite that much, but you get the picture).
We were concerned about this so we took her to her regular vet and he did some urine tests and found struvite crystals in her urine. He was not able to extract any urine directly from her bladder and just had to use a free catch sample.
He started her on antibiotics and of course Hill's Prescription Diet S/D in the can for three weeks. They also mentioned that she would need to eat the C/D version of the food for the rest of her life. I looked up the ingredients for that food and it has all of the things that can cause health problems in dogs, of course this did not make me very happy.
I need to find an alternative to this diet change. I have read many different things that people have done to stop the crystals including yogurt, vitamin C, cranberry juice, apple cider and other things. I have also heard that tap water can cause them to form. I did a test on our tap water and the PH level and hardness were off of the chart. I did the same test on a good quality bottled water and the levels were where they needed to be. Others have even said the inconstinence (spelling?) can cause crystals to form.
What I need is some suggestions and some results from what other people have tried and found to work for them.
I don't want my little girl to eat that crappy food just because the vet gets a kickback from it...
We were concerned about this so we took her to her regular vet and he did some urine tests and found struvite crystals in her urine. He was not able to extract any urine directly from her bladder and just had to use a free catch sample.
He started her on antibiotics and of course Hill's Prescription Diet S/D in the can for three weeks. They also mentioned that she would need to eat the C/D version of the food for the rest of her life. I looked up the ingredients for that food and it has all of the things that can cause health problems in dogs, of course this did not make me very happy.
I need to find an alternative to this diet change. I have read many different things that people have done to stop the crystals including yogurt, vitamin C, cranberry juice, apple cider and other things. I have also heard that tap water can cause them to form. I did a test on our tap water and the PH level and hardness were off of the chart. I did the same test on a good quality bottled water and the levels were where they needed to be. Others have even said the inconstinence (spelling?) can cause crystals to form.
What I need is some suggestions and some results from what other people have tried and found to work for them.
I don't want my little girl to eat that crappy food just because the vet gets a kickback from it...