DIPSTICKING TO MONITOR
STONE-FORMERS & THEIR DIETS

Remember high school chemistry when litmus paper revealed if a 
solution was either acid or alkaline? Modern dipsticks from your vet or
drug store are "super" litmus paper. They are simple to use 
by the Dal's owner and show exact degrees of urinary pH. 

A quick dip into a dog's urine before feeding will indicate if 
the pH is acidic (how much below the normal of 7.0) or alkaline (how
much above the normal of 7.0). With a program of regular dipsticking 
and keeping a diary of the results, any Dalmatian can be tracked to 
detect when and how long it is producing abnormal and unstable urine, 
often much before abnormal crystals progress into stone formation. 

Dipsticking is best done first thing in the A.M. before feeding and
after the Dalmatian has been indoors overnight when urine has 
accumulated in the bladder over the course of many hours.  Some 
very conscientious owners dipstick also a few hours after feeding 
to monitor any difference in pH between fasting urine and the pH a 
few hours after the Dal has digested its meal. 

All Dalmatians are born with a tendency to acidic urine in which the 
occurrence and growth of abnormal urate crystals and stones thrive.
The success of preventative anti-urate diets and drugs thus can be 
monitored by dipsticking and treatment regimens modified if the pH
continues to be undesirably acidic. 

Some dogfood formulations produce an acidic urine and dipsticking 
will also help to reveal those that do and therefore which should be
avoided for stone-forming Dalmatians. 


ONE MAJOR GOAL OF PREVENTION IS TO MAINTAIN A PLATEAU OF
NORMAL (FOR DALMATIANS) URINARY pH BETWEEN 6.5 AND 7.0. 

Written by Carroll H. Weiss
Study Group on Urinary Stones
Research Committee
Dalmatian Club of America

July 1997