Raw Meat Diet to Prevent Crystals in Dogs Urine
By Jelena Woehr, eHow Contributor
Crystals in a dog's urine can be painful and difficult to treat. There are two types of urinary crystals: struvite and oxalate. While oxalate crystals are generally treated surgically, struvite crystals can often be prevented or dissolved by the use of an acidic raw meat diet. This prevents the dog's urine from becoming alkaline or returns alkaline urine to its natural acidic state. Dogs with alkaline urine are at high risk for struvite crystals.
Why Struvite Crystals Form
Struvite crystals are made of magnesium ammonium phosphate. They most frequently form due to a bladder infection, which is often influenced by poor nutrition. Bacteria increase the pH level of the dog's urine, causing magnesium, ammonium or phosphate present in the urine to react with it and form struvite crystals.
There also is a likely genetic component to crystal formation. Certain breeds, including Dalmatians, have a much higher risk of forming crystals.
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*A personal note*
We share this article and many like it because it works. In the instance of crystals in the urine, feeding raw was the ONLY thing that worked (along with distilled water). We purchased a puppy from another breeder but when she was urinating much more than normal for an 8 week old puppy, a trip to the vet was at hand. She was diagnosed with crystals in her urine. 2 weeks on a powerful antibiotic and a check up at the vet and the crystals were still there. 2 more weeks on the same powerful antibiotics and a follow-up visit still showed crystals in the urine. This prompted us to do some searching for more natural remedies which quickly led us to feeding only or mostly raw chicken with bones (we opted for wings crunched up in a food processor since she was still a small puppy) and only offering distilled water to drink. With in days the frequent urination stopped and the crystals were gone and never to return. In the many years since then we have recommended this treatment and many have used it very successfully. We also highly recommend to add probiotics as well as other recommended vitamins along with the raw diet.
