Tyson is straining to pee

Both this morning and at lunch Tyson went into his his "pee pose" more than once, but nothing came out. I know he peed yesterday after work-but it took a few seconds for the stream to begin. Jeff assured me he went last night around midnight before bed. He goes to the vet tomorrow at 5:30 for his monthly blood work-is that too long to wait to take a urine sample in?
I know if it is stones, the vet may want to put him on a Science Diet food-I'd prefer not to do that. He eats Honest Kitchen Zeal-has for about a month-here are the ingredients:
Dehydrated white fish (Haddock, Whiting), sweet potatoes, eggs, organic coconut, alfalfa, apples, green beans, parsley, cabbage, bananas, salmon, cranberries, garlic, rosemary, tricalcium phosphate, choline chloride, zinc amino acid chelate, vitamin D3 supplement, vitamin E supplement, potassium iodide, potassium chloride, iron amino acid chelate, copper amino acid chelate.

The protein content of Zeal-35%, compared to the Preference he was eating-12% plus the canned salmon-8%. He gets a half cup of water mixed into each meal-but since it's winter and exercise is down, he doesn't drink much more, even though he gets pred daily.

Sorry for the rambling, I may be jumping the gun, just trying to be prepared.
So I guess my questions:
How long does a urine sample stay good for (if I get one tonight is it still good to drop off tomorrow morning)?
Is the protein (35%) too high?

I feel like I have a lot more questions, but I don't know which ones to ask without having a urinalysis done...

Oh, poor Tyson!!

I think waiting until tomorrow's vet appointment is probably fine, especially if you can collect a urine sample before the appointment. I don't think a sample is good after about an hour or two. Can you change the appointment to a sooner time?

I also do not believe high protein causes urinary problems as much as what used to be believed. My pugs are on Zeal right now too, and so far so good. I would make sure and hydrate the food with more water to increase the intake. I do that for my foster Sage, because she did have stones.

Don't worry about any diet change until you know if he even has a stone, and then, you will need to wait to see what the stone is. Each stone must be treated differently.

Good luck! Its tough being so worried and not knowing what to do.

Renee wrote:Oh, poor Tyson!!

I think waiting until tomorrow's vet appointment is probably fine, especially if you can collect a urine sample before the appointment. I don't think a sample is good after about an hour or two. Can you change the appointment to a sooner time?

He has to go tomorrow anyway to have his electrolyte levels checked (every 28 days on the dot), but I think I will try to get a sample when I get home from work and run it up there right away. Otherwise see if I can get one in the morning to drop off before work.

Tyson&LuLu'sMom wrote:

Renee wrote:Oh, poor Tyson!!

I think waiting until tomorrow's vet appointment is probably fine, especially if you can collect a urine sample before the appointment. I don't think a sample is good after about an hour or two. Can you change the appointment to a sooner time?

He has to go tomorrow anyway to have his electrolyte levels checked (every 28 days on the dot), but I think I will try to get a sample when I get home from work and run it up there right away. Otherwise see if I can get one in the morning to drop off before work.

Yeah, that is a good idea. The sample needs to be fresh. When I was trying to collect a sample for a previous foster, the vet told me it could be a maximum of 2 hours old. She also told me that morning pee is the best sample to get.

Honestly, if he's straining to go & nothing is coming out - I would get him to the vet ASAP. He could have a blockage & you don't want to wait to get him checked out of that's the case. I don't recall, has Tyson had stones in the past?

http://www.neamc.com/obstruction-in-dogs.pdf

PugLady3 wrote:Honestly, if he's straining to go & nothing is coming out - I would get him to the vet ASAP. He could have a blockage & you don't want to wait to get him checked out of that's the case. I don't recall, has Tyson had stones in the past?

http://www.neamc.com/obstruction-in-dogs.pdf

No, he never has before. I'll take him out as soon as I get home from work and see if he goes or not. Thankfully the vet's office is less than 5 minutes away so I can take him up there.

I'm with Brenda, Becky. Straining to pee and no results is a NO-TIME-TO-WASTE-GET-TO-THE-VET EMERGENCY!! I hope he's passed something now and all is okay, but if not, GO!!

Just going back over your original post Becky and I notice Tyson didn't go this morning or at lunch. I would leave work NOW and rush him in. This is critical. I'm sorry to alarm you, but better safe than sorry. Will be waiting anxiously for an update. Major vibes being sent to you both!

Aussie Witch wrote:Just going back over your original post Becky and I notice Tyson didn't go this morning or at lunch. I would leave work NOW and rush him in. This is critical. I'm sorry to alarm you, but better safe than sorry. Will be waiting anxiously for an update. Major vibes being sent to you both!

No need to apologize, thank you for the push. I'll be on my way to the vet's just as soon as I can pack up and leave.

I guess I should have read closer. I thought he was peeing, just straining to pee.

I'm so sorry Becky! I'll be thinking about Tyson, and waiting for the update.

I saw on FB you are at the vet, I hope everything is fine.

