Grrr...I'm so frustrated...and worried of course... quick background: Bella had a UTI with struvite crystals at oh...10 weeks old or so. 2 weeks of antibiotics, no more puss, no more straining or urgency, seemed to be resolved. Went in for a follow up urinalysis - normal pH but still lots of crystals - but no indication of infection...so no real action besides putting her on c/d diet trial. Another followup, high pH and crystals, so did a sterile sample urinalysis and sent it for culture. This was just before Christmas. The culture came back negative - shocked the vet and me...so we talked about it, and decided to change her food and start her on a cranberry relief supplement powder and start monitoring her daily pH. Have been doing that, and her morning first pee pH has been 6 or 6.5 pretty consistently, and if you check within 3 hours of when she has eaten it is predictably 7.5 or 8 (part of the metabolic effect)...but all other signs of urinary distress were gone.... Had our final vaccination appointment on Monday and we talked about her urine and symptoms - told her what/how I had been feeding, discussed the pH monitoring, no real symptoms that I've seen - and YES I do watch her very closely for urinary distress, straining, stop and go, etc. So we did NOT do a urinalysis on her on Monday. But..we did schedule her for her spay for today. So I just got a call from the vet. The spay went fine, Bella is waking up and doing fine. But she told me that because of her history, she decided to just do a "quick check" since she was inside anyway...so she'll have a longer incision than a typical spay. On the good side, she says all the structure of kidneys, bladder, ureters etc looks fine. And while she was in there she took a sample straight from her bladder and looked at it under the microscope again. Her pH was about 7.5 and she had LOTS of struvite crystals, but not a lot of white blood cells, and nothing else internal or external to suggest an infection... So we talked it out, and she is going to ask the lab to do a complimentary re-check of the culture we did before Christmas...with a suspicion that it might have been missed in the first culture (blame it on holiday madness or whatever). So...a new sample being sent out for culture - hopefully I won't have to pay for that again...but I will pay for it if I have to. We had a good long talk about how to deal with the struvites...options for changes in diet...possible supplements and probiotics....ways to approach this holistically if it turns out there is no infection. She feels strongly that it likely IS an infection, that it just didn't show up with the first culture. I just feel so bad that my poor baby girl has been dealing with this for 10 weeks already :'( :'( :'( And likely will have to go on another round of antibiotics, probably a longer run of them....and then figure out what to do about her food in general. Being a puppy it's counter indicated to have her on a urinary diet for an extended period....so if we can avoid that...that would be our goal....but resolving the struvites is the number 1 priority... Oh yeah...and recovery from her spay with an extra long incision... :'( :'( :'( my poor baby Bella :'( :'( :'(
Re: Ugh, Ugh, Ugh.... Hopefully the vet will get to the bottom of it quickly. At least they checked and can do something about it now I know how you feel when Harley had pyrometra and was extremely poorly - I felt guilty as I hadn't realised she was poorly, but everyone on here assured me that if she was in that much pain she would of let me know, plus she was sorted by the vet promptly by having an emergency spay (whilst she was under they found out she also had a twisted hernia, so repaired that too!) At least she will be home tomorrow x
Re: Ugh, Ugh, Ugh.... Sounds a lot to cope with. I can Sort of understand as my pup has had lots of treatment for various intestinal parasites and I am about to have her tested again. It seems never ending. How did you feel about your vet doing an extra procedure without asking? I guess if you trust your vet that's going to help you cope. Well, Bella will be so pleased to see you tomorrow! Lots of cuddles and maybe forget the other problem for a few days.
Re: Ugh, Ugh, Ugh.... [quote author=Jane Martin link=topic=9620.msg138907#msg138907 date=1421969004] . How did you feel about your vet doing an extra procedure without asking? I guess if you trust your vet that's going to help you cope. . [/quote] good question Jane....she didn't actually do an extra procedure I don't think...rather while she was there, she was concerned enough to look further. She told me I would not be charged for the extra look, just the spay. Granted the incision is a bit longer than normal, but it was just one procedure. I think she did the right thing...we've been working to get to the bottom of the crystal issue anyway. By doing a little bit of exploratory looking...she was able to rule out a physical anomaly and get the focus back on the contents of the bladder and the continuous crystal issue. Like I said, we both had suspected an infection when we sent the first culture, so sending a second one after symptoms did not clear up sounds like a really good plan to me. And she did ask if I was up for paying for another culture if the lab won't do a complementary...which of course I agreed to. I just want an answer, and a firm and positive direction to go with her. I do trust her, and the more I work with her and have "informed client and vet" conversations, the more I like her and her approach. She is not against taking a more natural and holistic approach to her care. but yeah...I miss my baby and will be anxious to get her tomorrow and take her home. :-[
Re: Ugh, Ugh, Ugh.... You poor thing, you must be feeling quite down about it all. It sounds to me like you and the vet are doing the most amazingly diligent job of trying to get to the bottom of it asap. I know its so awful to think of our dogs suffering in any way, but you are fighting in her corner as hard as you can! I hope you get a clear and accurate result from the test. You'll have Bella back soon and you'll be surprised at how quickly she is back to normal after the op Will take a day or two, but she'll be her normal, happy self very soon.
