In normal dogs, the average range of pH levels is from 6.5 pH to 7.0 pH. Urine is considered acidic if it falls below 6 and basic if it is above 7. There are certain breeds of dogs that have a natural tendency for their urine to be acidic, leading to lawn problems for you and urinary problems for them. Though a trip to your vet is likely best, dietary changes can be just as effective. To protect your pup's health and neutralize her urine (and protect your lawn at the same time), start with Step 1 below.
Steps
Modifying Your Dog's Diet and Lifestyle
- Choose a low-protein dog food. Select dog foods that have a low protein content ranging from 8 to 12%, and read the product labels to ensure that no animal entrails or byproducts were used as an ingredient. It would be best to choose those that use only lamb meat or rice as an ingredient.
- Dog foods that are usually recommended by veterinarians for kidney problems (including urinary problems and stone formation) are Waltham's Royal Canin URINARY SO, Hill's Prescription Diet u/d or k/d, Purina Canine NF, and Eukanuba Veterinary Diets' Early Stage Kidney Formula.
- Consider making your own dog food. If you want to make your own home made dog food, be sure to include only food ingredients with very low to moderate purine levels that are acceptable to breeds that are prone to stone formation. Too much purine could aggravate their urinary tract.[1]
- Very low level foods with almost zero levels of purine include: milk, eggs, pasta, nuts, fruits, whole grain, cereals, breads, rice, and most vegetables (except legumes).
- Foods with moderate level of purines that are acceptable (but should be limited) to stone-forming breeds include chicken meat, turkey meat, lean pork, lean beef, fish with white meat, oats and cows’ milk and its derivatives, such as yogurt, sour cream, buttermilk, probiotic supplements and cheeses.
- Know what foods to avoid. Once more, do not give your dog foods rich in purines. It would be best to always look at the composition of your dog food, and ensure that you’re not feeding your dog foods containing these ingredients:
- Entrails (kidneys, liver, brain, intestines)
- Seafood (like mussels, sardines, mackerel, and scallops)
- Selected vegetables -- legumes, mushrooms, peas, spinach, and cauliflower
- Introduce fruits and vegetables to your dog. Some foods, like fruits and vegetables, are high in natural bases and contain molecules, such as malate or citrate that are metabolized by the liver to produce bicarbonate. This can start the neutralization process naturally.
- Fruit that promote neutral urine include: apples, avocado, bananas, blueberries, dates, figs, melons, kiwi and pears. The fruit can be fed raw, but care should be taken to remove fruit pits before they are fed to the dog, to avoid the risk of intestinal obstruction.
- Vegetables that promote neutral urine include: beets, celery, green beans, lettuce, okra, potato, squash, sweet potato and zucchini. Root vegetables should always be cooked, preferably steamed or boiled to increase digestibility, but without the addition of dairy products.
- Increase your dog's water intake. Provide plenty and an around-the-clock supply of water. Concentrated urine is more acidic and has a higher tendency of forming stones -- it can easily be diluted by water. Place as many water bowls as possible inside the house and the backyard with a fresh and plentiful supply of water.
- Another way to increase water intake is to wet feed your dog by putting ¾ to 1 cup of water in your dogs dry dog food just before feeding.
- Encourage your dog to urinate more often. This can be achieved by giving your dog daily regular exercise; some dogs are shy and do not urinate inside the house, making their urine more acidic and concentrated. Taking your dog on regular walks in the morning and afternoon will ensure that the dog urinates regularly.
- Just like in humans, it is not good for urine to sit in the bladder and urinary tract for long periods of time. It leads to bacteria formation, which can lead to infection. Once infection manifests, problems start to arise.[2]
Neutralizing Dog Urine Medically
- Try sodium bicarbonate. In other words, baking soda. For dogs that are diagnosed by a vet with high urate crystals in the urine and an acidic urine, the vet will most probably recommend supplementation of alkalinizing agents like sodium bicarbonate.
- The recommended dose of sodium bicarbonate is 10 to 50 mg per kg body weight of the pet, given two to three times daily.[3] For a 30kg Labrador, this is equivalent to 0.3grams, up to a maximum of 1.5 grams, given two to three times daily mixed with food.
