Background: Max has had calcium oxalate uroliths and appears to have trouble
with the high-fat, Hill's Canine U/D kibble. His
gall-bladder/liver-like attacks (which had occured about every
28 days or less) have not occured in 40 days since he was placed
on Actigal (a liver salt) and a home-made diet to prevent
calcium oxalate stones that contains about 8% of calories in the
form of fat. (The diet is from Stromberg's book.)

I had written a letter to my vet about a week ago and he called
yesterday and we spoke for about 15 min. He wants to keep Max on
the Actigal for several more months to help clean out his gall bladder.
He now seems to agree that a low-fat diet might be best for Max.

As for Hill's Canine U/D, he reported just having removing stones from
a dog, for the third time, who had been on U/D. He claimed to have
never been a big advocate of U/D but he sold it too us!! :-)

He had the most questions about any home made diet. He wondered, in
particular, whether the Stromberg diet contains critical micronutrients that
have not been considered essential. On his own, he went on to discusss cats
and taurine! He said that thousands and thousands of dogs are thriving on
commercial diets.

In the end, he advocated putting Max on a low-fat, commercial diet, and
making certain that Max consumed much water as by hydrating the food. (Jody
Lulich at the University of Minnesota's veterinary school says that
hydration is the single most important factor in preventing urolith
reoccurence.)

The expert (She has lots of credentials!!) at http://www.petdiets.com/ told
me that she could analyze Max's current diet in terms of the 40 nutrients
specified in the AFFCO standards. She could also formulate alternative
diets. The cost is $100.

Max's diet is presently this (I won't provide all the units): 1 part
black-eyed peas/3 parts brown rice (provides amino acids), olive
oil, Vitamin E, salmon oil, 1/10 of a human multi-vitamin, B-12, taurine,
KCl, NaCl, and edible bone meal.

I like the idea of being to eat the very food I feed Max and knowing
that he is not eating protein from diseased animals.

I have not special interest in a veggi diet, EXCEPT that high levels
of animal protein have been correlated with calcium oxalate uroliths.

Any additional thoughts!

Thanks in advance.

--Marshall