Dog won't eat urinary food. How to prevent stones without corn/by-products?

It can be tricky when our pets are picky eaters! I recommend talking to your vet about this, as there are many different possible urinary prescription diets that can help prevent her from getting future stones. If she doesn't like her current diet, there are many other brands with equally good urinary foods, and perhaps she'd find a different food more palatable. I cannot offer specific recommendations without knowing what types of stones she has a history of developing, but I'm sure your regular vet would be happy to talk to you about other prescription foods you could try. Even if they don't regularly keep the foods stocked in their clinic, they could provide a prescription for you to buy the food either online or from another vet clinic. I *do* strongly recommend keeping her on a prescription food - as you said, you don't want to risk a recurrence of stones or chronic UTI's. Hope this helps!

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.

I wouldn't recommend trying a home cooked diet without consulting your veterinarian first - many recipes online are not nutritionally balanced. Whether or not your dog can switch to a new diet depends on the type of stone - some are more likely than others to come back. Ask your veterinarian about other options, and be up front about the cost being an issue.

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.

Hello. Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, some of these dogs keep developing stones, & we just do not know the total reason & mechanism for this. So you are perfectly right to feel confused, & frustrated with this. The Royal Canin S/O has been one of the best options in terms of preventing stones through the diet, & of course, the more water he takes in, the more water there is to flush the oxalate elements out of his bladder before stones reoccur. Sometimes we do recommend potassium citrate, if urine pH is consistently lower than 6.5, & some newer thinking is to add hydrochlorothiazide if he does seem to be redeveloping urolithiasis frequently & he does not have high blood calcium levels. You could monitor his urine for blood with urine dip strips manufactured for this purpose ( your vet can help with this ). A full urinalysis should be done every 3-6 months to keep pH between 6.5 & 8 & to maintain urine specific gravity to 1.020 or lower. Imaging, with either ultrasound or x-rays every 6-12 months is useful to identify very small stones that can generally be removed without surgery.removed . Hopefully, Casper will remain stone free for a very long time. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! if Lucky is on a prescription urinary diet for bladder stones, to prevent a urinary obstruction or to prevent urinary crystals it is not recommended to mix the food with anything else as it virtually makes it in effective. I would discuss other brands that may be more affordable with your Vet. Purina, Hills and Royal canin all make urinary foods. If you absolutely can not afford it then I would have him on an all canned food over the counter urinary diet and add extra water to the canned food. This will cause his urine to be more dilute. I wish you the best!

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I am sorry you and Sanjee are going through this. First I think it important to wait until the stone analysis is back before deciding 100% what to do diet wise. Even though she has calcium oxalate crystals doesn't mean the stone will be that exactly, though it is likely. Calcium oxalate stones are the hardest to prevent recurrence. I recommend Veterinary Prescription diets like Royal Canin SO, Hill's c/d or Purina UR. I also recommend monitoring urine pH and concentration. Calcium oxalate crystals form in more acidic (lower pH) urine. If the diet alone won't control the pH and keep it more neutral sometimes we have to add potassium citrate. I think periodic X-rays to check for recurrence are also important. There are many small white dogs that have had many cystotomies to remove calcium oxalate stones. I hope this helps and I wish Sanjee the best today for her surgery and a speedy recovery!