# High oxalate foods



## pippersmom (May 21, 2012)

Did you know that for dogs prone to forming stones, some foods that should be avoided other than kibble are carrots, broccoli, green beans, apples, berries and the list goes on. Poor Pipper didn't have a chance not to form stones because he got all these foods as treats and I THOUGHT I was making him healthy. We will be transitioning him over to Royal Canin Urinary SO starting today. I am to feed him wet food only and I have to add more water to it. He is to be feed 3 meals a day with the last one being just before bedtime to help keep the urine more dilute overnight. His food is weighed out for each meal. I can make some treats out of this food by baking it in the oven. I 'm sure that will make my house smell 
good :yucky: He can also have honey dew melon, cantalope and watermelon, along with some other stuff. I have a list of "foods to avoid".


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## IzzysBellasMom (Jan 16, 2013)

Any chance you could make some treats out of baby food? I have a recipe at home that I use for Izzy some treats, it's just baby food (meat or veggies either one) and whole wheat flour. Mix to the right proportions and cut with a cookie cutter and bake.


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## Kathleen (Aug 4, 2011)

Kathy, I was the same way with my Grendel. I thought I was doing a good thing giving him carrots and green beans as snacks instead of cookies.
Who would ever think it could cause a problem? We just had no way of knowing about the stones.
Another food to look out for is sweet potato. It is in so many foods and treats.
Melons are a great snack for Pipper - lots of water! He will love them since they are so sweet.


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## pammy4501 (Aug 8, 2007)

Were you told by your vet about Oxalobacter formigenes? It is an intestinal bacterium that ingests oxalate as its sole nutrient.  By consuming dietary oxalate in the intestine, less oxalic acid is available for absorption and less is excreted in urine. You can buy it as a suppliment at most health food stores.


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## pippersmom (May 21, 2012)

pammy4501 said:


> Were you told by your vet about Oxalobacter formigenes? It is an intestinal bacterium that ingests oxalate as its sole nutrient.  By consuming dietary oxalate in the intestine, less oxalic acid is available for absorption and less is excreted in urine. You can buy it as a suppliment at most health food stores.


No we weren't told anything about this. We took him to a nutritionist too and she made up a diet plan for him. Right now the only supplement he is on is a joint supplement for his knees .


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

The canned So comes in the regular and a moderate calorie gravy morsels. I often mix them up if the vet's office has both kinds. Roo LOVES the gravy stuff. 
I do feed the dry...that comes regular, moderate calorie, or small breed. You can always buy a small bag of dry to use as treats. Just freeze the rest of it to keep it fresh. The mod cal and small breed fit in Roo's treat balls nicely. We do a lot of fresh foods as treats as well.


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## pippersmom (May 21, 2012)

jmm said:


> The canned So comes in the regular and a moderate calorie gravy morsels. I often mix them up if the vet's office has both kinds. Roo LOVES the gravy stuff.
> I do feed the dry...that comes regular, moderate calorie, or small breed. You can always buy a small bag of dry to use as treats. Just freeze the rest of it to keep it fresh. The mod cal and small breed fit in Roo's treat balls nicely. We do a lot of fresh foods as treats as well.


I don't think we can get the moderate calorie here in Canada, I asked the vet and nutritionist about it and they said its not available here. I like the idea of the dried food for the treat ball. I had thought of that but figured a bag would go stale before I could use it all up. I never thought of freezing it.


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## CrystalAndZoe (Jul 11, 2006)

Interesting article for a different perspective on prescription diets. For those that are not familiar with the publication, it is written by a holistic veterinarian.

Bladder Infections and Stones in Dogs | Dogs Naturally Magazine


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## mss (Mar 1, 2006)

I didn't know SO came in canned formulas! My vets have bags of the kibble on the shelf, but I imagine they would order some cans if I asked. My Butchie is overweight now, and when I try to cut back on his kibble, he does obnoxious things .... scavenges ...

Crystal, the link doesn't work for me--is it a subscription-only site or article?


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## edelweiss (Apr 23, 2010)

Just kept spinning for me too! :smilie_tischkante::smilie_tischkante: But thanks for thinking of us! :HistericalSmiley:


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## pippersmom (May 21, 2012)

Crystal&Zoe said:


> Interesting article for a different perspective on prescription diets. For those that are not familiar with the publication, it is written by a holistic veterinarian.
> 
> Bladder Infections and Stones in Dogs | Dogs Naturally Magazine


Link didn't load for me either.



mss said:


> I didn't know SO came in canned formulas! My vets have bags of the kibble on the shelf, but I imagine they would order some cans if I asked. My Butchie is overweight now, and when I try to cut back on his kibble, he does obnoxious things .... scavenges ...


Yes it comes in canned and Pipper LOVES it! We were told to use the canned and add extra water to it to make sure he is getting plenty of water and he thinks its the best thing ever. I think I will get a bag of kibble to use as treats.


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## CrystalAndZoe (Jul 11, 2006)

Hmmm....it's not working for me now either. Must be a glitch in their system and will hopefully work later. You can read a brief synopsis of the article on their FB page. It was posted yesterday so you have to scroll down a little.

https://www.facebook.com/DogsNaturallyMagazine


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

Yes and the canned comes in regular or moderate calorie (for our chubsters). Roo is perfect weight getting mostly the moderate cal.


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## pippersmom (May 21, 2012)

jmm said:


> Yes and the canned comes in regular or moderate calorie (for our chubsters). Roo is perfect weight getting mostly the moderate cal.


I have seen the moderate calorie online but apparently its not available in Canada. Pipper was slightly overweight before but he is now at his ideal weight and I would like for him to stay that way.