Re: Ugh, Ugh, Ugh.... Thanks Rachel... I needed to hear that... :-[ I am worried about her and feeling frustrated that I can't "fix" this problem. I just want her back to 100% healthy so it doesn't impact her long term. My last lab cross girl Izzy had horrible coccidia and then giardia as a pup and it was 9 months of constant care and adjustments with both traditional and non traditional options before the lining of her stomach and intestines healed enough that she didn't have constant poo issues. Poor darlings...when they have issues that we can't readily fix it's just heart wrenching... And of course my hubby is all grumpy about always getting a troubled/unhealthy pup : but he loves them too... Ugh...I hate feeling helpless... :-[
Re: Ugh, Ugh, Ugh.... I hope you will soon get to the bottom of it all. Sounds like your vet is working with you, so that is good. Bella will be home soon and you will be able to give her lots of cuddles and that will make you feel better
Re: Ugh, Ugh, Ugh.... Lovely to hear that you have a good relationship with your vet. I get on well with a particular vet and it really helps a lot. I am excited for you, going to pick her up today.
Re: Ugh, Ugh, Ugh.... I hope you get some answers soon, your vet sounds great though. There are quite a few of us on the forum who spent the first year with our pup mostly at the vet. Some people says it's like with kids - a string of childhood illnesses, and accidents...
Re: Ugh, Ugh, Ugh.... Oh dear, you poor things... Do hope you get to the bottom of this soon. At any rate, you'll have your lovely Bella back tomorrow. Big hugs all round.
Re: Ugh, Ugh, Ugh.... I think your vet sounds really good I'd be very happy that she's looking into everything so closely. Hopefully the cultures will come back positive this time. I know that sounds weird but at least then you will know the reason and it can be treated. My two had ecoli in their bladder and struvite crystals. Fingers crossed it's sorted quickly and I'm sure Bella will be fine after her op and back to normal in no time.
Re: Ugh, Ugh, Ugh.... Just a quick question - is this part of the reason you had her spayed so early?
Re: Ugh, Ugh, Ugh.... Don't worry about the long incision, my vet said it doesn't make any difference as it heals from side to side. So sorry about the urine problem, with luck it will be cured with antibiotics. My Lab had to have an extended course, finally sorted the problem out and did him no harm. (Though a bowel rather than a bladder problem).
Re: Ugh, Ugh, Ugh.... [quote author=Karen link=topic=9620.msg138969#msg138969 date=1422005565] Just a quick question - is this part of the reason you had her spayed so early? [/quote] Hi Karen, No, the urinary issue doesn't have any affect on the timing of her spay. Here in the US we tend to spay earlier than what I've seen for those of you in the UK. Once they are fully vaccinated, if we aren't planning on using them for breeding, they are usually spayed right away, and almost always before the first season. My vet and I discussed it, and doing her young ensures that all the tissues are very small and so the surgery is easier for them to recover from, plus it reduces her chances for mammary cancer, and obviously pyometria. She said that doing the girls early doesn't affect the growth like it does for males, so getting her done early just made the most sense. Plus...doing her before she is 40 pounds saves money too. Not that saving money was the impetus to having it done...just that it was one more benefit. Thank you everyone for your support....it's about another 3 hours and I'll be able to leave work and go get my girl. It was a very quiet and subdued night at our house...and my big dog Crystal was looking at me VERY suspiciously wondering where her little sister was...and why no one brought her home last night. :-[
Re: Ugh, Ugh, Ugh.... [quote author=Jane Martin link=topic=9620.msg139030#msg139030 date=1422033661] How is she? [/quote] don't know yet...I go get her in another couple hours. Fine is my guess, since I've not been called by the vet since our conversation yesterday afternoon. I'm in the US and right now it's 9:30 am...and 5:30pm in London.
Re: Ugh, Ugh, Ugh.... She was thrilled to see me...very exuberant...has calmed now on the ride home. She has a cone...she's a licker...lol....but over all she is doing fine it seems. We are almost home...no cell service or internet there...so will give full update with pictures of our weekend in a couple days....thanks all for the love and support ..now to get my girl the rest of the way home...
