Using Walthams SO longterm

Question
QUESTION: Hi, I was hoping you could give me some info regarding the use of Walthams SO dog food long term for crystals / struvites. I have a 5 1/2 year old female black lab. She was diagnosed with crystals about years ago. My vet prescribed the SD ( I believe) to dissolve the crystals and they dissolved. Up until that point I have used Pro Plan for both my Labs ( one on Senior diet ) with no problems. Once her crystals were dissolved we tried putting her on a different diet to alleviate the problem. I ended up trying Nitro for a month and re-tested here and she had the crystals again. We went through the process with the SD again and my vet recommended putting here on the SO diet from here on out. It has been a couple years now and there has been no re occurrence. My question is will her being on this food cause any long term problems ? I have also been giving her 1 estrogen pill a week to control here bladder as she was spayed at 2 due to cataracts. Every once in a while she will pee when she is sleeping and isn't aware that she urinated. The estrogen once a week appears to have fixed the problem. Any insight would be appreciated.


ANSWER: Hi Dale,
My apologies for the delayed reply. The best answer I can give you is simple; either continue with the diet that is managing her symptoms, or have a professionally designed protocol done for her and use all fresh home made ingredients. I urge you not to simply try homefeeding as this is a complex case and will require a trained nutritionist to  forulate an appropriate set of recipes and supplements.  I have great success managing various forms of uroliths using home made diet, but the protocols are very specific and need to be closely followed. I appreciate your desire to use a higher quality food in terms of ingredients, but the SO formula is highly specific and if it controls her problem I would stay on it pending a consultation with someone like myself who is qualified to help you formulate an appropriate home made diet. This condition is just too painful to risk recurrence.

As for longterm problems with the diet, the site lists a few contraindications such as pancreatitis, which you should be aware of:
http://www.walthamusa.com/Learning%20Center/SO13.html
It also states that the food is intended for shortterm or supplemental feeding only, and at 15% protein I can undertsand why.

The ingredient list is quite typical of Walthams and Hill's diets:


INGREDIENTS:
RICE, GROUND CORN, CHICKEN FAT, CHICKEN MEAL, CORN GLUTEN MEAL, NATURAL FLAVORS, DRIED EGG POWDER, SODIUM CHLORIDE, CELLULOSE POWDER, POTASSIUM CHLORIDE, DICALCIUM PHOSPHATE, CHOLINE CHLORIDE, CALCIUM CARBONATE, CALCIUM SULFATE, TAURINE*, VITAMINS [DL-ALPHA TOCOPHEROL ACETATE (SOURCE OF VITAMIN E), BIOTIN, D-CALCIUM PANTOTHENATE, NIACIN, PYRIDOXINE HYDROCHLORIDE (VITAMIN B6), VITAMIN A ACETATE, VITAMIN D3 SUPPLEMENT, THIAMINE MONONITRATE (VITAMIN B1), VITAMIN B12 SUPPLEMENT, RIBOFLAVIN (VITAMIN B2), FOLIC ACID], TRACE MINERALS [ZINC OXIDE, FERROUS SULFATE, COPPER SULFATE, MANGANOUS OXIDE, SODIUM SELENITE, CALCIUM IODATE], PRESERVED WITH NATURAL MIXED TOCOPHEROLS, ROSEMARY EXTRACT, AND CITRIC ACID.


Adding Vitamin C or extra protein will cancel out the delicate balance this food creates, so you shouldn't overacidify the urine by these popular means when using SO.

