Bladder Stone issues and diet
 

I just joined this forum because I am confused and frustrated about my Yorkshire Terrier's health issue. He was diagnosed 5 months ago with BOTH calcium oxalate and struvite bladder stones. It is very frustrating because I am trying to find an ideal diet that caters to both these issues. Scooter, my Yorkie, had his stones surgically removed. He recovered just fine. He is on W/D Hills Prescription diet--nothing else!! No treats--nothing!! He is starving all the time!! I feel awful!! I feed him his canned food whenever he begs in the kitchen. I do add low sodium chicken broth and a bit of pure pumpkin. I bake his food like snacks just so he feels like he is getting something special. He needs a low fat diet; therefore, he never feels full. He hasn't lost weight, but I'm concerned about proper nutrition! The food he is on is NOT AAFCO approved. I need a low fat, low sodium, gluten free diet to feed him. It's difficult to find a food that meets ALL of these requirements!! I research constantly! What works for struvite, doesn't always seem to work for the calcium oxalate!! I'm getting frustrated...and my poor little guy really needs a better diet!! Has anyone encountered this issue and have you been able to resolve this issue in an optimal way?? Please advise...thank you! By the way, Scooter is 10 years old and very active and healthy in every other way!

My Paris had bladder stones also. I did NOT switch to the Hills food because it didn't look healthy to me. Paris ate Blue Buffalo and I also gave him Pala-Tech Potassium Citrate Plus Cranberry Granules on his food to help prevent stone formation. I'm not saying this will work for your pup but Paris never got them again. I bought it on ebay, way cheaper than the vets. I did cut out all people food.

Royal canin urinary SO and treat the infection as struvites are caused by infection. Cranberry is useless.

Over the years, I have used a variety of prescription foods....Hill's, Purina and Royal Canin and they have always worked for whatever condition a pup had. The only time they did not was IF there were two different conditions. I can assure you that there is nothing unhealthy about those foods....quite the contrary. They save lives!!! In those cases where there were various medical issues and no RX food to cover them all, I consulted with veterinary nutritionists and home cooked for them.

I am going to copy/paste my response in your other thread:

I would suggest a consult with a vet nutritionist. He should not feel hungry all of the time! You might want to consider home cooking. I have done that with pups who have multiple issues that it is hard to find an RX food for. I have a pup with lymphangectasia who needed a low fat diet...she loves her home cooked diet and never is hungry. It ended up being more food than she had ever eaten and she maintains her weight on it. She is a happy girl and has done well now for two years on this diet. It was formulated by Dr. Catherine Lenox, a vet nutritionist in Houston. (you could do a tele consult with her)

Dr. Rebecca Remillard, a vet nutritionist, has a website PetDiets - www.petdiets.com that has a lot of information. You could also do a consult with her for a home cooked diet.