For the longest time,I’d feed Lacey a minimal of up to 3 grains because that’s what her body would handle.Though recently I have noticed that even if you feed her some treats with even one grain(no specific grain in particular) that her vulva has been getting red even if you break it into the smallest pieces so to be safe than sorry I am going to eliminate all grains even in dry food,can food and treats.She will be on a absolutely 100% grain free diet on dry food,can food,and treats unless I start to see more reactions from her body.
Category Archives: Lacey-UTI
Lacey has fully recovered
Lacey has fully recovered from her UTI taking Genesis Resources Canine Urinary Tract Support.She has full blown energy which is good with the only side effect if anything from taking Genesis Resources Canine Urinary Tract Support might be some sleepiness but other than that she’s been great!Though of course for her,I’d rather have a sleepy dog than a soft poopy dog from regular meds.All the same it works fantastic,gets her right back into her health,and of course the best advantage is no side effects from regular medicine or ,multiple ongoing health issue is another plus for her
Update on Lacey
29 2012:
Lace has been eating PetShape Chicken n Rice treats which she loved a little too much resulting her in getting a UTI on Monday,by Monday night it cleared up.On Wednesday her vulva was red again so we gave her 1/4 tablet of Genesis Resources Canine Urinary Tract Support since it says 1 tablet for a 25 pound dog twice a day.Lacey is only 7 pounds so we’re only giving her 1/4 tablet twice a day at the most.So far it seems to be working well.Although we did have to put it down her throat she swallowed it without a big problem which is good.I think the taste of it had something to do with it too.Check back for an update on the UTI using Genesis Resources Canine Urinary Tract Support later.Been giving her can food,Merricks,which she ate a little of til she walked away which is good.Earlier she wouldn’t touch chicken,she wouldn’t touch beef,she wouldn’t take any of her treats but when I tried can food she took to it.When she refuses all forms of food including can food that’s when I start to worry and if a natural way doesn’t work for her after at least one day’s attempt without any signs of improvement
Update:March 29 2012:Lacey is doing fantastic!We gave her one more pill of the Genesis Resources Canine Urinary Tract Support(1/4 tablet)since her vulva was still a little pink like.You could tell she was feeling so much better…She accepted treats before she went to bed which she refused earlier before she got her medicine last night(see earlier paragraph),she took to chicken later in the early morning hours til she walked away feeling full,she’s full of life,energy,wanting to play,running around the house and back to her usual self!So the medicine works.
Side Note:for those who have small dogs like Lacey when you look for medicine even herbal,holistic,natural medicine for your dog keep in mind when you consider the dosage before you buy,to keep in mind as you consider the doseage,consider the size of your dog,divide that into a smaller amount and see if it wil be workable.Like Lacey for an example the Genesis Resources Canine Urinary Tract Support Uva Ursi is 2010mg.When you divide into 4(Consider2 tablets a day for 25 pound dog and compare that to a small 4-7 pound dog you get a little over 52mg so 104mg in a day)I try to keep it at the lower end of the amount instead of the bigger amount.Don’t neccessarily go for the higher amount like I don’t know 320mg if you know you can give your dog say 50-60 mg and you have a small dog.Consider those factors.I take all of that into consideration before making a purchase on natural medicine for Lacey.It is so important to me as small as she is,how sensitive she is to regular meds,that she is treated holistically first and foremost.I can’t speak for other owners…Every owner/parent has to make their own decision when it comes to their dogs/ human children
Lacey got her first UTI of 2012 yesterday
She ate her dinner well but last night I noticed that she didn’t attempt to play with her toys afterwards like she usually does.It just so happened that I was petting her & found that her vulva was red.The only thing different she’s been getting is a beef stick(in small pieces of course)that we had bought from the store.So we gave her 1/2 tsp of ACV placed in syringe & water & tried to put it down her throat but she put such a struggle that I am looking into something we can give in tablet form(holistically)instead of taking her into a regular vet for regular meds(antibiotics)which does help but almost always there’s another condition following it so to prevent that I try to use holistic as much as possible without resorting to actual meds from a regular vet unless holistically treating fails.She went into hiding but today she is much better.Still doing research as to which we will try but we need to have something on hand in case it happens that she does get a UIT and it does happen from time to time but not as often as before.
Lacey update on undiagnosed UTI02202011 with ACV Day2
Lacey is continuing to recover from her undiagnosed UTI with ACV.There’s probably about a day left of ACV to give her then she should be good to go again!She’s starting to accept other food(Acana Wild Prairie she ate about a 1/4cup which is good) and actually had a piece of Halo in the dining area she went over to it sniffed it,picked it up,gave maybe a half lick,took it in her mouth and spit it out!Guess she must not be used to it anymore.We’ll keep it as a backup though.Could be she started refusing Acana because it is not mixed with can food…
Edit:On the third day,Feburary 23 2011,Lacey was given 1/2 tsp of ACV which she regurgitated and we’re thinking that happened since she didn’t have any people food in her tummy like the other days.Her vulva is in the clear so we’re good there.No need for the vet.Again,she’s refusing to eat what we prepare so we’ll just battle it against her.You eat what we make or you don’t eat.Sooner or later she’ll get it.Once she gets on a more predictable feeding schedule again we can give her people food in the day but not til she gets her body back on track..
