In the wild, cats consume rodents that are about 75% water. Dehydrated pets are at greater risk of developing kidney and bladder stones because the mineral salts that form these stones fall out of solution ( precipitate) to form crystals (often oxalate or struvite) much faster in concentrated (high specific gravity) urine than in dilute urine. Cats rarely drink sufficient water to compensate for that, even when you keep bowels of water freely available to them. That can be a major side effect of maintaining pets (particularly cats) on dry kibble. When your pet’s urine specimens repeatedly have high specific gravity, it is often a sign that your cat or dog is not consuming enough fluids during the day. Specific gravity will also be high when urine contains substantial amounts of protein. Diabetes allows sugar to leak into the urine. But it can also be high if your pet has developed diabetes. Some Reasons Why Your Dog Or Cat’s Urine Specific Gravity Reading Might Be HighĪ normal or high urine specific gravity usually indicates that your pet’s kidneys are working well. It will tend to be the highest just after it gets up in the morning. That number will go up when your pet is dehydrated and go down after it drinks water. If your pet’s kidneys are healthy, its urine specific gravity will be constantly changing – but its kidneys will do their best to keep the SpGr of urine between 1.015 and 1.060. Pure water has a specific gravity of 1.0. The lower the number, the more dilute it is. The higher the SpGr number, the more concentrated your dog or cat’s urine is.

That is an indication of kidney function.

See How Tests Are Grouped The Specific Gravity Of Your Cat And Dog’s Urine = SpGr, USGĭetermining the specific gravity of your dog or cat’s urine is the way veterinarians determine how concentrated it is. Why Is My Dog or Cat’s Urine Specific Gravity Too High or Too Low? Ron Hines DVM PhDĬauses Of Most Abnormal Blood & Urine Tests

Low specific gravity lab results