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## maggieh (Dec 16, 2007)

Bladder Infections and Stones in Dogs | Dogs Naturally Magazine

The link worked for me this morning, so re-posting. It's an interesting read and supports what both my vet and holistic vet have said about prescription diets.


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## Grace'sMom (Feb 22, 2012)

maggieh said:


> Bladder Infections and Stones in Dogs | Dogs Naturally Magazine
> 
> The link worked for me this morning, so re-posting. It's an interesting read and supports what both my vet and holistic vet have said about prescription diets.


:thumbsup:


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## pippersmom (May 21, 2012)

I'm too lazy to read the whole article right now, plus can't concentrate to understand what I'm reading because just took pain meds for my back. Pippers stones were NOT caused from UTI. There was no sign of infection. The type of food they have him on is supposed to help prevent BOTH struvite and calcium oxalate stones. Sure hope it works. The article also mentioned glucosamine which he is already on for his knees. I really wish I had access to a holistic vet but we don't have that any where near us at all so for now I have to go on the advice of a nutritionist and pray for the best. Hope I made sense, the back medication is really affecting me today.


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## CrystalAndZoe (Jul 11, 2006)

pippersmom said:


> I'm too lazy to read the whole article right now, plus can't concentrate to understand what I'm reading because just took pain meds for my back. Pippers stones were NOT caused from UTI. There was no sign of infection. The type of food they have him on is supposed to help prevent BOTH struvite and calcium oxalate stones. Sure hope it works. The article also mentioned glucosamine which he is already on for his knees. I really wish I had access to a holistic vet but we don't have that any where near us at all so for now I have to go on the advice of a nutritionist and pray for the best. Hope I made sense, the back medication is really affecting me today.


Kathy I'm so sorry you are in pain.

The article is not saying that crystals and stones are caused by UTI's just so you know. Hopefully when you are feeling better you'll be able to read the article. It's really pretty short.

My concern is that your original post could be a bit confusing to people who have not had the time or won't take the time to do their research and learn that certain foods that can trigger CaOx crystals and stones in dogs that are genetically predisposed, would be fine, even good for those that have had chronic issues with struvite crystals and stones. And from all the various vets that I have spoken to, broccoli is actually a low oxalate food.

There are many here that have dogs with history of CaOx crystals and stones that have talked about avoiding certain foods that are considered high oxalate foods. But until you know you have a fluff that is genetically predisposed, those foods are actually really good for most dogs. This resource was the most helpful for me when Jett had his CaOx crystals. I was able to get rid of his crystals with Animal Essentials Tinkle Tonic and no diet change. His was brought on by stress and has not had any issues since. I did follow the veterinary protocol and not the directions on the bottle. But I do give him the Tinkle Tonic a couple of days every month as a precaution. And by doing this I let him eat foods that are considered high oxalate foods. I don't know if I would do this if his had developed into stones and if I didn't have a integrative vet to help monitor his ph level in his urine. And just so there's no confusion to anyone reading this, I'm not saying the Tinkle Tonic would get rid of stones. It will get rid of crystals but surgery is indicated for stones. However, you can use Tinkle Tonic as a preventive for future crystals and stones. But again....don't feel you need to read this now while you are in so much discomfort. It's pretty long. Or you may not ever want to read it and just stick with the plan you've chosen. That's totally fine. Tons of dogs who do just great on Rx food. :thumbsup: Just want to put it out there for others that there are options with this particular issue. 

I hope you feel better. :grouphug:

DogAware.com Articles: Calcium Oxalate Stones


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## pippersmom (May 21, 2012)

Crystal&Zoe said:


> Kathy I'm so sorry you are in pain.
> 
> The article is not saying that crystals and stones are caused by UTI's just so you know. Hopefully when you are feeling better you'll be able to read the article. It's really pretty short.
> 
> ...


:HistericalSmiley: :HistericalSmiley: Yup I thought maybe I was too spacey to get the full meaning of the article. On the list the nutritionist gave me of foods to avoid, broccoli was listed as "moderate" oxalate. It is confusing because I have done a lot of reading and different web sites say different things. I have seen some that say certain foods are ok and then some say those foods are NOT ok. My poor brain. I am just so lucky that Pipper is not a picky eater....he loves ALL food so he doesn't care what I feed him.


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## mss (Mar 1, 2006)

The first link still does not work for me! I may have found a cached version of it. Does it discuss traditional Chinese medicine and its theory of moist heat?

I read some customer reviews of Tinkle Tonic somewhere--maybe Amazon?--and I think they were mixed. 

The second article is quite interesting, although a lot if it might be considered "anecdotal" as it is about one person's three dogs of a breed that I don't have! 

My late Spunky (Maltese) had Cushings, so that would have predisposed him to calcium oxalate stones. Two of my mini schnauzers (a breed genetically predisposed to CaOx stones) had tiny bladder stones towards the very end of their lives, likely CaOx but not large enough and no symptoms to need to worry about. Butchie, my current white dog with CaOx crystals, might not be pure Maltese, so I don't know if he'd be genetically predisposed. But he's estimated to be 9 years old ... 

It's really hard to know what to do, especially with an older dog that I don't feel I have much time to tinker with the tinkle LOL

I'm continuing to feed him the SO kibble, basically floating it in distilled water.  And the water bowl is never empty of distilled water.

I'll read the second article more closely and see if there are things I want to take from it and maybe run past my regular vets who I've been going to for about 19 years.


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## edelweiss (Apr 23, 2010)

When Kitzi was having issues w/a little blood in the urine he also did not have a UTI. The vet just suggested we test him again in a couple of months. I have just ordered the Tinkle Tonic to have on hand in the event I need it for him, since it is so costly to send it overseas. I do give him ox. foods (at least until he started this exclusion diet). I am interested too in the product Pam mentioned earlier in this post. I need to go back & research it.


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