homemade dog food bladder stones

Homemade dog food recipe for urinary health

Welcome tomy comprehensive guide for a homemade, natural dog food recipe specifically designed to support your furry friend's urinary tract health. Providing your beloved pet with the right nutrition can significantly improve urinary health and prevent common conditions like urinary tract infections (UTIs) or stones. We'll delve into the advantages of a tailored diet, crucial ingredients that promote urinary wellness, and the perfect steps to prepare this home-cooked feast. This article is the ultimate resource for pet parents seeking to enhance their dogs' urinary health naturally and effectively, filled with expert advice, practical tips, and scientifically-backed knowledge on canine urinary care (research referenced).

Follow the steps to create the perfect homemade diet for your dog

Step 1 Read the general rules for support Urinary Health, and implement them!

Step 2 Learn how to support your dogs specific Urinary issue

Step 3 Adjust the Urinary Support recipe (as shown in video below) orpurchase the Urinary Support Plan for my health plan plus email support from me.

General Rules for canine urinary support

What is the urinary tract?

The urinary tract is a waste removal system. When your dog eats, the body takes nutrients from the food and it goes into the blood. Not everything taken into the blood is needed or in fact healthy, its waste. The kidneys and urinary system help the body to eliminate the waste.

All of the waste thats carried in the bloodstream (after entering the blood through the digestive process) gets to the kidneys, where it is removed along with water and other waste.

However, if the diet is imbalance or the urinary tract is not functioning optimally, due to bacterial imbalance or a genetic predisposition, waste can accumulate and cause infection and/ or urinary crystals and stones.

Appropriately Balanced Fresh Food

Creating a balanced fresh food diet will reduce the risk of infection and stone formation, as imbalance reduces urinary tract function. A good way to think about it, is that bacteria, fungus and other microorganisms feed off the food you feed your dog, and if you provide too much of the wrong food, it feeds the bad bacteria more than the good.

Urine infections affect around 27% of dogs. These are infections that cause inflammation in the urinary tract and are mainly an overgrowth of bacteria, but they can also be caused by fungus overgrowth, and in extremely rare cases, viral infection. (1)

Removing inflammatory ingredients like gluten (pasta, bread, corn, wheat, rice, maize etc.) is imperative. Check the treats you feed your dog to ensure these ingredients arent being made available.

You must also remove any intolerances from your dogs diet, these are proteins (meats) that they dont digest as well. Signs of poor protein digestion include ear infections, itchiness, paw licking and regular lose stools.

Gut and Urine Microbiome Support

A diverse, balanced and healthy microbiome, both in the gut and the urine, comes from having a range of natural fresh foods in the diet (2).

The bacterial urinary microbiome in healthy state has a greater taxonomic richness, meaning having a balance gut microbiome is a clear indicator of health. (3)

Support comes from the balance fresh food, and also the use of probiotics like natural organic yoghurt, kefir, goats milk or sauerkraut. Use these at least 2-3 times per week.

Increase urine supersaturation (less concentrated urine)

Many urinary stones formation, like calcium oxalate, cystine and urate stones, are affected by the concentration of the urine. (4,5,6)

Increasing the moisture in your dogs diet, by adding water to their meals (25ml per 100g) can help.

I recommend also feeding bone broth, 25ml per 10kg/ 20lbs of body weight up to FOUR times per week.

Specific Canine Urinary Support

Using the Urinary Support recipe on YouTube and the information provided on the specific issue, amend it to suit your dogs needs.

Urinary Tract Infection Support for dogs

Generally UTIs are caused by inappropriate diets (not the best ingredients, and too many carbs) causing an alkaline urine. A healthy dog produces slightly acidic urine between 6.0-6.5 pH. There is a correlation between bacterial overgrowth with more neutral urine, around pH 7. (7)

You want to increase the acidity, which will come from using my recipes naturally, but use apples and cranberries regularly to help this. Do not use carbs for the first 2 weeks.

