Taste Of The Wild Question

[mandym]

I was wondering if anyone else has run into an issue with TOTW being too rich and causing crystles in the urine. As some of you may know I have been dealing with a UTI ordeal for about 6 weeks now and when it was first diagnosed the vet told me she had crystles in her urine. About 2 weeks later after a re-check the vet said they were gone. I talked to someone I know who happens to be a vet (out of town though) and she said that usually crystals don't JUST go away and that the food may be too rich for her. I have her on the high prarie formula and have been very pleased with the results visually..Daisy just looks really good. She suggested switching to a food with less protein. Has anyone had any experience with this or can someone give me their advice on what I should do? I feel like my DCF friends are the best resource I have

 

[JanS]

Interesting that they've concluded it might be the food. We've been feeding it for years and never had the problem, but I also know that all dogs vary.

Here is one thing I found on the subject.

____________________________________________________________________________________
"
Low protein dog foods can be controversial. Even though many veterinarians advise against feeding higher protein diets, recent research appears to support their safety — even for senior dogs with minor kidney issues.


In two published studies of dogs with kidney disease, researchers concluded…
“Results do not support the hypothesis that feeding a high protein diet had a significant adverse effect on renal function”.1

In another study, older dogs were divided into two groups.
One group was fed a low protein diet and the other a high protein diet for the next four years.
“Results of this study indicated there were no adverse effects from the high protein diet and mortality (death rate) was actually higher in the low protein group”.2"
http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/best-dog-foods/low-protein-dog-foods/
_____________________________________________________________________

And one more.

http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues/13_4/features/Detecting-Urinary-Stones-Dogs_16215-1.html

 

[DocReverto]

Maybe switch flavors?

 

[Archer]

Aria was on Orijen when she was diagnosed with a UTI. There was a question as to whether or not she had crystals in her sample. I asked our Vet if it could be the high protein diet, and he said no. This was confirmed by him through a specialist.

There is really no way to know if the food caused this without doing a food trial with serial urinalysis. They are right by saying the crystals just don't disappear. It could be possible that there is a very minute number of them and the small sample they viewed under the microscope did not have any crystals. I would probably bet on that.