change of behaviour (peeing ...) UTI?

Question
I have a 4 year old Cairn terrier.  She is extremely intelligent, gentle but 'small dog' nervous. She would never bite or show aggression to anyone, except large dogs (out of fear).  She was completely house trained by about 7 months but in the last 6 months has started to pee inside without asking to go out as she usually did.  I believe this might have started when she had cystitis (which was cured with antibiotics)and then after tests we discovered that there were crystals in the urine, so she has been on special food since January (first Renal, then Urinal from Waltham) as prescribed by our vet.  My husband is at home with her, but I wonder if this could be a stress related problem in that if sometimes he is really busy and does not play on demand, that she gets stressed.  She has a fantastic character and is adored by everyone and is like a child to us. I am at work so do my 'play' routine in the evening, but perhaps there is a way for her not to feel neglected if we don't play for hours on end - I am sure you have had this problem many times. We did a recent urine test to make sure that everything was ok and apparently it is although the vet said she should stay on this food and not have any extras and as we want her to live for ever we are very careful.  I don't know if you can help but I would be grateful for any ideas you might have. Many thanks and hello from Belgium (where it is NOT raining today!).  Bye, Veronica

Answer
Hi Veronica, Since she does have a history of urinary cystitis, an crystals, I would lean toward that being the issue. Did your vet explain to you about the crystals? Please go to this website and read it completely as urolithiasis can sometimes lead to death and cause severe pain. http://www.executec.com/urolith.htm , sorry this site does not let me link it, so you must cut and paste the url. Give her lots of exercise, lots of clean, fresh water. Some people swear by the raw food diets for dogs with this problem, but there are other diets on the website. She is young and you must do whatever possible to relieve her pain or discomfort immediately, as I can tell that you will. Sometimes getting a second opinion from another vet is a good idea. I sure wish that I could tell you more, but I do not think that you are experiencing a training issue. You can try putting piddle pads in the house so that she can feel free to use them if she needs to relieve herself and cannot wait to go outside. Please leave me some feedback, nominations if you wish, and let me know the outcome. I honestly do care about every one of you and your canine partners, or I would not be volunteering my nights to to this, so please keep me posted Veronica. I would really appreciate it. Thank you. Regards, Susan