My dog has struvite crystals. Alternatives to expensive C/D food?

Unfortunately, only these diets will be able to help Luca’s bladder problems. The diet will help acidity the urine and it also causes him to drink more. This helps to prevent crystal formation and also has a flushing action in the bladder. I recommend to try the Royal Canin first. Mix it in VERY slow (like 10% of the food initially). Then every few days increase the amount. You should purchase the canned food to see if he likes that. If he does, you can feed him that mixed in with the dry food. Try to keep him out of the other Doha’s food. The diet will not work if it falls below 90% of the total daily food intake. I hope you find this helpful and please feel free to post any further questions.

Hello. I would encourage you to visit the site https://www.balanceit.com. This site helps you to prepare balanced diets based on your pet's needs. The products are not free, but you may be able to look at their information as to whether they can provide you with the additional information you need to keep Peter healthy & well without spending so much on prepared foods. Thanks for using PetCoach.

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.

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.

The recommendation is to feed your pet a low protein, low sodium diet to help alkalinize the urine and reduce cystine urine excretion. You can achieve this with the Rx brands Hill's U/D or Royal Canin UC Low Purine. Although it is suggested that feeding a canned diet or increasing water intake will help to dilute the urine as well, and therefore reduce cystine urine excretion. Dissolving stones is possible with the diet, but this can take an extended period of time and there is always the risk of stone blockage along the urinary tract. If blockage occurs then your only option for resolution is to have the stones surgically removed. From a medical standpoint, the drug 2-MPG is used to dissolve stones that are currently in the bladder. You will have more success riding stones if you implement both MPG treatment and a urinary diet simultaneously.

I believe Royal Canin now makes a hypoallergenic diet that is also appropriate for crystals that has hydrolyzed proteins so the immune system does not recognize them and they do not trigger allergies. Even though the ingredient list might contain some things Dylan is allergic to, he should not develop allergy symptoms. This diet is called Multifunction Urinary and Hydrolyzed Protein. Talk to your veterinarian and see if this might be a good option for Dylan with his specific crystals. Otherwise you could discuss having a nutritionist formulate a home cooked diet, but it is very important that a veterinary nutritionist is involved so that the diet is balanced and appropriate to prevent crystal formation.

There is no "active ingredient" per se in the Royal Canin Multifunction and Urinary Hydrolyzed Protein diet. Rather, the diet is developed in such a manner as to create an environment in which urinary stones are less likely to form. Specifically, struvite crystals will form in alkaline urine. The diet is designed to lower the pH of the urine so as to prevent the development of these crystals. They do this primarily by eliminating purines (one of the amino acid building blocks of protein) through hydrolyzing the proteins (breaking them down into amino acids). An additional benefit of hydrolyzing the proteins is that they are much easier to digest and are hypoallergenic.