Hello,

So Koda has had basically a non stop UTI so we ran all the tests and found out his PH is off giving him crystals. The vet wants to put him on a prescription diet for about a month to see if that helps. Theoretically couldn't I get the PH test strips and test him at home and give him baking soda to lower it, I haven't tried that I'm asking too see if that would be a good idea.

Also what could he be eating that would make his PH so high? I feed him Orijen Tundra freeze dried raw in the morning and Victor Active Puppy for dinner. Then he gets The Honest Kitchens probiotic, ACV, and Golden Paste.

Hi Megan, Couple things I can suggest, make sure your ACV is in raw form, only in raw for will it help lower acid. You can use test strips but I would work with my vet on this, and explain you'd prefer to try simple at home things by checking urine with the strips. You might if bad enough have to use antibiotics and a diet food for a short time first to rid of the crystals. I would stop feeding the Victor, some of their formulas are low carb, this one is not. I would also add in more water to the diet, how are you feeding the Orijen? It is an excellent food, low carb high fruit, which is excellent for bladder, kidney health. What you are feeding is awesome in my opinion, however the golden paste may be too much fat brought into the diet along with the natural fat in the food, he is a puppy so some puppies just do not process fat as well as adult dogs. How much water, and how are you feeding the Orijen? That will help in giving you more suggestions.

Do NOT give him baking soda - can really throw off his acid base balance. If his pH is high, that means his urine is alkaline and baking soda is a strong alkali. A LOW pH means his urine is acid. I would stick to the vet on this one - the body is usually quite good in regulating acid base balance - if its off, you really want someone who knows what they are doing.

You can get the ph strips and test at home. Just do your research and know what levels you are testing for. Think they should be around 7.0. Did the vet say exactly how off he is? As in is his ph high, low?

You may want to find a dry dog food that is lower in carbs. Victor has a lot of carbs and carbs don't help. I would also see about adding some water to his kibble to promote him drinking more water. You can also look at Cranimals cranberry supplements and vitamin C. You already have quite the regimen of stuff you give him and while all these things separately do good things they maybe working against each other in some cases. I would possibly lay off the golden paste for a bit until you can get this under control. One can over supplement a dog and if you go the vitamin C route you don't want any reactions.

Mishka had been going thru the same thing, and something that's been working for her so far is adding a cranberry supplement to her diet on a daily basis. I changed her food as well but she and Kohdi have had soft poop ever since, and I'm on my second bag now so it's not just adjusting to a new food. Anyways, on amazon I found a product called "Cranimals", it's a 100% organic cranberry in powder form that I just mix with some yogurt for her, and she wolfs it down too! I guess there are studies that say cranberry doesn't help but my vet suggested it, and so far it's worked I'm assuming cuz Mishka was getting another UTI within a week of her antibiotics running out.

I agree with Amy, especially since there are crystals in the urine, as much as I hate the diet prescription foods vets offer, it is designed for short term help. Working with your vet and explaining you prefer a more natural approach is best, and like I said above, sometimes the antibiotics and special diet is the safest way to help puppies, they can be so very tricky and their immune system is not up to snuff compared to an adult dog. My above comments may help, and yes I did read that wrong, I was reading acidic, so the ACV may need to be stopped for the time being, adding water into the diet, like in the freeze dried is extremely helpful, lack of water can be a reason why crystals form. The Orijen provides a nice amount of fruits, but like Jimmy mentioned adding a cranberry supplement on top of the Orijen would be beneficial.

One of the things about crystals was that either high or low pH can cause them - take a look at this page for better explanation.

Since Sky tends to show crystals in her urine I also use the Cranberry Supplements ... like Jimmy said, there are arguments that they do no good and there's a consensus that they do work ... pick your poison on that count. Sky's had fewer crystals since she's been on the supplement ...????

Crystals, themselves, aren't a major problem but they can indicate other problems and they can go on to cause stones. If it's just a few crystals each time your vet checks, it may not be a big problem, just one that bears watching.

