Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
How a home-prepared diet with zucchini helps reduce urinary crystals
By Blanchard, Géraldine et al.·Published in Journal of feline medicine and surgery·2022·Animal Nutrition Expertise, France·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Beneficial effects of a prescription home-prepared diet and of zucchini on urine calcium oxalate supersaturation and urinary parameters in adult cats.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of healthy adult cats was tested to see how different diets affected their urine and the risk of forming calcium oxalate crystals, which can lead to urinary stones. The cats were fed a balanced home-prepared diet that included zucchini, a commercial wet diet, and a dry diet with and without zucchini. The results showed that the home-prepared diet was the most digestible and resulted in the lowest levels of calcium oxalate supersaturation in their urine. Adding zucchini to the dry food also helped reduce these levels, suggesting it could be beneficial for cats prone to urinary issues.
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Abstract
OBJECTIVES: From the authors' experience, the consumption of a balanced prescription home-prepared diet that includes zucchini (courgette) benefits cats with recurrent urolithiasis, but there is no published evidence to support this. The aim was to study the effects on urinary parameters of (1) a balanced prescription home-prepared diet containing zucchini, and (2) the addition of zucchini to a dry food, compared with two commercial therapeutic diets. METHODS: Eight healthy cats were included in a Latin-square designed protocol. Five diets were evaluated: two commercial diets, designed for cats with urinary disorders, one high-moisture (U-WET) and one high-sodium dry (U-DRY); one home-prepared diet (HOME); one commercial dry food for adult maintenance (DRY); and DRY given together with 10 g of zucchini per kg body weight (DRY-Zuc). After a 7-day adaptation period, urine was collected and daily food and water intakes were assessed for 12 days. Urinary parameters, and relative supersaturation (RSS) for calcium oxalate (CaOx) and struvite, were determined. Data underwent repeated measures ANOVA analysis. RESULTS: The digestibility of energy, dry matter, protein and fat was highest with the HOME diet. CaOx RSS was lowest in cats eating the HOME diet, but not significantly different from the U-WET or U-DRY diets. CaOx RSS was lower in cats eating the DRY-Zuc diet than in cats eating the DRY diet. Struvite RSS did not differ significantly among groups. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: This study shows that a balanced prescription home-prepared diet was safe and allowed a very low urinary CaOx RSS. It also showed that adding zucchini to dry food lowered the urine CaOx RSS.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35142590/