[inov8v]

I brought home a new puppy on 6/5 who was easier to crate train and begin housetraining than I ever imagined. He could hold his pee for several hours through the night for the first several nights but then I noticed that he peed in his crate and had to go way more than even a puppy should. Long story short, three trips to the vet over the next week and three different meds – none of which seem to be working.

My question is has anyone any thoughts on the food being part of the problem. The breeder was feeding him Pedigree can and Iams Smart Puppy. I switched him to Ziwi Peak.

Other than the UTI, the pup is growing and is very engaged in the training we’re providing. Also, it’s a Shetland Sheepdog.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[aimee]

Food doesn’t cause UTI’s but depending on what is fed it can change urine volumes. High protein/salt foods can increase urine volume.

My Lab had a UTI when young. Like you I noted increased urination as the primary sign. But because increased urination can be caused by several things my vet insisted that she not have any antibiotics until a sample was taken directly from her bladder and cultured.

It concerns me that your dog has been on three medications and none seem to be working. If you didn’t have a culture to verify that bacteria were present and the cause of the symptoms, the reason they may not be working could be because there was no infection causing the signs. Or another possibility is that stones are present, as uncommon as that is in such a young dog.

[Dori]

Inov8v. Did you do the switch of foods slowly? I would do as Aimee suggested and have a sample taken from the bladder and cultured. If your dog doesn’t have an infection he should certainly not be on medication attempting to deal with the symptoms instead of getting to the core problem. I would also suggest that you switch him to a different food. Maybe the switch to such a high quality food too quickly upset his system. Ziwipeak doesn’t seem to have that much salt in it I don’t think.

Another thought though is that your vet tried three different medications in one week???? That short amount of time (if it is an infection) wouldn’t have given any one of the meds time to work. Anyway, I still say get a culture directly from the bladder and see what’s going on.

Keep us posted.

• This reply was modified 10 years, 6 months ago by Dori.
• This reply was modified 10 years, 6 months ago by Dori.

[inov8v]

thanks for the replies…the switch was pretty gradual over a week…the vet did recommend a culture as the next step…part of the reason he’s been on 3 is that i may have overreacted…his urine had lots of blood 3 days into the clavomox (which was the first med) but it was a saturday so i took him to an emergency clinic…they then switched him but the new med didn’t seem to do anything so my vet gave me 2 options…option 1 is what you both said and option 2 is to try a different med…sounds like i should have selected option 1…

i’m going back wednesday and will hopefully get to some resolution…he doesn’t seem to be straining as much and there’s no blood but to your point, it’s not clear what the underlying cause is…more to come…

[Dori]

Glad you’re taking him to the vet for a urine sample directly from the bladder and see if there is an infection. If no infection than there is no reason for him to be on antibiotics. It may simply be the food being too rich for him right now at his young age or too much salt in whatever formula you’re feeding. In any event, keep us posted after vet visit on Wednesday.

[inov8v]

if the food is too rich…any thoughts on a less rich brand…i like the notion of feeding raw diets…i decided on ziwipeak after a fair amount of research but would primal or one of the other 5 star brands be less rich or should i consider moving him from raw to something else given he’s a puppy?

[Dori]

All my dogs (three toy breeds) are fed commercial raw diets as of about 1 1/2 years ago. I rotate brands as well as proteins. I can now rotate them from meal to meal without a slow transition but that took quite a while to accomplish. Their guts are now at the point that changing from protein to protein doesn’t bother them in the least. My favorite of the commercial raw brands are Primal Pronto (although any of their complete “Formulas” are great), Natures Variety Instinct Raw, Answers Detailed Raw (a bit hard to find), Darwin’s Natural Selection (that’s an auto delivery food only from their web site or by phone), Vital Essentials Raw. These are the brands that my dogs have thrived on. Some of the others are pretty popular also such as Stella & Chewy’s, etc. my dogs haven’t faired as well on the other brands. Since being on raw they no longer has goopy stuff coming from their eyes, tear stains are gone, no more yeasty ears, their skin and coats are healthy and very very shiny. Oh, also no more gas, gurgling tummies, no more smelly poops. You’ll find that their poops are much much smaller and firm enough to easily pick up and dispose of. Their bodies utilize more of the nutrition in raw than they do on kibble. Added benefit of raw is that they are grain free. Dogs don’t have a necessity for grains, white potatoes, corn, soy, etc. One of my girls is allergic to all things poultry (anything with feathers) so I avoid all of those.

Many people start their puppies right on raw after a couple of weeks being home. Usually when you bring a puppy home it’s best to keep them on their same food for a couple of weeks that they were eating at the breeder. Theory being that they are stressed enough going home with a stranger to a new environment with no familiar scents, missing litter mates, etc. But then you do a slow transition as if you were transitioning from kibble to kibble. Initially you may find that the puppy has some diarrhea but that will pass. What I did was purchase a product from The Honest Kitchen called Perfect Form and while I was transitioning them to raw (good for transitioning any foods really until they get healthy enough to transition without issues) I would add the recommended dose to each of their meals. Gets rid of the diarrhea almost instantaneously. At least that’s been my experience with the product. I no longer feed dehydrated foods because to me they’re not strictly raw. Not crazy about freeze dried either.

Commercial raw is more expensive than kibble but you’ve already been feeding ZiwiPeaks which is an expensive dog food already so it shouldn’t be too shocking. I believe raw is much healthier therefore you save a ton of money at the vet which makes up for the more expensive diet.

• This reply was modified 10 years, 6 months ago by Dori.

[Angela A]

Now I can’t say that my GSD’s uti’s were caused by her food, but I can say that I switched from Blue Buffalo Basics Grain free to Kirkland (costco) grain free and she had 3 uti’s since the switch. Cranberry is in the Blue Buffalo, and not the Kirkland brand. We are back on Blue Buffalo and I am researching the Budget friendly foods now. Two German Shepherds put away some food! 🙂 Love that I joined! Thanks!

[Author]

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