What dog food is best for a Shorkie with cystine bladder stones?
Updated On September 23rd, 2025
Best brand of dog food for dogs with Cystine stones ! Male 1 year and half old shorkie .
3 Answers
Most Helpful Answer
Published on August 14th, 2016
The recommendation is to feed your pet a low protein, low sodium diet to help alkalinize the urine and reduce cystine urine excretion. You can achieve this with the Rx brands Hill's U/D or Royal Canin UC Low Purine. Although it is suggested that feeding a canned diet or increasing water intake will help to dilute the urine as well, and therefore reduce cystine urine excretion. Dissolving stones is possible with the diet, but this can take an extended period of time and there is always the risk of stone blockage along the urinary tract. If blockage occurs then your only option for resolution is to have the stones surgically removed. From a medical standpoint, the drug 2-MPG is used to dissolve stones that are currently in the bladder. You will have more success riding stones if you implement both MPG treatment and a urinary diet simultaneously.
22Pet Parents found this answer helpful
Related Answers from Veterinarians
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Published on December 6th, 2019
There is currently no supplement available that will prevent Cystine bladder stones unfortunately. Our only options here are a prescription diet available through your veterinarian. The diet ensures that the ph of the urine is optimal for crystals not to grow and also that the pet drinks more water and helps dilute the urine. Supplements would not be strong enough to make those kinds of changes; therefore we have to approach crystal management from a diet change perspective only. I hope that you are able to manage Roy's crystal issue well going forward. Best of luck and take care. : )
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
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Published on April 5th, 2019
Cystine stones are quite rare and if large require surgical removal - you report however no large stones were identified on ultrasound so it is possible it was the small crystals and inflammation which were causing the signs. Therapeutic diets are used to prevent the formation of stones and are vital in dogs with cystine crystals or those recovering from stone removal. A repeat urinalysis and specialist ultrasound (possibly following catheterisation under sedation to ensure nothing is lodged in the pelvic region which is very difficult to scan) would be required if symptoms persist or worsen as even one small stone can cause a potential obstruction
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
What makes urinary food helpful for urinary stones or UTIs in dogs and cats? What ingredients should I look for in the food?
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other than diet change and water intake, can I give my dog a supplement to help with preventing cystine bladder stones?
My small chihuahua had a UTI back in May, and had some lingering crystals in her urine a month later. I've had her on Royal Canin urinary so food since then, and my vet said it would be best to just keep her on that for forever. I'm looking fo a seco
my dog was suffering from difficulty in peeing,i went to the vet he did an xray and ultrasound nothing came out,then he did a urinalysis and found out too much cystine crystals in his urine.The vet told me our only approach now is to change his diet
Urate stones-continually told needs hills prescription diet but this is not changing his urine ph. From what I’ve read these diets help with struvite and calcium oxolate and none specifically state urate stones which requires a low purine diet. Am
Hello how are you? My dog had urine on his blood I took him to the vet and had blood work done his PH level was 6.0 and under crystals it shows up calcium oxalate dihydrate. What kind of diet should i put my dog in?
If my cat were to start a diet of Hill's® Prescription Diet® c/d Multicare Urinary Care Stress Cat Food, could this bladder stone break up/dissolve and pass?
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