Wow – this one really made my hair curl, as you can see from my replies below. Thank goodness Guy had a whole lot better solution to his little dog’s bladder infection than the fancy internist. Good grief, Charlie Brown!
Hello. I had a question that I wanted to run by you. Our dog is a Jack Russell mix, female, and almost 11 years old. She eats Science Diet (mature formula – dry). Our dog has had some problems this year, and one of your regular listeners said that I should contact you for a second opinion.
Four separate times this year, she developed a serious bladder infection — serious to us since she had lots of blood coming from her urethra when she urinated. The first time that happened this year, they did an ultrasound and found no stones or abnormalities. She responded to the antibiotics and it went away. That was the first time — the same exact thing happened three more times this year.
On the most recent occasion, our vet referred us to an internist, who also did another ultrasound and found no stones or abnormalities either. The internist, also notated that (1) her urine was too alkaline (during all 4 events this year, they documented her urine Ph at about 8 or around there), and (2) that her vulva was too far tucked into her area down there (and she thought that perhaps bacteria was getting stuck in-between her legs and growing into her bladder). For the latter issue, she recommended a vaginaplasty to remove some of the skin and pull her vulva back to where it was exposed.
After going back to our regular vet, he advised that he didn’t want to do the surgery because he would have to remove a lot of skin to expose her vulva. We only wanted to use the surgery as a last resort anyway, so trying some other options first was fine for us. He placed her on a prescription food to replace the Science Diet (he put her on Hill’s W/D because it’s supposed to acidify the urine). We are also, daily, using a gentle baby wipe to clean her vaginal area.
The prescription food is pretty expensive ($60 for a 30lb bag). Our friend suggested that you might have some alternatives for acidifying her urine. Any help you can provide is greatly appreciated.
Thanks, Guy in Oklahoma City, OK
Guy, you need to read my website and The Dog Bible to discover how poor her nutrition is and is definitely part of the problem
That internist worries the pants off me: she wants to do vaginal surgery on an 11 year old dog because WHY?? A recurrent bladder infection? Holy cow. That’s hitting a fly with a baseball bat if ever I heard overkill!
1) Although your vet is more conservative, nonetheless this internist was his choice. Doesn’t reflect real well on him.
2) Unless you’re deeply attached, I’d be looking for another opinion or vet. There are much simpler ways to manage a baffling situation, and you want to begin by eliminating diet as a cause, no matter what it says on the over-priced bag.
3) Both vets are entirely negligent, in my humble opinion, for not questioning the diet. My book and website have ample proof of how dehydrating and malnourishing that diet is. Get her on proper food immediately.
4) She doesn’t have bladder stones or crystals so why treat for them? She had an infection — that can be as much an overall health/immunity issue as anything else.
5) Urinary pH changes hourly, so a value has no meaning if taken once or even ten times if you aren’t controlling exactly when you’re taking it. Even then, there are wide variations and it’s not really proof of anything. Pretty sad the vet doesn’t know that.
6) Get some Platinum Performance supplement to put into her new real food diet (my website is full of answers about this) so balance her nutritional intake.
7) Don’t try to mess around with changing urinary pH: it’s tricky if impossible to do effectively and urine that is too acid creates a whole other set of possible problems.
Hang in there but PLEASE use your own common sense and instincts. For example, the baby wipes are a good idea. Cheap, non-invasive, and effective. Good for you.
Tracie
