# Raw feeding a dog with cystine crystals



## Georgeyporge (Dec 30, 2011)

Hi, I'm hoping to move my dog to raw asap, I've been doing lots of research into his condition (he was diagnosed with cystine crystals about 3 months ago) I know that diet hasn't been proven to help, but the more I read the more I'm convinced it would be better for him to be on a raw diet. I know the condition is rare, but I just wondered if there were others on here that were having success feeding raw to their cystinuric dog. I've read that the meat:veg ratio is different when feeding?

Would be grateful for any help!
Thanks
Sarah-Jo


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## Herzo (Feb 5, 2011)

I believe there are some on here that have this problem. So I'm going to bump this and make sure it doesn't get lost.


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

I think alot of Dalmations have this also. It's the purine, I believe. There are some other threads around here about this if you do a search.

Here is a site that lists levels of purines in food:
DogAware.com Articles: Urate, Cystine and Less Common Urinary Stones

And this seems like a pretty good article with specifics on what to feed if you do a raw food diet:


> Because it’s difficult to find commercial pet foods that are low in purines without being nutritionally deficient, many owners of urate-forming dogs feed a home-prepared diet. Australian veterinarian Ian Billinghurst, whose book Give Your Dog a Bone introduced the BARF (Bones and Raw Food or Biologically Appropriate Raw Food) diet to dog lovers around the world, describes how to adapt his menus for urate-forming dogs in a report posted at several websites.
> 
> “In Western countries today,” he says, “I am led to believe that a typical homemade diet for stone formers would contain about 80 percent rice, 10 percent vegetables, and 5 percent meat. This is an appalling diet to feed any dog. This is borne out by dogs forced to endure it. They suffer from numerous problems including continual hunger, a lack of energy, poor coat condition, and difficulty in maintaining weight or severe losses of weight.” Such a diet is not only deficient in protein, fat, vitamins, and minerals, he says, but it does not prevent stone formation.
> 
> ...


Treatment and Prevention of Kidney and Bladder Stones - Whole Dog Journal Article

Plus, there are people on here that feed their dogs low-purine diets. I hope they weigh in. I really don't know much about it.


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## Georgeyporge (Dec 30, 2011)

Thanks for the link. Low-purine is the answer I believe for dogs suffering with urate. My George has the rare cystine and although not proven many recommend low-protein diets. I'm starting to come to the conclusion that I can only go by what I think is best for him, I honestly think raw is the answer and just have to get a few more questions answered then get started. Thanks again for taking the time to reply.


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

That article has quite a bit about cystine stones - unfortunately if I am reading it correctly it says diet has no effect. But like every other health issue with dogs, a good diet has to be better for them than a poor one.

Also, maybe because cystine is so rare there just haven't been the studies done on a food effect in these dogs since hardly any dogs have this problem.


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## Khan (Jan 17, 2010)

There is a "Sub Section" under the Raw heading named Alternative Diets, or something like that. Look at LuvmyBRT's post. (I think that's her screen name) Sara's BRT gets these stones. She has a lot of knowledge in what types of protein are "good" vs. "bad" I would start there. I know she would be happy to help!


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