The overuse of antibiotics can also cause more regular UTIs, you need to minimise their use as much as possible. Legally Im obliged to say consult your Vet, but try diet and every other option before using antibiotics. The more they are used, the more regularly your dog will get an infection. (8)

Homemade dog food for Calcium Oxalate Stones

Calcium homeostasis is a major cause of calcium oxalate stones. To provide a correct balance of calcium, you need ensure sufficient phosphorus and Vitamin D. (4)Do not remove calcium from the diet. Use the recipe provided, and make liver and ideally fish too, are also given on a regular basis.

Remember to increase the water intake of your dogs diet too (follow the general rules for Canine Urinary Tract Health).

Homemade dog food for Cystine Stones

There is little evidence to support dietary restriction of protein, however the restriction of methionine contain foods like broccoli, mushrooms, cauliflower, potatos is recommended. Also the vegetables used should have a high in organic anion content (9)

Dietary management of cystine stones is designed around maintaining a urine pH 6.5 - 6.75. This is done by having a slightly more alkaline diet than is normally prescribed for a dog. This can be hard, and dont lose too much sleep over this, as following the general rules for Canine Urinary tract health play a more effective role in managing the issue. Avoid apple, broccoli, mushrooms, cauliflower and potatoes. Use squash if using carbs.

You need to restrict salt intake. No more snacking on leftovers that have human levels of salt.

The inclusion of Alpha Lipoic Acid (flaxseed oil as the oil you use) is a safe and well tolerated food supplement that has been remarkably effective in a mouse model of cystinuria. (10)

If stones are present, or you think your dog is beginning to struggle to pee, an initial high alkaline diet with the inclusion of potassium citrate is recommended to increase the speed in which the stones dissolve (11).

Urate Stones

Many cases of urate stones come from Dalmatian dogs, as all pure-bred Dalmatians excrete excessive quantities of uric acid (and therefore have two abnormal copies of the gene).

Generally this only affects male Dalmatian, due to the width of their urinary tract veign slightly less wide. However, dogs with a history of stones must only consume low fat meats; lean beef, cod, venison and rabbit.

Much is made of low purine diets being affective, I have only seen one study funded by Royal Canin (Mars), so it should most certainly be taken with a pinch of salt (do not add to your dogs diet).

To reduce purines effectively, organ meat should be liver or heart from beef, chicken or lamb. Organ meat should only make up 5% of the diet for sensitive dogs and 10% for healthy dogs (Ideally chicken liver or lamb liver or heart)

Using small amount (10-15%) of grated low purine vegetables is generally great for all breeds with a purine metabolism problem. (Avoid higher purine veggie, check here).

Additional Support for dogs with Urinary Tract Issues

If you want specific recipes or help with your dogs diet, please sign up for a consultation, or the Urinary Support Plan which comes with specific recipes to each issue.

References:

