Urine pH in pets

The most frequent cause of irregular pH by far is a urinary tract infection.

Your pet’s urine can also become slightly more basic after it eats (the post prandial alkaline tide).

Feeding a dog or cat a species inappropriate, no-meat or low-meat, high carb, high sugar diet will create a high urine pH. (and this is what burns a lawn…just like dish soap)

Any dishwashing soap or bleach left in the urine collection container you used to collect the specimen can raise urine pH. Urine pH also rises in stale urine – so the sample needs to be fresh, kept on ice or refrigerated.

The normal diet of dogs and cats contains considerable animal protein. And diets high in meat protein naturally produce slightly acidic urine.

However, any of the conditions listed for metabolic acidosis also have the potential to lower your pet’s urine pH beyond what is desirable. 

Those include:

 chronic kidney disease and uncontrolled diabetes. Chronic diarrhea is said to also have the potential to cause more acidic urine (lower pH urine) as basic body ions are lost in the large volumes of watery stool.

Urinary tract acidifiers (eg dl-methionine, ammonium chloride) were once administered to acidify urine in an attempt to dissolve struvite bladder stones. They were relatively ineffective in keeping urine acidic but could account for temporarily lower urine pH readings. They have been mostly replaced, by specialty therapeutic diets that do a better job and rely more on producing a very dilute urine rather than a very acidic one. 

These diets strive to replace moisture and increase proper protein levels.

For more information or help, call 586-3026 and make an appointment for a free diet consultation .