[srhlln]

One of our new additions came to us with a very bad case of bladder stones (calcium oxalate I'm sure they were). He's back to normal after some surgery but the vet said he's best to stay on the Royal Canin urinary prescription food, forever.

I'm wondering if anybody has experience of dogs with bladder stones and has had success with a more natural diet? We want to prevent a reoccurrence and if the urinary diet is our only option then that's fine, but surely there's a natural diet that can help?

Thanks for any replies.

Sarah

 

[jagger]

If you want all natural, investigate raw feeding or even cooked. You won't have to worry about additives and what not in your dogs food. We feed both raw and cooked, he loves both and it's had some wonderful effects on the dog.

 

[srhlln]

I'm thinking of going in that direction, they both have great feedback. But I'm wondering if specifically for bladder stones if there's anything I can add to his diet e.g. like when humans get UTI's and are recommended to drink cranberry juice, that kind of thing?

Thanks for you input

 

[jagger]

Bladder stones generally stem from food, lower quality food and what not. While cranberry juice is effective in urinary tract, it's not a cure. our dog likes cranberry juice but I wouldn't buy it off the shelf. I'll buy organic cranberries and make my own juice for myself, if he wants some, great.

One of my dogs long passed had issues with bladder stones, we were feeding a basic off the grocery store shelf kibble. She ended up having 3 bladder stones removed through surgery and she was in misery back and forth to vets until it was diagnosed. Blood in the urine, yelping when trying to pee. That little dog set me on a path to dog food research.

If you are going to switch to a raw diet or similar, then you may end up on the hunt for a new vet as well. Something to consider moving forward. If you mention raw to your current vet, they will probably become negative over it.

 

[lzrddr]

You sure they were Oxalate stones? if so, you do NOT want to use Cranberry juice or you could actually cause the recurrence of such stones more rapidly. Not all bladder stones are the same... which is why one should always have them analyzed once removed (no cost if sent to the right University). Oxalate stones, unfortunately, are very hard to prevent, as they are more genetic in cause rather than dietary... but anything that acidifies the bladder will increase the likelihood of recurrence with that kind of stone (opposite, sort of, of struvite stones). So be sure you know what stones your pet has had before you try to formulate a diet plan... though one thing is universal for all bladder stones... the more your pet drinks the better, so canned food is always recommended over dry.

 

[srhlln]

Sorry I should just clarify, I was just using cranberry juice as an example of a natural relief, I didn't mean I've been giving it to the dog to treat his stones.

Ok we have him on the prescription canned food for now, the vet said he's pretty sure they're oxalate but the lab here takes up to a month to come back with the result. The vet said similar things to you, Izrddr, that they're harder to treat. Fingers crossed that they come back as something other than Oxalate.

For now I'll keep him on the vets advised Royal Canin Urinary food and, as always, make sure he's well hydrated.

Thanks for your replies.