1. https://todaysveterinarypractice.com/urinary-tract-infections-in-dogs/
2. Rodrguez, F.M., Rubio, L.S., Nanne, I.G., Martn, F.S., Emiliani, E. and Feu, O.A., 2020. The relationship between calcium oxalate lithiasis and chronic proinflammatory intestinal dysbiosis pattern: a prospective study.Urolithiasis,48(4), pp.321-328.
3. Melgarejo, T., Oakley, B.B., Krumbeck, J.A., Tang, S., Krantz, A. and Linde, A., 2021. Assessment of bacterial and fungal populations in urine from clinically healthy dogs using nextgeneration sequencing.Journal of veterinary internal medicine,35(3), pp.1416-1426.
4. Hunprasit, V., 2017. Epidemiologic Evaluation of Risk Factors for Calcium Oxalate Urolith Formation and Recurrence in Dogs
5. Stevenson, A.E., Blackburn, J.M., Markwell, P.J. and Robertson, W.G., 2004. Nutrient intake and urine composition in calcium oxalate stone-forming dogs: comparison with healthy dogs and impact of dietary modification.Veterinary therapeutics: research in applied veterinary medicine,5(3), pp.218-231.
6. Bartges, J.W. and Callens, A.J., 2015. Urolithiasis.Veterinary Clinics: Small Animal Practice,45(4), pp.747-768.
7. Robin R. Shields-Cutler, Jan R. Crowley, Chia S. Hung, Ann E. Stapleton, Courtney C. Aldrich, Jonas Marschall, Jeffrey P. Henderson.Human Urinary Composition Controls Siderocalin's Antibacterial Activity.Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2015; jbc.M115.645812 DOI:10.1074/jbc.M115.645812
8. Werner, M., Suchodolski, J.S., Straubinger, R.K., Wolf, G., Steiner, J.M., Lidbury, J.A., Neuerer, F., Hartmann, K. and Unterer, S., 2020. Effect of amoxicillinclavulanic acid on clinical scores, intestinal microbiome, and amoxicillinresistant Escherichia coli in dogs with uncomplicated acute diarrhea.Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine,34(3), pp.1166-1176.
9. Moussa M, Papatsoris AG, Abou Chakra M, Moussa Y. Update on cystine stones: current and future concepts in treatment.Intractable Rare Dis Res. 2020;9(2):71-78. doi:10.5582/irdr.2020.03006
10. Wiener, S.V., Chi, T. and Stoller, M.L., 2018. Alpha lipoic acid as a novel therapeutic approach to cystinuria.Expert Opinion on Orphan Drugs,6(4), pp.295-300.
11. Lulich, J.P., Berent, A.C., Adams, L.G., Westropp, J.L., Bartges, J.W. and Osborne, C.A., 2016. ACVIM small animal consensus recommendations on the treatment and prevention of uroliths in dogs and cats.Journal of veterinary internal medicine,30(5), pp.1564-1574.

Homemade Dog Food For Struvite Bladder Stones

Key Takeaways

• Struvite bladder stones are the most common type of bladder stone in dogs, and are contracted from a bacterial infection of the bladder via the urethra.
• Unlike other types of bladder stone, struvite bladder stones are not primarily caused by diet. But restricting your dogs diet could help dissolve the stones and relieve your dog of the condition.
• Homemade dog food for struvite bladder stones can be a bit resource-intensive because of the nature of the condition, but its well worth it if youre set on a natural remedy for this illness.

Dogs can develop many of the health problems that humans have, includingkidneyor bladder stones. Just like with us, struvite bladder stones in particular are quite common in canines. Bladder stones generally form from minerals that build up in the bladder and resemble small rocks. Struvite stones specifically develop due to a buildup of magnesium ammonium phosphate hexahydrate as a reaction to an upper urinary tract infection.

Such infections are caused by bacteria that secrete ammonia, which combine with the magnesium and phosphorus in the urine, as well as calcium carbon-apatite, to form struvite crystals and subsequently turn your dogs urine alkaline. Canine urine is normally acidic, so any struvite that forms usually dissolves. However, if the concentration of struvite is higher than normal or if the urine turns alkaline struvite bladder stones may form. Factors that may contribute to urine turning alkaline include:

• Bladder infections
• Kidney disease
• Antacids or diuretics used long-term

Transitioning your pup to homemade food instead of commercial dog food can help to prevent struvite bladder stones from forming in your dogs bladder. My tried and tested homemade dog food for struvite bladder stones is just the recipe for that task. Alternatively, try out one of the best fresh dog food brands if youre too busy to cook your own dog food.

A Quick Rundown on Struvite Bladder Stones

Bladder stones are known to be a somewhat common problem among canines, with struvite bladder stones being the most common variety.

Symptoms

• Constantly urinating
• Difficulty urinating
• Frequently thirsty
• Weird urination pattern (when urinating, your dog might only release a few drops to start, and after a few seconds it may increase to several drops to a stream)
• Poor bladder control
• Cloudy urine
• Blood in urine

Causes

As stated above, struvite stones develop because of bacterial infection. Bacteria in the bladder produce urease, an enzyme that fosters the rapid reproduction of bacteria. Urease reacts with the urea in the urine, producing an excess of ammonia, which is the reason why the urine becomes alkaline. As weve discussed, alkaline urine does not dissolve struvite crystals well, enabling the development of struvite stones.

Struvite stones tend to be more common in female dogs, likely because their urethra is wider and shorter, making it easier for bacteria to get to the bladder from there.

