[Ronald B]

Sandra – While I think that a review about something “worth the price” is subjective and not really worth much. As for a comparison to other foods, I think that having transparent information on sourcing of ingredients is one of our first steps in deciding on a food for our family members. Not everyone agrees, and there is lot of support for “make your own” (which we tried as well). That said, we’re on a fixed budget, so we go for what we think is the “best” that we can afford. There are other websites that do reviews and one of the best is thruthaboutpetfood.com and petsumerreport.com. Hope this helps.

[Ronald B]

I’ve been thru this with several pets for over a decade and I have to agree with crazy4cats. In all my online research, several veterinarian practices and schools for veterinary medicine, I have NEVER heard of anything close to what Dr. Dobias is recommending. I wouldn’t go down that road without some additional guidance from a face-to-face talk with your Vet. (or several Vets).

• This reply was modified 5 years, 4 months ago by Ronald B.

[Ronald B]

Wendy – I’m not sure what the difference is between the Hills, Royal Canin or Purina with regards to specific types of Bladder Stones. Our Miniature Schnauzer unfortunately was diagnosed with both types.

[Ronald B]

Wendy – Sorry your pup isn’t responding to the Hills Science Diet. We had similar results early on with our Miniature Schnauzer but it was more related to the fact that she just didn’t like/wouldn’t eat the prescription Hills. After 3 surgeries to remove bladder stones, she’s been having great results with prescription Royal Canin Urinary SO (dry, wet and treats) and Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diet UR Urinary Ox/St Canned. We were fortunate to get samples from out Vet before having to commit to a full order from Chewy.com where the smallest order size is 12 or 24 cans at a time. Also, I did see the Royal Canin prescription dry food in Petco the other day. You can read other comments I have made above. Good luck, we know how hard it is to treat this condition which is more common in some breeds than others.

[Ronald B]

Lauren – I wish I could help you make this decision. I don’t think that I have an opinion on the quality of Royal Canin or Purina. Prior to prescription foods recommended by my Vet, we never used either. Both have non-prescription dry/wet foods, that I probably wouldn’t feed to my pet(s) if it wasn’t prescription. I’m sure others will have opinions about the companies and source of the ingredients but all i can do at this point is trust in my Vet of 20 years. At her age, I’m trying to ensure she has a good/great quality of life without having to endure any more surgeries. So far, it has prevented any new crystal formation, her weight and energy has been great and she actually likes to eat both of them. Something that I can’t say about Science Diet prescription food, which she wouldn’t touch. I guess what I’m saying is that we decided to stay with what is working for her, regardless of how I feel about the companies that produce the food.

P.S. I should also say that during the past year, my puppy has also been undergoing treatment for Melanoma (cancer) at the University of Florida Veterinary School. They were fully involved with my Vet concerning treatment of the crystals and signed off on her current diet.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 4 months ago by Ronald B.

[Ronald B]

Lauren – Glad to hear that you’ve had good results. As I previously wrote, considering the age of our puppy (12) and the good results with the prescription diet, we (in connection with our Vet) have decided to keep her on the prescription food. I don’t necessarily see that there is a significant cost difference if you are feeding a high quality food or preparing home food. Plus I just use Chewy.com for home delivery. I hope this helps.

[Ronald B]

I see where there are reviews for The Farmer’s Dog and Evermore subscription companies. We tried samples, our Miniature Schnauzer didn’t seem to like them. I did like that you could see the ingredient sourcing and they really did look/smell like human grade food.

[Ronald B]

Susan – While we’ve been using both the Royal Canin and Purina prescription foods (for variety since our puppy get bored with her food), we’ve had great success. I’m glad to hear the Royal Canin worked for you. In discussion with our Vet, and considering the age of our puppy, we’ve made the decision to just keep her on the prescription diet (they also have prescription treats). 🙂

• This reply was modified 5 years, 5 months ago by Ronald B.

[Ronald B]

Lauren – As a long time, Miniature Schnauzer owner, I will say that the breed is prone to Bladder Stones. That said, we tried Science Diet prescription food but our last two wouldn’t touch the wet food. We finally gave up and went with a low protein, mainly human grade food which seemed to work for a while. Our current puppy (12 years old) has had 3 surgeries in her lifetime. After the last one, about 6 months ago, together with our Vet, we researched and contacted other Vets and the UF Veterinary College. That research provided Royal Canin Veterinary Diet Urinary SO (dry and wet) and Purina PRo Plan Veterinary Diet UR Urinary Ox/St Canned. Our puppy loves both of the brands and we feed her them all at the same times, rotating the wet foods every other day for variety, without any problems. Last lab results showed no crystals for the first time in years. Your results may be different but we extremely happy with both brands.

[Ronald B]

CockalierMom – Thanks for all the great info and I apologize for not getting back to you. We’ve started the process with the Veg-to-Bowl using both ground chicken and wild caught canned salmon. And while I didn’t go back to read your post again, what we figured out on our own was similar to your results. Approximately 4 ounces of protien to 3 scoops of the mix gets her to the roughly 20-24% our Vet is looking for in her food. She seems to like it (more so with the salmon) and I’ve got Ground Turkey to try as well. We’ll see how it goes with this first bag but we’re liking hte resultss so far. Thanks again everyone for you help.

[Ronald B]

CockalierMom – We are curretnly using the Merrick Classic and Castor and Pollux canned food the has a 7-8% GA. We landed on those because we could actually read the ingredients, talked thru email to Merrick and felt semi-secure that the ingreadients were sourced from safe locations. We almost started over looking for a new brand when Merrick was sold to one of the multi-nationals and that sorted of started this idea to change, Thanks for reminding me, I was going to the websites today to ask for samples, although, my Mom uses Dr. Harvey’s for one of her miniature schnauzers and has had remarkable results with weight loss and then maintain a healthy weight.

[Ronald B]

Wow! Thanks for all that info and, obviously, I was misinformed about how to read what was on the cans. I took the 7% number from the prescription food that the Vet wanted her to eat but which she wouldn’t even touch. So based on her weight, I guess I need something around the 25% level and that would be lower than she is eating now.

I really appreciate the time taken to answer my request for info and feel free to offer any more advice. Thanks to you all that have posted.

[Ronald B]

Thanks, ray g, I hadn’t heard of The Honest Kitchen and I’ll give it a look.

[Ronald B]

Thanks, a c, since I’m have to somehow keep her on a low protein diet, and keep her interested in eating. I’m researching how much of the available proteins I can add to the Dr. Harvey’s mix and still keep it in the 7-8% protein level overall. More computer eye strain LOL.

[Ronald B]

Although I’ve been using the info on here for years, I’ve just recently joined the Editor’s Choice. That said, the Advisor has always noted that Wellpet sourced specific items from China. I know that it takes some reading sometimes to get all the info but I wanted to stand up for the Advisor as giving us as much info as possible.

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