My dog had urinary stones. What if she won't eat her special diet?

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!

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.

Hello, sorry to hear about Penny, I wish her a speedy recovery. The recommendation to put her on a different diet, likely a Urinary SO diet is so that this changes the pH of her urine to prevent reoccurrence of struvite stone formation. She doesn't "have" to be on a different diet per say, but if you continue her normal diet, there's a chance she may reform struvite stones. Hope this helps!

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.

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 again. It really depends on what type of stones are present, such as are they oxylate or struvite? Some stones are harder to manage with diet than others, & of course, it also depends on what is available in your country. Your veterinarian is the best individual to help with this unless you have some laboratory data that indicates what is going on. Hills & Royal Canin Prescription Diets are very popular here. You can definitely add a little plain white rice, but not so much as to dilute the diets, & please do not add any supplements unless directed to do so by your veterinarian. Adding things like calcium can set Cointhee up for more imbalances & more problems. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly 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.