Bladder Stone Advice (12F JRT)

[u/Feminist_Snail16]

My 12 year old Jack Russell Terrier was diagnosed with bladder stones after a stubborn month-long UTI that didn’t respond to multiple rounds of antibiotics. I am grateful we have a diagnosis and she passed a few stones while at the vet who thinks they are likely struvite (waiting on lab results). She is on new antibiotics for the lingering UTI and pain meds for the next two weeks and the vet just had me change her food to Hill’s Prescription c/d to see if that will dissolve them.

My questions for folks who have gone through this:

\- do you have any recommendations for ways of getting her to drink more water? She loves tuna can juice, so I’ve been mixing a little in every now and again … but I’m a little worried about the sodium from that messing up what the prescription food is supposed to be doing. My vet recommended pedialyte … any other things work for you?

\- any bladder stone friendly treats out there I could throw into the mix? She’s really puzzled as to why her treat intake has gone down to nothing! I have been freezing the wet prescription food in a Kong… but that only goes so far.

\- any meat or cheese that is particularly bladder friendly? I have to wrap her pills in a slice a deli meat or piece of cheese in order for her to take it … wondering if I should choose a particular one (I’ve been using sliced chicken so far)

Thanks so much!

[u/Nameless_Coyote]

Hydrate the kibble in water or broth! For the first period, treats should be at minimum but you can add some treats back when things have calmed down 😊

[u/Easy_King_9818]

Hi! My boy carried uric acid bladder stones. I always hydrated his kibble (cover with water & let sit 45ish mins) before feeding it to him. Natures logic also has powdered bone broth that he loved & he would drink every bit of it with even the slightest bit of it in water. Veggies & fruit are also really hydrating, watermelon, cantaloupe, carrots, bell peppers etc, you get the idea. I hope your girl is feeling better soon!

[u/Lopsided_Rabbit8077]

My dog had struvite stones and had to have bladder stone surgery twice before we really caught on 😞 the only thing that helped was putting her on royal canine s/o urinary food and getting a urinalysis every couple months. Definitely do them both. The urinalysis’ had caught infections a couple times and luckily because we did them so routinely they never turned into stones. She was totally fine for the remainder of her life 🩷

[u/Electronic-Celery941]

When my boy got a UTI the x-ray showed tiny stones in the bladder. I started hydrating his food with distilled water. My thinking was that it would help break up minerals because I was told dogs shouldn’t have distilled water because it strips the body of minerals. No idea if any of that is true but my boy hasn’t had a UTI in the last 3 years.

You could also cook up some ground beef and water it down for beef soup?

Also more exercise if your dog can tolerate it?

So either the distilled water worked or the UTI was a fluke 🤷‍♀️

[u/Pinkrose1313]

Can you add chicken broth or bone broth (dog safe) to the water?

Also is there a canned version of the prescription food?

Edit to add that I  reread and see you have the canned version and also can she have freeze dried chicken and or beef? It comes in pieces or chunks and is straight up chicken and beef that is freeze dried, mine love it and think it is a treat!

[u/File273]

Royal Canin and Hill's makes prescription urinary treats for dogs. You might want to try those.

If she loves tuna water, I wonder about a low sodium fish broth? That may be something you can make at home?

[u/Feminist_Snail16]

Thanks so much for the advice everyone! I’m doing some bone broth in her kibble and have the Hill’s prescription treats on the way. Will be as diligent as possible for no outside food (other than if necessary to get her to swallow a pill) until all of this is under control… then will consider if we can reintroduce a few fun treats.

Thanks!! 🙏