Hill's Pet Nutrition extends partnership with Minnesota Urolith Center

Hill's Pet Nutrition Inc. has extended its partnership with the Minnesota Urolith Center (MUC) to reduce the worldwide incidence of urinary disease in companion animals and to enhance the global veterinary care of pets with urinary tract disorders.
Through its continuing partnership with the MUC, which is part of the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine, Hill's provides financial support, enabling the MUC to offer stone analysis at no cost to veterinarians anywhere in the world, and through global Hill's divisions and distributors provides transport of samples to the MUC. Hill's has also partnered with the MUC in a new initiative to create a multi-language website, making urolith submission simpler and more convenient for veterinarians anywhere in the world.
"This support from Hill's Pet Nutrition has enabled us to do what we do best: support veterinarians in their mission to accurately diagnose, treat and prevent urinary tract diseases with the most effective and compassionate therapies," said Professor Jody Lulich, co-director of the MUC.

Crananidin aids in dog health urinary tract maintenance, Nutramax study finds

Nutramax Laboratories Inc. announced results of research that the company says supports the use of its Crananidin chewable tablet product in the maintenance of urinary tract health in dogs.

The study, performed at Rutgers University, Marucci Center for Blueberry Cranberry Research, showed that Crananidin inhibited adhesion of P-fimbriated E. coli in canine urine, according to the company. 
Crananidin contains proanthocyanidins, PACs, which have been shown in previous research to be the bioactive component in cranberry. Cranberry PACs contain a unique A-type linkage instead of the B-type linkage found in many other PAC-containing foods, like grapes and tea. This linkage is believed to contribute to anti-adhesion activity of the PACs. When the PACs inhibit bacterial attachment to the bladder wall, bacteria fail to colonize and are instead voided in the urine, according to Nutramax.
In this study, healthy dogs were administered Crananidin orally at approximately 1 mg/kg of body weight once daily for three weeks. Serial urine samples were collected at various time points throughout the day on days one, three, five, seven and 21, with routine blood work performed to assess product safety. Anti-adhesion activity was noted in urine of all dogs at day five and peaked at day seven with activity maintained throughout the day. Anti-adhesion activity was noted at day 21, again throughout the 24-hour time period, and was still seen three days after Crananidin administration was stopped. There were no clinically significant changes in blood work, Nutramax says.

Column suggests food allergy cause of cat’s UTI

Dr. Michael Fox of the Pocono Record recently addressed the cause of a long history of urinary-tract inflammation in a reader’s 6-year-old neutered cat in his column. After two cultures and X-rays, the reader’s veterinarian had yet to find the cause.
Fox suggested that the cat “may have a food hypersensitivity that is causing inflammation in the urinary bladder and tract.” He went on to explain that corn is a common culprit, and corn-sensitive cats on a corn-free diet can still have a flare-up when a corn-based cat litter is used.