Bladder Stones

About 2 months ago, I noticed blood in Whiskey's urine. I brought him to the hospital as our clinic does not have the facilities to handle cases like this. We usually only see dogs and cats for simple cases like flu, cough etc. Anyway, x-rays were done at Mount Pleasant and the verdict was out. Whiskey had bladder stones which were too large to be dissolved. Surgery had to be done.

As it turns out, there wasn't one big stone but actually a lot of small and spikey. Below is a picture of just a few of the stones, and also the horrifyingly long stitches on Whiskey!

The stones were sent to a lab and diagnosed as struvite. Whiskey was then put on Hill's s/d. Previously, he was on Solid Gold's lamb and rice. During this period, I began reading up on bladder stones and somehow my research led me to find out more about commercial dog food. I was shocked to find out that trusted brands like Hill's and Eukanuba are actually of terrible quality. These are recommended brands at our clinic. I also came across this website
Dog Food Secrets
where I found out shocking things about commercial dog food. I never knew that they had such appalling standards.

Now I think feeding a home cooked diet would be better for Whiskey. Hopefully it will help prevent bladder stones from forming again. In the meantime, I'll be monitoring his urine ph level to see if he should continue on the home cooked diet. If anyone has any advice regarding his diet, please leave a comment. Thanks!