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My dog needs urinary food but is picky. What are my options?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Small (up to 22lb) | Female | spayed | 12 years and 2 months old | 17 lbs

Coco goes through a phase every once in a while where she doesn't eat her food and she'll refuse to even take a bite of the wet food we get. She is supposed to eat a special Urinary food but she hasn't been getting it because she will walk away and starve herself. We've tried every kind of mix in, even with wet food. I do not want her to have another reoccurrence (she's 12 & decent health) with any bladder stones or UTI. Is there any suggestions for her special food since she's a picky eater?

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2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Anna M., DVM

Veterinarian

Published on July 22nd, 2017

It can be tricky when our pets are picky eaters! I recommend talking to your vet about this, as there are many different possible urinary prescription diets that can help prevent her from getting future stones. If she doesn't like her current diet, there are many other brands with equally good urinary foods, and perhaps she'd find a different food more palatable. I cannot offer specific recommendations without knowing what types of stones she has a history of developing, but I'm sure your regular vet would be happy to talk to you about other prescription foods you could try. Even if they don't regularly keep the foods stocked in their clinic, they could provide a prescription for you to buy the food either online or from another vet clinic. I *do* strongly recommend keeping her on a prescription food - as you said, you don't want to risk a recurrence of stones or chronic UTI's. Hope this helps!

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    Answered By Sara Farmer, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on June 8th, 2017

    It can be really difficult to deal with a picky eater who needs a prescription diet! if a canned version of the diet is available you may want to try mixing some canned in with her kibble. You could also ask your vet if there is a comparable diet in a different brand that might be more palatable to her. Finally, it is usually possible for a veterinary nutritionist to formulate a home cooked diet that would be appropriate for dogs with bladder stones. Some dogs will seem like they are being picky when they really have a medical condition causing a decrease in appetite, so if she seems nauseous, has diarrhea or seems to be losing weight I would recommend making an appointment with your veterinarian.

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