Kidney Stones and Renal Failure

Question
My mini lop, Jake, who is five years old was diagnosed this morning with about ten pea size or smaller stones in his kidneys.  He also has a large stone in his bladder about 5/8" around.  I was going to have the bladder stone surgically removed, but after the kidney stones were discovered with an x-ray my vet and I decided that it wouldn't really solve the problem and may traumatize him into renal failure if he isn't already there.  
I would love to be able to do surgery to remove the stones in his kidneys but it would be too much strain on his body.  Is there anything that I can do to shrink the kidney stones enough for them to pass to the bladder?  Right now he is on metacam to keep him comfortable but I am afraid it may already be too late.

Answer
Dear Lisa,

If his bloodwork shows that his kidneys are still functioning, then it might not be too late.  But there is no truly proven way to shrink kidney stones.  

I know of people who have tried polycitra (potassium citrate) with what they believed was success, and it might not hurt to ask your vet about trying this.  Others swear by various herbal treatments, such as dandelion root extract, etc.  But none of these are proven, so you'd use them with a good dose of hope.

I wish I could tell you otherwise, but I hope maybe the polycitra might do something for him.

good luck!
Dana