high urinary pH - advice needed

Hey y'all,

Well Levi has been on the Hill's S/D for 5 weeks or so now. He had his
urine checked on Friday, and there was no evidence of crystals, but his
pH was high again, at 7.65. There were also white blood cells, but not
enough to suggest an active infection (and his temperature was normal).
The vet sent urine off to a lab to double-check. He called me today
to tell me they confirmed his findings. He's a bit perplexed. S/D is
supposed to bring the pH down, but clearly it's not working.

My vet is going to keep Levi on the S/D for another 3 weeks and recheck.
He hasn't been getting ANY other food or treats. What else might be
going on?

Thanks!

"Lynne" wrote in message
m...
Hey y'all,

Well Levi has been on the Hill's S/D for 5 weeks or so now. He had his
urine checked on Friday, and there was no evidence of crystals, but his
pH was high again, at 7.65. There were also white blood cells, but not
enough to suggest an active infection (and his temperature was normal).
The vet sent urine off to a lab to double-check. He called me today
to tell me they confirmed his findings. He's a bit perplexed. S/D is
supposed to bring the pH down, but clearly it's not working.

My vet is going to keep Levi on the S/D for another 3 weeks and recheck.
He hasn't been getting ANY other food or treats. What else might be
going on?

Thanks!

How much time elapsed between his last meal and testing the urine sample?
Feeding can definitely affect urine pH. Feeding releases bicarbonate which
results in a postprandial alkaline tide that causes transient alkalinization
of urine.

Phil

Phil P. wrote:
How much time elapsed between his last meal and testing the urine sample?
Feeding can definitely affect urine pH. Feeding releases bicarbonate which
results in a postprandial alkaline tide that causes transient alkalinization
of urine.

Phil, that's interesting. He ate at ~7 am, testing was done at 2:15 pm.
Is there a possible correlation?

THANK YOU.

Lynne wrote:

Phil P. wrote:
How much time elapsed between his last meal and testing the urine sample?
Feeding can definitely affect urine pH. Feeding releases bicarbonate
which results in a postprandial alkaline tide that causes transient
alkalinization of urine.

Phil, that's interesting. He ate at ~7 am, testing was done at 2:15 pm.
Is there a possible correlation?

THANK YOU.

Just a --possibly stupid-- question, but what kind of cats do you have?

Mine is quite old by now, and has a kidney problem, and has eating problems,
but still I found two remainders of mice around the house, and I have good
reasons to think he has eaten them... I have no idea when the latest meal
of our cat was. In fact, when I put his food tray outside the house (he
won't eat inside, for reasons only known to him ;-) ), I can only see that
he eats some of it, and next I see birds feeding from it... so he eats
some, but not all.

So, just wondering, how do you know when the latest meal of your cat was? Do
you always keep him inside? Does he accept that? When we moved, about 5
years ago, we could keep him in for about a week...

Well, cats are miracles on four feet anyway, but one cannot stop
wondering ;-)

jjg wrote:

So, just wondering, how do you know when the latest meal of your cat was? Do
you always keep him inside? Does he accept that? When we moved, about 5
years ago, we could keep him in for about a week...

My cats are indoor only and we don't have mice so, so I know when they
eat. Good question, though.

Lynne wrote:
Phil P. wrote:
How much time elapsed between his last meal and testing the urine sample?
Feeding can definitely affect urine pH. Feeding releases bicarbonate
which
results in a postprandial alkaline tide that causes transient
alkalinization
of urine.

Phil, that's interesting. He ate at ~7 am, testing was done at 2:15 pm.
Is there a possible correlation?

THANK YOU.

Hey Phil, you may not have had time to get back to this thread, but I'm
persistent (and couldn't find clear info on this via Google). Do you
think the timing of his last meal could have effected his urinary pH?

"Lynne" wrote in message
m...
Lynne wrote:
Phil P. wrote:
How much time elapsed between his last meal and testing the urine
sample?
Feeding can definitely affect urine pH. Feeding releases bicarbonate
which
results in a postprandial alkaline tide that causes transient
alkalinization
of urine.

Phil, that's interesting. He ate at ~7 am, testing was done at 2:15 pm.
Is there a possible correlation?

THANK YOU.

Hey Phil, you may not have had time to get back to this thread, but I'm
persistent (and couldn't find clear info on this via Google).

Try these:

http://www.vet.uga.edu/sams/courses/...icCystitis.pdf

http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/reprint/...uppl/2652S.pdf


Do you
think the timing of his last meal could have effected his urinary pH?

Yes. Foodstuffs also exert major effects on urine pH. Sulfur-containing
amino acids, phospholipids, and phosphoproteins which are found in higher
quantities in meats acidify the urine, whereas plant materials alkalinize
it..

You might want to pick up a Hanna ph Checker 1 and a Breeze litterbox so you
can monitor his urine pH whenever he pees and plot the urine pH throughout
the day. Just replace the absorbent pad in the Breeze with a baking or
cookie pan- makes getting urine samples a "breeze"- (pun intended).

Phil

Phil P. wrote:

Yes. Foodstuffs also exert major effects on urine pH. Sulfur-containing
amino acids, phospholipids, and phosphoproteins which are found in higher
quantities in meats acidify the urine, whereas plant materials alkalinize
it..

You might want to pick up a Hanna ph Checker 1 and a Breeze litterbox so you
can monitor his urine pH whenever he pees and plot the urine pH throughout
the day. Just replace the absorbent pad in the Breeze with a baking or
cookie pan- makes getting urine samples a "breeze"- (pun intended).

Phil

Phil, thank you so much! You're a constant source of invaluable help on
this ng, and much appreciated.

In article D_v3k.706$Jj1.183@trndny02, "Phil P."
wrote:

Just replace the absorbent pad in the Breeze with a baking or
cookie pan-

Just curious, do you think the plastic pan would taint the sample?

--
Janet Boss
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com

"Lynne" wrote in message
m...
Phil P. wrote:

Yes. Foodstuffs also exert major effects on urine pH. Sulfur-containing
amino acids, phospholipids, and phosphoproteins which are found in
higher
quantities in meats acidify the urine, whereas plant materials
alkalinize
it..

You might want to pick up a Hanna ph Checker 1 and a Breeze litterbox so
you
can monitor his urine pH whenever he pees and plot the urine pH
throughout
the day. Just replace the absorbent pad in the Breeze with a baking or
cookie pan- makes getting urine samples a "breeze"- (pun intended).

Phil

Phil, thank you so much! You're a constant source of invaluable help on
this ng, and much appreciated.

I just re-read your first post and realized I overlooked that he's been
eating s/d! duh. His urine shouldn't have been alkaline 7 hours after
eating s/d.

Does he get very stressed out by trips to the vet? If so, you might want to
check his urine pH at home- or at least collect the sample at home and run
it over to your vet to check. Cats that are very stressed-out can develop
stress-induced respiratory alkalosis that can certainly alkalinize his
urine.