If you do decide to keep trying other foods instead of having a consultation, I would urge you to look for lower protein foods such as Canidae's Platinum, which may or may not be useful but at least will not OD your dog on protein, phosphorus and other minerals. The Canidae Platinum is NOT a food I like or recommend for seniors but at only 18% protein it could well be tolerable for your girl, and certainly it has far higher quality ingredients than SO.
Chicken Meal, Turkey Meal, Brown Rice, White Rice, Chicken Fat, (Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Sunflower Oil, (Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Chicken, Lamb Meal, Herring Meal, Flax Seed, Psyllium Seed Husk, Sun Cured Alfalfa Meal, Norwegian Kelp, Lecithin, Cranberries, Monosodium Phosphate, Choline Chloride, Rosemary Extract, Sage Extract, Riboflavin (Source of Vitamin B2), Dried Enterococcus Faecium Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus Acidophilus Fermentation Product, Dried Aspergillus Oryzae Fermentation Extract, Dried Bacillus Subtilis Fermentation Extract, Inulin (from Chicory Root), Dried Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Fermentation Solubles, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Zinc Amino Acid Chelate, Manganese Amino Acid Chelate, Copper Amino Acid Chelate, Cobalt Amino Acid Chelate, Iron Amino Acid Chelate, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Ascorbic Acid (Source of Vitamin C), L-Carnitine, Choline Chloride, Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Niacin, Beta Carotene, D-Biotin, Glucosamine Hydrochloride, Chondroitin Sulfate, Calcium Iodate, Folic Acid, Sodium Selenite, Papaya, Pineapple, Vitamin B12 Supplement.


More information at  http://www.canidae.com/dogs/platinum/dry.html

Another dry food that *could* be tolerated - and again I am guessing here which I do NOT like to do! is Burns:
http://www.burns-pet-nutrition.co.uk/dog_food.htm

Since struvites generally occur concurrently with a bacterial infection, I would also suggest you have her checked again as perhaps they infection was not entirely cleared. In my own practise I find struvites relatively easy to manage dietarily, as opposed to oxalates which can be tricky. I would much prefer to see your girl get the crystals under control and onto a better food than SO, as it is very good for controlling symptoms, but not nutritionally appropriate for longterm usage.

Again my apologies for the delayed reply, we have had a death in the family and I have been away from my computer this past week,
Catherine


 








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

QUESTION: Thank you Catherine, my codolences on the lose of your family member. I appreciate you advice. As I hunt with Zora and compete in hunt test / field trials. What would be the max protein she could have to keep in top performance and not risk crystals ? Is there other ingredients I need to be concerned with when looking for another food ?  Thanks Dale

Answer
Hi Dale,

Well honestly, protein level is not usually a factor in the development of struvites,  many of my client's dogs are on diets of up to 35% protein and not experiencing recurrence. Struvites generally form in urine that is both alkaline, and saturated with phosphate and magnesium, so conventional thinking would have us restrict both and attempt to acidify the urine(as well as clear up the bacterial nfection of course).  More recently, veterinary nutritionists have tended to keep magnesium at a level which meets nutrient requirements, but no higher, while reining in the phosphorus a littleand acidifying the urinee somewhat.

Increasing the protein is one of the best ways to acidify urine, actually.

Hence,I tend to raise dietary protein with struvites. But I like to do it incrementally, so if the dog has been on a very restricted diet, I would increase by a few % points per week till I was at a number I felt was optimal. Certainly performance dogs have a high requirement for good quality (bioavailable) protein and it would be a goal of mine to get your dog up to around the 30% mark.

Manipulation of the nutrient content of a diet is really only possible when using home made food. For now, I would look at kibbles with very high quality protien - Canidae has a moderate (21%) lamb and rice formula that might be worth looking into; I mentioned the senior food because of phosphorus restriction. It will take some excperimentation on your part, but I did want to clarify that I would be more concerned about mineral content than protein.

http://www.canidae.com/dogs/lamb-and-rice/dry.html

As a side note,you can use cranberry to help prevent bacterial infection, but don't use C as it tends to overacidify the urine. I also recommend adding a quality fish body oil (not cod liver oil, bit a product such as salmon oil) to help reduce inflammation.

Of course, do all you can to encourage drinking; I often add a Tbsp or two of pure homemade lamb, beef of chicken broth to the water to entice them.
Good luck with this!
Catherine