THIS post is for LindaL, Lexilu, Joyfulsoul, and other STRUVITE posters~
Dear Lexilu,
Im glad to here that your regimen is working. An idea to get your dog to drink (my foster refused to drink too), is to put the water --if you feed twice a day then use half her daily water requirement--in with her dry kibble (but not if she doesnt eat it right away--and if she doesnt you should work on that)--and that way she is forced to drink the water to get to the kibble. dogs arent too good at bobbing for kibble, and it forces them to drink the water to reach the kibble. Its a neat trick. That or you can entice her with a little bit of low sodium broth in some water---always enticing. It sounds like you are doing the water in the food thing already--but feel free too split up and give her the full requirement of water she needs. If you think it is too much, then feed her 3 times a day so you can have water in each meal. The Core is an excellent food, and the wet is another great way to get a little extra moisture in them. You can always add a cranberry pill too if you are worried--and yes, that IS a permanent solution, it may need tweaking over time, but you can always try the cran pills, the berry balance (solid gold supplement), or distilled water in the future if you have problems.
Dear Joyfulsoul,
Brita is NOT the same as distilled water. It is slightly better than tap, but not the same as distilled. She may just have a sensitivity to the cran pills. Are you feeding them after food or on an empty stomach? id try with food. if that doesnt work, try a different brand. Sometimes people are sensitive to the vehicle the meds/vitamins are in--for example One a Day vitamins makes me throw up, but im fine on centrum. If that doesnnt work, try the berry balance from Solid gold.
Dear LindaL,
LindaL, and other posters, this is long, and covers food like RC and Linda's issues, but I ask you to read the whole thing, it will help.
First things first, you have a Maltese, which unless it is mixed with something large is a small dog. 1 cup a day is far too much food, and overfeeding inherently causes problems--such as constipation, and the straining you are talking about. The pumpkin is helping b/c it works as a fix all for constipation and diahrrea but still, you can use the pumpkin, but your first problem is over feeding.
I assume you are feeding the Royal Canin Urinary SO 14 food. The first thing that strikes me is that this food is recommended for dogs with struvite and oxalate issues--which are two very different kinds of crystals and which have two very different treatments. There is nothing "wrong" with Royal Canin food, just as there is nothing "wrong" with grocery brands. However, think of it in people terms, some people have good genes and can eat junk and smoke and drink and live till they are 102. Others who don't have such great genes are greatly effected by diet, and become ill, their health suffers, they get diabetes, or other diseases that shorten and affect not only their appearance, but their lifespan and the ailments they develop as they age. Same with dogs. For example, my Daisy is a JRT, she ate grocery before I got her, and even after switching to a better quality food she didnt appear much different. She was always soft, and looked muscular. She did have smaller poops, no more eye gunk, and maybe a tiny bit more sheen, but overall, not much difference on the outside. Meanwhile, my Salvatore, who I adopted came to me with dull dry coarse fur, and dry flaky skin that had him covered in dandruff. His coat was so rough the vet tech said to me, oh he can't have any min pin in him, he is too rough and coarse, min pins are shiny. He also had no belly fur. Well, 3 weeks after being switched to a better quality food, he not only grew in a thick coat of belly fur, but his coat was smooth, silky, soft, and dandruff free--and a few months later the same vet tech blew me away when she said "oh is he mixed with min pin." So, there you have it, Daisy has great genes, and isnt much affected on the outside, and Sal was. But the outside isnt really the issue--the inside is. The outside is merely the often only indicator of health that we have. We dont know what is going on inside, but the indications I saw in Sal showed me that there is a difference.
