From: cdm@pmafire.inel.gov (Dale Cook)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.dogs
Subject: Re: Urinary tract infection
Date: 12 Nov 92 22:19:16 GMT
Article-I.D.: pmafire.1992Nov12.221916.28510
Organization: WINCO

In article <1992Nov12.202416.10495@newshost.lanl.gov> srlee@beta.lanl.gov (Stephen R Lee) writes:
>In article <1992Nov12.153737.9801@cas.org> sla54@cas.org (Sandra Augustine) writes:
>
>[stuff deleted]
>
>>	I sold Ozzie (golden retriever puppy, almost 3 months old) to Colleen
>>early in October. Since then, he's developed a urinary tract infection with
>>some crystals in his urine. The external symptoms of his problem are drinking a
>>lot of water and needing to go outside frequently. Ozzie has been on Amoxicillin
>>for one week with no improvement. Yesterday, Colleen was told by her vet that
>>because Ozzie has crystals in his urine now, that he will always be predisposed
>>to having these crystals. The vet also said that Ozzie will need to be on
>>a special diet his entire life and should have monthly urine tests done for a
>>least a year. He also discussed the possibility of surgery for Ozzie. As you
>>can imagine, Colleen is very depresssed about this. And as you can imagine,
>>I feel very bad for Colleen and Ozzie.
>
>I'm not sure if this will help or not, but I'll toss it in.  A long time ago
>we had a cat that developed this problem.  Symptoms were as you state, plus
>blood in the urine.  The problem was easy to clear up, but the cat also
>had to be on a special diet the rest of its life, for the same reason (i.e.,
>that he would be predisposed to get them again).  I did not think much of it
>at the time, until you mentioned it, but the veterinarian in this case also
>blamed the Purina cat food he had been eating all of his life.  I have to admit
>that I really did not believe this, but he is the veterinarian.  I mean, how
>many cats and dogs eat Purina dog food?  I know lots of people that feed Pro-Plan

We have a cat that had this problem, too.  The problem is known as Feline
Urinary Syndrome (FUS) and is quite common in male cats, especially neutered
ones.  As far as I know, your vet is correct is stating that it is diet which
is to blame.  Many cheaper cat foods have a high magnesium content, which
forms salts in the urine which can form crystals.  These crystals cause
tiny cuts in the urethra which lead to inflammation and possibly infection.
Additionally, these crystals can ultimately block the urinary tract and if
not treated will cause death.

I believe this does occur in dogs as well, but is much less common.  
To answer the original question, if this is indeed the problem, then
yes, I believe a special diet is in order for the rest of the dog's life.
The antibiotics will clear up any infection, but the root cause of the
problem, the crystals in the urine, will simply cause the problem over
again if left untreated.

>be common.  If the dog does need a special diet (I think the cat was on Hill's
>"Stone" diet), it is not really all that bad.  My recollection is that it was not
>THAT much more expensive.  I never calculated the cost over the rest of the life
We feed our cats Science Diet (Hill's) CD formula, at about $1/can.  I don't 
know what the dog food costs.

---Dale Cook
Newsgroups: rec.pets.dogs