? Crystals

[Peanut]

Yesterday morning Lacy woke up and seemed VERY uncomfortable. (She was her happy self all days before.) All day she was in the door out the door with frequent urination. So, I'm thinking a UTI. I brought a urine sample to Vet. No, no infection, but they seen crystals. Tech kinda explained to me what it could be. So now I'm chasing Lacy around the yard with a frying pan as they want a couple more urine samples. Lacy as a vet appt tommorrow afternoon as they want to take xrays.

She just had a geriatric exam done with full blood panel a little while back. Came back with all good results. But, she did just start taking Proin a couple weeks ago for incontinence.

Funny thing is... this morning she was her happy self again, went outside, did her thing and back on the couch snoring.

I'm wondering if this is something that could of "passed" through her system in 24 hrs? Regardless, she will still see the Vet tomorrow. I hope that they can take xrays without anesthesia, I don't want to subject her to that at her age. Anyone have any experience with this?

 

[mareserinitatis]

In my experience, crystals are more of a long term thing that result as a change in the pH of the urine. I have also noticed that animals who have this problem will do worse in the summer when it's hot and they need more water. I've not had much luck with prescription foods from the vet to deal with this, so I lean towards feeding my animals high protein diets. Higher protein means higher acidity urine, which can dissolve the crystals. I also add water to their food (1 part water to 2 parts food) as animals don't realize they need to take in more water. I think natural food is about 70% water, whereas most dry food is around 10-15% water.

Hopefully I'm wrong and it's a one time thing. I hope Lacy is still feeling better.

 

[gitchegumee]

Oh sweet sweet Lacy. Hope t was just a 24 hour thing.

 

[Pipelineozzy]

The reason they want the xrays is to see if there are stones to go along with the crystals :-( From that aspect, it's probably a good idea to find out for sure if they have formed stones or not. They will also want to identify what TYPE of crystals the dog has, as that helps in forming a treatment plan. There is no reason to give anesthesia for this type of xray, the positioning is simple and few newfs would protest to just laying still for a minute, but you may have to be insistent on that point. Can they not just do an ultrasound? Its very quick and visualizing the bladder is quite simple.
She may have passed a small stone and that could be why it's resolved. But crystals ARE a source of infection, and the fact that she is on the proin may mean that her bladder is staying "full" longer, thus giving the crystals a chance to pool up.