Hello, XXXXXX, thank you for your question this morning! I am sorry your dog had to go through surgery, and the recovery period can always be a tough time.
I understand your questions about the food. I am sure your vet is recommending the canned s/d as he/she may be suspecting struvite stones, one type of stone commonly seen in dogs.
Hopefully the vet explained that the s/d is meant to dissolve any remaining struvite material in the urine/bladder. It is specifically formulated for this and the low protein and salt content are formulated to help create more dilute urine. Here's a statement about that from Veterinary information Network:
Hill's S/D diet is using the strategy for struvite urolith dissolution based on low protein, low phosphorus and magnesium with moderate salt. The decrease in magnesium and phosphorus results in a decrease in the struvite components in the urine. Low protein levels with salt result in dilute urine to prevent the concentration of struvite constituents and the solubility of struvite crystals. Historically the diet does work in clinical practice.
Here is a nice article on struvite stones from Veterinary Partner, which also mentions the s/d diet:
http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=460
You will read there though, that if these stones are confirmed to be struvite (I suspect your vet is sending them to be analyzed and confirm this?) the primary concern is of infection, not the diet. These type of stones are formed more due to chronic infection than due to dietary issues. So prevention after surgery involves longer term antibiotics and then occasional monitoring with urine cultures to make sure infection is not an issue. You will read in the article that diet is a secondary consideration after infection. Talk to your vet today if your dog will not accept the s/d diet or you really want to feed something else initially. If all the stones were removed, the s/d should not be as necessary.
I hope this helps and that your dog has a great recovery!
Dr. Marcia
XXXXXX,
I am happy to comment on your questions as best as I can. You have not hit "accept" yet, so no worries, you have not paid for my answer yet and I will try my best to answer your additional questions.
It is difficult to comment too firmly on whether the s/d is necessary, as I do not know the full story (don't have your dogs medical records) and I did not do the surgery. But as you read in the article I linked you to, IF the stones were struvite (which has to be confirmed by lab analysis) and IF they were all removed, s/d should not be necessary, and instead a long course of antibiotics as well as regular monitoring of the urine for infection is considered the current approach to preventing further struvite stones. You will have to ask your vet about that approach as an option.
In my personal opinion, it is more important that she eats something, especially while recovering from surgery, versus trying to force a new diet and having her eat nothing. I have suggested to my clients mixing the new diet with the old to see if the dog might take it that way. If so, you can gradually try and convert to the new if the dog will accept it.
She may just eventually eat the a/d or s/d if given enough time (dogs are less likely to starve themselves, but cats will!), but I can't say for sure if she will accept it. Besides trying to mix it with the old food, you could try mixing it with some rice or hamburger, or even chicken broth. If she absolutely refuses the new food after 2-3 days, I would go back to the old food just so she is eating something.
Again, I can only make suggestions, as I am not your dog's vet, and I don't want to contradict what your vet is recommending. But your dog does need to eat, and I personally do not feel that the s/d is non-negotiable in this case, based on the information you have provided.
I hope this helps, and that your dog will get back on her feet shortly. Thank you, XX. XXXXXX
Dog Veterinarian
I am a Companion Animal Veterinarian with 12 years of medical and surgical experience