bladder stone & colitis diet for Schnauzer

Question
QUESTION: Want to switch from canned Science Diet U/D to a more holistic and natural food. Home made recipe suggestions? Any manufactured suggestions? Dry U/D was very irritable and made things worse.
Have 12 year old Schnauzer with history of bladder stones (stuvite?sp) and colitis. Frequent bowel movements and very loose stool. Thank you.

ANSWER: Hi Chris,

I would honestly switch to a natural diet for him. This consists of feeding raw meaty bones and organs. Natural raw diets are more acidic which will keep the bladder stones at bay. It will also be easier for him to digest since that's what they are naturally designed to eat and that should aid in taking care of the colitis.

You may get a bit of loose stool when first starting a raw diet, but then they'll normalize and become less frequent and smaller. My 50lb malinois has smaller stool than a pomeranian I know.

Most people start the dogs out on a chicken. Be sure not to get enhanced chicken as it can cause some problems for some dogs. Enhanced chicken has a high sodium content and will say things like added broth or list a percentage of solution, self basting; things like that you want to avoid. A percentage of retained water is fine though.

Chicken breasts and leg quarters are good starters for most dogs. You feed the chicken for a couple weeks and then slowly start adding organs and other meats. This will help ease him into it and let you know if there are any allergies to worry about.

Once you've introduced a variety of meats you can mix it up and feed a big variety. Variety is key to a raw diet, without variety you could be missing some important things.

Things you can feed include poultry of all types, beef and pork all parts except the large weight bearing bones, lamb, rabbit, goat, fish but avoid salmon.

You can also try some of the commercial raw diets such as Bravo or Nature's Variety Medallions. Some people do start out that way but often switch over to home made for cost effectiveness and being able to know what they are feeding. Many raw feeders get their dogs meat from the same grocery store they get theirs.

As for amounts you need to feed 2-3% of your dogs ideal weight, 2.5% is usually a good starting point. Then you watch his condition, getting pudgy cut back a little, getting a little thin up the portions a bit.

Here are some more raw diet links to help you get started:
Myths

There are a lot of myths surrounding raw diets. I'm not going to go into great detail about them here, as its already been done on this site http://www.rawfed.com/myths/index.html

Links and other resources.
http://www.dogster.com/forums/Raw_Food_Diet/thread/491589 (This contains a nice nutrient requirement calculator.)
http://www.dogster.com/forums/Raw_Food_Diet/thread/431875 (Loads of raw feeding information here.)
http://www.dogwise.com (Has several books about feeding natural diets.)

Books
Raw Meaty Bones by Tom Lonsdale
Works Wonders by Tom Lonsdale (less technical than Raw Meaty Bones, a good quick start guide.)


~Jess

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Jessica, I am so sorry, I mentioned my Schnauzer had struvite bladder stones, but they were actually calcium oxalate stones. Does that difference change your original diet recommendation since you mentioned the acidity of a raw diet keeps the bladder stones at bay? I was under the impression an alkaline diet vs. an acidic diet reduces the risk for future calcium oxalate stones. On the U/D label it lists egg products, pork liver etc. Would feeding my dog scrambled eggs and pork liver be better than canned U/D? When you suggest raw, you mean uncooked, right out of the package? I really appreciate your opinion. Thanks again.
Chris

Answer
Hi Chris,

I would still go with the raw diet. It seems the best dietary way to help prevent calcium oxalate stones is to reduce the amount oxalate foods in the diet. Plants are the foods high in oxalate, and you won't have these in a raw diet. Also water consumption is important, especially for a dog with this issues. Since a raw diet is naturally high in moisture that will help as well.

Feeding only scrambled eggs and pork liver would lead to imbalances. In fact over feeding liver for long periods can cause Vit. A toxicity. Raw liver and raw eggs are great additions to a raw diet, but the amounts are kept small. A typical raw diet is only 5% liver.

And yep when I say raw I mean raw right out of the package meats.

~Jess