[javygirl178]

Hello everyone. First time poster. I have a question about a UTI/urine issue. In the last 2-3 months, I've noticed my dog's urine having a strong scent. I didnt think much of it for a bit, but then a few weeks ago, took him in to have a urinalysis done. He has had no other symptoms (no straining, no whining, no just drips he has a full stream when he goes, he doesnt go any more or less than he always has, no wetting on the carpet, acting normal, drinking about the same amount of water that he always has (maybe a tad less than he used to but its been cooler so maybe the weather has to do with that?)

Well anyway, he (5 year old whippet we think) was diagnosed with a UTI through urinalysis. His PH at the time was 7. Also said the amount of white blood cells wasn't bad, but there were some. No blood in urine. He was on Clavamox for 2 weeks and just had urine rechecked today. PH was up to 8 and wbc was up a little. Vet is somewhat concerned/baffled as to why the clavamox didnt decrease his ph at all so recommended a full urine panel, but that is $150, and if it IS necessary, I will do it. She also recommended Xrays which we had done tonight. She didn't see anything in the way of stones, and said usually with a bladder cancer, the ureter will enlarge and push the other organs and bowels, which she did not see. So we decided to put him on a Rx diet to lower the pH...in the mean time, I am supposed to take him to the vet tomorrow to have them get a sterile sample of urine to send to the lab for a full panel.

But I've been reading online to see what may could cause high pH and I'm reading that some people have given their dog either cranberry powder or vitamin C and didn't have to do a diet change to regulate pH. I guess my questions is, anyone had luck with vitamin c or cranberry powder? Is this something that would be worth calling about in the morning to ask the vet and waiting to do the panel? (I'm supposed to take him in the AM for the urine sample and if I decide to call them when the vet comes in, I won't be able to get him to the vet until Thursday). Anyway I just wondered if anyone had any input to add to this.

Maybe would this be something that I could try along with the Rx diet to see if it clears his pH up? I am guessing that it COULD be due to his diet (he's on Gravy Train which I know isnt great but its what I could pay for at the time). And if it IS his diet, I hate to shell out $150 for a urine panel. I will like I said if I have to, but am I being paranoid or jumpy? Would it be something I could try (the cranberry or vit c) for a couple of weeks and THEN do a cheap urine recheck and send off for the full panel if necessary then?

I'm guessing the high pH caused the infection which is why the wbc is higher. Just dont know why clavamox didnt work at all...

Of course I am thinking the worst. I'm a bit paranoid anyway so hoping that this is nothing serious.

 

[Cynna]

I'm not suggesting you do anything other than what your vet says. I have heard from vets that sometimes an infection can be stubborn, and in some cases adding apple cider vinegar to their food/water can help. I then did this, 1 tsp in the morning and evening meal for a week, and no subsequent antibiotics were needed. If your vet is fine with this, it could be good to add to his meals. I still give a half tsp with her morning meal each day.

Also re: cost of antibiotics, generally buying them from a pharmacy instead of the vets they'll be about half the cost. Just ask for a written rx, and call around. Fingers crossed everything's okay!

 

[crazy]

Hi,

I have been through this with Jessie! though what food was he on? because i have found fruit and veggies send my girls ph rocket high to 8 or 9.

no you dont have to change diet there is medication you can get to lower it. it could be cystitis or struitive stones. Jessie had both and her ph was high with the stones. also any protien? Jessie had PH 8 and 4 + protien when diagnosed with stritive crystals. she was prescribed RC urinary food and it did work though constantly inflamed belly.

after that when urine issues came back we put her on urinaid which worked for awhile then we had to send to lab because it stopped working thats when we found out about the fruit and veg making her ph too high being the cause.

Please do get the full panel done (urine) its costly yes but can provide answers and looks for crystals and alot more. Also need to find a way to get him to drink more water but cranberry is great so is vit c

 

[javygirl178]

Yes, he is on gravy train currently, and when we moved I think he was on kibbles and bits. So I"m also wondering if it was the food change that just happened to be around the same time as the move. But I will jsut take him and have the full panel done. I just always worry its going to be something awful like cancer and he's going to die. My mind goes to the worst I know.

