Ann, I don't understand your vet recommending a higher protein food to reduce acidic urine. High protein diets impart an acidic urine! Vegetables, when metabolized, leave an alkaline urine. Hill's makes a food to help prevent crystals called u/d. Personally, before I went that route, I'd add fresh fruits and vegetables to a lower protein kibble and try to increase Gage's water consumption. I've heard of people using salt tablets to accomplish increased drinking, but I'd surely check with a vet first. Hope your pup doesn't get any more UTIs.....

She wants to make his urine more acidic. Sorry if I misstated what I was trying to say.

Molly the struvite stones are formed in alkaline urine. The opposite of the more common oxalate crystals which form in acidic urine. The struvite crystals are often because of staph infection which cahnges the urine. (It's not common in Goldens, but Abby's Sera just had the same.) So the solution is almost the opposite. The crystals stick to the bladder wall and cause inflamation, which makes eliminating the infection more difficult.

A high protein diet would be EVO if you want kibble, or you could make your own cooked or raw stew.

One possible recipe, it gives a calorie count at the end which you can compare to how many calories of kibble you feed.
Dietary Management for Struvite crystals
Beef and Rice Diet

1/2 pound very lean beef (raw or lightly cooked)
1 egg, large hard boiled
2 cups brown rice, long grained, cooked
1 tablespoon nutritional or brewers yeast (available at health food stores)
1 teaspoon bone meal
1 teaspoon Herbal multivitamin
1 teaspoon Flax Oil

Supports the caloric needs of a 30 pound dog - 40.7 grams protein, 22 grams fat - about 800 calories

This site has a good overview of the problem and some possible remedies. Perhaps Abby would have some advice too.
http://www.b-naturals.com/Dec2002.php

Margaret

We used to give the girls cranberry capsules to prevent UTIs. The cranberry (also blueberry) is supposed to keep the bacteria from sticking to the walls of the bladder.

I hope your guy is better soon. It's no fun having crystals and an infection.

Regards,

PJ

In the past DEZ has had crystals in her urine, but no UTI. We used cranberry capsules too, and it cleared up quickly. I still give her two capsules each week, just for maintenance........it can't hurt her!
Jill

Yes, Sera has the same thing. She's never had a UTI, but has crystals in her urine & bladder. She's been on antibiotics for 6 weeks now, so don't be surprised if one course of antibiotics isn't long enough. My vet said it's pretty uncommon for goldens to have crystals, like Margaret said, but that dogs usually need 6-8 weeks of antibiotics. My mom has schnauzers & one of her dogs had to have bladder surgery because of crystals that wouldn't dissolve.

My vet recommended the cranberry capsultes too.

other additions:
Apple cider vinegar is great for dogs inside and out - seems to rebalance the gut. make sure you get the unfiltered (usually organic) stuff though with the mother on the bottom, shake before you serve - 1tsp is usually enough each meal...my dogs went ga-ga for it (which surprised me)...

Cranberry is good (solid gold makes a cranberry supplement in a powder)....