jj68
January 9th, 2010, 07:15 AM
Hello,
My name is jj and my dogs name is Grace. Grace is 3 years old, she is a bernese mountain dog/border collie mix. She came to live with us 2 years ago when I caught her owner dumping her in an isolated area during an ice storm (?!?!?!). She is the sweetest dog and very well behaved. Shortly after she came to live with us, I found she has struvite crystals. She was immediately put on Hills c/d and as long as she is on that food, she does not have crystals. I have tried to put her back on regular food, and she gets the crystals back with a vengence. While the c/d does work, I am concerned about the fact that the ingredients do not look to be very healthy and the long term health effects that can cause. She has been on it for 2 years and I don't like what has happened with her teeth and I wonder if she is getting all the proper nutrition considering it has mostly low quality protein sources. I am also having difficulty controling her weight on this food (again, high grains and low quality protein may be the culprit) - she should be about 43 pounds, but is now about 52 pounds, and I am not having any success with getting the weight off her.
I am trying to learn more about exactly why she develops these struvite crystals. I know the pH has something to do with it, but other than that, I don't have much reliable info. The vets aren't very helpful here - basically have told me that it is a metabolic issue and there is nothing to do other than the prescription diet. I would like to put her on a higher quality food or a home cooked diet, I just don't know where to start or what the nutritional requirements would be. Don't want to do too much trial and error as that would cause her to suffer getting the crystals back.
Any info would be appreciated.
My name is jj and my dogs name is Grace. Grace is 3 years old, she is a bernese mountain dog/border collie mix. She came to live with us 2 years ago when I caught her owner dumping her in an isolated area during an ice storm (?!?!?!). She is the sweetest dog and very well behaved. Shortly after she came to live with us, I found she has struvite crystals. She was immediately put on Hills c/d and as long as she is on that food, she does not have crystals. I have tried to put her back on regular food, and she gets the crystals back with a vengence. While the c/d does work, I am concerned about the fact that the ingredients do not look to be very healthy and the long term health effects that can cause. She has been on it for 2 years and I don't like what has happened with her teeth and I wonder if she is getting all the proper nutrition considering it has mostly low quality protein sources. I am also having difficulty controling her weight on this food (again, high grains and low quality protein may be the culprit) - she should be about 43 pounds, but is now about 52 pounds, and I am not having any success with getting the weight off her.
I am trying to learn more about exactly why she develops these struvite crystals. I know the pH has something to do with it, but other than that, I don't have much reliable info. The vets aren't very helpful here - basically have told me that it is a metabolic issue and there is nothing to do other than the prescription diet. I would like to put her on a higher quality food or a home cooked diet, I just don't know where to start or what the nutritional requirements would be. Don't want to do too much trial and error as that would cause her to suffer getting the crystals back.
Any info would be appreciated.