[godzilla]

Hi. My dog was diagnosed with crystals in her urine and the vet insist I feed her royal canin urinary food, but how does that food actually help? I asked about supplements and he brushed me off. I have been feeding her 4 and 5 star food and now I feel like I am feeding her bad dog food. I am adding cranberries to her diet also. I just don’t want her to have surgery and yes, I am seriously considering another vet who does not brush me off. Any suggestions?

[theBCnut]

Did your vet even tell you what kind of crystals your dog has?

[godzilla]

Um, that was the other problem. English is not his first language. I insisted on getting all of her paperwork and results from the tests. Urine crystals? I am hoping my next appt will be with someone who speaks English as a first language.

[Shasta220]

I’ve not dealt with UTI in dogs (my cat has it though. She was on meds which helped, but ultimately it’s due to the fact that she is an EXTREMELY picky eater, so it’s impossible to get anything healthful into her), so I’m not sure what food to recommend. Cranberries sounds good, but they also make various UT supplements, I wonder if adding one or two of those might help?

[theBCnut]

Food recommendations should be specific to the type of crystals. Some are caused by infection and changing foods doesn’t help at all. The most important change for a dog with urinary crystals is to increase water consumption, so they are flushing out their bladder more often.

[godzilla]

Thanks. My dog is an extremely fussy eater and I have been trying to get her to drink more water. She does love ice cubes so maybe I will try to put the cranberry into the ice water. Cause she won’t eat it in yogurt.

[Dori]

What type of water do you have? Is it well water? In any event you should test the ph level of the water. Dogs oh requirements are different than ours. I once had a dog many years ago that would develop urinary crystals. After many vet visits many many different foods and lots of money and specialists it finally occurred to me that it might be our well water. Well water contains many many minerals. Anyway, I started giving him bottled water and voila. No more crystals in his urine. I don’t know why it took me so long to figure it out. He was subjected to more than one surgery for crystals until suddenly it hit me that I’d done everything that I could think of other than the obvious. His water was the culprit. I then started having water delivered because it was easier and less expensive than buying and lugging individual bottles of water home as I knew this would be on going for either the rest of his life or until we moved. He never got crystals again.

[Susan]

I cant see any problems, my boy had crystals he only had to eat the Royal Canine S/O for 6 weeks & yes the R/C did work he had a ultra Scan before & after the 6 weeks & all his crystals were gone, he had the S/O tins & the S/O kibble thats all he was allowed to eat he did start to drink more water while on the S/O & was weeing more, so lots & lots of walkies…My boy got crystals from being used as a breeding dog..

[theBCnut]

It depends on the type of crystals. Some crystals are affected by pH, others by mineral content, others by clearing up infection. To determine what to do for crystals, you HAVE to know what kind of crystals they are.

[Dori]

Patty’s absolutely correct. Your vet didn’t tell you what type of crystals they were? I don’t understand how you’re going to prevent the crystals in the future if they didn’t tell you what kind of crystals they are.

[rogerharris]

Well, as per your pet’s problem, you decision to take your pet to another vet is right. You should take it immediately to get it treated. Also maintain a punctuality with her food and medicines.

[Suburban Gal]

Royal Canin is a good food. Just because it comes in the form of an Rx doesn’t mean it’s a bad food.

That said, I’ve had to deal with UTI in both dogs and cats. Given my experiences with it as a pet owner, I suggest something like Addiction’s raw dehydrated homestyle venison amd cranberry food, Pronature’s turkey and cranberries formula or Canyon Creek Ranch’s superfood blend of salmon, egg and cranberries.

[DogFoodie]

Haven’t Canyon Creek Ranch products ceased production?

[Garry M]

First can someone tell me how to post a new question on this site? I can’t seem to find that.
My dog is a labradoodle and he has been throwing up off and on for quite a while. Usually right after he drinks water. The vet has tried various things which have helped such as pepcid and also raising his eating bowls. She recently ask me to try Royal Canin. On another thread I saw several people had said that it appeared to cause liver problems with their dogs.
Does anyone know of any other food that would be good to try for a dog with a sensitive stomach? I have tried Fromm ( lamb and lentil) and that was a bit better but not perfect.

I would also prefer a food made in Canada as they have stricter standards that the USA.
Thank you for your assistance. It is greatly appreciated.

[anonymously]

I have used Royal Canin prescription foods a few times over the years (when prescribed by a veterinarian) with good results.

It is up to you, who do you choose to believe, a veterinarian that has examined your dog and made recommendations to the best of her ability and so far has been helpful….or anonymous strangers on the internet?

PS: I find this site helpful http://skeptvet.com/Blog/category/nutrition/

[Garry M]

It does seem like several people with stories that seemed genuine had dogs that had liver problems after taking the Royal Canin….I’m not saying that was the cause however I would rather not go down a path that may cause a problem.

Does anyone know of a Canadian brand that is easy on digestion and rated high?

