UTI in 13 wk old Mastiff

Question
Hi Cindi,  I have a pair of Mastiff sisters, 13 weeks old.  Gracie had problems with FREQUENT urination (drops at a time),  I took her and a sample to the vet.  pH was 8, she had occult blood present, and crystals showed in the sample after it was spun down.  She is on an antibiotic (for 14 days) and Hills  Prescription u/d dog food for 30 days. My concern is for her bone growth and general puppy nutrition needed at this stage.  Also, is there any concern if her sister indulges or if Grace gets back into the other food bowl (Iams puppy food for large breds) while we are away at work? Are there any veggie treats that will help out here?  Thanks for your input!

Answer
First of all, I can't suggest Iams in any form for any breed dog. Definitely not on my best dog food list. I'd be happy to make some suggestions regarding food if you like.
I'm sure your vet checked your girl for bladder stones, kidney problems, diabetes and Cushings disease. These are all problems which very often will first raise their nasty heads with UTIs. I'm hoping that your vet did a complete work up including blood panels to check for bacterial infections, diabetes and many other issues that can cause UTIs as well as the ones I've already mentioned above. I also hope that your vet did a urine culture and a sensitivity test to be sure that it is actually a UTI and not something that is causing similar symptoms. That being said,I'll assume that all the proper groundwork has been done. The first thing I would suggest (aside from getting away from Iams completely AND Science Diet, which I know a lot of vet's prescribe for dogs with UTI's but I personally don't agree with that, put your dog on vitamin E and vitamin C,EPA fish oil or salmon oil capsules also help with the immune system; give 1,000 mg per 10-20 lbs of the dog's body weight daily, and COQ10.
Make sure your dog has access to water at ALL times, and is let out frequently , more frequent urination will flush the system quicker and get rid of the bacteria often rather than allowing it to be harbored and 'cook' longer. Feed your dog a high moisture diet such as canned food (NOT Iams or Science Diet) home cooked recipes are MUCh better,if you can do that, chicken and rice with lots of unsalted chicken broth yogurt, soup(low sodium or no salt added) and cottage cheese.If you can't feed your dog solely a raw or home cooked diet, at least add the foods mentioned on a daily basis. Give your dog vitamin B complex (full dose for large dogs, half dose for medium sized dogs and 1/4 dose for small dogs). B vitamins help in fighting urinary infection and maintain kidney health. They really are MUCH more important than most people realize,. Our commercial dog foods are sadly lacking in the supplements that dogs need just to maintain good health, recovering from an illness really shows us how lacking most brands are in what dogs really  need to survive, heal and thrive. And please please limit the amount of grain that is in your dog food. Read your labels,. stay away from foods with by products, bha, bht, wheat, soy, corn . Try to make sure your food has either meat or meat meal as the main ingredient. Beware of foods that have grains added  in several different ways, ie rice flour, rice bran, rice gluten, if you have meat, or meat meal as a first ingredient and then rice or other grains four different ways, those four different ways put together equals a LOT more than one small serving of meat.
Also most vet's are now recommending a dog with a UTI be treated with antibiotics for four to six weeks not two. And then a retest ten days to two weeks after taking them off antibiotics. Many of these UTIs are so drug resistant that it can take months to get the dog completely cleared up. You really have to stay on top of it. We must be proactive in our dogs health care and diet as really it is just too overwhelming to expect any vet to know everything about ONE thing. They are not nutritionists and usually don't recognize the effect the wrong diet can have on disease and health problems. Research for yourself your dog's problem and make suggestions to your vet. Back it up with facts and printed material. If you like I can give you some websites that will help you out. Don't be shy. A GOOD vet will appreciate any information you give him/her and shouldn't resent answering your questions and explaining treatment.The foods I mentioned will help with bone growth etc for your girl as well as making sure she stays healthy. If you haven't already had another urinalysis run, please do so soon.
Let me know where you'd like to go from here with this and I'll help as much as I can. Congratulations and a paw shake for asking for help and trying to do what is best for your dog!
Cindi