Urine pH slightly high

[biscuity]

2.5 years old Britush Blue Shorthair female, neutered, indoor-only.
No other pets, 2 litter trays. Alergy to strong perfumes (so we don't use any).
Eats enthusiastically, weight is fine according to our last checkup.
Does not seem to be in pain when weeing.

On & off over the past 2 months, Coojee as been lethargic & not playing so much - this goes up & down. She also seemed to be weeing less often. We went a day without a wee last November. We spoke to the vet & bought some special litter tray crystals to capture a urine sample. I used a travel litter tray for this, which Coojee did not use. She then returned to "normal" & we put it aside. Over the past week, we've noticed that she is lethargic again, perhaps feeling a little unwell. Yesterday we encouraged her to her litter tray & popped a small dish under her just at the right moment. We were able to fill 2 sample pots.

We took the samples to the vet yesterday who carried out some basic tests. The other sample pot she is sending to be lab tested. From her tests she told me the there was no blood, consistency & colour was good, but pH was a little high. We will know the lab test results on Friday or Monday.

If this is a Urinary infection which it sounds to be, what are we doing wrong? We've tried really hard to give her the very best of everything. I chose a cat food, even talking to the manufacturer to find out more. Coojee has easy access to water, upstairs & downstairs & the water is changed daily. Breakfast & dinner with her wet foot, we add water to wash out the tin & give her a "soup". So she gets extra water.

Her main food is chicken & I know that this is human quality chicken processed is a human quality factory, then canned in a pet quality factory. There is no rubbish added. She gets kibbles from the same company at lunchtime. The kibbles are hidden in 3 play puzzles. Snack before bed is also from the same company & hidden around the house.

thrive organic, 0% Nonsense, Cat & Dog foods and treats | Thrive Pet Foods

Thrive chicken 2 tins per day (breakfast/dinner):
Chicken Breast (75%), Chicken Stock, Sunflower Oil, Vitamins & Minerals.
Crude Protein 16%, Crude Oils & Fats 2%, Crude Ash 1.5%, Crude Fibres 0.1%, Moisture 80%, ME Kcal/100g 74.4
Per 100g: Vitamin A 2800IU, Vitamin D3 29 IU. Trace elements: Zinc 12mg, Iron 6mg, Manganese 1.4g, Copper 0.6mg, Iodine 0.2mg, Taurine 0.5g.

Lunch 7g kibbles
Dried chicken meat (64.5%), fresh chicken (16.5%), chicken fat (6%), sweet potato, potato, chicken gravy (3%), vitamins and minerals, salmon oil.



Bedtime snack
Dried Chicken Liver 100%
Crude protein 62.6.%, Crude fibre 0.5%, Crude oil & fat 22.6%, Crude ash 8.8%

 

[Maurey]

I wouldn’t worry too much until your vet has results for you re: the UTI. UTIs will sometimes just happen, honestly, and it doesn’t mean you‘ve done something wrong. Some cats may just be prone to them. If she does have a UTI, it would be worthwhile to check for crystals, though cats can get UTIs from stress, weirdly enough. And as Jumanji’s groomer puts it, anything your cat doesn’t like is stress.

That being said, in some cases, low urine pH can have a dietary link. Some foods, especially dry foods, will add something like sodium bisulphate to acidify your cat’s urine to prevent struvite crystals. Do you know if the dry food you feed has that in? As she’s on quality wet food, and gets enough water from her diet, could be that the dry food is pushing her urine pH over the threshold. If additives aren’t listed in detail on the packaging, would you be able to contact Thrive to find out?

Edit: Also want to point out that if it’s only slightly low, that could well be the normal range for her urine pH. Cats on a raw or high protein wet food diet will definitely have lower urine pH than cats that are not, as that’s just how carnivore urine *is*. Has your vet ruled out other potential causes of her lethargy, or have they only really looked at her urine?

 

[biscuity]

I may have typed something from, but it's slightly high pH (not low).

We've only looked at urine as that was the first step when we discussed it last November. The next step of course is an examination which I expect the vet will want to do once the tests are in.

Thinking about your reply, I think I will cut down her night snack dried treats & slowly replace them with the kibbles she has at lunchtime.

I very much doubt that Thrive add anything to prevent crystals as their whole marketing is based on no additives. I will check.

