Struvite Crystals/Bladder Stones in Dogs
"We just checked Lola’s urine for crystals and they have disappeared! No trace! The vet told us keep doing what we are doing. Thank you so much for all you have done to help us get on the right track. You are a miracle worker/angel."
"I took Chloe to the vet on Tues. and they did an x-ray and the two stones in her bladder are gone!😊 I think the vet was pleasantly surprised and boy was I happy. Thank you for your great advice. Chloe's weight is up to 12 lbs., she is energetic and seems to be feeling really good! In the last week she has consistently been eating her meals and is even hanging out in the kitchen acting hungry for the first time."
The material on this site is provided for educational and informational purposes only and must not be taken as “medical advice”.
The information and directions in these writings and subsequent emails, individually and collectively, are in no way to be considered as a substitute for consultations with a duly licensed Veterinarian regarding diagnosis and/or treatment of disease and are not intended to diagnose or treat your dog.
Please consult with your Veterinarian for this advice as well as for any Medical Emergency.
Bladder stones are one of the main diseases that dogs suffer in their lifetime. Small breeds get them more often than the larger breeds. These stones are produced if some excess minerals and other waste products solidify or crystallize in the dog's bladder area.
Although we often call them "bladder stones" in dogs, they are technically known as Urinary Calculi and the condition is referred to as Urolithiasis. Stones may actually form anywhere in the entire urinary tract. The urinary stones in dogs can be found in the kidneys, ureters (tiny tubes that carry urine from the kidneys to the bladder), bladder, or urethra (the tube from
the bladder to the outside of the animal). However, in the dog, over 85% of stones are found within the bladder itself.
The higher the urine concentration of the constituents that make up the stones, the higher the risk that stones will form. The concentration of these constituents can be influenced by the amount of minerals and protein in the diet, the amount of water the animal drinks, and the animal's unique metabolism. But the amount of minerals in the urine is not the determining factor for the creation of crystals/stones.
Urine pH is a prime factor in bladder stones. The acidity or alkalinity of the urine influences whether the stone constituents will remain dissolved or form stones. Some stones, such as struvite, form in alkaline urine, whereas others, including calcium oxalate stones, are more apt to form in acidic urine. The urine pH is largely influenced by diet and the health (or disease) of the liver.
The majority of stones in dogs with poor liver health are made up of struvite crystals. Normally these struvite crystals are apt to remain in solution if the urine is acidic (with a pH lower than 7.0 – a normal urine pH of 5.5 to 6.5 ). That is, they would continue to be dissolved in the liquid and no crystals/stones would form. A pH of higher than 7.0 enhances the formation of struvite crystals.
If your dog’s system is too acidic, then their urine would be too acidic and would cause damage to their bladder’s cells and tissues. To combat this, the body raises the urine pH by dumping alkaline minerals such as organic sodium into the urine from the body’s alkaline reserves. If the body’s alkaline reserves are depleted from balancing too much acidity for too long, then the emergency backup system is using ammonia produced by the body to raise the urine pH. Ammonia is highly alkaline, and the now high alkaline pH urine is a perfect breeding ground for bacteria that causes bladder infections.
Many of the bacteria that cause a bladder infection also produce an enzyme called urease. Urease reacts with urea molecules found in the urine to form more ammonia and carbon dioxide. The ammonia is slowly converted to ammonium ions, while the carbon dioxide unites with other compounds, freeing up phosphates. Then, through a chain of chemical reactions that seem to feed on each other, the magnesium that is normally present within the urine unites with the ammonium ions and phosphates to form magnesium ammonium phosphate crystals (struvite). If conditions are present for the crystals to form rapidly and in large quantities, they will unite together to form stones.
Traditional treatment for bladder stones is to put dog’s on a prescription diet that is lower in animal protein and higher in salt. The conventional thinking is that the lower animal protein will mean less urea, thus less of the building blocks for the struvite crystals. The salt causes retention of more water. This approach does nothing, however, to address the underlying problem which is the urine pH is too acidic from the consumption of a highly acidic diet, and so the body uses emergency measures making the urine too alkaline. It is even acknowledged that the prescription diet cannot be eaten indefinitely as it is not a “complete” food and should not be used for longer than 60 to 150 days.
Why does the treatment (prescription diet) only take away the symptom (the struvite stones) instead of addressing the real problem (acidic system causing alkaline urine pH)? Wouldn’t it be better to develop a treatment that supported the long term health of the patient, not one that just takes away the symptom?
