Dog Community

Kibble for a Dog Susceptible to UTIs/Crystals

Posted : 5/3/2010 1:49:58 PM

This is for my Mom's dog, a 15 year old Shih Tzu currently on the mend from Lyme Disease and a UTI. She lost weight when the Lyme disease hit her hard and is now showing no interest in her kibble at all and is continuing to lose weight. She WILL eat her treats and other food my Mom hides her pills in, and Nikki has been known to snub her food from time to time when not ill. However, she's lost too much weight and my Mom would rather cater to her whims and find some other food that interests her more. As the Mom said, "She's 15. I'd rather feed her something she loves than force her to starve herself until she will finally eat her food."

Nikki is highly prone to UTIs and previously had crystals. My Mom needs a good kibble that won't trigger any UTI issues.The kibble preferably needs to be easily found (she's in Massachusetts, just north of Boston so she's in a populated area with a number of stores). The kibble also needs to be moderately priced. My Mom is living on a budget, but it helps that Nikki doesn't actually need much food.

Any help would be appreciated. I have no idea what to feed a dog who is prone to UTIs and poor Nikki is looking a tad scrawny. Like I said, Nikki snubbing her food is NOTHING new. She's always done this. My Mom has always rotated between two different foods to keep the meals "interesting" for her. One is Royal Canin (I know not the greatest, but believe me a step up from what she used to feed...) and I cannot recall what the other is actually.

In good news, Nikki has perked up since starting treatment for Lyme disease!

jennie_c_d

Posted : 5/3/2010 5:11:46 PM

I think Royal Canin makes a UTI food, that you have to get from the vet. If so, I'd go with that, since she likes that brand, already. I'm not sure if they make one over the counter, or not.

Would your mom be open to something like Honest Kitchen? It's not super expensive, for a small dog, especially if you choose one of the lower protein formulas.

borzoimom1

Posted : 5/3/2010 5:34:07 PM

While I feed raw diet, for UTI's and Lyme you want a lower protein food. And I would sprinkle cranberry capsule on the food.

Zubin got lyme last year- and ohhhhh what a dredful painful disease. I have a video I made for the vet, and its horrid to hear.

smilee1079

Posted : 5/3/2010 9:06:39 PM

In all my research for my UTI prone dog, kibble is something to stay away from. I am going to try Honest Kitchen. I do have a friend whose dog needed to have surgery for stones and she uses the Royal Canin food mentioned above.

erica1989

Posted : 5/3/2010 9:11:00 PM

When she's that age - I would stick with a CANNED urinary diet from the vet. S/O or C/D

borzoimom1

Posted : 5/4/2010 9:13:53 AM

I do not use a kibble either. The few people I do know that do, have used this cranberry sprinkled on the kibble with success.

the_gopher

Posted : 5/4/2010 1:51:02 PM

I'll tell her to look into Honest Kitchen and a prescription vet diet. At 15 years old, the Mom just wants her to be happy eating something, that won't upset her urinary tract issues.The price is a concern, but like mentioned - how much is 1 shih tzu really going to put away Wink considering my Mom is adamant she not be overweight. Right now, she is slightly underweight because she keeps snubbing her Royal Canin and the other food.

Feeding a non-commercial diet (such as raw or home cooked) is out. My Mom avoids cooking for herself whenever possible lol and I know she would not be comfortable going that route. I will talk to her about sprinkling cranberry on top of the kibble or canned food (depending upon what route she takes). Never would have thought of that!

Thanks so much! I know my Mom REALLY appreciates it, even if she's not on the forums to tell you so herself!. She asked me to pop in here to ask, since we were both clueless. I've never had to deal with a dog with frequent urinary tract issues, and neither has she!

audkal

Posted : 5/4/2010 2:53:36 PM

borzoimom1
I do not use a kibble either. The few people I do know that do, have used this cranberry sprinkled on the kibble with success.

My dog (now 12 years old) had a UTI w/Struvite crystals 2 years ago. I still feed kibble now but add a ton of water to it, I also use Solid Gold's Berry Balance supplement. He hasn't had a UTI/crystals since (his urine was last checked about 2 months ago).