Bladder stones and surgery

Hi. I'm new here and wondering if anyone could offer advice (and I need somewhere to vent a bit of frustration). My kitty Sasha (8 yrs) was having the classic symptoms for urinary tract issues, so we brought her to the vet. When we arrived, she asked us what food we feed (Blue Buffalo). As soon as we said that, she proceeded to almost scold us, saying that these fancy grain-free diets cause bladder stones (she assumed we feed the grain-free variety...we don't, but she didn't ask). She continued to talk about our food choice, making us feel really stupid for giving Sasha awful food. Then she did the exam, found plaque and a resorptive lesion in Sasha's mouth, scolded us for that, even though the other vet at the practice did a check-up two months ago and found no dental issues. Vet did urinalysis (ph was 8.2) and x-ray...said she suspects there are bladder stones but they aren't very visible on the x-ray so she recommended an ultrasound. We did that and she identified at least two bladder stones and she said the stones are probably the type that don't dissolve since they were not visible on x-ray. So, she told us to schedule surgery but that that the surgery was not an emergency because the stones were too big to cause a blockage (but she wants to do the surgery next week). She sent us home with some Royal Canin SO food, pain relief med, anti-inflammatory med, and she gave Sasha an antibiotic too. I asked some questions but she pretty much brushed me off with abrupt answers (and I didn't even get to speak with her directly...). So, here I am. What is bugging me about this is that the stones she said cannot be dissolved are typically formed in acidic urine, but Sasha's was not acidic. And now Sasha seems to be feeling just fine. I just want to be sure I'm doing the right thing for Sasha by doing the surgery and I don't want to have her go through surgery if she doesn't have to (and I'm not feeling very good about my vet right now either). Thanks for listening.

Woah 8.2 is high pH no wonder she had stones, poor girl. While the vet's attitude was wrong, she's right about kibble causing stones. There's ample evidence that a when cats are chronically dehydrated they can develop urinary issues. Here's a couple of good article about the difference in urinary stones/crystals. The best thing you can do for her going forward is to feed an all wet food diet (maybe RX if that's what your vet thinks) and make sure she has plenty of access to water/water fountains. 

http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/health_information/BladderandKidneyStones.cfm

http://feline-nutrition.org/answers/answers-the-importance-of-urine-ph