Etiopathogenesis of canine struvite urolithiasis.

Urine must be oversaturated with magnesium ammonium phosphate for struvite uroliths to form. Oversaturation of urine with magnesium ammonium phosphate may be associated with several factors, including urinary tract infections with urease-producing microbes, alkaline urine, diet, and genetic predisposition. Of the urease-producing microbes, staphylococci are most struvitogenic in dogs. The precise mechanisms resulting in formation of sterile struvite uroliths in dogs have not been determined.