Hey everyone; Feeding my 4 month old puppy a good brand of food (Wellness Complete Dry Puppy) and he has loose stools. No parasites confirmed. Also, his treats are a cranberry/liver product. He has also had alkaline urine and some struvite crystals. I am looking for a recommendation or two on some food I can feed that will treat both conditions at once (or not make the other worse). Finding stuff on just the one condition is easy (ie. pumpkin is good for the loose stools, but will make urine more alkaline and thus, crystal formation). I am not eager to go the raw food route, but am willing to go with a quality brand that is available in my area. Here is a link to a local store I use, and the brands they have: http://www.globalpetfoods.com/brands-we-carry I also would prefer not to have to prepare foods in advance, etc. I would like to know if there is a wet or dry prepared dog food that I am overlooking. Thanks!
Re: Food recommendations for puppy with loose stools and struvite crystals Hi sorry I missed this yesterday. My dogs had bladder infections and consequently struvite crystals when they were a similar age. The vet put them on to Royal Canin urinary diet. However I contacted Royal Canin with a query about it and when I explained how old my dogs were they told me the urine diet shouldn't be fed to pups. They recommended Royal Canin Sensitivity Control wet food. This might be a good food for you to try. It's technically for dogs with upset stomachs, I fed the dry version to my old lab who had colitis, so will help with the loose stool problem and because it's wet it increases the amount of fluid intake which is what you need to flush out the crystals. You buy it from the vet or you can get it off the Internet. Alternatively you could try a shop bought wet food that's specifically for sensitive stomachs. That should do the same thing. What has your vet suggested for dealing with the struvite crystals ? The only other thing I know about this problem is a high protein diet can cause alkalinity. Of course puppies need high protein for growth etc. so it gets complicated. You could try looking for a wet puppy food with as low a protein level as you can find. I'd stay away from wheat, and go for either chicken or fish so for example salmon and rice or chicken and potatoe or cod and potato. These are usually ok for sensitive stomachs. Not sure if that helps but lots of luck hope you get it sorted very soon.
Re: Food recommendations for puppy with loose stools and struvite crystals I've read carrots are good on helping this. I've been giving my pup, Zelda, a long raw carrot. She enjoys it.
Re: Food recommendations for puppy with loose stools and struvite crystals Yeah its hard to get info sometimes, as I have read that a high protein diet can cause acidity, and will make stools runnier. Carrots might be a good solution though; some more moisture and fibre, and will not cause alkalinity.
Re: Food recommendations for puppy with loose stools and struvite crystals If you increase the protein level in a dogs diet quickly it can cause diarrhea which is why you should change the diet slowly over a number of days. However once thy are used to higher protein it shouldn't necessarily cause loose stools. A dog on a raw diet is getting mainly protein. Why has your dog got struvite crystals and what has the vet suggested to do ? PS . Regarding the Ph of urine it is complicated to control struvite crystals with diet which is why I'm asking what the vet has suggested. A diet to dissolve struvite needs to be low in protein as the phosphate and ammonium in the urine comes from protein.(which was why i suggested as low a protein as pos) However low protein does cause alkalinity (sorry got that mixed up before) which can cause formation of struvite crystals so it's difficult. Urine specific diets have acidifiers added but because they are so low in protein these diets don't sustain growth so aren't suitable for pups. When treating struvite crystals It is important to increase water intake in the diet to dilute the urine. Wet food is, if I remember correctly, about 75% water and dry 12% . Although dogs on dry food may seem to drink more they aren't likely to drink as much as the difference between wet and dry. You can also add more water to the wet food. As the protein thing is so complicated I'd concentrate on getting more fluid in and using a wet food for an upset stomach as well.
Re: Food recommendations for puppy with loose stools and struvite crystals Hi I've just remembered something. I used a herbal supplement when my two were pups during and after there UTI and struvite crystals. It's from www.csjk9.com it's called Eezy Peezy and is for the maintenance of the urinary system. It has natural diuretics in it like dandelion. I don't know if it works but it didn't do any harm. You can contact CSJ about their herbal supplements they are always very helpful and will give honest advice about whether they think it would be suitable.
Re: Food recommendations for puppy with loose stools and struvite crystals Thanks again! The vet contacted a food company to ask for advice and they were not much help. He tested fine last time but on the edge of normal, so I am just trying to be proactive. I am now moving (very slowly) to a new food that has some cranberry and beep pulp in it (Kirkland Signature, rated highly on dogfoodadvisor). Hope that firms him up a bit, and the cranberry will help with UTIs if needed. Might not help with crystal formation, but hopefully it will address the stools, Just started adding water to the dry food too. He seems to really enjoy it.
