High pH and urinary cyrstals (update post #9)

[Sowa]

So I while back I switched Clover to Taste of the Wild bison and venison food. Shortly after she started licking her paws a lot so I figured it was the chicken in the food, she's licked her feet before while on chicken food. So I switched to the lamb formula. Since then, she's been licking more, licking her vulva constantly and recently had been having trouble peeing. I got some tests done and her urine had high pH and crystals. I got meds, and a retest and it's higher now. They tell me I need some really expensive vet food. I kinda feel the vets don't tell me the entire truth cause they want to sell the food. So I'm wondering if I switched back to Blue fish and potato would that make a difference? She was doing well on the food until she stopped eating it but I think it was just from the heat of the summer...

Any suggestions? I also think this new diet is chicken based so if she does have an allergy I'm not really sure what I can do there...

[Jessika]

I'm sure there are things you can do OTC to lower the pH, but I disagree that they're pushing the expensive food just because they want your money.

There are no other foods on the market that can put on their label that they are a prescription food for a medical condition. Those prescription foods go through a much more vigorous testing process than your normal commercial diets to, because they have a lot more standards to live up to. And they do work, but you have to be very strict about only feeding that specific food.

If you would like an alternative to the prescription diet, I urge you to contact your vet to talk about other options. Your vet is the only one who knows your pet's condition, better than any of us. Plus, there are many different stones that form in different pHs, so your vet will be able to give you a better understanding of exactly which "stone" you're potentially dealing with and what you may be able to do to help prevent their formation.

[Freedom]

Crystals are not something to tinker with -- they indicate she is developing stones. Get her on the prescription food asap. Use the Royal Canin one, NOT the Science Diet one. If your vet only offers the Science Diet one, get the script from him and get the Royal Canin food elsewhere.

Once the crystals are clear, you can try returning to another food. You can take in a urine sample once a month to test for crystals. If those appear again, then go back on the prescription food till they clear up.

Bichons are prone to bladder stones. Thank goodness I have never had to deal with them. So many on the bichon forum have. My friend just 17 miles from me, her Mattie has had surgery to remove bladder stones THREE times in 18 months. The first time, after the surgery, my friend tried doing online research and preparing food herself. That didn't work. The second time, she did not have the urine tested regularly, but skipped a month and in fact crystals had started forming. Now she regularly takes in a urine sample each month -- it is easier and less costly than the surgery.

[Sowa]

I'm getting the food tomorrow.

[Cataholic]

Science Diet has a RX food, available only through a vet clinic. And, like all other SD products- it is crap food. Do not be fooled into thinking that BECAUSE a vet recos a food, and it is a RX diet, that it is good.

I know nothing about Royal Canin.

I would get with a nutritionist, and figure out what her allergies are (though chicken seems to be often at the top of the heap with dogs), and go that route.

[Sowa]

I went with the Royal Canin. The SD ingredients didn't look great. Hopefully I'll be able to switch back to something else eventually. I'm looking for some place online to buy strips to test the pH myself