Dog food - lots of info/

[Guest guest]

Hi Danielle,

I am in a rush but wanted to give you as much info as I could. Sorry

for the disjointed nature of my response. Please read what I wrote

under each link even if you do not visit that site.

 

You did not say what type of stones your dog developed. Cystinuria is

common in Chihuahuas and is caused by a kidney problem ¡V thus the

kidney diet the vet recommend as opposed to a urinary/stone diet.

Vegetarian diets usually result in alkaline urine which is the proper

pH for management of cystinuria. See link below to find out if you

are feeding too many veg that increases the acidity of the urine.

 

He needs a good quality, easily digested protein to maintain a low

protein diet. Also need to alkalinize or acidify diet. Very important

to know which one as each type of stone needs a specific urine pH to

form. Foods such as Vitamin C, yeast and cranberries will acidify the

urine ¡V good for struvite but very bad for cystine stones. Most of

these links are slanted toward science/medicine in general or

specifically to cystinuria. I am a veterinarian (no longer

practicing) but cannot give you specific recommendations due to not

having a practitioner relationship with your pet. I hope the

following will help you get started. Please feel free to ask for more

info if I have missed the mark on the cystinuria.

 

Note, there are side effects to diets, just as there are to drugs.

That is one reason it is difficult to find a ¡§scientific/medical¡¨

based printed homemade recipe. There is a link below that discusses

some of the side effects.

 

http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/130616.htm

This is a synopsis of diagnosis, treatment and management of canine

urinary stones or uroliths or calculi. Treatment and management is

very dependent upon proper identification of stones. Chihuahuas are

predisposed to cystine crystals. Scroll down to ¡§cystine.¡¨

 

http://www.caninecystinuria.com/Treatment.html

Discusses the debate between diet as management or drugs or surgery

(scrotal urethrostomy ¡V I have done these with success) The article

also talks about how many have found the side effects of the low

protein, alkalinized diet to be too great . Drug expensive for larger

dog but may not be prohibitive for smaller dog. Remember, many drugs

have animal ingredients so you will have to follow up on that to your

comfort level.

 

http://www.vegepets.info/pages/vegetarian_canine_diets.htm#UrinaryAlka

linization

site gives list of some veg foods that acidify the urine. Each type

of stone needs either an acidic or alkaline urine to form. Most veg

dogs have alkaline urine which can predispose to struvite stones. If

your pup has cystinuria, the urine needs to be alkalinized as opposed

to acidified so this should not be a problem. Your vet may not

realize this. S/he can do serially urine pH tests. You can also do

this at home ¡V ask for pH strips from your vet. I think you can

purchase these strips from the pharmacy to do it yourself at home. If

your pup is litter trained (yes, some dogs are!), there is special

litter that changes color based on the urine pH. This site has some

good charts on age and health of veg pets.

 

http://www.vegepet.com/fordogs.html

This company has vegan dog food for normal life stages. They include

yeast in their food and sell low magnesium yeast to help ACIDIFY the

urine. BEWARE, yeast is high in protein and purines (amino acid) and

is not suitable for many renal (kidney) conditions. I did not find a

product designed for the unhealthy kidney.

 

http://www.caberfeidh.com/CystinuriaBreeds.htm

Lists Chihuahua as predisposed to cystinuria but recommends raw meat

diet.

 

http://pets.CanineCystinuria/

to discuss management of canine cystinuria

 

http://www.wysong.net/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?

Screen=PROD & Store_Code=WOTTPWS & Product_Code=VEGAN & Category_Code=CD & Pro

duct_Count=13

Wysong has always been very helpful to me when I called for info.

Just tell them a vet referred you to them.

Could use this to supplement a homemade diet. Homemade diets are fine

if you can find one that meets all the dog¡¦s needs. Many do not. I

used to have recipes given to me by Hill¡¦s Science Diet when in

school but they are now in storage and it could be eons before I can

access them.

 

They have a diet for kidney problems called Nephreon. I could not get

the specifics of the diet to load but I guess it probably has animal

ingredients. Just call them. They will help and will help you find a

vet that sells their products. I¡¦m sure there are other companies

but this is the one that I have used.

 

http://www.wysong.net/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?

Screen=PROD & Product_Code=NS026 & Category_Code= & Store_Code=WOTTPWS

call and see if this alkalinizes. Always be sure the herbs and such

are okay to give your dog, healthy or otherwise

 

http://www.wysong.net/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?

Screen=PROD & Product_Code=NS039 & Category_Code= & Store_Code=WOTTPWS

need to find out source of the amino acids

 

 

http://www.pamperedpetorganics.com/

If you decide to feed chicken, this site claims to use non-tortured

animals and has a video I have not watched. They link to PETA

regarding commercial pet foods. The chicken in their food is hormone

and pesticide free. This diet is not likely to be manufactured as a

low protein kidney diet but may be something you could mix in with

other foods you feed. I have no previous knowledge of this company

until I found them tonight.

 

Again, legal disclaimer ļ - I am not recommending anything but that

you do a little more research and formulate some more questions to

help steer you in the right direction. I hope this info has helped.

 

Carrol

 

 

, " Danielle " <daniellej wrote:

>

> I have been feeding my chihuahua Nature's Recipe Vegetarian

formula. My dog developed stones in his eurethra, and I think I

almost lost him. They removed the stones, but now the vet says he

needs to be on a special diet to avoid getting the stones again. He

gave me Eukanuba Kidney formula, but it has chicken in it. Does

anyone know of a special food like this to avoid stones that is

vegetarian?

> Thanks!

>

> - Danielle

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Carrol,

 

Thank you so much! My dog is about 3 years old. I believe the vet

said the stones are alkaline. They were in the eurethra/bladder area.

They removed 2 with a catheter and the third via surgery.

 

Thank you everyone for your concern!

Danielle