Thinking of combining a homemade urine diet with "veterinary food"?

Hello! A friend of mine’s dog has been diagnosed with urinary stones, and it needs a special diet to dissolve them. The owner isn’t able to feed a full homemade diet, so I was wondering if it’s possible to combine your homemade urinary diet with veterinary dry and wet food? And if that’s NOT a good idea, do you have any tips for tasty toppings that are safe for a senior dog with urinary stones? The dog is used to eating dry food with various toppings (cooked chicken, tinned food, eggs, fried beef, etc.). He also gets quite a few treats (Dr Clauders). What should I stop giving him, and what is safe to give alongside veterinary urinary food? (PS: I’m aware that veterinary food isn’t great, but as I said, the owner isn’t able to provide 100% homemade food...)

• Additional information: The vet suspects it is a struvite stone, although of course we can’t be certain.
• Hi! Yes, it’s perfectly fine to combine a homemade urinary diet with special food. The simplest approach is often to feed the homemade diet a few days a week and use the commercial urinary food the rest of the time. If struvite is suspected, the main aim is often to support a urinary environment that makes it harder for the crystals/stones to form. Fluid intake is therefore very important, which is one of the biggest advantages of homemade diets. I’ve written more about this here: {{ARTICLE:managing-struvite-crystals-and-urinary-stones-with-homemade-diets:Managing Struvite Crystals and Urinary Stones with Homemade Diets}} I would be cautious with random treats and snacks during this period, as they can affect the overall balance of the diet. Things like boiled chicken, eggs, beef, tinned…
• I have a dog where struvite was initially suspected (the most common type), but analysis of the stone revealed cystine, which is hormone-related and rarer but on the rise, possibly linked to high protein content in the food. These conditions require different treatments, and an incorrect diet can make matters worse. This applies, for example, to the pH level in the urine. However, plenty of fluid intake is beneficial regardless of the type of stone. Fingers crossed that your friend’s dog has struvite and not cystine 🤞🤞🤞
• Thank you so much for your reply, Ayla! ❤️ Let’s try to combine them. I asked Saga what fat percentage you’ve based the recipe on for chicken, cod and pork, and she said you’ve used chicken with about 12% fat. The closest I can get to that is First Price’s minced chicken with 7.7% fat. Is it okay to use that? 🙏
• Hi Mette! Thanks for sharing ❤️ How did you find out it was cystine and not struvite? Did they remove the stone surgically and send it for analysis? The dog I’m referring to also has a mild UTI with a pH of 7; the stone is 1.4 cm, but there’s only one stone and no crystals. He’s probably been living with this for a long time 😬 Fortunately, he’s good at drinking plenty of water, so that’s an advantage.
• The stone was surgically removed and sent to a laboratory in Germany for analysis. My dog had a lot of crystals in his urine but only one stone in his bladder. We had him examined after discovering blood in his urine. When the analysis revealed cystine stones, we were advised to have him neutered and to feed him a special low-protein diet. Now, a year later, there are no crystals in his urine, and we’ve switched to feeding him homemade dog food :-)
• So good to hear that your dog is completely healthy now ❤️ Can you vary his diet now, or are you using a homemade raw diet? 😊
• You're welcome! ❤️ Yes, it works just fine ☘️