ST. LOUIS, MO— Veterinarians now have an alternative when managing canine urinary patients that prefer a dry diet. Purina® Pro Plan® Veterinary Diets is introducing dry UR Urinary® Ox/St™ Canine Formula as an additional dietary option for managing struvite or calcium oxalate bladder stones in dogs.
Role of diet in urolith management
“Urinary issues are one of the top 10 reasons clients visit their veterinarian,”1 notes Jason Gagné, DVM, DACVN, Director of Veterinary Technical Marketing for Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diets. “Fortunately, modifying a urinary patient’s diet can help.”
The new UR Canine diet was formulated with controlled mineral levels to promote a urinary environment that is unfavorable to the development of both sterile struvite and calcium oxalate crystals. The diet underwent dual validation using both relative super saturation (RSS) and activity product ratio (APR) testing (see below) to validate the production of urine that is undersaturated for sterile struvite (RSS<1, APR<1) and metastable for calcium oxalate (RSS<12, APR<5).
Indications for the new Canine UR dry diet include:
- Helps the dissolution of sterile struvite uroliths*
- Helps reduce the risk of calcium oxalate urolith recurrence
- Helps reduce the risk of sterile struvite urolith recurrence*
Diet characteristics include:
- Formulated to promote a urinary environment unfavorable to the development of both sterile struvite* and calcium oxalate crystals
- Provides a moderate calorie content
- Is formulated for the maintenance of adult dogs
Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diets also offers UR Urinary Ox/St in a canned formula for dogs. “While many veterinarians recommend canned diets for urolithiasis patients, some dogs prefer a dry kibble or may even refuse to eat canned food,” says Dr. Gagne. “With the addition of our UR Canine Dry diet to our line, we’re pleased to offer veterinarians—and their patients—a choice.”
Assessing efficacy of a urinary diet
Relative Super Saturation (RSS) and Activity Product Ratio (APR) are advanced methods used to measure the effect of diet on the likelihood of urolith formation.2
- RSS is determined by measuring urine pH and urine volume, and assesses mineral saturation levels of urolith components in a urine sample.
- APR assesses the cumulative effect of urine crystal growth promoters and inhibitors by observing if a crystal placed in the urine grows or dissolves, and may be more sensitive than RSS at determining whether or not the urine of a dog fed a therapeutic diet is supersaturated (and more likely to form uroliths) or not.
*Most struvite uroliths in dogs are caused by urinary tract infections. In the case of non-sterile struvite uroliths, it is important to treat with the appropriate antibiotic in addition to dietary management.
1Veterinary Landscape Study, May 2015
2Bartges J. Urinary saturation testing. In: Bartges J, Polzin DJ, eds. Nephrology and Urology of Small Animals. Ames, Iowa: Blackwell Publishing, Ltd; 2011:77.
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Information about Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diets can be found at PurinaProPlanVets.com.