Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
How wet food changes urine and stone risk in cats
By Buckley, Catherine M F et al.·Published in The British journal of nutrition·2011·Waltham Centre for Pet Nutrition, United Kingdom·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Effect of dietary water intake on urinary output, specific gravity and relative supersaturation for calcium oxalate and struvite in the cat.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of healthy adult cats was studied to see how different moisture levels in their food affected their urine. The cats were fed diets with varying moisture content, and those on the diet with 73.3% moisture produced more diluted urine, which lowered their risk of developing calcium oxalate crystals. This diet also led to increased total fluid intake, even though the cats drank less water on their own. The findings suggest that feeding cats a wet diet can help keep their urine healthier and reduce the chances of urinary issues.
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Abstract
It has been reported that daily fluid intake influences urinary dilution, and consequently the risk of urolithiasis in human subjects and dogs. The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of dietary moisture on urinary parameters in healthy adult cats by comparing nutritionally standardised diets, varying only in moisture content. A total of six cats were fed a complete dry food (6.3 % moisture) hydrated to 25.4, 53.2 and 73.3 % moisture for 3 weeks in a randomised block cross-over design. Urinary specific gravity (SG), urine volume, water drunk and total fluid intake were measured daily; relative supersaturation (RSS) for calcium oxalate (CaOx) and struvite was calculated using the SUPERSAT computer program. Cats fed the 73.3 % moisture diet produced urine with a significantly lower SG (P < 0.001) compared with diets containing 53.2 % moisture or lower. Mean RSS for CaOx was approaching the undersaturated zone (1.14 (sem 0.21); P = 0.001) for cats fed the diet with 73.3 % moisture and significantly lower than the 6.3 % moisture diet (CaOx RSS 2.29 (sem 0.21)). The effect of diet on struvite RSS was less clear, with no significant difference between treatment groups. Total fluid intake was significantly increased (P < 0.001) in the 73.3 % moisture diet (144.7 (SEM 5.2) ml, or 30 ml/kg body weight per d) compared with the 6.3 % (103.4 (SEM 5.3) ml), 25.4 % (98.6 (SEM 5.3) ml) and 53.3 % (104.7 (SEM 5.3) ml) moisture diets, despite voluntary water intake decreasing as dietary moisture intake increased. Cats fed the 73.3 % moisture diet had a higher total daily fluid intake resulting in a more dilute urine with a lower risk of CaOx when compared with the lower-moisture diets.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22005408/