Jackson's at the vet again :(

This time I think he might have a bladder stone. He's got a looooonnngggg history of UTI's and primary struvite crystals, but has never had stones before. This morning, he tried for a good minute-to-minute-and-a-half of standing there with his leg cocked and managed only 2 drops. Boy's got good balance, but obviously something's not right. He's at the vet's now, but no definitive word yet.

Oh no, Ginger. We'll keep Jackson in our thoughts.

Oh poor Jackson! I'll be thinking of the little booger.

Poor Jackson!!!

Dre is very distressed over this. Please keep her informed as soon as you hear from the vet...

(I'm worried too! thinking lots of good thoughts Ginger)

Thinking of Jackson, keep us posted!

I hope Jackson feels better soon.

Oh, poor Jackson!!! Please let us know as soon as you hear from your vet. I'll be keeping him in my thoughts today.

Poor boy! We'll be thinking of him and sending good thoughts and energy your way.

Poor little guy! Hope he's okay.

Sending good vibes Jackson's way!

Hope he'll be better soon.

I hope Jackson's feeling better by now!

I sure hope Jackson feels better soon!

Good thoughts for Jackson!

Let us know how he's feeling. Poor fella.

Pugsaunt wrote:Poor boy! We'll be thinking of him and sending good thoughts and energy your way.

yep, absolutely. Please let us know how he's doing.

Owie. Poor thing. Any word yet? Hugs to Jackson!

Quickie version: no stones (yay!) Just a raging UTI. Again. I'll post more after I feed the boys, take them out, and call my mom.

OK.... the longer version: this was a $475 UTI bill! There were the obvious urinalysis, plus X-rays (and more X-rays because his bladder wasn't completely full for the 1st ones) and US-guided cystocentesis to get a good urine sample and a quick catheterization (at no charge) to make sure there wasn't a blockage within the penis itself. Plus we got blood work because although there were no stones, there was significant sludge within the bladder. With his long history of struvite crystals, even in absence of infection, she wants to try him on a month of s/d to try to dissolve some of those crystals. The problem is that apparently s/d is very hard on the liver, and he also has a history of liver problems, although his most recent 3 rounds of blood work show his liver enzymes being quite normal. So she wants current blood work so we can monitor liver function if needed.

The down sides of s/d: yuck! That's the nastiest texture dog food I've ever seen! Plus because it's only available canned, he licks it to eat it, which means that my most-easily-pillable-dog-in-the-world actually finds the piils and I have to be a bit more creative in giving his 3 weeks of Clavamox that just putting it on his kibble and having him inhale it with the rest of his food. Oh well.

Well, I'm glad it wasn't worse, but HOLYMOLEY the vet bill! I always say I should've married a vet (and a contractor, and a chiropractor and, of course, my husband).

Give Jackson a hug and tell him Thurston typed asofdijweoirwefoifh for him on my computer.

Not Afraid wrote:Well, I'm glad it wasn't worse, but HOLYMOLEY the vet bill! I always say I should've married a vet (and a contractor, and a chiropractor and, of course, my husband).

Give Jackson a hug and tell him Thurston typed asofdijweoirwefoifh for him on my computer.

I like your theory! I'm thinking I need to marry a vet, contractor, or mechanic. Some vet bills I expect to be high-- I just wasn't expecting that high of a bill for what turned out to just be a UTI.

holy crapola Ginger.

a) glad it's "just" a UTI
b) that vet bill - SHEESH.
c) they actually double charged you for the xrays because they didn't get his bladder full enough to start with? I'd have bio-tched about that one.
d) eeewww. wet food. try to pill him with cheese, and use the 2 or 3 bite method (bite 1 = cheese, bite 2 = cheese + pills, bite 3 = cheese in rapid succession).

Jessie is a smartie pants with the pills, but the 3 bite cheese method works 99% of the time!

Good luck with him - I hope he's feeling better soon!!

What about Royal Canine Urinary SO? Every time I take my kids off of this food, they get a UTI.

Brenda wrote:What about Royal Canine Urinary SO? Every time I take my kids off of this food, they get a UTI.

Actually, this is one that we tried when he 1st started having problems with crystals and UTI's about 3-4 years ago. We tried c/d, SO, and w/d, all without any real change. Then we discovered the liver issues and decided that was way more important and made the switch to l/d. I think that her thought today was that if we were going to mess around with food that his liver is doing well on, then we should at least try something that we haven't had mediocre experiences with in the past.

Ugh to that vet bill. I am glad he's okay but GEEZ!

I just wanted to say ditto to Allie's 3 cheese trick, I hope he is allowed to have cheese. Being quick is the key, they never even stop to think there might be a pill in there.