Canine and Feline Urinary Stones and Cystitis
One of the most common health problems in dogs and cats (probably right after skin and allergy problems) is urinary tract infections and disorders. Feline Urological Syndrome (FUS), Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease (FLUTD), struvite or oxalate stones, Cystitis.................all fall under the broad category of urological problems. The allopathic approach is to put the animals on a low mineral, low protein diet and treat them with antibiotics and sometimes even with steroids. As usual, we at Dynamite recognize stones and UTI's as the body's solution to an imbalance rather than as a whole separate syndrome. Oxalate stones are caused by too much oxalic acid or oxalate and too little calcium in the diet. Struvite stones are analogous to enteroliths in horses: a combination of magnesium, phosphate and ammonium.
The animal will leave you with no doubt that there is a problem. Frequent urination or attempts to urinate, pain upon urination, bloody urine, spraying or failure to use the litter box, incontinence or dribbling urine and general mayhem all indicate that your animal is in trouble. Anyone who has ever had a bout with cystitis will recognize the discomfort of bladder spasms, pain and burning, chills, backache and even fever, and the absolute dread of even looking at the toilet! In fact, chronic cystitis is the main reason for cats refusing to use their litter box.............it is aversion therapy! They know it is going to hurt and the box becomes associated with that pain, so they will go anywhere else in the house, to the chagrin of the humans involved. In male cats and dogs, especially neutered males, consider the inability to urinate a medical emergency! They can die from uremia within 24 hours if they cannot urinate, so get to the vet for catheterization immediately, even if it is 10 PM on Sunday. Females will generally not "clog up" as readily as the males, although if there is a stone of just the right size or extreme swelling of the urethra, this can happen to them as well.
The major cause of UTI's and stones? Poor diet!
*Commercial foods that contain poor quality protein and toxins will predispose the animal to problems.
The bladder is merely a "storage pouch" for urine, and just responds to the quality of the contents. PH imbalance and toxicity are quickly reflected in bladder irritation. The walls become inflamed, the urethra becomes involved and swollen, and infection can even progress to the kidneys, with serious consequences. As the pH of the urine becomes more alkaline, the harmful bacteria that would normally be killed by the acid begin to proliferate and cause irritation. You will remember from Dr. Morter's books (sadly now out of print) and Dr. Regan Golob's pH articles that a protein excess or incomplete digestion of the protein causes the body to first make more and more acidic urine. Then as the buffering mineral reserve is used up, the urine becomes alkaline by default. The body is making ammonia and the urine pH can go as high as 8, and you have a UTI. This "ammonia by default" scenario is the precursor to struvite stones. Without the ammonium component, the magnesium and the phosphate will not form into stones.
*A second complication of poor food is mineral deficiency, or the buildup of indigestible (non-chelated) minerals.
Note that the allopathic "take" on this is that mineral overload causes the problems, and the solution is to put the already-deficient animal on a low ash, low mineral food. Argh! When the body is mineral deficient, it thinks "yikes, famine, better store all the minerals that I can" with the resultant buildup of the already unavailable minerals. Rocks, as it were. We know from our Dynamite training that our properly formed chelated minerals will not "store" like this. Available minerals like the Dynamite chelates are utilized and any unused portion can easily be eliminated. Digestible minerals also act as a buffer for the protein in the diet, thus keeping the pH of the urinary tract from becoming alkaline by default. Cheap and/or mineral deficient foods can have a lower protein level than the Dynamite food, and still be too much protein when you consider the imbalance of the total picture. Fat is also a protein buffer, being a neutral pH, so proper protein to fat ratio is important to consider, as well. Dr. Michael Murray ND, of Bastyr College in Seattle, says, "Recent information makes your doctor's recommendation to avoid calcium a bad idea. When calcium intake is restricted it actually enhances the absorption of the other component of kidney stones - oxalate. In other words, when calcium intake is restricted, oxalate absorption is increased and calcium oxalate stones still form. A recent study has also shown that calcium supplementation actually reduces oxalate excretion. The study measured urinary oxalate excretion after the administration of oxalic acid (oxalate), with or without supplemental calcium (300 mg in the form of calcium carbonate or calcium citrate malate). Calcium supplementation significantly reduced oxalate absorption and excretion, indicating that daily calcium supplementation (300 - 1,000 mg) may prove to be an effective preventative measure against calcium oxalate kidney stones. (It should be noted here that the study used a calcium citrate and a calcium carbonate. We know from decades of data from studies at Albion Labs, the patent holder/manufacturer of the our chelated minerals, that these chelate forms are superior in absorption and assimilation to carbonate or citrate.) To prove the concept further, here is a quick synopsis of an article titled Simple Way to Cut Risk of Kidney Stones by Dr. Earl Mindell. He states that kidney stones have long been thought to be a mineral excess in both people and pets, when in fact they are a symptom of mineral deficiency. Oxalate and calcium combine to form crystals in the kidney. Usually, oxalate joins with calcium and is absorbed in the intestinal tract. If there is too much oxalate or not enough calcium (or not enough usable calcium or the co-factors magnesium/potassium to assist in absorbing calcium) the excess is excreted thru the urinary tract where it forms stones. He recommends the anti-stone supplements as being calcium, magnesium, potassium and vitamin B6. This is, of course, in regard to human animals, but the concept is the same. We know that the properly formed (Albion labs) amino acid chelate form of minerals is the best, and our dog and cat foods and supplements as well as our human supplements contain the Albion chelates. As you can see from Dr. Murray's and Dr. Mindell's statements, a balanced mineral profile is also important.
