Dear Dr. Forsythe: My two Golden retrievers have turned my grassy area in the back yard brown where they pee. My gardener mentioned a product that I could feed to them that would prevent their pee from discoloring the grass. I am interested in this, because he has re-sodded twice now, and it is almost time to replace the grass again! But I was wondering if you felt that something like this was safe? Thanks,
JB’s dad
Dear Dad: I know what you’re going through, because my dear Muldoon, the greeter of the hospital, also burns a dreadful hole in the otherwise green grass right in front of the hospital. Unfortunately, the tablets offered to “fix” this problem contain d-methionine, an amino acid, and when this is given, it changes the acidity of the urine, making it more “neutral.” However, not every pet’s body responds well to the tampering of its urine pH, and the result can be the development of nasty, painful and dangerous bladder stones in your dog.
The best way to keep your lawn fresh would be to hose down the area where JB pees thoroughly right after he urinates to dilute the acid and ammonia that is scalding the grass. There are also pellets you can buy to put on the grass that contain Calcium Sulfate; they help prevent urine from concentrating in the soil. Another wonderful way to treat the problem would be to train JB to eliminate in another area of the yard, perhaps one covered with bark or mulch. And please pass this column on to your gardener; although his advice is good for the veterinary business, we’d rather see fewer bladder stones and know that the people of Sonoma are addressing their lawns’ “personal stains” in another way.
Dr. F
Dear Dr. Forsythe: Tonight on the 11 o’clock news I saw an undercover report on veterinarians who did way more than needed when a pet came to them. I think it was on NBC and the anchor showed a French bulldog and a few others who first went to a vet in Burbank for a diagnosis of minor problems, and then they took the pet to 15 other places. There was a hidden camera. Some of the vets did lots of tests that appeared to be unnecessary. It was a real eye opener.
I was shocked
Dear Shocked: I actually did happen to see that coverage, and I was really surprised and a little disappointed at how unfair and one-sided the segment was. First, they presented several pets to a veterinarian who practiced what appeared to be somewhat conservative medicine, and then they went “undercover” with a camera and tried to criticize other veterinarians who were more aggressive with their medical styles.
For example, there was a little French bulldog who had a history of some vomiting. The first veterinarian in charge of the segment had concluded that it was “no big deal.” When subsequent veterinarians recommended abdominal x-rays, they were accused of being “gougers” who were running unnecessary lab tests. I felt that this was unfair, since there was a chance that this pet could have had a foreign body or other problem in the stomach that needed that diagnostic. And I do speak from experience. Just three months ago I had a bulldog in my office with some light “vomiting” and her x-ray showed “something” in the stomach which turned out to be not one, but two pairs of underpants.
However, there was a veterinarian in the segment who insisted that a pet with apparently freshly cleaned ears needed a deep ear flush. On the video, he didn’t even look in the ears with his scope, and was insisting on an anesthetic procedure. I was amazed at his arrogance and was glad the reportage revealed his dishonesty. But overall it seemed that the more thorough veterinarians who practice “best medicine” tended to run more tests rather than assume problems either didn’t exist or that clinical signs didn’t mean anything. It really showed what a big variety of flavors there are in the medical field, from vanilla to tutti-frutti.
Thanks for your question.
Dr. F
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