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bladder stones?

   
Patch

Mr. Love		 
 
Barked: Mon Aug 25, '08 9:42am PST 
hi, does anyone have a dal with bladder stones? my patchy has been having some trouble with them. he's on a low-purine diet and a drug called allopurinol right now, but the vet says that if he keeps forming stones, he may need surgery. he first was diagnosed with urate stones, which the medication has been helping with, but now he has struvate stones as well. just wondering if anyone out there has been through this and has any advice for us.
thanks,
susan
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Remington

Lover Boy
 
 
Barked: Wed Aug 27, '08 3:39pm PST 
Hi Susan.
Remington, my 10 1/2 year old dal had a series of stones when he was 6. He first had the typical Uric Acid crystals. They were to big to pass so he had to have surgery. He was put on allopurinol and developed struvite crystals because the urine PH got too alkaline. We have had him on a vegeterian food and allopurinol for 4 years now with no crystals or stones. We are very careful at monitoring his urine ph because that seems to be the key! I know other dals that are fine with no surgery after having stones and there are many ways to treat the problem. Fell free to p-mail me any time!
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Anakin

The Force is- strong with this- one		 
 
Barked: Mon Oct 13, '08 6:57am PST 
Hi Susan,

I don't have a lot of info on struvate stones, but Anakin had urate stones last year when he was only a year and a half old. He was completely obstructed and needed surgery. He's not on allipurinol as we're working on controlling it by diet and management.

Since his surgery we've been feeding him Hills Science Diet U/D along with lots of safe veggies and a fried or hard boiled egg every day for protein (eggs are ok for urate stone formers). We also make sure he urinates once at least every 4 to 5 hours and get as much water into him as we can. Our vet said his urine should be no darker than a very pale lemon juice. We put his dry food and his cut up egg in a cup of water three times a day so that he drinks enough water (for this you have to make sure your dog eats everything right away though or the dry food will get soggy).

The Dalmatian Club of America has a really good list of safe and not-so-safe foods for urate stone formers here: http://www.thedca.org/purines.html

The foods highest in purines are very bad for urate stone formers, and the lowest in purines are the ones Anakin eats most often.

The DCA also has a good article about stones here: http://www.thedca.org/dal_book.html

I'm not sure that the food list applies for struvate stones though, so be sure to ask your vet about that. I can tell you for certain that the water idea and peeing every 4 or 5 hours is definitely a great idea for any stone former.

If there's anything I can answer or do to help please let me know! We were beside ourselves when this happened, so I know how you're feeling.
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Miss Winnie

Awww, of course,- I LOVE you!		 
 
Barked: Sun Nov 23, '08 1:29pm PST 
Hi, Susan! I had raised a male Dal from 8wks until he passed several years ago in old age. He struggled over the years with stones and infections from stones; it started with emergency cath on a Sunday due to a blockage. The vet created an alternate opening (like a female) in order for him to pass small stones before it would become life-threatening. This helped (but greatly confused the kennel people when we boarded him and I forgot to mention it!), and he was on U/D for the rest of his life. He functioned well, and was a happy, relatively healthy dog for the rest of his days. Our big troubles came from his curiosity (smelled hidden mouse poison and worked his way in & around to EAT it! and ate broken-glass-strewn pork chops that were in a trash can INSIDE a cabinet that he figured out how to open!) None of those things did that tough guy in, thank goodness, and he went peacefully as an old guy. He was my protector and friend. I still miss his big bearhugs after all these years. The trouble and expense are DEFINITELY worth it for their love and well-being. Good luck with your guy.
-Rita & Miss Winnie in Indiana
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