Homemade diet for dog with chronic UTIs and Degenerative Myelopathy

Question
My dog is an 11-year-old 60-pound mixed breed who looks like a pointer but with a brindled coat. She has had urinary tract infections on and off all her life, sometimes two or three times a year. A switch to Hill's Science Diet CD dry food (recommended by my vet) when she was young made the situation better than it had been. It seems that if I deviate at all by giving her things like raw carrots or raw greens, which she loves, she will easily get another infection. Interestingly enough, when I lived in Athens, Greece, for two years, she never had a single UTI. Whether that was due to a dryer climate, different ingredients in European Hill's Science Diet, or a different chemical composition of the tap water, I have no idea.

My dog now has a presumptive diagnosis of Degenerative Myelopathy, which has been progressing for two years. She has been taking supplements as prescribed by Dr. Clemmons (aminocaproic acid and acetylcysteine, plus an antioxidant formula) and has been mostly UTI-free for the first part of these two years.

Lately, though she has been having one UTI after another. She is on a course of antibiotics for 3 or 4 weeks, I take her off, she gets another infection immediately. On top of this, presumably due to the Degenerative Myelopathy, she is starting to retain her urine and feces (I have to express them by gently pressing her sides together for the urine, and by easing out her feces wearing a latex glove). She has no use of her back legs now (goes for walks using a cart--still loves to walk using her strong front legs), gets at least an hour and a half of exercise a day, but the rest of the time is not ambulatory on a mattress at home. She is also losing her voice due to the DM, though she tries to bark just as vigorously as ever.

My questions are:

Is there a formula of homemade food that I could make that would at very least be as good at preventing UTIs as CD? Could I make something better and even more effective? How would her Degenerative Myelopathy figure into this if at all? Do you have an opinion about tap water (I live in NYC) versus mineral or distilled water? If she is nearing the end of her life, I'd also like to give her more pleasure through her food--her appetite is still great. Recently I bought a tray of fresh wheatgrass and have been giving her a little every day--she loves it, and I figure that since she is on antibiotics right now it certainly can't hurt.

A response to any of these questions would be most appreciated. Thanks very much for taking the time to read this.  

Answer
Hi Micael,

The first thing I want to say is how utterly touching and wonderful it is to see the loving care you are giving to your companion. She certainly has some issues to deal with and it's terrific that she has you to help her through it all. It sounds like you've done everything possible to help her cope and I'm sure she has enjoyed far better life-quality because of it. I'm happy to help any way I can.

First off: I always feel that a properly formulated home made diet is gold standard for any dog. This means calibrating nutrient content according to weight and activity level, but always considering many factors such as age and in your case, health conditions. The short answer is that yes, a home made (cooked, for this dog) diet would be a great idea. But it shouldn't be simply  a mixture of various ingredients, as many people feel that fresh foods in rotation provide adequate nutrient content. This simply isn't true, and I would want to be careful with your dog given her health challenges.


I hate to sound like I'm promoting my services here, but I would have to say as a professional that I'm uncomfortable with a generic diet for this girl and would much prefer to formulate the diet myself. This involves a detailed questionanire and an ongoing service while we adjust the diet(s) and supplements. I think of my role here at AllExperts as providing  some educated help for those in need, and not to  further my own business, at all. But in some cases the request for a home made diet is much beyond what I am able to manage here. If you would like to discuss this, please do contact me (have a look at my services page first, to see if this idea even works for you). If not, I can at least make a few suggestions that may be useful.

For now, a few ideas:

1) Are you using a quality fish body oil? If not, I would consider adding a top quality (pharmaceutical grade) product such as RxOmega3 from Natural Factors. I assume Dr. C has her on high dose Vitamin E, hopefully a natural source product?

2) I would also use both cranberry to help prevent recurrence of the infection and also a probiotic immediately following the antibiotic, to help replenish  the beneficial organisms destroyed by the drugs. Both fo these are very helpful for UTI and general immune function.

3) I would switch to bottled water or at the very least, use a Brita filter to help purify the tap water. Something my own holistic vet recommends for UTI and I have found very effective is to add a few drops of Aerobic Oxygen to the water. Have a look:
http://www.foodreserves.com/stabilized-oxygen.html

Using bottled water and/or this product can't hurt and may well help, so I would consider both to be worth a try.

Switching to a premium commercial food or a home made diet can only be a step up from Science Diet, I will be happy to help either way. What happens if you give her small bits of additional protein? You mentioned carrots and greens, have you offered her things like cooked turkey, beef heart or liver, eggs, etc?

Lastly, two things. One, have you looked into acupuncture at all? or perhaps some simple TTouch would be useful, it's an easy method of bringing relaxation, healing and comfort to animals and anyone can learn to do it:
www.ttouch.com
www.lindatellingtonjones.com

I am a practitioner in training and have used TTouch in many situations including recovery from major surgery, helping an animal pass over, and on all sorts of species from dogs and cats to snakes and wild animals. Well worth a look as an adjunct to your dietary and vet care.

I run a yahoogroup devoted to the discussion of diet and natural health, but with a strong emphasis on science. Our URL is http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ThePossibleCanine and you can expand your knowledge there. One group I KNOW will help a lot is
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/degenerativemyelopathylist/

please do check out the support and info from others dealing with this problem.

Hope this helps a little...best of luck with your special girl.
Catherine