I know he isnt on the best food, but if he was able to stay on it, I figured why not. If it ends up being the food, then I will definitely change it. But yeah she said she didnt see any stones on the xray. But maybe its just an infection that the clavamox didnt knock out. I dunno.

Whatever it is, I am hoping that its an easy fix, or fixable at all.

 

[javygirl178]

Also it helps knowing someone else had this issue. I just hope its related to his diet rather than anything else. I guess that could be the easiest "fix"

Oh yeah, I think she mentioned something about the proteins, but didnt give a number. So obviously with the wbc being higher theres still an infection, but maybe this food will help the pH and I can ask about trying the apple cider vinegar and also cranberry/vit c too. I would much rather give him supplements than drugs if it was possible.

What was Jessie's treatment for her crystals? Were they stones, or just smaller crystals?

 

[crazy]

okay just looked at ingredients and it seems to have colorants in it which is not good for him this is beef one Ingredients for beef one
Corn, Soybean Meal, Meat and Bone Meal, Wheat Middlings, Animal Fat (Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Animal Digest, Salt, Calcium Carbonate, Cellulose Gum, Wheat Flour, Caramel Color, Minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Manganous Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), Choline Chloride, Vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Vitamin A Supplement, Niacin Supplement, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement), Natural and Artificial Beef Flavor, Red 40, BHA (preservative), Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 2, Rosemary Extract.

kibble and bits have colorants too. i know you dont want to change food but its a good idea to do that and im wondering if it aint the colorants in the food causing it.

IF you can get him onto a better food if in usa 4health by tractor supply is alot better quality food to try and there are others that are in a decent price range and not too expensive. So i would change the food but still order the lab test.

 

[Larkspur]

^It also contains an undisclosed amount of salt which, if I remember right, is alkaline (which raises pH). Don't know if the food contains enough to make any sort of difference, but it's not a very good food in general (rated 1 out of 5 on DFA).

 

[crazy]

Also it helps knowing someone else had this issue. I just hope its related to his diet rather than anything else. I guess that could be the easiest "fix"

Oh yeah, I think she mentioned something about the proteins, but didnt give a number. So obviously with the wbc being higher theres still an infection, but maybe this food will help the pH and I can ask about trying the apple cider vinegar and also cranberry/vit c too. I would much rather give him supplements than drugs if it was possible.

What was Jessie's treatment for her crystals? Were they stones, or just smaller crystals?

yeah it does hence why i came foward. Jessies treatment was the same antibitoic and royal canin urinary food then later on urinaid supplement from vet with k9 natural raw food . then when that stopped working a pre made raw diet 80 10 10 and the problem was solved in 3 days no jokes. i did find with some treats send it back up again and if she gets into labradors acana food bang up again as of monday evening. mostly better now but still odd time struggle to pee. Stritive crystals look large to me like broken glass

 

[crazy]

^It also contains an undisclosed amount of salt which, if I remember right, is alkaline (which raises pH). Don't know if the food contains enough to make any sort of difference, but it's not a very good food in general (rated 1 out of 5 on DFA).

where is that i didnt see the salt.

 

[Larkspur]

@crazy

Corn, Soybean Meal, Meat and Bone Meal, Wheat Middlings, Animal Fat (Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Animal Digest, Salt, Calcium Carbonate...

I miss things in labels too XD

 

[crazy]

@crazy

Corn, Soybean Meal, Meat and Bone Meal, Wheat Middlings, Animal Fat (Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Animal Digest, Salt, Calcium Carbonate...

I miss things in labels too XD

Ah ok must clean my glasses then! and get eyes tested lol. btw what are wheat middlings? never heard of it before

 

[javygirl178]

where is that i didnt see the salt.

On the top line close to the end.