 

[Maurey]

I may have typed something from, but it's slightly high pH (not low).

I think I've misread/had a brainfart, my apologies! I've not had my coffee yet, and I'm dyslexic, which isn't the best combo!

If her urine pH is high, would you be able or willing to cut out her dry food, rather than her dehydrated treats? High urine pH is typically a dietary issue, rather than a URI issue, as least according to what Jum's vet has told me. If urine pH gets so high it leads to the formation of large crystals, it can lead to URIs due to something like mechanical damage. Or at least, that's my basic understanding of the causal link between the two.

If she's been weeing less, that's generally indicative of a cat getting less hydration, which is associated with high urine pH. Has anything changed with her diet or water intake since you've started noticing her using her box less?

 

[biscuity]

Perfectly willing to change her diet. In fact we were just discussing cooking her some fish for lunch instead of kibbles. But I was also considering changing her evening snack from dehydrated to kibbles as the kibbles have some fish oil & are not entirely dry. Maybe not a good idea?

Weeing is normal today so far. 6am, 9am. I'd like 4 wees per day.

Nothing has changed with her diet, anything changing is her little surprise treats. Water melon very occasionally, or when we eat our evening meal, she gets either the rest of her canned food, or sometimes a very small quantity of prawns or chopped up meat - boiled separately.

She did manage to eat a raw egg a couple weeks ago whilst we were out.

 

[Maurey]

Perfectly willing to change her diet. In fact we were just discussing cooking her some fish for lunch instead of kibbles. But I was also considering changing her evening snack from dehydrated to kibbles as the kibbles have some fish oil & are not entirely dry. Maybe not a good idea?

Nothing wrong with dry treats in moderation, long as kitty has free access to water and has a moisture rich diet, honestly! My girl's on PMR, and she gets a handful of diced dehydrated lung pieces (or, on occasion, fish, when I can get my hands on it) near-daily, either in her puzzle feeder, or given during clicker training. I'll also occasionally buy what I affectionately call cat jerky, generally made out of dehydrated venison :> Dehydrated organ meats are particularly good for cats, as they'll still have some of the rich vitamins present in the raw organ. Honestly, main concern with treats, in general, is overfeeding them because of their caloric density, or, in the case of organ meats, causing diarrhea in cats unused to eating them.
Kibble can be an okay supplement to the diet, especially when feeding all-wet is expensive, but ultimately, it provides nothing of benefit that a quality wet food won't. Outside of specific health conditions where, for example, a cat has to be fed really frequently to prevent them vomiting bile, which isn't always doable with wet food, anyway.
Fish can be a great addition to the diet, but moderation is key! The concern with fish is heavy metals. I give my girl a piece of raw ocean salmon whenever I buy some to cook for myself, generally once to twice a month. If you're concerned about bacteria or parasites (the latter tends to be an issue only with river-caught and occasionally farm raised, though!), you can definitely boil it, or even scald it with hot water.

Weeing is normal today so far. 6am, 9am. I'd like 4 wees per day.

Nothing has changed with her diet, anything changing is her little surprise treats. Water melon very occasionally, or when we eat our evening meal, she gets either the rest of her canned food, or sometimes a very small quantity of prawns or chopped up meat - boiled separately.

That all sounds great! :>

She did manage to eat a raw egg a couple weeks ago whilst we were out.

I wouldn't worry too much! In the UK, stamped eggs are salmonella free, and raw egg yolk is perfectly good for cats :> People that feed homemade diets will often add raw egg yolk into the mix for the nutritional value. Raw egg whites aren't ideal for cats (they contain a protein called avidin that can temporarily affect the absorption of B vitamins by binding to them), but I doubt she'd have had any issues from just the once, and it'd be out of her system by now, anyway ^^

Here's hoping that the vet has good news for you soon! You obviously care about your girl a lot, and I'm sure you'll be able to get her sorted and feeling back to tip top shape soon.

 

[biscuity]

Thank you

Coojee really loves Salmon which we gently poach for her. It's farmed, but we do have concerns with the medications used in fish farms.

I'll feedback what happens with the tests & vet.

 

[biscuity]

The urine tests have indicated a bacteria infection. I will visit the vet shortly, to collect anti-biotics.

 

[Maurey]

I'm sorry to hear that :< Here's hoping the antibiotics help your girl quickly!

 

[biscuity]

Thank you Maurey.