Hi my german shorthaired pointer nearly 7 has been diagnosed with struvite crystals.Has been put on special diet cost an arm and a leg but worth every penny, Does any one know how long this takes to clear or will he have it for life.Oh is there any other food different than waltham urinary
Ail

This site may be of interest to you.  Its suggests your poor dog could be on this diet 4 1/2 months :(  but it does also suggest that there is a better alternative to a permanent special diet.  It also suggests that surgery is something to be considered to speed the process up, obviously this carries the usual risks but I suppose if you had great difficulty feeding the disolving food it might be worth considering and discussing with your vet.

http://b-naturals.com/Dec2002.php?PHPSESSID=13765046ed85bc6a08c665b731c37447

Thanks. have been reading up on struvite from your replies. Quite interesting have got him some cranberry juice to try .he likes that.Vet did not really want to operate as my dog is not very good with anathestic always takes him a very long time to come round, about 3 days to actually get over it.I will persevere with the food and hope that no stones get stuck. Love my dog to bits rescued him at 9months from starvation

Cranberry juice capsules are effective for dogs, if your dog has a problem post anaesthesia consider administering milk thistle post op and for up to 5 days after, this speeds up detoxing the liver which is where the drugs linger.

HTH

My GSD had this problem. She was on Waltham Urinary. My insurance Pet Plan paid for all the food. It took 12 weeks to clear and 2 follow up water tests at monthly intervals after that. On getting the all clear I changed her diet to the BARF system of feeding. Since then there has been no reoccurance of this or any other health problem ( nearly 12 months now). Before this we had been at the vets every week for one ailment or another. 

Have just started using cranberry.What is milk thistle I have not heard of this before,Insurance company have said they will pay for his food as long asthe vet says he needs it. Ihave not tried the barf diet but will seriously consider trying it.One of my other dogs who would not eat hes like a stick insect have just put him on dr johns gold and he is finally eating properly.

http://www.skyeherbals.com/materia_medica/milk_thistle.php

Make sure that the milk thistle you purchase has a high silymarin content; you can get it in most supermarkets, chemists etc.

Thanks for the help