{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,14]],"date-time":"2026-07-14T15:10:51Z","timestamp":1784041851056,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":42,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,14]],"date-time":"2026-07-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1783987200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100001003","name":"Boehringer Ingelheim","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100001003","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Vet. Sci."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Cystolithiasis is a common cause of feline lower urinary tract signs (LUTS). Urinary relative supersaturation (RSS) can be used to estimate an animal\u2019s risk of crystallogenesis and urolithiasis, with high RSS values representing a potential increased risk of calculogenesis. Objectives were to determine whether an herbal supplement when compared with a placebo would decrease urinary excretion of electrolytes and minerals, increase urine volume, and decrease urine RSS for struvite (RSS S), calcium oxalate monohydrate (RSS COM), and calcium oxalate dihydrate (RSS COD).<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>A randomized cross-over study in which 7 healthy male cats aged 10 months to 5 years received a herbal supplement or placebo for 2 weeks, followed by a five-day washout preceding the crossover treatment period. Voided 24-h urine samples were analyzed for pH and concentrations of sodium, potassium, chloride, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, ammonia, oxalate, and citrate. RSS COM and RSS COD, and urine volumes were compared between supplement and placebo administration.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Six cats were included due to incomplete urine collection from one cat. Urine pH and analyte concentrations, 24-h urinary analyte excretions except phosphorus, which was decreased, and RSS COM and RSS COD did not differ between treatments. Struvite RSS was significantly lower in animals treated with the herbal supplement (\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      = 0.04).\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Significantly lower RSS S with the herbal supplement suggests that it may be useful in preventing struvite crystallogenesis and calculogenesis in cats. This may be important for young to middle-aged cats (ages 1\u20137 years), who are at greatest risk for struvite crystal-associated lower urinary tract disease.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fvets.2026.1877164","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,14]],"date-time":"2026-07-14T14:53:21Z","timestamp":1784040801000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["A placebo-controlled study of an herbal compound used for management of lower urinary tract disease in healthy cats"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Cara E.","family":"Martin","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Small Animal Medicine and Surgery, College of Veterinary Medicine, The University of Georgia","place":["Athens, GA, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Joseph W.","family":"Bartges","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Small Animal Medicine and Surgery, College of Veterinary Medicine, The University of Georgia","place":["Athens, GA, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Cook F.","family":"English","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Small Animal Medicine and Surgery, College of Veterinary Medicine, The University of Georgia","place":["Athens, GA, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ashley P.","family":"Shaw","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Small Animal Medicine and Surgery, College of Veterinary Medicine, The University of Georgia","place":["Athens, GA, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sherry K.","family":"Cox","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tennessee","place":["Knoxville, TN, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,14]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"75","DOI":"10.1002\/9781118785546.ch12","volume-title":"Nephrolgy and Urology of Small Animals","author":"Bartges","year":"2011"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1141","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJM199210153271607","article-title":"The pathogenesis and treatment of kidney stones","volume":"327","author":"Coe","year":"1992","journal-title":"N Engl J Med"},{"key":"ref3","first-page":"329","article-title":"Pathophysiology of stone formation","volume":"41","author":"Robertson","year":"1986","journal-title":"Urol Int"},{"key":"ref4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"45","DOI":"10.1016\/S0195-5616(99)50004-1","article-title":"Methods for evaluating treatment of uroliths","volume":"29","author":"Bartges","year":"1999","journal-title":"Vet Clin North Am Small Anim Pract"},{"key":"ref5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1637S","DOI":"10.1093\/jn\/132.6.1637S","article-title":"Predicting the crystallization potential of urine from cats and dogs with respect to calcium oxalate and magnesium ammonium phosphate (struvite)","volume":"132","author":"Robertson","year":"2002","journal-title":"J Nutr"},{"key":"ref6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1361","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cvsm.2006.08.006","article-title":"Nutrition and lower urinary tract disease in cats","volume":"36","author":"Bartges","year":"2006","journal-title":"Vet Clin North Am Small Anim Pract"},{"key":"ref7","first-page":"13","article-title":"Incidence rates of feline lower urinary tract disease in the United States","volume":"15","author":"Lawler","year":"1985","journal-title":"Fel Pract"},{"key":"ref8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"455","DOI":"10.1016\/S0195-5616(84)50053-9","article-title":"Epidemiology of naturally occurring feline urologic syndrome","volume":"14","author":"Willeberg","year":"1984","journal-title":"Vet Clin North Am Small Anim Pract"},{"key":"ref9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"207","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1748-5827.1967.tb04544.x","article-title":"The \"urolithiasis\" syndrome in male cats; 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