Help Please for Recurring Cystitis

[Dobiegirl]

My friends dog choc Lab 2rd bitch keeps getting it, shes had 4 this year her vet has put her on another course of antibotics which clears it up only for it to come back again.

The dog is spayed,overweight and fed on James Wellbeloved and Im wondering if the food is too rich for her and I wouldnt say she was over exercised.

Does anyone have any ideas what she could do to try to prevent it happening.

 

[quirky]

Has the vet checked for bladder stones?

 

[Dobiegirl]

No she hasnt been checked for bladder stones but her kidneys and liver have been checked and were normal.

The vet did tell her that after this bout is cleared she wanted a sample of wee to try to grow a culture.

I will ask her to ask her vet about bladder stones though thats a good suggestion thanks, have any of yours had this problem?.

 

[EAST KENT]

common in speyed bitches;now a vet I used to work for told me to give them tomato juice often as a preventitive.

 

[CorvusCorax]

I'd get a scan done. B had this and he turned out to have a huge mass off tissue in his bladder and the poor bugger was passing pieces of it.
He had to get a two-month blast of strong anti-biotics.

His diet has also been massively simplified, no wheat or maize, low protein and he rarely gets them now. He is on the anti-biotics at the mo but this is the first time this year rather than the second or third as in past years.

 

[quirky]

I will ask her to ask her vet about bladder stones though thats a good suggestion thanks, have any of yours had this problem?.

Not my dog, my sisters mini Schnauzer. Nothing a change of diet (to a rather expensive one) hasn't sorted.

 

[Dobiegirl]

I will suggest she asks her vet to scan.

CC that is a horror story poor dog.

EK I will pass on about the tomato juice.

Quirky what food did they change to.?

 

[orionstar]

Cranberry tablets are supposed to work. My sisters puppy was a bit prone to it a couple of years ago and her vet recommended them- one a day for a month and it never came back.

 

[MurphysMinder]

I was going to suggest cranberry tablets too. Not a dog, but our cat is prone to cystitis (stress related she is very neurotic ) and vet told us to make sure she drinks loads of water. She catches and eats a lot of rabbits, and just has a small meal when she comes in but we add loads of water to it to try and get as much water as possible into her. Presumably your friends soak the James Wellbeloved but it might be an idea to add more water to it so she really takes in lots of fluid.

 

[CAYLA]

I was going to suggest cranberry tablets too. Not a dog, but our cat is prone to cystitis (stress related she is very neurotic ) and vet told us to make sure she drinks loads of water. She catches and eats a lot of rabbits, and just has a small meal when she comes in but we add loads of water to it to try and get as much water as possible into her. Presumably your friends soak the James Wellbeloved but it might be an idea to add more water to it so she really takes in lots of fluid.[/QUOTE)


What MM said, even adding a hint of milk to a large bowl of water will encourage them to drink more than usual and flushes them in no time.

 

[Dobiegirl]

Thanks guys I dont think she soaks the kibble so that is a good first step. Also the cranberry, Im going to print off this thread and show her. Because her dog dosnt get a lot of regular exercise I dont expect she drinks nearly enough which would flush everything through.

 

[lochpearl]

My black labrador bitch had it a lot when young, there was always blood in her urine. She was on and off anti bs and probiotic paste and then we had her scanned, and they found struvite (sp) crystals in her bladder, this was making them re-occur. Changed her on to Hills Prescription Diet SD for a while to dissolve the crystals and once dissolved she went on to the Hill Prescription CD which she has been on since. I think SD was in tins if I remember right and CD comes in both. Touching wood here, she has not had a bout since.

If it's happening even once a year I would be looking at crystals and the prescription diet dissolves them and then can maintain.

 

[lochpearl]

p.s. mine was having a huge amount of exercise and always drinking, the wee wasn't dehydrated it was really just the crystals

 

[Dobiegirl]

Thanks Loch Pearl glad it worked for you its good that your dog has had no further bouts.

 

[lochpearl]

It was a nightmare and she was also learning to stop peeing when we stuck the collector underneath her so a lot of the time only had a dribble to get tested also to say that if they do go down the route of the prescription diet, you can get it online without prescription and is a lot cheaper than most vets. Good luck!!