At the clinic where I work, we measure urine specific gravity and the total protein in blood serum. The usg refers to the concentration of the urine. I think the ideal USG is 1.020 or 1002. When my dog had struvite crystals, her USG was 1.070. You can buy those chemstrips which you dip in the urine and match the colours. This will tell you the ph as well as other information. Or buy ph strips.
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Did you buy canned Innova or the kibble? The canned would give you more moisture plus less preservatives. If you cannot afford feeding canned exclusively, could you feed half cannned and half kibble? Or you could add warm water to the kibble. Canned would be ideal however. You could also add chicken or beef broth to the food and drinking water. I boiled chicken legs and put the water in her food and water. The Royal Canin stuff contains salt which is supposed to encourage your dog to drink more but if there's a kidney issue, then I would suggest not feeding the SO.Thanks for the great explanation. I got PH strips today and I checked and her PH is 6.5 the USGravity however was 1.025 Now I don't know if that is bad or not. I plan to take in a specimen and let the vet check then I see how close I came. I am having a heck of a time getting her to drink water!
I had planned on taking her off the prescription dogfood,(Royal Canin SO14) and I bought some Innova. She loves the Innova and they told me it is formulated to keep the ph at 6.5. But since she does not drink enough water (at least I don't THINK it is enough she weighs 14lbs) I am thinking it may be better to keep her on the RCanin, even though she will not eat it unless I mix in a spoonful of cottage cheese.
Okay, Now tell me how to put a picture in my profile so I can show her off...
Thanks everyone for your responses.
THe ph seems to be almost normal and the USG is pretty close to normal, if the numbers that my vet gave me are correct.
Good luck and let us know how it goes with the Innova!
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