Cat / Mix - Answered 1210 days ago
I've been giving my pet therapeutic food from Royal Canine because we'd been seeing urine crystals and the pH had been high at 7 to 8. However the symptoms didn't improve, so our vet recommended we switch to food from Hills. The problem is that our pet won't eat the new food - all he does is smell it. We don't feed him any other food, but he will only eat 3 pebbles at the most. He won't eat even if we crush or soften the pebbles with water, and I'm concerned that he might have increased risks of developing fatty liver if he keeps this up. The vet is telling me to see how it goes for two days, but will he be okay for that long, even if he's only eating three pebbles of food? Or should we switch back to food from Royal Canine even though it won't be effective, just so he keeps eating? He's full of energy so I think he just doesn't like the food but is there any way that I might be able to make him eat?
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Michael
Australia
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Hinata
Mix, 1 year old castrated male
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Hii see, You can continue with anything. The only thing is you have to wait a little bit. Dietary dissolution of the stone is possible with struvite bladder stones. A special food called S/D Diet® is made by Hills for the specific purpose of dissolving struvite stones; Royal Canin makes a stone dissolution diet called Urinary SO®® and Hills C/D Diet® has now been formulated to dissolve struvite stones. The therapeutic diet must be the only food fed until the stone is dissolved. Antibiotics are needed as long as stones are present in the bladder (bacteria are encrusted within the stone and as the stone dissolves, they are released). On the average, 2-3 months are needed to dissolve the stone but the diet should be continued for a full month after the stones are no longer visible on radiographs because small stones may be present but not large enough to see. Stones may be dissolved in as short a time as a few weeks if they are small and the infection is controlled. Radiographs are taken monthly to monitor progress. S/D Diet is not meant to be continued as a regular diet after the stone has been dissolved; Hills recommends not feeding S/D diet any longer than 6 months. Royal Canin SO and Hills C/D, however, are fine for unlimited use. If a dry food is used, ideally water should be added to it; the extra water helps keep the urinary crystals diluted and able to dissolve. Aside from the long treatment time, an important disadvantage of this approach is the possibility of urinary tract obstruction as the stone gets smaller and an unsuccessful attempt to pass the stone occurs. This is potentially a life-threatening hazard for male dogs as they possess the narrow urethra. S/D diet is very high in fat and high in salt. It should not be fed to patients with a past or current history of pancreatitis, patients with heart disease, kidney insufficiency, or high blood pressure.
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