What can I feed my dog with bladder stones when out of special food?

Bladder stones often do recur. I would use the food at least six months, and I would have a urinalysis done every six months to make sure there are no crystals or urinate tract infection. Your veterinarian is correct that using the urinary food for life gives Bollie a better chance of not having another bladder stone. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Bollie.

The appropriate diet here would be the urinary diet either Urinary S/O or Hill's C/D, and then placing your pet on a liver protectant medication to address the liver issues. The liver protectant medication is called Denamarin, and has to be prescribed by your vet. I would then consider getting your pet an abdominal ultrasound to better define what is specifically going on with the liver, so that we know what mode of therapy would be best to manage things going forward, because these values (ALKP, CHOL) can be changed by not just the liver, but also the gallbladder and adrenal glands. I hope that your pet Ceca is able to manage both of her conditions well moving forward. Best wishes and take care. : )

The answer partially depends on the type of bladder stones that Boo had. I am attaching handouts on the 2 most common types below. http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=460 http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=662 If Boo had struvite stones, those can often be managed without a prescription diet. If Boo had calcium oxalate stones, then diet will be a very important part of preventing him from forming stones again in the future. Unfortunately, the prescription diets tend to have both by-products and corn. The best option I have found for dogs with calcium oxalate stones are to make a homemade diet for their dogs. A diet can be created by a board certified nutritionist or with the help of Balance It. https://secure.balanceit.com/ Good luck! I hope that was helpful and answered your questions. Thanks for using PetCoach.

It's is difficult to say which foods in particular because ultimately it is a question of how that food affects the pH of the urine. The acidity or alkalinity (pH) of the urine influences whether the stone constituents will remain dissolved or form stones. Some stones, such as struvite, form in alkaline urine, whereas others, including calcium oxalate stones, form in acidic urine. Depending on the type of stone (struvite vs calcium oxalate-in most cases but there are exceptions such as ammonium urate) you may want to feed a diet that decreases the pH or one that increases the pH. Furthermore, any underlying urinary tract infections must be treated as bacteria can alter the pH. In order to obtain the information needed, have your veterinarian perform a urinalysis or if your pet had surgery for bladder stones ask for the stone analysis report. As far as blueberries, I think that it is fine. However, grains may result in more of an alkaline urine which could promote further struvite stone formation.

What diet he should be eating is dependent on what is the pressing issue right now. If he is recovering from pancreatitis then he should be eating a low fat bland diet until the issue has resolved. After the pancreas is back to normal then he should go back to eating the Royal Canin urinary diet. If the pancreas condition is chronic then you really need to speak to your vet about what is best for him to eat since they are privy to all his medical history whereas I am not.

Unfortunately there are no over the counter that will help dissolve stones once they form. There are diets that claim to encourage urinary bladder health, however there are no clinical trials to substantiate those claims. What Scooby really needs right now is the Rx food, although it is a bit costly and I can sympathize with that. However it works and is effective because the necessary trials were done to formulate the food properly. It can take several months to even a year to dissolve the stones depending on the quantity and size.

Hi and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Sorry to hear about Wookiee but it sounds like things are much better. So I can assume that the crystals and stones were struvite because of the c/d food and I can assume you tried s/d first but maybe not. Struvite crystals and stones are most often tied to infection in the bladder and urinary system. You may be able to try another diet but only your vet should make that call for you. They are much more familiar with his particular case. If you monitored his urine with dip sticks (again consult your vet) you may be able to feed something else. Ask you vet. The kibble shouldn't hurt his teeth unless he develops severe periodontal disease which lots of small breeds develop due to their genetics. Sure you can wet the food plus that increases water consumption which is crucial in pets with a history of urinary problems. Yes, I would advise against the table scraps as these can definitely play a role and alter the pH of the urine (how acidic or alkaline). Good luck with Wookiee. Great questions.