# Acana, UTI and crystals (tyrosine)



## Mgerv064 (Dec 14, 2013)

I have a 13 month old golden retriever and I've been through 2 different bags of this food in the last 3 months. I decided to try this food out after doing thorough research and thought this was the best. Before this she was on Royal Canin and TLC. I noticed a couple days ago that she had UTI symptoms so we got a Urine analysis done and turns out she has high levels of crystals (tyrosine), which is really rare. I should also note that she's very prone to UTI's. First question my vet asked was what are we feeding her. She said that the protein levels in this food may be way too high for her which could have caused the crystals. I'm bummed because she loved this food. I liked the idea of rotating the 4 kinds. My vet suggested royal Canin or Science Diet but I don't feel comfortable feeding her this food. I bought a bag of Royal Canin today because I needed something quick with lower protein levels to try to get the crystals down. But I need to find something of better quality. Does anyone have any suggestions??


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## Shamrockmommy (Sep 10, 2009)

I have a UTI/crystals prone bichon among my pack and there are 2 foods that have worked well for her.
I do any of the Fromm 4star grain frees and I also like PetGuard Lifespan (none of their other organic or vegetarian formulas though!). It has kept her pH normal and no crystals.
Recently gave Nature's Logic a try and ended up with private licking, so that one didn't work. Stopped feeding it immediately and the licking stopped.

Do you add water to the dry food? Extra water will help flush the bladder. Does she have access to the outdoors so she's not holding it all day? Those will help too.
You don't have to float the kibble or soak it, but add almost enough water to cover the kibbles and then feed. 
Hope this helps


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## doggiedad (Jan 23, 2011)

i would go to the pet food store with a pen and paper. i would write down
the names of brands and flavor i was interested in. then i would come
and go online to look at the ingredients. this way you won't have to stand
there and do the reading. you can do it at home at your own lesiure (sp).


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## Mgerv064 (Dec 14, 2013)

Thank you! I will try all that you suggested


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## Dr Dolittle (Aug 2, 2013)

doggiedad said:


> i would go to the pet food store with a pen and paper. i would write down
> the names of brands and flavor i was interested in. then i would come
> and go online to look at the ingredients. this way you won't have to stand
> there and do the reading. you can do it at home at your own lesiure (sp).


That's not as easy as it looks. The ingredients on their web site won't help at all. You need to know actual protein and mineral levels which means a phone call and many companies won't have that information. To be honest, I have never heard of those crystals so they are rare, and I don't know what specific minerals are involved? The percentages on the bags mean nothing. I will sound like a broken record here, but your pup is very young so you need to deal with this for the long haul. There are diets designed for non struvite crystal uria and you are going to have to use one of those from your vet. Any food that is not specifically designed for that condition may very well cause problems. Like I said! I am familiar with the other crystals but not this ones. Unfortunately you have to trust your vet on this one, but you could compare the few vet diets he/she recommends and decide with him/her which is best. vets are consumers too and sometimes don't take the time to compare diets they have at their disposal. I wish I could say they did, but they don't. best of luck to you! I'm sure you'll find something.


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## Mgerv064 (Dec 14, 2013)

Thanks for the advice! Also, they had to send the urinalysis somewhere else and they found that they arent tyrosine crystals, they are amoninium urate crystals. The vet said they could mean she has liver issues.


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## Jace (Oct 3, 2012)

Hmm I not sure that you have the complete info here?? Ammonium Urate can be present in struvite proliferation, and overall you would treat for struvite. Further, most struvite is infection induced, and once the infection is cleared the issue is not present. The fact that your vet is saying that there may be a liver issue, means that he is reading something on the labs that could be indicating that. I don't see a mention of that in your posting??? I am not sure you have a complete picture here, and because of that it is difficult to know the direction to go. It would probably be best to follow the vets instructions, and if you feel like doing research, and consulting with a holistic vet if you wish different options, that may be best. It would seem that there are too many unknowns here, based on what I am reading.
Oops forgot to add link http://www.cvm.umn.edu/depts/[email protected]/documents/asset/cvm_asset_388871.pdf


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## rogerharris (Jun 13, 2013)

I would suggest not to do experiments with your pet's food by yourself because it may be harmful to your pet's health. Better if you stay in touch with the vet and get advice from him on all your queries.


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## bett (Mar 15, 2012)

doggiedad said:


> i would go to the pet food store with a pen and paper. i would write down
> the names of brands and flavor i was interested in. then i would come
> and go online to look at the ingredients. this way you won't have to stand
> there and do the reading. you can do it at home at your own lesiure (sp).


or go with your camera cell phone and take pictures of the food bag, and ingredient list.


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