Bladder stone diet change

[shayla]

Hello!

  My (almost 2 year old) female, Ivy, had some bladder stone removal surgery yesterday. I will attach a picture of the stones that were removed. She also has a bunch of smaller stones in the tube connecting to her kidney (the other kidney is completely clear) but those weren't removed as my vet was not comfortable going in there. We are hoping to dissolve them/help them pass with medicines and possibly a diet change. 

My ferrets are currently on mainly Orijen cat/kitten kibble. They are also familiar with Wysong Digestive support kibble but I did take that out of their diet quite a few months ago as it became too expensive/time consuming to go over the border and buy a few bags. 

They do also eat quite a bit of freeze dried chicken and every couple weeks some egg yolks. 

I don't have the freezer room for a raw diet yet.. So I was wondering what your opinions on a possible change to her diet could be that I would be able to buy from the Western region of Canada?

I will attach a picture of the two large stones that were in her bladder to this thread. 
My vet sent the smaller ones off to get some testing and they said the stones are Cystine. I am currently giving her a large syringe full of water every morning and night to keep her hydrated as well.

[abbeytheferret6]

Yikes! Poor thing.

Is there some type of med that she has prescribed to dissolve the others?

fireangel has a little info on cystine stones as well as pic of her ferret's stone.
holisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/20966/kidney-bladder-stones-related-diet

I don't have the freezer room for a raw diet yet.So I was wondering what your opinions on a possible change to her diet could be that I would be able to buy from the Western region of Canada

I wished I could help you there but I live in the U.S.


Do you have more than 1 ferret?
After giving my daughter my little chest freezer, all my ferret's stuff goes in refrigerator freezer---mice and all.

[shayla]

Thanks for replying, Abbey!
She has been prescribed K-Citrate to help with the stones. Thank you for the link, I will definitely take a look.

My biggest question, though, is a not quite as high in protein food as that is what my vet has recommended at least for a month while we try to dissolve these stones. One that's not quite as high in protein as what she's currently eating but still enough protein for a ferret. I've been trying to look around but I can't seem to find anything around here that I think would work.

I have 4 ferrets all together and just one apartment sized fridge freezer

[Sherry]

If you only have one ferret, something I get for my cats and ferrets wouldn't take up much room. It's red dog/blue kat frozen raw grind. You can get them in the 4oz pkgs, and he/she would likely eat anywhere from a half to a whole one a day. They do tend to be a bit pricey though.
You could also switch to a full on freeze dried raw diet, and simply rehydrate twice a day.

[shayla]

Thank you for responding, Sherry! I do have 4 of the cuties so a freeze dried raw diet would probably be more fitting for my current situation.. I will definitely look into that! What types of freeze dried meat would you guys feed your babies? I currently only have the freeze dried chicken which they all absolutely love.

[abbeytheferret6]

I currently only have the freeze dried chicken which they all absolutely love.

Read more: holisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/25234/bladder-stone-diet-change#ixzz5obY2ZpUm






while I have never used freeze dried I would try to get a variety.