Now, does this mean that your grocery food, or Royal Canin are bad foods, or going to hurt your dog? No, not necessarily. Just like some people can smoke till they are 90 and be fine and others can get lung cancer when they never were a smoker. A lot is about genes. I feed a better quality food b/c I feel that while I cannot change their genes, I can do something about what I put into them. Its that saying, crap in, crap out--and you are what you eat. Dogs are oportunistic carnivores, and should be eating a meat heavy diet. If you look at a grocery brand, or Royal Canin, you will see usually chicken listed first, and then lots of grains and things like corn. Well, that is the list BEFORE they take the water out, done by weight. Chicken before it is dehydrated has a lot of water, and therefore is heavy. when you take the water out, the chicken drops way down on the list, usually to #5 or #6, and that essentially means that the food is a corn based food with a little chicken in it. Corn was never a food that dogs were meant to eat. If you ran out of food for your dog, what would you think to cook him---a piece of chicken or open a can of corn? Corn is also an extremely common allergen for dogs, and can cause the itching and scratching some complain of. So, it isnt that these are terrible foods, but that they are made not really for what dogs were meant to eat. That being said, any food is better than no food and your dog no matter what food you feed is lucky to have a loving home.
Now there are foods on the market that are meat based, and which have no corn at all. These are the foods I used when I saw the difference in Sal. Some are more expensive, but there are also some middle ground foods that are not very expensive at all. Additionally, you feed less quantity of these foods than you do of the grocery brands as it is more densly packed with nutrition, so while you might be buying your second bag of grocery, Ill still be on my first of the other stuff. What you feed your dog is up to you.
On to LindaL's problem specifically, Linda besides feeding too much, you are feeding Royal Canin (RC) with little good results. Sounds like your maltese, is like my Sal. And while overbreeding can take it out of a dog and prematurely age them, older dogs can still look amazing, have soft shiny coats, and dont have to be dull and coarse. Clearly RC isnt working for you, and while it may be a "urinary food", I believe it is not really needed. the RC says to feed 3/4 cup- 1 1/3 cup a day for 5-10 lbs. I dont know how much your maltese weighs, but I do know she is 8years old and doesn't need as many calories as say a 2 year old would. The RC claims to have extra moisture and things support making the urine acidic--which is great, but giving your dog extra liquid and good food would do the same thing.
LindaL, i dont know where you can find urine pH strips locally, it depends where you live and who carries what there. Id suggest going online and getting some. If you read my previous posts you can see that there are ways to manage struvite crystals effectively without "prescription" foods. Sadly, the presription foods like RC and Science diet are mostly the same as the regular foods they carry, with few real differences except a higher price tag and label.
You can read my past posts on the topic, but in a nutshell, you need to increase liquids, keep the urine acidic, and see if that helps. The itching could be an allergy, but id work on the struvite thing first. Since you may have an allergy and struvite issue, if you want, try the Wellness SIMPLE SOLUTIONS--it has very few ingredients, and is a good food. You can also try California naturals, or Natural balance's Allergy food. All three are good for allergies, and are foods made without corn (a known allergen), and are formulated to help with allergies. You should also increase liquid intake. I do this by either putting a tiny bit of low sodium broth with some water to entice them to drink and then slowly reduce the amount of broth as they get accustomed to drinking more. OR, I add the water to their dry food so that to get to the food they have to drink the liquid first--or get real good at bobbing for kibbble! Increased water is essential for keeping the urinary tract clear. You also need to add supplements, either Solid Gold's Berry Balance, or start out trying just cranberry supplements, 1-2 per day for the urinary tract. You should be monitoring with the pH strips to make sure it is acidic, (you can always try another one of the foods I suggested if you arent gettiing the acidic readings after a month or so), and you can touch the urine--if it feels sandy, there are crystals. lastly if you still need more, you can use distilled water instead of regular water, and that with the berry balance/cran pills (or both if you have a very bad case) are usually enough to control it. I know many dogs with bad struvites that are controlled with diet, liquid intake, cran/berry balance, and distilled water. Sure it takes some work but it is worth it.
I would strongly suggest switching foods, as your RC clearly isnt clearing anyth8ing up for her, and she sounds miserable. You can also ad a tiny bit of fish oil (human grade), or olive oil (like a teaspoon a day) to her food to help with her coat. The food will help that too.
Good luck. Message me if needed.