Dog Food For Chronic Bladder Stones

[sukie435]

I have a 2yr old Chow and she just got over having Struvite Bladder Stones. The vet put her on Hills Prescription Diet C/D and said she has to be on it for the rest of her life to prevent them from forming again. I was wondering if anyone knows if it could possibly be the water she is drinking. We moved from NY to UT and there is hard water here & in NY she didn't have this problem. She's had 2 UTI's since we moved here a year ago. So I'm thinking the water might be part of the problem. Also, does anyone know of any other natural dog food that we could feed her that would help to keep the acidity in her urine at the right levels. I don't like the Hills dog food. It has corn in it and I heard that that is not good for dogs. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[fillyok]

I don't know much about UTIs since my pack hasn't suffered from them (knock wood). I do know some people on the board have posted about them. Try doing a search on "cranberry" or "vinegar". I think both of them help with keeping UTIs to a minimum.

[Mia]

There is a product called TriCran C which is made from cranberries which are supposed to help prevent UTI's. There might be something better out there, but many chow breeders add this to their supplements for their chows. (It is a pink powder that comes in a cold-cream-sized jar.)

[willowchow]

Hummmm. . .C/D for struvites? I'm not sure that's such a great choice anyway. I was under the impression that was for the calcium oxylate stones?? I could be wrong, it's been awhile. I'd talk with your vet before you make any changes though. This isn't something you want to mess around with.

Willow had many UTI's and she has/had struvites for some time now. I have had very good luck with keeping infections away by feeding her canned food. Also, keep the dog very clean in the private areas. I wipe her often after she comes in from peeing.

About corn, it's fine as long as the dog doesn't have an allergy to it or it's being used as the main source of the protein in the diet. For this problem though, with prescription diets it's all about the problem they fix rather than the ingredients. I'd leave it alone right now.

[sukie435]

In response to WillowChow, thank you very much for your insight. The vet put her on the C/D dog food by the way.

I will keep it in mind about wiping her down after peeing, didn't think about that.

Thank you everyone who has responded to my question.

[willowchow]

No, I know the vet put her on it. I thought it was for another type of crystal at first. But, I stand corrected because I checked the website and it is for struvites. It's been awhile but I thought I remembered when Willow was having her issues they had something called S/D for struvites and the C/D for for the other crystals. But, they may have made changes too.

The more water you can get her to take in the better; be it thru adding water to her food, using canned food or putting down extra water bowls.

[kingalls]

Shiloh was on the prescription Royal Canin SO kibble for almost a year before we switched back to Wellness kibble again. I didn't like giving them the RC food either - the fur was getting dry. We have really hard water here but that wasn't the problem.
Here are a couple of threads you might want to review:

http://forum.chowchow.org/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=8024

http://forum.chowchow.org/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7500

Make sure you're not giving you Chow other treats that are contributing to the UTI's.