calcium oxalate crystals

[kaz]

Hi everyone.  New to all this so pls bear with me. I have searched Internet forever and neeed some advice. My 5yr old female bichon has had the crystals in her urine for years and is on royal canin s/O Urinary wet food. It is all she is allowed no treats etc. My question is.  Is there an alternative that is better ingredients and can she have a treat of some kind. She loves dental sticks but isn't allowed them now and she seems constantly hungry. Any help or advice would be great.

[Dottie]

Hello and welcome to the forum.  Your question is a complex one and I cannot answer it personally.  There are no filters for this on the Dog Food Directory.  I assume that you have discussed this with the vet?  If not, then it would be worth having a word with him or her.  I have messaged David, the owner of this site but it might be a little while before he can get back to you so please keep checking back.

[kaz]

Hi Dottie. Thanks for the quick reply. I have spoken to my vet she says I could change brands but still no treats etc and she will be on this food for life. My dog Daisy is also urinary incontinent but only when she is sleeping vet says its possible to putrher on a syrup medication to tighten her muscles but won't do it because of the crystals in her urine. So poor daisy is hungry and wet poor wee soul I fel so bad for her.

[Schnauday]

If you wanted to go down the raw route of feeding Nutriment have a low purine / phosphorus food which is intended for breeds such as Dalmatians which are susceptible to such things.

I know of a few dogs who have had to have crystals/stones removed and have changed to this diet and have been fine since.

Can't you make some homemade treats ?

[kaz]

I'm not sure about the raw food diet I don't know enough about it tbh.also Daisy has just been diagnosed today with colitis she was very poorly mucus and blood in poo. Giving her chicken n rice with added water at the moment but chicken not agreeing with her either. So now have another issue regarding food. I have another female bichon aged 3 who has colitis also, she gets fed Chappie wet but has nothing else,this works well for her. As for homemade treats I don't have a clue to what they can have because both have colitis

[Tinyplanets]

Hello and welcome to the forum Kaz.
Oh dear, I don't envy you trying to find a suitable diet. Having had a look around at some studies and theories, all I have found is lots of conflicting advice. I am sure you have found the same.

You could have a look at this article by David Jackson here

It identifies that the nutritional characteristics of the foods recommended for stones and crystals by the vets are
Low protein (high quality)
Low calcium
Low nucleic acids
Low phosphorus
Low Sodium
Perhaps if you can find some foods with these properties you can discuss it further with your vet especially in relation to the colitis.
You may find some advice about the colitis in this thread here
It is not an easy task. I hope you can find a suitable diet. I will do some research about treats and get back to you.

[kaz]

Just had a look at the article makes me think I have been ripped off big time by buying the royal canin food. Ive just paid £60 pounds for 24 tins  . I will have a look at foods that have the specific things you suggest.  There must be something my poor girl can have thats home cooked and not full of fillers and grain. She just woke up in a puddle of urine is now hiding behind the couch. I don't give her into trouble for this because I know she can't help it. But she obviously knows herself it not right. Aww my poor wee fur baby looks so sad.

[Schnauday]

The raw nutriment low purine is a complete diet so its just the same as feeding a tinned you don't need to feed anything else. It doesn't have any of the fillers that royal canin and the majority of prescription diets have.

If I were you I'd email nutriment. I would also email Naturesdiet as I'm sure I've read about someone feeding senior/lite to their dog with stones and I think some of their foods are suitable for colitis sufferers.
http://www.naturediet.co.uk/faqs/

[My Bichon]

Hi Kaz,

I had this experience with my Bichon girl it was very complicated because she developed two types of stones and had to have surgery to have them removed.  After surgery the vet told me she had to go on a prescription diet for life and nothing else (no treats) which she hated.  She was on Hills C/D and then changed to Hills U/D.  Expensive food and terrible quality but I didn't know any better I went with the advise of the vet as I didn't want her to developed stones and go through surgery again. 

3 years later  she developed diabetes which became complicated because she would no eat the prescription food but it was necessary that she ate so that I could inject  her insulin.  Therefore the vet prescribed potassium citrate mixture to give her straight after her food which would help prevent the stones forming  (if only they suggested this in the first place instead of me having to feed her this terrible food).  I'm  not saying that it will be suitable for your girl but it's worth a mention to your vet. 

I can't say if the potassium citrate mixture prevented her from developing stones as she sadly past away six months after being diagnosed with diabetes.

I wish you all the best and hope your girls get better soon.

[kaz]

Thank you everyone for taking the time to try and help my 2 girls I really appreciate it. Special thanks to MY BICHON im so sorry you lost your girl. I am currently looking into all your suggestions.  Here's hoping there's light at the end of this  very long dark tunnel. 

[Schnauday]

Another one I've heard good reports about is Honeys. Again is a raw diet but they will make up a complete food for you depending on medical conditions. I don't think they're cheap but then if you're paying nearly £3 per can it would probably end up cheaper
http://honeysrealdogfood.com/health-advice/
Please keep coming back to give us updates