Also she has accidents every day but I'll just deal with that

July 26, 2012 7:29 PM

My little dog has bladder stones. Can you answer a couple of questions to help us get through this with dietary treatment alone?

I found out this weekend that my miniature dachshund Addie has bladder stones. The vet has put her on Hill's S/D (canned) to try to dissolve the stones, but if this does not work in 3 weeks or so, she may have to have surgery. From the size of the stones, the vet thinks this will have to happen, so I am anxious to try to give the food the best chance to work.

Addie, of course, does not like the food. Is there any way I can make it more appealing to her without introducing ingredients that would defeat the purpose? If it were an ordinary change of food, I would let her make up her own mind about when to eat what she was given, but she needs to take this stuff in.

Is it OK that I have to give Addie her antibiotic and pain pills with a little peanut butter or cheese? I have not found another way to get pills down her without the assistance of another person to help hold her mouth open and her body still until she swallows. I had mentioned the peanut butter technique to the vet, and he didn't say anything was wrong with it, but that was before he detected the bladder stones.

Any other advice would be appreciated.

(P.S. I might note that, a while ago, I asked a question here about her treatment because I wasn't sure that I could trust her vet's office. She's with a different vet now -- that's no problem.)

posted by Countess Elena to pets & animals (4 answers total)

I'm a vet, but not your vet so this isn't medical advice.

you can try to warm up the SD to see if she likes it better when it is stinky. As far as pilling her, there are decent youtube videos to show you how to do this alone. If needed, you can find a compounding pharmacy that will probably be able to turn the meds into a liquid that can be squirted down the hatch with a (needle free) syringe.

Please know that if the stones are large, the chances are very slim that the food will do the trick within 3 weeks.

You're a great owner, thanks for being such a good mom to Addie.
posted by Nickel Pickle at 7:45 PM on July 26, 2012

A family member's dog just went through this process successfully. Basically she just wasn't given any other option but to eat that food when she was hungry - it took a couple of days, but she finally accepted her new diet. After four weeks her bladder stones had decreased in size by over 50%. She was on a dry food that contained an active ingredient that would dissolve the bladder stones, and also contained quite a bit of salt (that made her drink more, which also helped with her condition).

My mother used cottage cheese to assist with getting the medication into her - it worked a treat.
posted by Alice Russel-Wallace at 8:46 PM on July 26, 2012

I'm not sure how into alternative or folk remedies you are, but this might help: http://www.earthclinic.com/Pets/bladder_infection.html

I hope your dog gets better soon.
posted by Ms. Moonlight at 11:58 PM on July 26, 2012

Thanks, everybody. I really appreciate the good word, Nickel Pickle.

Now that I've re-read his last email, I don't think he meant to say that he wanted to see the stones dissolved within three weeks, or else it would require surgery -- I just think he meant that he wanted to check on her progress in three weeks. I'll clarify that with him.

Although I don't know what I'm looking at with X-rays and ultrasounds, it seemed to me that the mass in the bladder was about the size of a bullet. For a human being, instead of a 14-pound dog, that would be like carrying around something the size of an orange. Poor thing!
posted by Countess Elena at 2:51 PM on July 27, 2012