- Sodium bicarbonate should not be used if the dog suffers from congestive heart failure, high blood pressure, kidney failure, respiratory illness or vomiting. These conditions are associated with causing metabolic alkalosis, where the urine turns too alkaline.
- If you are considering supplementing a dog who is taking a prescription medication, always check with your veterinarian first. Sodium bicarbonate can interact with other medications in a variety of (often negative) ways.
- Alternatively, consider potassium citrate. In healthy dogs, the recommended dose of potassium citrate is 75 mg per kg of body weight, given twice daily mixed with food. Thus, an average sized Labrador weighing 30 kg would require just over two-thirds of a 3 gram sachet, or 7.5ml (one-and-a-half teaspoons) of liquid supplement, twice a day, mixed with food.[3]
- Potassium citrate is available as an oral powder, in a 3gram or 7gram sachet size, or as an oral solution containing 30% potassium citrate.
- Caution is needed when using potassium citrate when the dog is on prescription medications. The alkaline environment created can decrease the excretion of certain drugs and cause them to build-up in the system.[4]
- If in doubt as to the state of your pet’s health, please opt for sodium bicarbonate as the safer option.[5]
- Or try Allopurinol. Another medication that can help neutralize urine by transforming uric acid into water soluble forms like allantoin, is Allopurinol. The dose for this drug is at 15 mg per kg twice a day. It is even used in humans to treat gout, kidney problems, and, of course, high levels of uric acid in the urine.[6]
- For the frequency of administration and dosing it would be best to seek the advice of your vet first. In fact, any medication you give your dog should be on the recommendation of a vet.
- Talk to your vet. Neutralizing a dog's acidic urine requires a careful review of many different factors like health status, breed, lifestyle and diet. Before attempting any modifications in urine acidity, it's highly recommended veterinary advice or help be sought first, as the process of changing the acidity of urine is sometimes complicated. These things are often best left to professionals.
- Making it too alkaline can also create problems, leading to issues different from what was initially being treated for. Too much alkaline urine can also lead to a formation of a different type of urinary stones.
- Your vet can also help you in designing a specific feeding program and prescribe certain medications that can prevent urinary stone formation by making the urine less acidic.
Understanding the Issue
- Know what breeds are susceptible to urinary stones. Under normal conditions acidic urine is normal, but there are breeds of dogs that tend to form rare and uncommon urinary stones because of their tendency toward acidic urine. The breeds predisposed with this condition are:
- Dachshunds
- Newfoundlands
- English Bulldogs
- Scottish Terriers.
- If your dog’s breed belongs to any of the breeds mentioned above, it would be best to bring her to a vet and have her urine examined for the high presence of urinary stones or crystals.
- Know how urate stones can affect your pooch. This urinary stone has a breed predisposition, meaning there are certain breeds that tend to be more susceptible to form this type of stone.
- Dalmatians are the most susceptible breed of dog that develop this type of urinary stone, because of their poor ability to convert urate or uric acid into allantion. It is estimated based on studies that Dalmatians can only convert 30 to 40% of urate into allantion, as compared to other breeds, which can convert it up to 90%.[7]
- Allantoin is a more water soluble byproduct of metabolism that can easily be excreted via the urine. Dogs with liver problems also have a tendency to form this type of urinary stone, because of their impaired ability to convert urate into more water soluble byproducts.
- Alternatively, be aware that cystine stones may result from acidic urine. This condition is more commonly observed in dogs born with a defect in cystine metabolism, resulting in cystine being present in high amounts in the urine. This type of stone does not have a breed predisposition.
- Some dogs may or may not develop stones, but a high presence of cystine crystals can be detected.
- The crystallization of cystine is higher in acidic urine, usually in the range of 5 to 6 pH. When there is a high amount of cystine crystals, the dog may be more prone to cystine stone formation.
Tips
- Please note, baking soda differs from baking powder, in that the latter contains an acidifying agent, cream of tartar, and is therefore not effective.
- As a general rule, a high protein, meat-based diet produces a more acidic urine than a herbivorous, vegetable based diet.
Sources & Citations
Cite error: <ref> tags exist, but no <references/> tag was found
source How to of the Day http://ift.tt/1uknlLH
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire