Increased Crystal In Urine?

[Guest janlove]

Hi- I recently dropped off a urine sample of my dog because I thought he had a urinary tract infection, the UTI was negative- but the vet found increased crystal formations in the urine. Recently my dog ate the cat's food (x3), so I was wondering if this could have caused the crystals to form or increase?

 

How do I handle this- I really would like to avoid a diet change if possible. He is currently on antibiotics x10 days. Any information about this that you guys could share with me would be greatly appreciated.

[GeorgeofNE]

Google the internet for "canine urine crystals" and you'll get more information than you can handle.

 

Eating cat food three times is very unlikely to cause crystals.

 

Depending on the TYPE of crystals, it might be manageable with diet. Did your vet at least x-ray the bladder area? One variety of crystals shows on x-ray, and the other doesn't.

[fionasmom]

When I first had Fiona she had crystals in her urine (I also thought it was a UTI). The vet put her one of the Science Diet foods for about a month which cleared it up. That was 6 years ago and we have not had a repeat occurance.

[Guest DeweytheGreyt]

Dewey was the king of urine crystals in the beginning. Nothing we did (including change of diet) helped until we got rid of the rawhides. DUH! Our vet said that sometimes the salt content in rawhides is difficult in some dogs and can cause increased crystal production. In our house, no rawhides=no crystals.