So..Lacey gives us a difficult time with Acana dry food
so….out of desperation & a result of eating Earthborn Holistic Adult Vantage(which is for Brownie but she wants what Brownie gets but if I had known ahead of time she wanted the same we’d have gotten something a little “safer”for Lacey’s health) for even a couple days apparently has given our girl a UTI..a mild one…as we caught right on “cue”..We’ve not taken her to the vet but we do know what to look for(refusing to eat dry/can/people food,straining to urinate,odor in urine..)and she’s had some of those..refusing to eat dry food(Acana in particular not sure if she’s only liking a certain protein though she seems to be hinting for lamb–Acana Grasslands..but she wouldn’t touch any of the Acana Wild Prairie or Acana Pacifica..She’s been refusing almost every food we have of previous trial foods & dry food we currently have in the house)..Yea,she’s had an odor in her urine on the 20th and the 21st there was no odor to the urine..We caught the UTI(mild) when I was observing her and saw her lick the side of her skin towards the back right back end leg then I saw her focus on the vulva which is when I decided to see what’s going on with her..Sure enough..less than 72 hours later there was a slightly red vulva not swollen about 3pm(HST)by 6pm(HST)it was gone so it comes & goes..We’ve since took up the Earthborn Adult Vantage(4 grains as Solid Gold Just a Wee Bit) & have been giving her ACV 1/2 tsp once a day with water via syringe..We considered Doxcycycline which my brother had but didn’t want to do antibiotics because she’d probably get another yeast infection so we’d be spending at least $200 on meds/vet visits & rechecks.We gave her some ACV which she really didn’t like but who can blame her..It’s a very YUCKY TASTE!It gives her a froggy like bark when she barks..Kind of like a croaking frog..
Among all that with refusing her food(see above) & dealing with a mild UTI(see above about ACV) we,out of desperation basically,stopped by Whole Foods & picked up a bag of Halo’s..The first night ( February 20th)she ate one piece..The smell was a little different from what I remember but according to the ingredients it’s the same as back in 2009 so I am not sure why PetCo’s site has it different..Anyways,back to the 21st..when she was feeling better after the ACV she started pawing for people food & accepting people food a lot more..Prior to that she would refuse even her favorite meats..chicken,turkey… & started accepting Halo’s…so I guess we’ll keep with Halo’s for a while til something else comes up like she refuses(if that ever happens…)eating Halo’s dog food we’ll look into others..& prior to that wanted to play.I imagine once she’s about 7-9 I probably want to switch her to Nature’s Variety Dry/Can/Raw just for the sake of her health as she gets older.Between birth-7 years old I let it go a little more but in the senior years I get a little more strict even on high quality food. But yea she’s feeling better and we’re thankful for that!
Lacey accepts Canidae!but I don’t plan to keep her on it…
Lace has finally accepted Canidae after I placed it in a bottle for her.To get her to eat Canidae it was like I had to almost beg her and doing it the bottle method without accepting it verbally by hand for Lacey is not good.Usually if she tries a new brand of dry food and she accepts it by hand that is your biggest hint that she’s good with the new food but if she won’t even take it from the hand and you got to do it by the bottle method that’s not a good start.She was the same way with Hill’s Nature’s Best.
The reason for not keeping her on it is 1)she’s not excited about it 2)didn’t take it from the hand 3)she has chicken/salmon just by eating Halo’s/supplements with Stella & Chewy freeze dried raw Chicken 4)All the other Caindae seems to be grain heavy something we don’t want to go through with more issues of UTI’s. 5)Only has one berry.I like to see at least 2:Preferably Blueberries/Cranberries but at least 2 berries.6)List of ingredients are limited.Another issue with Lacey is she can tell if it has a good amout of meat,fruit,veggies…How?I have no clue!
As for elimination diet I was thinking of it won’t be possible with the limited amount of brands of “high quality”dry dog food brands that has good “quality of ingredients” and enough variation with meats/fish.Maybe in the long run if there are more varieties out there..
Same with grain free & feeding her freeze dried raw:If there were more of the brands she’d eat with good variety of meats/fish/fruits/veggies/L.Acid and so on..none with ACV in frozen/freeze dried raw..more meats..I’d switch her exclusivity to one of these but since at the moment there isn’t enough of that type of foods we’re working with what we have including very low grains-1 grain-grain free dry/can food.Right now we’re doing Halo’s,some Earthborn,TOTW & maybe in July starting Blue Buffalo.
A Lacey medical update:Getting a culture
Today we went to see Dr Kaya for a check up and since she’s been getting recurrent UTI(which I believe is due to heavy grains–Dr Kaya didn’t say it was linked to the grains but I have given the staff an outline from last November til March 2010) Dr Kaya suggested we get an culture done which we will send to the mainland.He doesn’t mention it right away due to cost:cost is running us over $170.00 minus tax!We gave her last dose of Clavamox on Monday morning so we have got to take her back on Wednesday for the culture. I also mentioned that she is licking her vulva & fyi for other owners is to check the base of the tail(lift the dog’s tail and check the base of the tail where the poop comes out & if it’s dirty your dog has been licking.The dirty looking part is moreorless from irritation)
Tips that Dr Kaya shared with us
-Check your dog’s temp
-Look for pain by pressing your dog’s legs,tummy,unusual whimpers/cries/refusing to eat favorite food
-Check the breathing
-feel the tummy
-Smell the ears
-Check the vulva:Is it red?Swollen?
-Check for licking:Check the base of the tail for color ie black
-Vomit
-Cough
-Throw up
-Odd behavior
—-Call your vet!
Lacey UTI update appt
April 12 2010 at 2pm w/Dr Kaya
04012010:Suspician of UTI:Update
Lacey is doing better energy wise & eating.She’s now putting up a small struggle for her Clavamox but hopefully she won’t get an yeast infection.Clavamox she handles it pretty well overall.She did have soft bowels on it for a few days but thankfully not as bad as when she tried the Wellness dry food.After a few days her bowels were back to normal.On TOTW Bison,Halo’s & Earthborn she is doing very well with the rotation.Energy is good.It’s comparable to her almost eating freeze dried raw honestly. We did have a very tiny scare with two tiny spots on her tummy.It was a little red so I kept an eye on it.days later it’s gone.
