diet for cysteine stones

Question
My 5 yr old Sheltie had surgery for cysteine stones 3 weeks ago and is now on Hills UD diet, both dry and canned.  However, he is a poor eater and eats very little, if any...  He just does not seem to like this product.  Is there a homemade diet I can make or another commercial diet that is suitable for cysteine stones?   Thank you

Sandy

Answer

Hi Sandy,

Along with the food (which I'll address shortly) at all times your dog has access to fresh water and the ability to go to the bathroom, rather than "holding it" for long periods of time. This treatment alone will go a long way to prevent recurrence. Giving your dog food that has more moisture will increase the flow of water through the urinary system and minimize crystal formation in the bladder.

The high recurrence rate of cystine stones makes prevention important in dogs that have experienced an episode of cystine stone formation. A prevention protocol consists of administering tiopronin (15 mg/kg orally twice a day), adding water to the dog's food, and alkalinizing the urine with potassium citrate. The goal of alkalinization should be to achieve a urine pH of 7 to 7.5.24  It would be a good idea to get pH test strips, so you can test your dog's urine. An alternative prevention protocol calls for feeding the prescription UD diet plus administering either tiopronin or d-penicillamine orally, twice a day. You didn't say whether or not any medications were prescribed to your dog, if not you may want to discuss this with your vet.

Your dog requires a diet with reduced quantities of protein, calcium, and sodium, and that promotes formation of alkaline urine. Have you tried mixing low sodium chicken broth, scrambled egg whites, low sodium gravy, or a little cottage cheese into the UD food, to tempt your dog into eating? "Doctoring" the prescribed food would be the simplest way of dealing with your dog's dietary needs. Warming the food slightly can also tempt a dog into eating. One over the counter food that is often recommended as an alternative to the UD diet is Flint River Ranch Senior formula. This diet is a low protein (16.70% protein, the Hills UD has 13.3%). This dog food that a lot less fat than the UD (it has 8.40% fat, and Hills UD has 26.9%), so unless your dog needs to lose weight, you would have to supplement with a fat source.

I am not comfortable recommending a homemade diet, there are two many nuances to what your dog either requires, or shouldn't be getting. Your best bet is to either ask your vet to recommend a homemade diet, or stick to tasty mix-ins to the Hill's UD formula.

I should mention that because the diet to control cystine stones has a low protein content, dogs fed this diet long-term need to be monitored for protein depletion by performing a serum chemistry profile at least every six months.

I hope I've been a help, even though I can't recommend a homemade diet.
Best of luck,

Patti