Help Needed! What is this boy gonna eat??

[Luv my Piggy]

I can use all the advice you have for me! I have a 3 1/2 year old English Bulldog. He has been the joy of our lives, but also a HUGE money pit! In his short life he has had eye issues, skin issues, ear issues, summer yeast issues under his tail, torn BOTH ACLs in his back legs, this last month had 3 surgeries for bladder stones, still healing from that and now his eyes are bothering him, causing entropion from the swelling.... Poor dude. Well, here's the thing- I have been feeding him grain free due to the yeast issues and that has helped immensely! Only now, we find out that he needs a low protein diet because the purine found in protein does not process in his system and collects as bladder stones and nearly killed him! The vet put him on the Hills Prescription Diet U/D- but I know that's poop! Why can I feed him???

 

[Manydogs]

What I would do is check the label on the Hill's and see if you can find something that is similar in ingredients. If not, having him on Hill's, if it helps would be safer than having stones again.

 

[Vikinggirl]

Aww poor Rusty, sounds like you've both been through so much. I agree with Lynn's advice to try and find a similar ingredient food as the Hills, and maybe you could try home cooking with limited ingredients, with lower protein and higher vegetable contents. I'm not familiar with low protein diets but hopefully some one who has more experience will come along and give you some advice. I hope you find a food that he tolerates, but if you can't then the Hills is what is safe for him, and will help keep him symptom free, and in the long run healthier since he won't get stones as easy, and he won't have to have surgeries to remove them.

 

[ddnene]

I'm so sorry to hear about your baby… I will tag some food experts to see if they have some ideas for you. Good luck!!!

 

[nycbullymama]

I know Usko, [MENTION=3354]RiiSi[/MENTION] 's bullie also has stones, but she feeds raw and that may be the best option for you now. I'm not sure if what you need can even be found in a normal kibble.

There's also the "Honest Kitchen", which is just a grain free base that you add your own protein too. But I'm not sure how that would work for you..

 

[RiiSi]

Sorry for all the issues that your boy has, but if what he has is hyperuricosuria and he has had urate stones removed, I can give some tips on the feeding. You DON'T need to feed low protein and you DON't need to feed Hill's eather. My boy Usko has had stones removed almost 3 years ago. I have fed him raw meat since and he hasn't had any issues. In the beginning he didn't even eat any veggies, cause he was the pickiest eater, but now he does get some veggies as well. Almost all dalmatians have this gene defect and there is a lot of info in the internet for them, just google raw feeding dalmatians.

First thing I advice you to do is buy an electrical pH meter and start monitoring his urine pH level. In the beginning every day to find the right level. Urate stones are formed in acidic urine and you need to keep his pH level at around 7. I give Usko regular baking soda 3 times a day to raise his levels, since meat is acidic and lowers the pH. I feed him all kinds of meats, a little less red meats than poultry. Absolute no no is organs. And since organs are where most of the vitamins come in raw feeding I give him vitamin supplements. Vitamin B has to be synthetic, since yeast (where the vitamins usually get their vitamin B's) has high purine content. You can find a purine table in the internet too, just google purine table and don't feed him anything from the "red" group.
I usually make a mixture that contains approx:
50% ground meaty bones (50/50 meat/bones horse, pork, lamb, turkey or chicken)
20-30% meat (horse, pork, lamb, turkey, chicken, reindeer, gizzards, beef heart etc...)
10% green tripe
10-20% pureed veggies
Some oils and vitamin supplement
He weights about 64lbs and gets fed about 1,4 lbs devided in two meals.

I still occasionally measure his urine pH about every 6 months and especially if I give him something new to eat. Every year I also take him to an ultrasound.

 

[2BullyMama]

poor little guy.... look into The Honest Kitchen or raw as Blueberry's Mom suggested

 

[mackbob]

I can use all the advice you have for me! I have a 3 1/2 year old English Bulldog. He has been the joy of our lives, but also a HUGE money pit! In his short life he has had eye issues, skin issues, ear issues, summer yeast issues under his tail, torn BOTH ACLs in his back legs, this last month had 3 surgeries for bladder stones, still healing from that and now his eyes are bothering him, causing entropion from the swelling.... Poor dude. Well, here's the thing- I have been feeding him grain free due to the yeast issues and that has helped immensely! Only now, we find out that he needs a low protein diet because the purine found in protein does not process in his system and collects as bladder stones and nearly killed him! The vet put him on the Hills Prescription Diet U/D- but I know that's poop! Why can I feed him???

The best advice I can give you is to find a holistic minded vet that uses western and eastern medicine to heal animals. Most vets know NOTHING about nutrition and most know nothing about bulldogs - and they tend to just treat the surface issues and not the underlying problem. All these allergies sound like a compromised immune system, putting him on Hill's is not going to solve the underlying reason that his body is creating stones - just the symptoms (maybe) and isn't going to make him stronger. Check out FIND A HOLISTIC VETERINARIAN
The goal is to strength him immune system to a point where he won't succumb to allergies and other issues caused from imbalance.

 

[MushiesMom]

Our bully was having trouble with ear infections, chin acne and urinary tract infections/crystals...our vet wanted Mush to go on the royal canine food and I said not a chance.

We switched from blue buffalo grain free healthy weight to fromm pork and peas and we own a brand new pup! To say she is doing incredible on the food would be the understatement of the century.

We haven't been to the vet in 7 months. WOOHOO!!!! Bully parents understand how huge of a victory this one is!

She doesn't get urinary tract infections anymore (which I think were being caused by the high amounts of protein in the blue buffalo food). Her ears are cleared up and her chin acne has gotten a lot better.

Every bully is different but what I suggest is finding a bag and reading the ingredients. If you think they will work with your bully, try the food.

Mush can finally be a normal pup and it melts my heart to see her so healthy and happy.

Fromm Pork and Peas. Try it.

 

[RiiSi]

I can' t stress enough how important it is to know what type of stones or crystals are present. What works for one type doesn't work for another....quite the opposite. Hyperuricosuria is a gene defect and it does require special food. Not necessarily prescription, but different from normal kibble.