Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My Shih Tzu is 10 years old and a urine test showed crystals and bacteria. She is on Simplicef.

She eats Natural Balance Venison canned and dry food. I was wondering if she should only eat fresh Lamb now. I just worry about the calcium amount. She can't have beef or chicken. Just salmon, lamb and venison, no grain.

We will have a follow up in 10 days to see if the crystals are gone. She is 10 years old and doing great. I hope the blood testing will show she is fine with her kidneys etc. I will know this week.

Thanks. Sally
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Sally & Trudy

Crystals form when the urine is too concentrated and the urine pH is either too high or too low, usually due to a bacterial infection. You can dilute the urine by getting more water into your dog, by eliminating dry food, by adding water to the fresh or canned food, and by adding salt to the food to make the dog thirsty. Most urinary tract infections are due to E. coli, which can be treated with cranberry extract or by adding d-mannose to the food, which keeps the bacteria from adhering to the bladder wall.

She has been on all canned food because I thought the moisture was good. Then we added a few peices of dry just because she enjoys both. I will stop that and do what you said.

What is the amount of the supplements for a 13 pound dog?
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Sally & Trudy

Add 1/4 tsp d-mannose to her food twice a day, and 1/8 tsp salt at each meal, along with water, and keep increasing the salt at each meal until she refuses to eat the food, then cut back a little. Add water to her food as well, as the objective is to get more water into her.

Thank you very much. I am adding quite a bit of water when I give Trudy her Canned food. She loves it. I will be looking into the Dmannose if her check up shows she still has crystals.
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Sally & Trudy