IS ALKALINE WATER SAFE FOR CATS AND DOGS?

IS ALKALINE WATER SAFE FOR CATS AND DOGS?

There is a lot of hype about the benefits of drinking alkaline water. Alkaline water is said to balance out the body’s acidity.

If we look back to high school science class, we may remember the PH scale of acids and bases. If you remember, acid, a corrosive is 1 and milk of magnesia, a base, is 14. It is proclaimed that the healthiest body systems maintain around a level 7 PH.

Many people believe that in today’s food market of fast foods and other poor health choices, our bodies contain a higher level of acid than they should, and that drinking alkaline water can help to balance out our PH levels. They even go on to say that consumption of alkaline water will boost our metabolisms and allow out bodies to absorb nutrients more easily.

ALKALINE WATER AND OUR ANIMALS

Most consumers are completely unaware that processed cat and dog food (even the best quality) contains a high amount of magnesium- the opposite of acid; acid being the reason companies are marketing alkaline water. In fact, many cat food brands especially have been under the microscope for adding too much magnesium to their wet foods. You may be wondering what little old magnesium could do to harm an animal? Simply put, magnesium increases the amount of ammonia in an animal’s system. If the ammonia level in an animal becomes too high for her or his body, painful results are likely. This is because ammonia is extremely high on the PH scale and puts the animal’s body systems in jeopardy. Painful urination, bladder crystals, UTI’s, bladder stones, even kidney stones and eventually kidney failure are possible. If these symptoms are caught early enough they are completely reversible by your holistic animal care practitioner. If you fail to notice the symptom building over time, this can be fatal.

Given that alkaline water is also high on the PH scale as we discussed earlier, combining the two- store bought processed food of ANY nature; from the lowest to highest quality and alkaline water, we can absolutely cause sudden and permanent damage to our animals if we are not careful. Cat food is much higher in magnesium, and they do retain it more than dogs and dog food. However, both cats and dogs are at risk here.

The next time you hear about alkaline water, even though your heart may be in the right place, keep it away from your animals!