Wow. Hopefully that is what the issue is (the coloring and salt). I didnt realize colorings and salt could raise the pH.

I certainly don't mind getting him a better food. I'll check the TSC for that food (not sure if we have one here but we do have a feed store that may have it). Vet also recommended Purina One or Pro Plan once I can take him off the Rx diet.

I will go ahead and get the full panel done in the morning and post any updates. It'll probably take a few days I would imagine, and my vet is closed on Fridays, so I probably won't hear anything until at least Monday. Thank you to everyone who has posted. I know this isnt a solution, but just knowing some other people thinking perhaps it could be something as simple as his food makes me feel a little better. Hopefully that is it.

 

[Larkspur]

Ah ok must clean my glasses then! and get eyes tested lol. btw what are wheat middlings? never heard of it before

According to DFA, a by-product of cereal grain milling... basically milling dust and floor sweepings of processed grains...
@javygirl178
Purina is also not a great food. I tend to stay away from excessive grains and anything containing animal digest which is an ingredient sprayed on to flavor the food. It is make out of miscellaneous animals and contains pentobarbital (the drug vets use to put animals down). So the only real sources for that would be farm animals or pets... and there have been reports (I take everything with a grain of salt) of pet collars found in the processing machinery. Yuck.

Depending on your budget, you can find plenty of decent foods. At least better than Purina and such.

 

[javygirl178]

According to DFA, a by-product of cereal grain milling... basically milling dust and floor sweepings of processed grains...

Gross. Ok yea it may be cheaper, but if this IS the cause, all this money spent on treatment is costing me as much if not way more than the better food would

 

[crazy]

According to DFA, a by-product of cereal grain milling... basically milling dust and floor sweepings of processed grains...

oh yuck .......... and they put it in dog foods how gross and bad is that

 

[Larkspur]

@crazy Anything to make money right? Bleh.

 

[javygirl178]

Alright, so I ended up not taking him for the urine sample (weather, among other factors). I called the vet and asked if I could bring him in that afternoon but they said mornings would be better. However they couldnt do it until 9 when I would have been at work, and were closed on Friday, so the vet said I could either drop him off for the day Thursday and they would get the sample at some point, or I could try the diet change/stronger antibiotics for a couple of weeks. I said I would like to do the second as long as it wasnt a dire emergency that we get the panel done immediately.

She eventually said that she thought it (and hopefully is) the food he was on, which is what I'm leaning toward anyway, so he is on the RC SO diet for 2 weeks and also Zeniquin for 2 weeks. Hopefully he will respond to this. We will retest in 3-4 weeks and if at that point the pH and wbc are still elevated we will send off for the expensive panel. She did at one point indicate that of course for peace of mind we would want to do the panel, but if the diet change and antibiotic works this time, hopefully that will be all that needs to be done.

Hopefully it is the diet, and if so, I can wean him off the RC SO and get him on something a little less expensive, but still a good quality food. This is what we're praying for. So thank you all for your input. Will try to post when we get the next urinalysis done. For now, it's bathtime to calm that itchy skin from what may be flea allergy Poor baby.

 

[crazy]

that food does work Jess had to go on it for 6 weeks because of crystals. got rid of them alright but hated ingredients but USA have heaps better ingredients then NZ does.............

We are more then happy to help you find a better food with a budget you give us in mind. I do think its the food as well it wouldnt surprise me at all.

 

[javygirl178]

Yeah so he's been on this Rx food for a few days and I also have been adding some pure organic cranberry juice (literally just the juice and water...nothing else in ingredients). So far the urine still smells strong and foul though :/ maybe I'm not giving the food and meds time to kick in. I'm a little skeptical it will clear up this infection and fix his ph. Anyway.

When I am able to take him off the Rx food, I would say I need to try to stay within $20-25 a month for food. Is that possible for something good for him?

 

[javygirl178]

I just hope I didn't let this go on so long that it's become irreversible. Or that I fed him this junk for so long that now he will have this terrible disease or problem due to his diet and that can't be fixed.