CALCIUM OXALATE STONES

Here's what I know from Emmet's 6+ year journey with them. Sorry for weird spacing; I pasted from Google Docs and don't know how to paste to avoid this.


Despite treatment, Emmet still forms stones or grit; my vet tells me that the
current word from U of MN is "if the stones aren't bothering the dog,
don't bother them."

Emmet gets an xray every 6 months. I'm convinced if you're a stone former (esp. w/ Calcium Oxalate), you're a stone former, but it's important to treat nonetheless. He had 2 surgeries before I switched vets to one who is much more knowledgeable.

If your pug is forming Calcium Oxalate crystals, it means the urine is too acidic, so you do NOT want to give him/her anything acidic like cranberry.

At any rate, I give Emmet 540 mg. (twice daily) of Urocit K, which now comes in a generic form (from the human pharmacy)--it's Potassium Citrate. It should be taken on a full stomach, and NOT CRUSHED, so he gets one after breakfast, and one after dinner, and I drown his meals in water.

He also gets around 25 mg of Vitamin B6 with breakfast only. The pills come in 50 mg, so I split them in 1/2--not exact, but it seems to work. (FYI, Emmet weighs about 24 pounds, so if you do end up using supplements, you need to consider your pug's weight).

Here's a site that has LOTS of info. (I haven't checked any of these links lately), and if you scroll down to the bottom, you'll see info. about prevention
of Calcium Oxalate stones: http://www.lbah.com/canine/urolithiasis.htm

He eats Royal Canin Urinary S/O food and there are some "approved" treats
he gets once in awhile: plain cooked chicken, turkey, popcorn, eggs,
peas, rice, pasta. (this link has that info: http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&C=&A=662&SourceID=42

This site mentions "problem foods" including peanuts (look under "Why would my dog form Cal. Oxalate Stones?" section:
http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_canine_oxalate_bladder_stones.htm

My D'Arcy had surgery to remove stone and she had both kinds removed - we've found shes forming crystals again and her surgery was only in Dec. Thank you for those links we will look at them and see what all we can do to better help our little angel...she's almost 5...poor baby i'd do anything to take all this away from her...anything. So thank you!

My vet has told me that crystals don't mean FOR SURE she'll get stones, but it's good to keep checking. I didn't know you could have both--although there are more than just two kinds. She had struvite and oxalate? That seems really weird. In any case, the S/O food is for both.

Worse case scenario (I don't know if they can do this with females), if E ever did have to have another surgery, I forget the medical name, but they could re-route him and basically make a new opening so he'd pee like a girl. When the vet first told me, he acknowledged the horror on my face by telling me it sounded much worse than it is, and he's seen many dogs adjust easily to it. Hopefully, though, this won't need to happen.

Good luck w/ D'Arcy.

Just wanted to add a link to a great website with TONS of info. and the 2010 Whole Dog Journal article regarding calcium oxalate stones:

http://www.dogaware.com/articles/wdjcalciumoxalates.html

Our foster Simon's bladder stones that he just had removed were calcium oxalate, so I've been researching like crazy.

The WDJ article is excellent. Careful about how you modify the pH. Calcium oxalate form in low pH--Under 6. Struvites form in high pH--7 and over. So you have to be ultra careful.

northernwitch wrote:Careful about how you modify the pH. Calcium oxalate form in low pH--Under 6. Struvites form in high pH--7 and over. So you have to be ultra careful.

The real puzzler is that the outer layer of Simon's stones were struvite & the core was calcium oxalate. I don't have his results handy but I believe that his pH was 6.5 the last time it was checked & there's been no sign of infection since we got him. They want to put him on the U/D prescription food but I've started cooking for him (mainly based on the WDJ article).

Chyna tends to have both. Due to her severe food allergies, since she had her bladder flushed a few years ago, she has been ok. I feed her the dehydrated raw food (Addiction Summer Brushtail), and she has done great. I do need to have an xray or ultrasound done to see if any grit/sludge is in her bladder but no recent infections or problems. Tons of water is very important with either type.