I believe that the prescription diet should not be used at all and will contribute further to the underlying problem of the system being too acidic, the overproduction of ammonia, and the urine being too high a pH. A change in diet to a balanced acid/alkaline whole food diet along with whole food supplements is necessary to bring the urine back to the proper acidic pH and stop the urinary tract bacteria and ammonia from contributing to the struvite crystal building blocks. This will keep the urine pH in proper range. Only in this way will your dog say goodbye to bladder stones forever.
"Hopper is a 5 year old Mini Schnauzer. 2.5 years ago he had 7 bladder stones removed. He was put on prescription Hills Science Diet UD and Royal Canin UC with no improvement and had his 2nd bladder stone operation right before we found you. It has been 2 months since we started Hopper on your suggested diet and supplements. He started off with a pH of 10 and I am happy to report he is now down to a 7!! That is a miraculous change. His second surgery cost $3990 which was hard for us, but we just couldn't bring ourselves to put him down. Thanks for your help, we think we will have Hopper around for a long time now thanks to you."
"You asked me to be patient and stick to the plan - as of today 5/10/14 the large bladder stone is completely dissolved!!!! All smaller stones also gone, no crystals, no infection, CBC and Chem Panel completely normal! When she was first diagnosed, both vets encouraged me to pursue surgery to remove the stone. But because we connected with you, our path to wellness changed and thank goodness for that...no surgery needed, just time and patience. My vet asked me if I had shared the recipe with Royal Canin and Hills! He said he would not have believed it if he did not see it in action."
"My dog Buddy (long hair Chihuahua, Dachshund and Pomeranian mix) has been through a lot. He had so many medical issues including calcium oxalate bladder stones which he had surgery for to remove. He is now 11 and during his life he has had surgery on his spleen, surgery for the bladder stones, been diagnosed with Diabetes and I was told by my vet that he was suffering from liver failure and was preparing me for the fact that Buddy was going to die. The liver failure diagnosis was over two years and today, he is healthy, happy, looks amazing and has so much energy. He is happy and the most healthy he has ever been in his life! It has been an amazing turnaround. I basically had to get him healthy myself. My vet did not support my decision to do what I did, but he is healthy and that is all that matters!
Rick helped me and Buddy is now healthier than he has ever been. If anything, read what Rick has to say on this website. Be open to something that might not be traditional medicine through your vet. Changing Buddy’s food as well as adding the supplements, changed his life.
I now believe wholeheartedly that most vets know nothing about nutrition. They are told to carry a line of food in their offices by one of the large pharma/dog food companies because most of these companies go out and recruit at the vet universities across the United States when vets are in school and provide them with a kickback when the sell either Science Diet or Royal Canin in their clinics, up to 40%. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE my vet, I just don’t believe he knows much of anything about nutrition. He has been great to me, my dog Buddy and my three cats. He is good at what he does - diagnose and perform much needed surgeries and procedures. He did Buddy’s bladder stone surgery which had complications.
I was at my wits end as well and thought that I was going to lose Buddy, but I was not willing to give up so I did a Google search and found Rick - an amazing person who brought Buddy back to the healthy dog he is.
Buddy is on a very special diet and he has made huge strides in the last 10+ months. He is a very healthy dog to what he was 6 months ago.
If you choose to go with Rick's program, I believe that over time, it will save me money by not taking Buddy to the vet time and time again because I don’t know what is wrong and having a battery of tests run and racking up bills in the thousands. I have been there!
He was slowly weaned off of his processed food Science Diet U/D and placed on a diet of fresh veggies and meat based on a very slow transition with Rick’s help.
He is doing great! He has so much energy and the numbers don’t lie! I got a glucose meter and I am going to start checking his levels daily. I would really like to get him off the insulin if I can. I believe the medicine is what causes the blindness, not the actual diabetes, my vet believes otherwise.
My vet has not said much of anything. I explained I was taking him off the prescription food and putting him on this program and he never responded. When I took him in the last time for blood work, I think he was surprised Buddy was doing so well, but did not ask me further about what I was doing. He is a pretty straight and narrow vet and I don’t think he looks outside the box. If Buddy’s glucose numbers continue to decline, I will take him back and back off on the number of units he is given. Now it is just maintenance and keeping a spreadsheet and monitoring how he is doing.
I suggest reaching out. I think Rick saved Buddy’s life. I took him to the vet in October to have blood work done and he is perfectly healthy! The bladder stones HAVE NOT returned.
Good luck on your search for information and I hope you find a solution. Buddy is 11, but has a new lease on life.
If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out. I am happy to talk to you. I truly believe Rick knows what he is talking about. I put my trust in him and I now have a healthy, happy dog."
