New to Raw Food, Any Advice?

[Amy and Fergus]

Yesterday we visited a holistic vet to see if a diet change would benefit my dog, who has bladder stones. He suggested a switch to raw food, with other dietary supplements, including probiotics, Reneel, and Unda #2.

The food we chose to try was Pets4Life "Home Made 4 Life" chicken/veggie. Does anyone have any experince with this brand, or have any recommendations, suggestions, or advice for making the switch to raw easier on Fergus?

Thank you very much!

[Love4himies]

I don't have any experience with dogs, but I know Merlins Hope does. I can PM her asking her to take a peak at your post.

[MerlinsHope]

You don't know how lucky you are to have a vet who actually tells you to gravitate towards a raw regime.

I believe we discussed this, ( bladder stones), in another area of this forum and I was reminded that you should ask your vet to identify the type of stone as there are several different types. The most popular it seems being struvite stones, (made up of magnesium ammonium phosphate) - or - urate ( composed of calcium oxalate, calcium apatite). The treatment is different depending on what type of stones your dog has and so should be the foods involved.

Generally speaking if you are going to feed raw, you'll need to pay attention to purines and phosphorous in the foods you will be dispensing. These are no-no's for kidney or bladder dogs, so you have to be aware of meats high in these substances. Normally high levels are found in organ meats and in fatty fish, so you will have to offer very limited amounts.

If your dog has urate stones, then of course the last thing you want to be feeding him is food high in oxylates such as certain "greens" - like kale, mustard greens, spinach, etc.

I often ask people to check the kidney foundation website for foods to avoid - you 'll probably find this helpful to some degree.

Also I will email you privately. I've had worked with a holistician who does develop canine preparations to specifically address crystals in cats and stones in dogs. I did use her product here on a dog and I must say it did work tremendously - so you may want to look into that as well.

I think if you approach raw in a sensible light, avoid the meat high in purines you should be ok. That includes oils like salmon oils. You will have to avoid those for now and supplement for Omega 3+6.

Best of luck
MM

[Amy and Fergus]

Thank you so much for your reply to my post! I've just read it now, so my sincere apologies for not responding earlier.

My dog has calcium oxalate stones. I am quite concerned after reading your post, since the food we were recommended does contain organ meats (hearts and livers, mostly) AS WELL AS mustard greens, green beans, kelp, etc.

I am quite interested to know about the formulation the vet gave you for stones in dogs. Did it help to actually eliminate the stones, or prevent them from recurring? Either way, I would love to know more!

Thank you again!

[shabess]

Perhaps this will help as well. www.belfield.com/pet_health_art4.php A regime of Cranberry Extract not only dissolves the stones but also stops the return owing to maintaining the Ph balance in the blood. Add this one too it as well. [url]www.wellness.freeservers.com/UrinaryTractSyndrome.html

[MerlinsHope]

Hi Amy

You may want to get in touch with Lita at www.pets4homeopathy.com and let her know you have oxylate stones.

Cheers
MM

[Amy and Fergus]

Thank you both very much for posting these site for me, I will look into them!