*Dry kibble diet exclusively will predispose to problems, too, especially for cats.
Cats are obligate carnivores, meaning, they eat meat and not much else. In a natural environment, this would be a basically wet diet. Hence, they are not genetically programmed to be big water drinkers, and on a dry diet will tend to become a bit constipated. Cats should have at least 50% wet food, not just a dry kibble diet. The mechanical trauma and straining at stool can irritate the bladder and cause cystitis, not to mention that the low quality ingredients in most cat kibble will trigger the problems previously mentioned. Solution? Dynamite Canned Turkey for Cats, of course or an equal quality organic canned food. Even a tablespoon a day does wonders, when added to a dry diet. If you are into cooking for your cat, boil some organic chicken or turkey and then puree with some veggies and a little organic oatmeal or brown rice (50% meat at least in the mix) and then sprinkle when cooled with Purrrformance and/or Liquid Purrrformance. For dogs, you can do the same with 1/3 each meat, veggies, and grains, and add the Showdown after it is cooled. Gradually work toward raw meat, chicken necks work great for both species. If you have low tolerance for cooking or dealing with animal body parts, of course our Dynamite Dog Food is awesome for both cats and dogs. "What???", you say! "Cats can't eat dog food...........". Oh, but they can and do. Many of us have been feeding our Dynamite Dog Food to kitties for years, with awesome success. The amino acid profile is great, and with the extra taurine built into the Liquid Purrrformance, all bases are covered. In fact, see the testimonial on the Monster Kittens in the June 2002 issue of the newsletter. Regan Golob has a yearling barn kitty that weighs 18 lbs on the dog food, and Riley Audette in Alaska is the stuff of legends, a truly huge cat. If you want to feed your dogs a little wet food, the Canned Turkey for Cats is a great choice, to mix with our kibble.
*Poor assimilation is another cause of incomplete digestion and stones/cystitis.
The probiotic (or prebiotic) factor also enters into assimilation. When Dr. Golob and I were teaching in Florida in August, Dr. Lynn Peck who is a wonderful holistic vet at U of FL was in attendance at the seminar. She referenced for the group a current study which demonstrated a link between low beneficial bacteria in the gut and oxalate stone formation. DynaPro has proven over the years to be a big boost for the dogs and cats that tend toward stones and UTI's, as we know it encourages the proliferation of beneficial gut bacteria. Dr. Celeste Yarnall, writing in Animal Wellness magazine, cites one of the benefits of probiotics as lowering the pH of the gut, allowing for better absorption of minerals. Elixir or organic, unpasteurized apple cider vinegar will also acidify the stomach for better protein digestion, as well as providing organic potassium. The production of stomach acid is dependent on the cells being first bathed in an alkaline medium, provided by adequate minerals. Likewise, the production of gall bladder secretions which trigger the liver bile is dependent on the proper alkalizing minerals.
Bottom line in the Urinary Syndrome scenario is to provide high quality food containing a profile of available chelated minerals, probiotic digestive aids, and good filtered water. Dynamite Chicken and Rice Dog Food, Dynamite Canned Turkey for Cats, Showdown, Purrrformance or Liquid Purrrformance and DynaPro are key tools in assisting your pets to urinary tract health. Herbal Green is a great source of chlorophyll, which is also great kidney support. It is a good "green food" to add occasionally when your pet can't get outside to graze on some green grass. Use a good filtered water or distilled. Hard drinking water, high in indigestible calcium and magnesium, can contribute to stone formation. Chlorinated city water "sterilizes" the gut, leading to poor assimilation. Softened water can lead to kidney problems due to the high sodium content. Dynamite Catalyst Water added to good water also assists in the assimilation of the diet and the transport of nutrients in the body. When there is a UTI in progress as evidenced by inflammation and/or blood in the urine, Solace Colloidal Silver in drinking water has benefitted many animals. If a course of conventional antibiotics is needed, be sure to keep up with DynaPro an hour or so later, to help re-establish the beneficial bacteria in the gut. We have been blessed over the years to be able to restore health to so many animals, even in cases of kidney failure.
A number of years ago, we received this great testimonial from a happy cat owner:
"Thank you so much for sending the cat supplement Purrrformance....his urine pH is down to almost 6. The last urinalysis showed there are some amorphous crystals, but the vet isn't worried about them. Tyler is back to normal in all respects, and he's even using the litter box faithfully. I appreciate all your help - and I think your products are great!"
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