Quote:
Originally Posted by Yorkieluv  Hi Tara  Struvite stones/crystals actually form in alkaline urine and are consistent with UTIs. Urate stones form in acidic urine. Bladder Stones Struvite uroliths come in many different shapes and sizes, are radiodense, and form in an alkaline urine. Bladder Stones Urate and ammonium Urate
...There does not seem to be a connection with a urinary tract infection, and they tend to form in an acidic urine....Urate stones are radiolucent. If they get large or covered with other minerals they might become radiopaque. Urate calculi tend to be small and occur as several stones. These stones usually form in the bladder, and when passed through the urethra, can become lodged....Ammonium urate uroliths are sometimes formed in pets with PSS (liver disease) due to improper metabolism of ammonia to urea. This will cause excess uric acid levels in the bloodstream. The kidneys filter out this excess uric acid in the production of urine, thus increasing the level of uric acid in the bladder. The excess ammonia that is in the bloodstream from the liver problem also builds up in the urine in the bladder. These two compounds combine to form the ammonium urate bladder stone....
I find it strange that he said veggies are acidifying...They actually help alkalize the urine.
Here are a couple of links with charts of alkalizing/acidifying foods. Most veggies are alkalizing...There are very few that actually are labeled as acidifying.
Meats are the main foods that are acidifying. Chart of acidifying and alkalizing foods ACIDIFYING FOODS |
Somehow I think I'M the one who got those confused.....I think.
Basic chemistry lesson in progress (chemistry was never my strong suit...oh boy!):
pH < 7 is acidic
pH > 7 is basic (alkaline)
Is that right? I got it backwards I think......I started looking at the website you gave me about alkalizing/acidifying foods and saw that cranberries are acidifying.......and my vet's colleague had said today that I should use a cranberry product to help acidify her urine. But that would be backward if her urine was already acidic! So I looked up pH and acid/base online and thanks to our good friends at Wikipedia I now have even more proof to support my suckiness at chemistry!!! Whoops!
So the veggies would have alkalized her urine (and it is 8.5 now), so that makes sense. And she would either need to skip the veggies for a bit to check that theory and then not worry about it (because that is higher risk for struvite's which aren't as common as urate's) OR I can use a cranberry product to acidify her urine and bring it back to normal pH. (She doesn't have stones or crystals by my ultrasound and by urinalysis, so that's good!)
Whew....hopefully I got it right that time???
sheesh, Tara!