Lori Howard
Westminster, CO
Click here so I can help your dog
Click here to read Reviews of dogs that have been helped
Click here to return to the Home page
"I took Chloe to the vet on Tues. and they did an x-ray and the two stones in her bladder are gone!😊 I think the vet was pleasantly surprised and boy was I happy. Thank you for your great advice. Chloe's weight is up to 12 lbs., she is energetic and seems to be feeling really good! In the last week she has consistently been eating her meals and is even hanging out in the kitchen acting hungry for the first time."
The material on this site is provided for educational and informational purposes only and must not be taken as “medical advice”.
The information and directions in these writings and subsequent emails, individually and collectively, are in no way to be considered as a substitute for consultations with a duly licensed Veterinarian regarding diagnosis and/or treatment of disease and are not intended to diagnose or treat your dog.
Please consult with your Veterinarian for this advice as well as for any Medical Emergency.
Bladder stones are one of the main diseases that dogs suffer in their lifetime. Small breeds get them more often than the larger breeds. These stones are produced if some excess minerals and other waste products solidify or crystallize in the dog's bladder area.
Although we often call them "bladder stones" in dogs, they are technically known as Urinary Calculi and the condition is referred to as Urolithiasis. Stones may actually form anywhere in the entire urinary tract. The urinary stones in dogs can be found in the kidneys, ureters (tiny tubes that carry urine from the kidneys to the bladder), bladder, or urethra (the tube from
the bladder to the outside of the animal). However, in the dog, over 85% of stones are found within the bladder itself.
The higher the urine concentration of the constituents that make up the stones, the higher the risk that stones will form. The concentration of these constituents can be influenced by the amount of minerals and protein in the diet, the amount of water the animal drinks, and the animal's unique metabolism. But the amount of minerals in the urine is not the determining factor for the creation of crystals/stones.
Urine pH is a prime factor in bladder stones. The acidity or alkalinity of the urine influences whether the stone constituents will remain dissolved or form stones. Some stones, such as struvite, form in alkaline urine, whereas others, including calcium oxalate stones, are more apt to form in acidic urine. The urine pH is largely influenced by diet and the health (or disease) of the liver.
The majority of stones in dogs with poor liver health are made up of struvite crystals. Normally these struvite crystals are apt to remain in solution if the urine is acidic (with a pH lower than 7.0 – a normal urine pH of 5.5 to 6.5 ). That is, they would continue to be dissolved in the liquid and no crystals/stones would form. A pH of higher than 7.0 enhances the formation of struvite crystals.
If your dog’s system is too acidic, then their urine would be too acidic and would cause damage to their bladder’s cells and tissues. To combat this, the body raises the urine pH by dumping alkaline minerals such as organic sodium into the urine from the body’s alkaline reserves. If the body’s alkaline reserves are depleted from balancing too much acidity for too long, then the emergency backup system is using ammonia produced by the body to raise the urine pH. Ammonia is highly alkaline, and the now high alkaline pH urine is a perfect breeding ground for bacteria that causes bladder infections.
Many of the bacteria that cause a bladder infection also produce an enzyme called urease. Urease reacts with urea molecules found in the urine to form more ammonia and carbon dioxide. The ammonia is slowly converted to ammonium ions, while the carbon dioxide unites with other compounds, freeing up phosphates. Then, through a chain of chemical reactions that seem to feed on each other, the magnesium that is normally present within the urine unites with the ammonium ions and phosphates to form magnesium ammonium phosphate crystals (struvite). If conditions are present for the crystals to form rapidly and in large quantities, they will unite together to form stones.
Traditional treatment for bladder stones is to put dog’s on a prescription diet that is lower in animal protein and higher in salt. The conventional thinking is that the lower animal protein will mean less urea, thus less of the building blocks for the struvite crystals. The salt causes retention of more water. This approach does nothing, however, to address the underlying problem which is the urine pH is too acidic from the consumption of a highly acidic diet, and so the body uses emergency measures making the urine too alkaline. It is even acknowledged that the prescription diet cannot be eaten indefinitely as it is not a “complete” food and should not be used for longer than 60 to 150 days.
Why does the treatment (prescription diet) only take away the symptom (the struvite stones) instead of addressing the real problem (acidic system causing alkaline urine pH)? Wouldn’t it be better to develop a treatment that supported the long term health of the patient, not one that just takes away the symptom?
I believe that the prescription diet should not be used at all and will contribute further to the underlying problem of the system being too acidic, the overproduction of ammonia, and the urine being too high a pH. A change in diet to a balanced acid/alkaline whole food diet along with whole food supplements is necessary to bring the urine back to the proper acidic pH and stop the urinary tract bacteria and ammonia from contributing to the struvite crystal building blocks. This will keep the urine pH in proper range. Only in this way will your dog say goodbye to bladder stones forever.
