On Kidney Stones in Dogs, and The Benefit of Vitamin C

Symptoms: Difficulty and straining to urinate. Only small amounts of urine are produced, accompanied with blood and sometimes pus.

       This is a fairly common condition in older dogs of both sexes. What has happened is the urine has become overly alkaline, causing urinary salts which ordinarily remain in solution, to crystallize into tiny clusters or stones. Bacteria, epithelial shreds, or foreign matter in the region can act as a rallying point for these stone formations.

Stones can occur in the kidney and urethra as well as the bladder, but I see much more of the bladder type than the others. The bladder is a reservoir and in the “lull” between interflow from the kidneys and outflow from the urethra. There seems to be a more conducive setting for stone formations.

If your dog shows sign of difficulty in urinating, take him immediately to the vet. A vet can x ray for stones. If stones are present, surgery is necessary.

The possibility of actually dissolving stones through mega doses of vitamin C may promise a less jolting form of treatment than surgery for an older or fragile dog that might not stand up well to an operation. I have heard of two successful cases and I think they are worth mentioning here.

A woman wrote to me about her 10 yr old female terrier. It had been x-rayed and found to have bladder stones. Because the dog didn’t appear to be in great distress and because of its age, the woman decided not to operate. Instead, she put the dog on a program of vitamin C, 500 milligrams for a day. After 6 months, the dog had to undergo surgery for a uterine condition. While the bet had the dog open he examined the bladder and found the stones were completely dissolved.

The second case involved a vet who used 8 grams of ascorbic acid daily on a small breed dog to dissolve a large bladder stone. The treatment took four months. In order to prevent any bowel upset, which might be expected because of the large amount of vitamin c, the vitamin was  

administered in divided doses over the day and the dog had no problems.

The administration of Vitamin C seems to change the PH(alkaline-acid balance) in the urinary tract to the point where stones are dissolved or just do not form at all. I have found that dogs on a good supplement regimen with ample vitamin C do not develop stones. Some medical sources claim that vitamin C causes kidney stones. I have never found this to be the case. Just the opposite, in fact.  Most people don’t want to go through the ordeal of surgery again with their dogs, so they usually adhere to the program. I have never had a recurrence of stones in an operated animal that was receiving vitamin C.

Stones very often irritate and inflame the lining of the bladder, causing hemorrhage. This produces bloody and sometimes pussy urine. Inflammation of the bladder may also be due to a bacterial infection without stones. In either case, the condition is known as cystitis.

       When stones are involved, the inflammation becomes pronounced enough to cause swelling and thickening of the mucous membrane lining of the bladder. This thickening makes the dog feel there is a need to void and it constantly is pushing to force the urine out.

This is a matter for the vet to diagnose and treat. Normally, antibiotics will be given to destroy the bacterial infection. A good vitamin and mineral program will boost the immune system and generally prevent this kind of infection from taking hold. Thus both the stones and cystitis can be prevented.

-Dr. Wendell Belfield, an orthomolecular specialist

 Products we recommend for kidney stones, as described above: Super C 2000, and Kidni Flow