What type of food is best for a canine who had struvite bladder stones?

My 2 year old Yorkie just had a cystotomy about 12 days ago, and the results from examining the stone just came back. He has struvite stones, and the vet recommends he go on a special diet (Royal Canin S/O was one of the recommended brands) but I've read that those foods are crap. Since I've had him, he's been on Solid Gold- Hunden Flocken. Now what?! I don't know WHAT to give him!

Raw meat and LOTS of water.My cat had struvites and the vet wanted me to put him on a prescription food. I laughed and told her that was not going to happen, but that I would switch him to a raw diet. She was agreeable to that, stating that meat will increase the acidity of his urine and the added moisture in the food would be good for him too. We haven't been back to the vet with a problem.I also got my pets a drinkwell fountain to encourage them to drink more water.One thing you could try (that the vet told me she has heard of people doing) is dousing his food with water. If you put the food in the bowl, then put as much or more water over the food and give it to him he will have to drink the water to get the food. The biggest reason our pets end up with this problem is because kibble literally dehydrates them when they digest it. The vast majority of pets do not get enough water in their diets - it's actually surprising more don't have this problem.Add: "Vets don't get a kick back from the food company's for recommending the foods"......haaahahahahaha....that's funny!

I'd go with his advice. Vets are realistic about the care they recommend for their patients, Your vet may be recommending this food because it is less likely to cause a recurrence of your pet's illness or even prevent it from happening again.

Stick with Royal Canine. It's the best brand for dogs and cats. I just had the same problem with one of my cats, and its doing really well. You have to be very careful because if your pet gets this over and over again, they may have widen his urethra with surgery. Kind of like getting him castrated.

You should listen to your vet since he/she actually went to school to learn how to treat your pet. Unless you enjoy paying thousands of dollars to have stones removed from your dogs bladder, because it can happen again, you should listen to someone with an actual degree in treating animals. Vets don't get a kick back from the food company's for recommending the foods and the food company's wouldn't spend billions on research just to scam customers. They actually want to improve the quality of the lives of companion animals.

What Lioness said!Struvites are usually a result of infection... the bacteria make the urine alkaline, the alkalinity causes the struvites. It is not diet so much as remaining infection-free that will keep them from reforming.A teeny bit of cranberry extract on her food (maybe 1/10 capsule per day of Solaray CranActin, the original formula) will help keep infections at bay, also."Raw meat" is not enough info to feed raw properly. Buy a book or two and/or join a list... I like RAW-lite on Yahoogroups and both Raw Dog Food: Make It Easy For You And Your Dog by Carina MacDonald and The K9 Kitchen by Monica Segal.