Becky, I hope it isn't stones as I have had to deal with those for Pugsly on two different occasions then Chyna once. I agree with everyone else that he needs to be checked sooner rather then later if he is straining.

Prednisone can cause dogs to develop calcium oxylate stones, and I know that Tyson has to take that for his Addisons.

I'm hoping that he is just not needing to go very much!!

Becky:
PM me your email and I can send you two GREAT articles on bladder stones and crystals from Whole Dog Journal. Assuming this is what you are dealing with.

Fingers crossed for your poor guy.

Thanks so much for all the thoughts, everyone.
I took Tyson in and she was able to feel his bladder was full-she said it wasn't "rock hard" like she sees a lot, so we caught it early. Nothing showed up in the xrays but they weren't able to get a catheter in very far. They flushed-a lot-and something was plugged in there. The urinalysis showed a ton of struvite crystals (she did comment that he may start meowing soon as this is more common in cats : ). We got canned S/D food and a week's worth of clavamox. They sent out for a culture and we'll have the results in 3 days.
My understanding is if the culture does show a UTI that the infection is the underlying cause of the crystals. If there's no infection then he could be just predisposed to developing crystals and maybe his diet caused the formation. I have more research to do, and of course any firsthand experience anyone can share is much appreciated.
My hope is there's no infection and after the S/D does its job we can put him back on the food he was on for a long time with no issues...could it be that easy...
I'm very lucky in that Tyson loves going to the vet and let them do everything x-rays, catheter and flushing without sedation or anything.

northernwitch wrote:Becky:
PM me your email and I can send you two GREAT articles on bladder stones and crystals from Whole Dog Journal. Assuming this is what you are dealing with.

Fingers crossed for your poor guy.

Thanks Blanche, sending you a pm.

Once you have the current lot of bacteria cleared, then I would suggest adding a phosphate binder to his diet, this will mean you can continue to feed him the Zeal. A magnificent phosphate binder is eggshell - a good pinch of powdered eggshell every day in his dinner should do it.
And once the antibiotics have finished start him on regular cranberry supplements and also ascorbic acid supplements to acidify and that might just do it.

Puggered wrote:Once you have the current lot of bacteria cleared, then I would suggest adding a phosphate binder to his diet, this will mean you can continue to feed him the Zeal. A magnificent phosphate binder is eggshell - a good pinch of powdered eggshell every day in his dinner should do it.
And once the antibiotics have finished start him on regular cranberry supplements and also ascorbic acid supplements to acidify and that might just do it.

Just a cautionary note to Angela's advice. Get some pH strips if you're going to do this. You don't want his pH changing wildly as you can create an environment for calcium oxalate crystals. I only use cranberry or ascorbic acid, but generally not both and I monitor pH levels carefully. Once the pH is in the "good" zone then I don't add any more cranberry or ascorbic acid unless the pH changes upward again.

The egg shell is a good idea--in fact, I think the Whole Dog Journal recommends it for struvites

We've had more thann one foster dog get calcium oxalate crystals while being treated for struvite. Most importantly, water, water, water.

Tyson&LuLu'sMom wrote:My understanding is if the culture does show a UTI that the infection is the underlying cause of the crystals. If there's no infection then he could be just predisposed to developing crystals and maybe his diet caused the formation. I have more research to do, and of course any firsthand experience anyone can share is much appreciated.
My hope is there's no infection and after the S/D does its job we can put him back on the food he was on for a long time with no issues...could it be that easy...
I'm very lucky in that Tyson loves going to the vet and let them do everything x-rays, catheter and flushing without sedation or anything.

Good explanation. UTI is by far the most common cause of struvite crystals, but there are dogs who have them in absence of any infection... but because they're pointy, they then can irritate the bladder lining and develop a UTI as a result. Jackson is one of these dogs, and it's no fun. I've had good success, though, with being able to use "real" food most of the time and then switch to a week of s/d every month or two. (I started with longer durations of s/d, but ended up with a week, which is working well so far.) Particularly with Ty's other health issues, that may be a good solution.

northernwitch wrote:

Puggered wrote:Once you have the current lot of bacteria cleared, then I would suggest adding a phosphate binder to his diet, this will mean you can continue to feed him the Zeal. A magnificent phosphate binder is eggshell - a good pinch of powdered eggshell every day in his dinner should do it.

The egg shell is a good idea--in fact, I think the Whole Dog Journal recommends it for struvites

We've had more thann one foster dog get calcium oxalate crystals while being treated for struvite. Most importantly, water, water, water.

I hadn't heard of the eggshell-- interesting tip, and easy to implement!

I'm glad you got hm to the vet. I have a lot of experience with struvite crystals in male cats - which can be deadly in 24-48 hours. I have yet to find the solution that ends it all in cats. My one Struvite boy, Jack, died last year from heart failure, but now I have a new struvite master - my ginormous Sid. Sadly, sometimes prescription food is the only thing that works. Even the nutritionist I studied with finally resorted to prescription food. I HATE crystals. Hate them.

Dumb question alert: how does one procure powdered egg shell? Take the egg shells from eggs I use? Dry them out and then run them through the food processor? Am I on the right track?