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Ask The Expert on Kidney Stones and Diet!

March 5th, 2009

QUESTION:

Name: Donna Allan
Pets species and breed: miniature dachshund
Pets age and weight: 1/12 16 lb
Pets health status: kidney stones
Are they spayed or neutered? Yes
Brand of food: science diet
Animal owned for: year and 3 months

“Addie has kidney stones. We found them when I took her in for an UTI. She is eating a prescription S/D diet. The vet wants her to stay on this for the rest of her life. I do not! She is to have surgery on Thursday if I can not find a vet that is a homeopathic doctor that will work with my vet. Help please! I need to find the type of premium dog food that will protect her from this problem happening again. She has been taking Clavamox morning and evening for about nine days. I love Addie so much. It hurts my heart to think she will have to be cut open to remove the stones. Thank you for your attention.”

Donna

Answer:

“Thank you for your inquiry.  Hopefully we can avoid surgery for Addie!  All statements made here are based on the limited information you have given me about Addie and you should consult your veterinarian to confirm that these recommendations are best for her.  You also expressed interest in a holistic veterinarian in your area.  You can visit www.ahvma.org and use the “Find a Holistic Vet” locator function to find an option in your area.

The fact that your veterinarian has diagnosed a UTI and placed Addie on S/D diet indicates that she has struvite stones.  Struvite stones can usually be dissolved using medicated diets (like the S/D)–which makes surgery unnecessary.  In dogs, these stones most often form in the presence of infection (UTI) and it is critical that antibiotics be given during the entire stone dissolving treatment period.  The average time to dissolve struvite stones is approximately 3 months.  Even very large stones can be dissolved (but it may take longer).  Most of the symptoms of stones and infection resolve within the first 10 days of therapy.  Your veterinarian should perform xrays and urinalysis once each month to properly monitor the stones for dissolution.  Once the xrays show the stones have dissolved, the antibiotics and diet therapy should continue for 1 additional month.  This is done because sometimes there are stones that are too small to be detected by xrays.  If the stones don’t fully dissolve, it may be because they are made of something different than struvite material and removal may become necessary.  There are now many alternatives for stone removal — including some laser (lithotripsy) techniques.  If this becomes necessary, ask your veterinarian about these alternatives to surgery.

If her stones successfully dissolve, you will not need to keep her on the S/D forever!  It is actually not recommended that S/D be used longer than a few months at a time and there are several dietary options to help prevent her from re-forming stones.  Controlling UTI’s and insuring that she gets plenty of water every day are key to preventing recurrence of struvite stone in particular.  Please visit www.halopets.com/pet-education/pet-articles/dog-bladder-stones.html for other ideas on preventing stones in dogs.”

Good Luck with Addie!

Dr. Donna Spector

Tags: Diet, kidney stones
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