Too high of a Ph in my kitty... suggestions?

Question

The vet would prefer staying off of a prescribed diet (as would I) because of the number of cats in our house, and since this is my mother's cat (older woman)... there's limits to the money.

She was on Felidae, then we traded up to Solid Gold. We're currently trying Wellness (switched over) because someone suggested that it may help. I have a GREAT pet food store so just about anything you suggest is a possibility to get, however money IS an issue so things like EVO are just too expensive.

Any suggestions though?

Answer 1

Been there, done this. :o( I have 2 males who I almost lost to FLUTD, struvite crystals, bladder and kidney stones. I managed to cure both of them naturally (with the help of my vet) by feeding a species appropriate Raw food diet and adding in a regimen of natural supplements.

My biggest piece of advice is if your vet advises you to use a “prescription diet” food… choose to skip that route and go for a strictly wet food diet, canned or raw, instead. Vets that prescribe dry prescription foods (GASP!) and even canned prescription diets as the cure to Urinary Tract problems obviously know nothing about feline nutrition and are only bandaiding the problem instead of preventing it in the first place. Sadly, most vets never learn anything about feline nutrition except what the cat food companies teach them when they get them to sell their product. Any vet that would tell you to put your already sick cat on a garbage food made with cheap fillers like Hills Science Diet, Royal Canin, or Purina Prescription clearly knows NOTHING about cats nutritional needs

Cats were never designed to eat dry food. NEVER. They eat their prey whole and wet and they do not have a thirst mechanism. Because of that… cats are designed to eat only wet food. We idiot humans feed dry only for our convenience. They do not take in enough water on a dry diet and so their systems do not fully flush out so they get UTI issues. So, we, by feeding dry, are often the direct cause of all UTI issues in cats. Shows how much we used to know, huh?

What you need to do is unconcentrate the cats urine so that crystals do not have time to form and the system flushed properly as it was designed to do. To do that you need to stop feeding all dry foods and switch to a STRICKTLY wet food diet. Either high quality canned, or a raw diet. It’s not cheap but it will cost you less in the long run than the vet. You can learn about raw food at www.catinfo.org or choose a high quality grain free canned food. No more dry food for your cat ever. Wet food only!

I’ve also personally had success using Glucosomine and Chrondriton for preventing inflammation in the urethra. Discuss this with your vet. There are some major feline studies being done on this that are VERY promising!

If your kittys urine needs more acidity because of struvite Crystals you can also add dry cranberry extract, just a pinch 2X a day on wet food. And you can try a pinch of Vitamin C sprinkled on as well.

Give your kitty distilled water to drink only. Both my vet and I are convinced after speaking with vets all over the county that the hardness and mineral content in water in different areas contributes to the # of cases of UTI’s in those areas. From here on out… distilled water only. Another suggestion… is to get kitty a water fountain. I bought the Bigdog Drinkwell for my cats and keep it filled with distilled water and they love it. It’s a great way to encourage their water consumption.  

Lastly, get yourself a bag of scientific litter so you can keep track of kittys PH levels at home. You won’t be able to detect the crystals at home that cause blockages, but if the ph was off… you could get kitty in for a urine analysis right away and possibly head off a blockage.

Good luck!

Answer 2

I don't have a direct answer for you, but I'm providing some links that may be of use.

My short answer is that you could perhaps feed a less expensive food but find a supplement to control the PH.

And I'm happy that you've found a vet who doesn't reach for the Hills at the first sign of trouble!

"Feeding a high-quality, low-carbohydrate, meat-based, high-moisture diet reduces risk of urinary problems, incl crystals. Meat proteins provide the amino acids that naturally keep the urine slightly acidic (desirable for cats is 6.0-6.5 pH)...and the moisture (about 78%

for canned and 68% for the premade raw) helps promote urine volume and pee frequency, which reduces risk of crystal formation. But some cats, even on a species-appropriate diet, can't maintain pH...so it's important to monitor the urine, which you can do at home with pH paper or urine dipsticks. If the pH consistently stays about 7.0, then you can add an acidifier such as L-methionine or ammonium chloride to the meat-based food...and then still monitor to see how the pH is doing."

"Chronic use of acidifying diets leads to metabolic acidosis, which can lead to decreased bone formation and detrimental effects on calcium, phosphorus, potassium, and magnesium balance. Potassium depletion, hypokalemia, and chronic renal failure can result from feeding acidifying diets which have a marginal potassium content. The use of acidifying diets is also contraindicated in cats with chronic renal failure as these animals are often already acidotic. The use of diets high in NaCl should also be avoided in animals with congestive cardiac failure. Finally, as indicated above, the use of diets designed to

dissolve struvite may lead to a higher risk of calcium oxalate rolithiasis."