[Caroline M]

I have been home cooking for my dogs for a little over a year now and they are doing wonderfully on it. It is as economical as buying a good quality kibble if you look for sales. They have beautiful coats, are healthy, and the chronic itching one of my dogs used to have has now completely disappeared. I follow Dr. Pritcairn’s recipes and recipes on dogaware.com, and have been adding my own calcium in the form of ground eggshells.

However, one of my dogs had calcium oxalate in her urine at her annual check-up. Not crystals, just the presence of calcium oxalate. She has no symptoms. I am now worried that the ratio of calcium/phosphorus may be contributing and ordered a supplement from Just Food for Dogs to add that is designed for people who home cook. It was recommended in a recent issue of The Whole Dog Journal. But…the company does not supply information on the ratios of calcium and phosphorus, and there is not even an ingredient list. It just says it’s proprietary. That worries me and I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with this company? They are not reviewed on Dogfoodadvisor.

[Ana L]

I’d been considering home cooking (JFFD) for most of last year but wasn’t on the same page with my husband. When he finally agreed we had adopted our second dog, and after doing the math, it was no longer feasible for us. I had researched quite a bit and came up with Acana for both of our babes.

Our new boy from last July just got diagnosed and had surgery for bladder stones last Monday. The vet sent him home with Hills s/d wet food. The ingredients are awful, but we don’t want to risk him developing stones again. We’re planning on feeding him this wet food until we get the stone analysis back. I called JFFD today to see if they had a stone recipe and was told it’d be a custom diet consult at $195 and roughly $110/month for the formulation for me to cook at home. That seemed outrageous… but after research I saw UC Davis offers nutritional consults too ($295)… only they don’t have an ongoing charge or formulation they sell you. They just give you the recipe after a consult with your vet.

We want Gunner to have the best nutrition possible, we’re currently paying $78 every other month for Acana, and we’ll need to re-evaluate home-cooking and find an affordable qualified consult.

[Anonymous]

As you can see by using the search engine (bladder stones) and checking the various posts and threads at this site. The most important thing you can do is increase water intake, add water to all meals, 3 or 4 small meals per day instead of 1 or 2.
Offer frequent bathroom breaks, opportunities to urinate, observe for normal flow/amount/stream. Keep the bladder flushed to avoid stagnant conditions conductive to stone formation.
Otherwise I would defer to your vet regarding diet and supplement choices, at least till the dog has been stable for a while….then discuss changes with the vet.
Some types of bladder stones tend to recur, there is a genetic component to consider.

PS: Wysong has a prescription food, ask your vet if it would be appropriate….if you like the ingredients better http://www.wysong.net/veterinarian/

[Anonymous]

http://www.chewy.com/dog/hills-prescription-diet-sd-canine/dp/54707

What’s wrong with the ingredients? Ask your vet if you can add a bite of cooked chicken or lean meat or scrambled egg…..

Water, Corn Starch, Egg Product, Chicken Fat, Pork Liver, Sucrose, Powdered Cellulose, Iodized Salt, Soybean Oil, Potassium Chloride, Calcium Sulfate, vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Niacin Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Biotin, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Folic acid), Choline Chloride, DL-Methionine, minerals (Zinc Oxide, Manganous Oxide, Ferrous Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), Taurine, Calcium Carbonate, Beta-Carotene.

Also, have you seen this thought provoking blog and comments:

JustFoodForDogs Brings Us Some Classic Marketing Masquerading as Science

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