"Hopper is a 5 year old Mini Schnauzer. 2.5 years ago he had 7 bladder stones removed. He was put on prescription Hills Science Diet UD and Royal Canin UC with no improvement and had his 2nd bladder stone operation right before we found you. It has been 2 months since we started Hopper on your suggested diet and supplements. He started off with a pH of 10 and I am happy to report he is now down to a 7!! That is a miraculous change. His second surgery cost $3990 which was hard for us, but we just couldn't bring ourselves to put him down. Thanks for your help, we think we will have Hopper around for a long time now thanks to you."
"You asked me to be patient and stick to the plan - as of today 5/10/14 the large bladder stone is completely dissolved!!!! All smaller stones also gone, no crystals, no infection, CBC and Chem Panel completely normal! When she was first diagnosed, both vets encouraged me to pursue surgery to remove the stone. But because we connected with you, our path to wellness changed and thank goodness for that...no surgery needed, just time and patience. My vet asked me if I had shared the recipe with Royal Canin and Hills! He said he would not have believed it if he did not see it in action."
"My dog Buddy (long hair Chihuahua, Dachshund and Pomeranian mix) has been through a lot. He had so many medical issues including calcium oxalate bladder stones which he had surgery for to remove. He is now 11 and during his life he has had surgery on his spleen, surgery for the bladder stones, been diagnosed with Diabetes and I was told by my vet that he was suffering from liver failure and was preparing me for the fact that Buddy was going to die. The liver failure diagnosis was over two years and today, he is healthy, happy, looks amazing and has so much energy. He is happy and the most healthy he has ever been in his life! It has been an amazing turnaround. I basically had to get him healthy myself. My vet did not support my decision to do what I did, but he is healthy and that is all that matters!
Rick helped me and Buddy is now healthier than he has ever been. If anything, read what Rick has to say on this website. Be open to something that might not be traditional medicine through your vet. Changing Buddy’s food as well as adding the supplements, changed his life.
I now believe wholeheartedly that most vets know nothing about nutrition. They are told to carry a line of food in their offices by one of the large pharma/dog food companies because most of these companies go out and recruit at the vet universities across the United States when vets are in school and provide them with a kickback when the sell either Science Diet or Royal Canin in their clinics, up to 40%. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE my vet, I just don’t believe he knows much of anything about nutrition. He has been great to me, my dog Buddy and my three cats. He is good at what he does - diagnose and perform much needed surgeries and procedures. He did Buddy’s bladder stone surgery which had complications.
I was at my wits end as well and thought that I was going to lose Buddy, but I was not willing to give up so I did a Google search and found Rick - an amazing person who brought Buddy back to the healthy dog he is.
Buddy is on a very special diet and he has made huge strides in the last 10+ months. He is a very healthy dog to what he was 6 months ago.
If you choose to go with Rick's program, I believe that over time, it will save me money by not taking Buddy to the vet time and time again because I don’t know what is wrong and having a battery of tests run and racking up bills in the thousands. I have been there!
He was slowly weaned off of his processed food Science Diet U/D and placed on a diet of fresh veggies and meat based on a very slow transition with Rick’s help.
He is doing great! He has so much energy and the numbers don’t lie! I got a glucose meter and I am going to start checking his levels daily. I would really like to get him off the insulin if I can. I believe the medicine is what causes the blindness, not the actual diabetes, my vet believes otherwise.
My vet has not said much of anything. I explained I was taking him off the prescription food and putting him on this program and he never responded. When I took him in the last time for blood work, I think he was surprised Buddy was doing so well, but did not ask me further about what I was doing. He is a pretty straight and narrow vet and I don’t think he looks outside the box. If Buddy’s glucose numbers continue to decline, I will take him back and back off on the number of units he is given. Now it is just maintenance and keeping a spreadsheet and monitoring how he is doing.
I suggest reaching out. I think Rick saved Buddy’s life. I took him to the vet in October to have blood work done and he is perfectly healthy! The bladder stones HAVE NOT returned.
Good luck on your search for information and I hope you find a solution. Buddy is 11, but has a new lease on life.
If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out. I am happy to talk to you. I truly believe Rick knows what he is talking about. I put my trust in him and I now have a healthy, happy dog."
Lori Howard
Westminster, CO
Click here so I can help your dog
Click here to read Reviews of dogs that have been helped
Click here to return to the Home page
Free "Canine Health, Naturally" Email Series Discover what you need to know to reverse your dog's degenerative disease, naturally! Give your pet extraordinary health that lasts a lifetime. |
NOTE: Your email address will never be rented, traded, or sold. Privacy Policy.
|