[Aundrea L]

In regards to the above comment :
I have been researching for hours now and just found out the answer to your question.
And Urinary health food is not available in Canada ANY WHERE (Beside the Veterinarian’s Clinic (
There is a special ingredient in it that is illegal to sell in any store anywhere in Canada.
So for us that means either buying from the Vet or from Amazon.com. From my research, it looks to beat less expensive to purchase at the Vet (my experience anyway) then ordering on Amazon and paying for shipping and exchange (if they even ship to Canada at all.
Good luck to you! 😊

[Aundrea L]

In regards to the above comment :
I have been researching for hours now and just found out the answer to your question.
And Urinary health food is not available in Canada ANY WHERE (Beside the Veterinarian’s Clinic (
There is a special ingredient in it that is illegal to sell in any store anywhere in Canada.
So for us that means either buying from the Vet or from Amazon.com. From my research, it looks to beat less expensive to purchase at the Vet (my experience anyway) then ordering on Amazon and paying for shipping and exchange (if they even ship to Canada at all.
Good luck to you! 😊

[G L]

Hello. my dog started urinary diet, she is having royal canine. Is anybody had this diet? I would have couple of questions because we switched the food 4 days ago and my dog seems to poop less frequently. Like she had stool yesterday midday and she didn’t have since. She used to produce stool more often so I am kind of worried. Did anybody experienced such changes?
Thanks

[anonymous]

Nope, no problems noted.
Whatever you were feeding before was probably higher in fiber.
Some dogs only have 1 bowel movement a day, although 2 bowel movements per day seems to be the norm.
I wouldn’t worry 🙂
A change in diet will often produce slight changes in bowel habits, sometimes only temporarily.

[Susan]

Hi GL,
Yes most vet diets will make the dog poo less, read the ingredient list, both Urinary vet diets have corn/maize & corn gluten meal these ingredients make the dog poo less, are you feeding the Royal Canine Urinary S/O dry formula or the Hills C/d Multicare dry formula? look at the Hills C/d Multicare Chicken & Veggetable Stew, it has good ingredients, wet food is best to feed when a dog has Urinary/Kidney problems…..When I first rescued my boy he was eating the R/C Dry Urinary S/O kibble for breakfast then for dinner he was eating the R/C S/O wet can food, 5yrs ago Hills didn’t have their new C/d Multicare formula’s, Hills C/d Multicare has a bit better ingredients then the Royal Canine Urinary, ask vet can you change if your dog ends up constipated or ask vet can you feed the wet urinary cans aswell your dog will like having the wet food for a meal….

[anonymous]

Also, add water to meals!

Hope this helps /forums/topic/frequent-utis/#post-109553

[Raelynn G]

In regards to using Royal Canin S/O it lead to the death of our beloved Doberman. He had gone in for bladder stones, struvite in composition and had 40 of them. The vet missed 2 that were logged in his urethra and after closing they x-rayed and saw the stones. They flushed back into the bladder and gave us the option of opening him up again, or we could; once he healed, use this very benign food from Royal Canin. What they don’t tell you is that you must give your dog a fiber additive or stool softners. The Royal Canin backed him up to the point that his colon was impacted on x-ray. He was straining to move his bowels and either herniated a disc or tore some tissue causing so much pain that he refused to eat. He never refused any food in his life and we tried for 8 months to get him to eat. Each time he would he would them go 2-3 days without eating. The vet was stumped and since he was not eating, we could not give him an anti-inflammatory. He started to lose a lot of weight and he went into hepatic lipodosis and eventually liver failure. He was barely 10 and in perfect health before the stones and feeding of that aweful food from Royal Canin. To those who say it is a good food brand, read the ingredients, they are terrible. The reps should inform people and we could have decided to do lithotripsy instead and my boy would still be with us. So yes, I hate that company and their crappy food.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 6 months ago by Raelynn G.

[Dan H]

I have a 15-year-old Pekingese w/Cushioning’s disease and she has been on this for years w/green bean dessert. Over time to keep it interesting, I keep adding different crushed treats. It’s finally gotten to the point that she won’t eat that, even fresh, she hasn’t eaten for days.
Calling vet tomorrow, Monday.

[Blane F]

Royal Canin good food ?
Maybe you should read each ingredient.
Will save you some time. Sample of Royal Canin’s Urinary SO ingredients.
chicken by-product meal(1 stars)found in 23% of pet food products analyzed
Ground up carcasses, internal organs, beaks, feet. Concentrated.
powdered cellulose(1 stars)found in 3% of pet food products analyzed
Cheap filler/source of fiber, suspected to include cardboard, causes irritable bowel problems.
calcium sulfate(1 stars)found in 2% of pet food products analyzed
Plaster of Paris! Firming agent
corn(1 stars)found in 3% of pet food products analyzed
Inexpensive feed-grade can include moldy grain or fungus which has cause death.
sodium tripolyphosphate(1 stars)found in 9% of pet food products analyzed
Used as rancid meat preservative.

Source: http://www.petfoodratings.org/nutrition/ingredient-analysis-of-dr-lisa-newman/

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