I talked to the vet we are doing 1 small bag of the prescription diet and he is doing antibiotics for the infections. I am for sure following the vets advice first and foremost, I'm just brainstorming for longterm.

I went and got the test strips just now, I also ordered cranberry supplement as well as vitamin C. I am also going to quit adding golden paste and the ACV for now then reintroduce when everything is relaxed.


I was unsure about the baking soda which is why I asked first.

I am also going to switch him to Orijen's puppy food, when the prescription food is out.

Can't wait to be shoving my hand in dog pee every day LOL! Just when I thought I couldn't reach a new level of crazy dog lady, I have to go and now obsess over his pee. LOL (joking my dogs are my babies and I will literally do whatever strange new thing is needed to make sure they are good)

Personally I would stay on the freeze dried and not go to a complete dry kibble. The orijen is an excellent food, however the profile for the dry kibble has less fruit than the freeze dried. Freeze dried when re hydrating with water is far better with dogs with crystal issues than dry kibble. Dry kibble takes all liquid in the stomach to break down foods, dry kibble is naturally higher in carbs than freeze dried, when the gut uses its natural liquid to break down food it takes away from hydration, which is a contributing factor to crystals in the urine. The freeze dried is a complete and balanced food, I am assuming that the prescription food is can?

Oh no I'm for sure not taking him off of that. Just switching the Victor for him.

No, they gave me Royal Canin Urinary SO kibble... I'm thinking about adding bone broth to that while I'm feeding it, thoughts?

make sure the broth gets to room temp and soak at least 20 minutes, yes, I feed my girls this way, it helps with the breaking down of the kibble and doesn't take away from their own natural liquid that is needed. I highly recommend feeding this way for good bladder and kidney health regardless if there is any issues.

Well this morning K has green, gooey discharge coming out of his penis... I have never had a boy dog before, I'm assuming this is not normal? He is currently on antibiotics, should I just watch and see if it comes back or take him back up to the vet?

I'd say that your assumption is valid - it definitely wouldn't be normal.
Whether you take him to the vets now or not, to me would depend on how long he's been on antibiotics - just looked, he's been the antibiotics since Tuesday - nope, this shouldn't be happening. I'd call the vet and be prepared for a trip.

I've seen different drugs do odd things to urine but normally it's just a change in either colour or odor - - green and gooey doesn't sound like a drug effect.

I emailed a pic to our vet.

Just like us humans, some of the bugs our dogs get are becoming drug resistant and some people (and dogs) have become resistant to some drugs. If a 'normal' regimen of one drug doesn't seem to be having the desired effect, you might want to discuss a change to a different family of drugs.

( Just as an aside, I was megadosed with penicillin when I was a baby - I'm not allergic to it but it does nothing for me so I've had reason to check the validity of my previous statements. )

Green goo sounds infectious. The antibiotic you are using may not be matched to the bacteria involved - a change may be necessary. I have 2 males - my own, a wooly and I have been completely unaware that he even HAS a penis with all that hair (except for the very few times I mistook it for matted fur that needed detangling ) And then there is my foster, Z'ev. Any time that boy gets worked up, out comes the lipstick

aljones wrote:

Just like us humans, some of the bugs our dogs get are becoming drug resistant and some people (and dogs) have become resistant to some drugs.  If a 'normal' regimen of one drug doesn't seem to be having the desired effect, you might want to discuss a change to a different family of drugs.

( Just as an aside, I was megadosed with penicillin when I was a baby - I'm not allergic to it but it does nothing for me so I've had reason to check the validity of my previous statements. )

This is exactly what I did with Mishka. The second antibiotic seemed to do the job better.

Update:

I sent the pic to the vet, he wasn't worried at all said he sees it all the time and it is just "boy" stuff, I also asked my SIL to look at it and she agreed and both of her boys get the same deal.

Koda's PH has fairly normalized 6.5 still not 7 but deff better! He is using the bathroom normally again and seems to just be feeling better. Of course I'm still watching him closely, but overall he seems to be bouncing back. I cut out the ACV and the Golden Paste and am now just doing cranberry and vitamin C in his food with extra water.