Struvite Crystals

Who knows about struvites? Sophie's blood work came back and everything looks good but she still has some struvites. Not enough to be concerned about yet, but I really want to try and help her if I can. What do you guys use? Her vet mentioned Berry Balance (?)-I think, I forgot the piece of paper that I had written it down on. Is there anything else I can do to try? She eats Honest Kitchen so I am going to add a little more water to that as well.

I've heard that Berry Balance works for some people (we tried it once but it didn't work for us). There's also a supplement called Wysong Biotic ph- that was recommended to me by another pug owner. Buster's last urinalysis showed a ton of struvite crystals but no infection. For now, we're adding 1/4-1/3 cup of water to his kibble and I'm changing him over from Merrick's Senior Medley to Orijen's senior kibble. It's grain free & the higher protein content should make his urine more acidic. If that doesn't do the trick, then we're going to try the Wysong supplement.

From what I've heard, it's pretty normal for them to have some crystals so be careful not to swing her too far in the other direction (which can cause calcium oxalate crystals/stones to form).

Thanks Brenda!

I was worried too about swinging it too much in the other direction. What did I worry about before my pugs?! Who knew I'd be spending this much time thinking about their pee!

Saira wrote:Thanks Brenda!

I was worried too about swinging it too much in the other direction. What did I worry about before my pugs?! Who knew I'd be spending this much time thinking about their pee!

If her crystals are not too bad, you may want to consider what you can do short of supplements. Water, water, water - you can also add some wet food to her kibble which also has a higher water content. Eliminate anything with a higher mineral or calcium content --- marrow bones, yogurt, etc. You can also buy pH test strips from the pharmacy to test her pee.

Berry Balance is a Solid Gold product I think--I've never used it as I worry about ending up with calcium oxalate crystals. I'd actually FLOOD her food with water. I used to do that with my crystal prone fosters and it helped a lot.

smoochieface wrote:

Saira wrote:Thanks Brenda!

I was worried too about swinging it too much in the other direction. What did I worry about before my pugs?! Who knew I'd be spending this much time thinking about their pee!

If her crystals are not too bad, you may want to consider what you can do short of supplements. Water, water, water - you can also add some wet food to her kibble which also has a higher water content. Eliminate anything with a higher mineral or calcium content --- marrow bones, yogurt, etc. You can also buy pH test strips from the pharmacy to test her pee.

Yeah I was thinking to cut out the yogurt she gets in the morning. She won't be very happy about that! I think i'll try that first, and test it with the strips before trying the supplements.

I'm bumping this back up because I had LuLu's urine tested this morning and although there was no infection, the vet said there were a ton of struvite crystals. We're putting her on a 14 day round of Clavamox. After reading this thread, I will also stop the yogurt she gets with her breakfast.
She eats Honest Kitchen Keen, which is not grain free. Should I consider switching her to one of their grain free products now?

Here's the ingredients of Keen:
Ingredients


Hormone-free USDA turkey, organic oats, potatoes, organic flax,
carrots, cabbage, alfalfa, organic kelp, apples, honey, garlic,
rosemary, tricalcium phosphate, choline chloride, zinc amino acid
chelate, vitamin D3 supplement, vitamin E supplement, potassium
chloride, iron amino acid chelate, copper amino acid chelate.
And here's a comparison between the HK foods:

Oats are very acidic but the gluten contained in oats may be part of the problem.

I found this information from a study.

Starch and fiber in diets potentially stimulate formation of struvite
crystals. Hence, reducing dietary carbohydrate is desirable to prevent
struvite urolith formation.

Not Afraid wrote:Oats are very acidic but the gluten contained in oats may be part of the problem.

I found this information from a study.

Starch and fiber in diets potentially stimulate formation of struvite
crystals. Hence, reducing dietary carbohydrate is desirable to prevent
struvite urolith formation.

Lisa:
Just out of curiosity--the study you cite was done on cats--can you apply the same thinking to dogs? I'm asking cause I don't know. I know that much of what happens with cats dietarily (don't know if that's a word) can't be applied to dogs, but I don't know about crystal issues.

The reason cited a study about cats is that, with certain things have similar general universal causes (and cures). I could be totally off my rocker here, though.

Darth had crystals when we first got him. He was on vet food for crystals (I think CM I want to say, I'd have to look) for 6 months and we also made sure to add lots of water to his food. He had a recheck on his urine after 6 months and was clear so we changed him over to the other food we give Dyna. Him and Dyna still get lots of water with both meals! They never seem to drink enough anyways so I know they are drinking some at least this way. He has to have yearly urine checks now so this summer he gets his next one. Lots more water for Sophie!

I'd definitely start with lots and lots of water and frequent potty breaks. I know that Joan has said that she actually gives a dish of water with a pinch of tuna in it as a treat to her UTI-prone gang. I thought that was brilliant.

Jackson's my struvite crystal boy, and in his case, I have to balance it with his liver issues. Unfortunately, the only thing I've ever found to get rid of his crystals effectively is prescription s/d food. I only use it for about a week and then switch back to his prescription liver food. Again, I"m not crazy about that either, but on this regimen, his blood work and urinalysis looks good.

Sophie goes in for her recheck so I will let you know if the lots of water thing worked! We have been flooding her HK with water, so hopefully it did.

I wanted to mention that there was a really good article about struvite crystals/stones in the April issue of the Whole Dog Journal. They're going to cover calcium oxalate stones/crystals in May.

Good luck with Sophie's recheck!

Saira wrote:Sophie goes in for her recheck so I will let you know if the lots of water thing worked! We have been flooding her HK with water, so hopefully it did.

Saira, what kind of HK does Sophie eat? I hope her recheck goes well.