The main cause for infections are unsanitary environment, swimming or traveling through filthy areas, or even poor hygiene that enables anal bacteria to travel to the urethra.

Lack of hydration is also a key factor in causing struvite bladder stones. If this is your main issue, I find that a small amount ofadded saltin food encourages dogs to drink more water. Remember that canned food provides more fluid than dry kibble, but nothing beats actual homemade dog food recipes, or products from acclaimed fresh dog food brands.

What Kind of Diet is Best To Treat My Dogs Bladder Stones?

According to VCA Animal Hospitals, a diet thats low in protein, magnesium, and phosphorus may reduce the risk of struvite bladder stones in dogs [1]. The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) recommends one gram of protein per one pound of a dogs body weight each day. Always remember to give your dog plenty of water to encourage urination to help them dissolve and/or pass the crystals, too.

The most typical recipes for struvite bladder stones in dogs are low in magnesium, phosphorous, and protein. The ideal struvite bladder stone recipe is formulated to promote more acidic urine that can assist in dissolving the bladder stones your pup already has and help to prevent new struvite stones from forming.

My Best Veterinarian Approved Recipe For Struvite Bladder Stones

As Ive shown in all my other homemade dog food recipes, you can easily create healthy,homemade foodto improve your pups health conditions just by using fresh meats, vegetables, and fruits. This struvite bladder stones recipe is no different. Created with the help of my friend Michael Stavin, DVM, this has helped relieve one of my dogs of a particularly nasty bout of struvite stone symptoms, and prevented recurring struvite stones from appearing since. It has since helped many of my friends dogs, and eventually, I hope it will help any of your dogs suffering from this condition as well.

Ingredients:

• 2/3 of a cup of 25 percent fat ground beef
• 3 cups of white rice, long-grain
• 2 teaspoons of canola oil
• 1/4 teaspoon of potassium chloride
• 1 1/4 teaspoon of bone meal powder
• 3/4 of a teaspoon of salt, iodized
• One vitamin and mineral supplement for children
• 50 milligrams of zinc

Instructions

Cook the rice according to the directions on the packaging. While thats cooking, brown the ground beef over low heat in a skillet. Afterwards, mix all the ingredients together in a mixing bowl. The recipe provides approximately 1095 kilocalories about the daily requirement of a 45 lb neutered dog.

As always, remember to consult with your vet in case you need to make any adjustments to the recipe based on factors such as:

• Activity level
• Age
• Breed
• Current health
• Environment
• Medical history

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What can I feed a dog with struvite stones?

Foods that have lower oxalate levels include peeled apples without the core or seeds, fish, meats, and wild rice. Struvite crystals often form as a result of a urinary tract infections(UTI)that will require veterinary treatment. However, low oxalate foods can help to dissolve them.

2. What foods should dogs with struvite crystals avoid?

You should avoid feeding your dog foods made with grains including corn, brown rice, and wheat as they are all high in oxalate. Grains create alkaline urine in dogs that make them more susceptible to developing struvite stones. An alkaline ph is necessary for struvite stones to form and cant form in acidic urine. Additional foods to avoid include:

• Alfalfa
• Bananas
• Beans
• Broccoli
• Cabbage
• Honey
• Millet
• Potatoes
• Pumpkin
• Squash

Vinegar thats not distilled like organic apple cider vinegar found in some foods, should also be avoided.

3. What can I feed a dog with bladder crystals?

The answer largely depends on what type of bladder stone youre dealing with. Only three types have been documented to respond well to dissolution via dietary regimen: purine stones, cystine stones, and struvite stones. For the first two, a protein-restricted diet that promotes alkaline urine pH is required. For struvite stones, veterinarians advise foods high in fat, although this might increase the likelihood of pancreatitis. In general as with humans, high sodium is to be avoided.

4. Is canned pumpkin good for dogs with bladder stones?

Addingcanned pumpkincan soothe the digestive system when a dog has an upset from bladder stones or even an upset stomach. The most important point is that you should only feed your dog 100 percent plain pumpkin. You should never use pumpkin pie filling since it contains additional ingredients that are harmful to dogs.