Max, Diet, Urine PH, Potassium Citrate?
Question:
HOWEDY alison, Dear Friends, Here is my latest "problem."
professor SCRUFF SHAKE’S little dog Maxie The Magnificent FuriHOWESLY Obsessive Compulsive masturbator is DYIN from AGITA… There is considerable evidence that urine with an alkaline PH impedes calcium oxalate urolith formation.
Right. That’s a SYMPTOM of the problem, not the cause. The CAUSE, IS STRESS. <snip diet Today, I checked the PH of Max’s urine and it was about 5.5. (I will, of course, check it again.) But if the PH remains low throughout the day then I am considering trying to raise the PH to about 7 by using potassium citrate.
It’s not much different than the white stuff that forms on the terminals of a car battery… Marshall, I’ve got a cat with calcium oxalate crystalluria, so some of the prevention is quite similar.
Do your dogs chase your kats? What time of day was the urine sampled, and how long had it been since Max ate? Do you have any way to check specific gravity of the urine? I find that in my cat, a low specific gravity (and therefore low concentration of minerals that then can’t easily crystallize) is the absolute most important parameter, far more important than pH. I don’t like intentionally messing with pH because there are so many factors affecting it, and so many bodily functions that depend on a specific range of pH. At best, I note that metabolizing meat decreases urine pH; metabolizing grain increases urine pH; and eating increases urine pH. So my goal for my cat with both oxalate and struvite crystals is to feed him discrete meals of relatively high-protein, well- hydrated food.
INSTEAD OF ELIMINATING HIS STRESS, THE LIKELY CAUSE OF THESE HEALTH PROBLEMS??? The average pH remains slightly acid, but it swings into the alkaline regularly, and the low specific gravity further discourages crystal formation. However, with Max’s problem being so much more serious than mere crystals, and with prevention being so important with oxalate formations, I’d probably check out the potassium citrate if I were you.
INSTEAD OF ADDRESSING HIS OCD BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS CAUSED BY VARIABLE REINFORCEMENT OF PUNISHMENT. I don’t see any reason why it couldn’t be used to replace the potassium chloride.
You can tinker all you like, but you ain’t gonna effect any CHANGES unless you SOLVE THE CAUSE. Some chloride ion is utilized by the body, but your chlorinated water supply will surely supply whatever’s needed. Anyway, good luck
Luck has NUTHIN to do with stress related diseases. with the continuing success of the diet/Actigal treatment preventing Max’s "attacks". I’m reading Strombeck now, and that book makes so much sense.
: INDEED? : I’m going to use his diets for my dog who has GI problems.
Your dog has no GI problems that are not caused by MISHANDLING, alison. Your failure to break his squirrel chasing is sufficient EVIDENCE of that. -Alison in OH
http://www.felinefuture.com/nutrition/magnesium.php That is, until a month ago when for a variety of reasons Buster ate a diet relatively high in fish for about a week…(not advisable I know) coupled with a spate of bad weather where he was confined and stressed and guess what?….he suffered another blockage. Prompt action prevented serious consequences and he was put back on the feline future recipe mixture as soon as the ingredients were available (we live on a cruising yacht based in Australia). He seems well again and hasn’t looked back since. I consider stress to also be an important factor in the development of struvite crystals and obstruction, as stress and anxiety can cause measurable changes in urinary pH, as described by Buffington & Chew (abstract below). Buster’s history of urinary obstruction and crystal detection certainly coincided with stressful events such as fireworks displays etc…(he’s a nervous cat at the best of times) The feline future recipe diet has certainly appeared to be effective in managing his urinary condition despite the effects of stressful events, and it would seem that without the benefit of the diet, stress is sufficient to precipitate another bout of crystal formation. Abstract: Intermittent alkaline urine in a cat fed an acidifying diet. J Am Vet Med Assoc 1996 Jul 1;209(1):103-4 (ISSN: 0003-1488) Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Ohio State University, Columbus 43210, USA. "Detection of alkaline urine traditionally sends an alert to the clinician to consider the presence of a urease-producing bacterial urinary tract infection, postprandial alkaline tide, or the ingestion of a diet that is nonacidifying. In the cat of this report, acid urine was produced while the cat was in the home environment, but alkaline urine was produced following the stress of a long trip to the veterinarian’s office. Stress-induced respiratory alkalosis was highly suspected as the cause for the alkaline urine. If traditional causes for alkaline urine are not apparent for cats that produce alkaline urine at the veterinary clinic, we suggest that urinary pH be determined on samples collected in the home." Learn more about Feline Nutrition: ‘The Backyard Predator’ Online Copyright
