changing diet

[Jane Austen]

Duchess has another urinary tract infection. I was told that in addition to the antibiotics to fight off the infection she should have a change in her diet to add acidity. The vet recommends vitamin C tablets or special diet food. I would not want to change her diet to expensive food unless it was needed.
I am not a great researcher for this condition ( or any other). Has anyone got any other tips? I have started giving her cranberry juice but she will not drink much at one time.

[Jespah]

We had a discussion about this in another thread recently, I think. You could try adding dried cranberries, or blueberries to her food or as treats. Can you get blueberry juice? May not be as bitter as cranberry. I'm not a fan of cranberry myself - but love blueberries!

[Jane Austen]

The vet said to get 500 units of Ester C in her a day.
Yes, we did talk about this before and adding dried cranberries to her food was mentioned. I will get some next time I go to the store. I have to watch diarreha though, with giving the vitamin C.

[LittlePonzo]

The market also sells a combination of dried blueberries and cranberries..why do a double dose! If you can, see if you can get your hands on some Merrick wet food. Many varieties have blueberries mixed in already and some have granny smith apples which I think are acidy. I don't even if a dog should eat these when they are sick so disregard this if I am talking nonsense and you know it! Good luck

[Jane Austen]

I was hoping to get a more natural diet than popping C pills into her. So after she gets over the infection I would like to just add the cranberries to her food or like you said get the wet Merrick food. And no, I don't want to push too much acid on her at once but the vet did say as long as her stomach can tolerate it you can't overdose on C because it comes out with the urine.

[Michael Romanos]

Jane - sorry to hear about Duchess's continuing problem. The answer to your dilemna is simple. There are no commercially available dog food with an overabundance of Vitamin C to suit your needs. Vitamin C for dogs is the same as Vitamin C for humans. Ester C is the human description for Vitamin C. So go to your pharmacy and purchase POWERED form of Ester C or Vitamin C and sprinkle the required amount of powder on Duchess's daily meal. - this will very conveniently eliminate the need to administer tablets.

[CorgiMum]

I'm sorry to hear that Duchess has a UI, Montrose has gotten over her first one ever.

I had mentioned a while ago that I give my dogs cranberries, I tried giving them each whole berries, but they spit them across the room.

I buy them whole fresh frozen (Ocean Spray) and put them through the blender when they are defrosted. Then put the pulp into small freezer containers. When I give it to them I do mix it in with their pumpkin.

A friend that feeds raw told me that I needed to pulverize them to make sure they were getting as much of the nutrients as possible from the fruit. They don't digest well for the dogs, and usually come out whole. Makes for a very festive poop though.

I haven't looked into it myself, but I understand thet you can buy cranberry tablets at the health food stores. I should really look into it for Montrose.

I hope Duchess is feeling better soon, I know it is painfull, I remember my UI and that was more than 30 years ago.

[glencorgi]

My dogs all get 500 mg Vitamin C daily. I put the pill in their food and cover it with a TBS of plain yogurt and they gobble them down with the rest of their kibble. Some of them it isn't even necessary to camouflage the tablet - they just scarf it down. You could hide it in the canned/wet food if you want.

There are cranberry capsules available from the health food stores and the major drug stores - CVS, Walgreens, even Walmart in their vitamin and supplements aisle.

You can also add approximately a TBS of cranberry juice or apple cider vinegar to her water as another option to consider.

Debbie

[Jane Austen]

These are all good suggestions and if she can take the tablet ok, and since Deb has good luck with this, that may be the most convenient. If not I may pulverize the tablet or get powdered C. Thank you.

[Jespah]

Debbie - do you feel that vitamin C is something we should all be giving our dogs on a regular basis?

[darci]

If you are interested in changing foods, Timerwolf has the lowest ash contents their ocean blue is one I would reccomend.

Eagle Pack anchovy and salmon also has a low ash content, and also one I would reccomend.

Both have cranberries and blueberries in them.

If you are using tap water I would change to buying spring water. I buy 3 gallons a week at the grocery store at 59 cents each.

I also give one cranberry capsule daily.

Good luck.

[darci]

oops forgot the vit c...

If eating dry kibble, add water to it.

[Jane Austen]

Don't think I am a simpleton, but is low ash important? I will look into those foods you suggested. For now I am feeding her kibble with water and a small amount of can food to taste.
Getting this kind of feed-back is why I started this thread.

[glencorgi]

Originally Posted by Jespah

Debbie - do you feel that vitamin C is something we should all be giving our dogs on a regular basis?

YMMV, It's just something I've always done since being taught by a mentor that this was something that should be given. Just like humans, it's overall just good for them, helps body deal with stress in times of illness. I up the amount to 1,000 mg when I have a teething puppy to help the ears come up. It is also said to help with overall spinal column health.

Just something I do.

Debbie

[Jespah]

I consider you to be our "virtual" mentor here at GoCorgi and respect your opinion and advice - so hearing this from you tells me it's time to get my evil two on some vitamin C. Although if Rupe's ears stick up any straighter I'll be picking up more cable TV stations!!!

Thanks, as always Debbie!