Hi Virginia,

Its fine to create your own diet. What you need to do is start feeding a diet that typically creates acidic urine (a low pH) so struvite crystals in dogs don’t form. You should be very consistent with the diet over the course of 4 weeks and then test the urine for crystals. If there are none, then continue with that diet and continue to be consistent.

A diet that will acidify urine will be high in protein and low in vegetables. Raw food diets are commonly used for this but you could make any diet that follows this general trend. I think the hardest thing is the consistency. I’m assuming that you may be adding different vegetables into the food based on what you have in your fridge making the diet inconsistent but if you work at it, you can avoid this.

It’s always a great idea to find a book created by a veterinary nutritionist who has recipes for homemade diets. If the author is reputable, then the recipes suggested will likely be well balanced.

There are no supplements that you can add that will acidify the diet. The cranberry doesn’t acidify it. Cranberry is really about infections – it will limit bacteria’s ability to cling to the bladder wall. The whole idea is to create a diet, keep it consistent for 4 weeks, then test the urine. If there are no crystals, keep feeding that diet. The minute you change the diet, like adding totally different vegetables, even though you’re adding the same amount, it is no longer consistent and is unreliable.

I hope this helps!

Dr. Clayton Greenway