Muffin Pet Diabetes Support Group

This is general information only. Before administering any new medication, including herbals, ALWAYS consult with your veterinarian. There is always the possibility of an adverse interaction between compounds.

Regular ingestion of cranberry juice is felt to be beneficial in preventing bladder and UTI infections. However, caution should be exercised in the administration of this. Be very careful if you choose to give these to your pets. You need to give a dose that does not cause more problems then it creats. The capsules are concentrated and can do more harm than good if they over-acidify the urine. Scaring and permanent damage of the urinary tract has been seen in human females who take a lot of cranberry capsules and don't drink enough liquids. Essentially, you burn the urinary tract, causing more pain, inflammation and damage.

Dr. Weil (on his website http://cgi.pathfinder.com/@@WgvyqgYArOlOO8qu/drweil/0,1153,,00.html), states:

"Advocates of cranberry juice treatment for infections used to think that it worked by acidifying the urine, making it less receptive to bacteria. But now it appears that cranberries (and blueberries) contain a substance that disrupts the glue bacteria use to adhere to tissue, making it harder for them to get established on the lining of the bladder. Cranberry juice - at least the ordinary variety - is full of sugar and water, with only some of the real juice. The high sugar content may actually encourage the growth of bacteria and yeast. So my preference is to drink unsweetened cranberry juice concentrate, which you can buy in a health-food store, or to buy cranberry tablets. "

Ensure you are using a good brand of cranberry. A good rule of thumb is that when using herbs that are safe for cats and dogs, figure by the weight of the animal, using the human dosage on the bottle. Health food Stores will often have empty smaller capsules that you can divide portions of a larger capsule in. Making them easier to give for Small dogs or cats. A piller will help to give them to a cat. It may be easier to put a little olive oil on the capsule to help it go down. You can try mixing the Cranberry capsule in canned food.

IMPORTANT: Be sure the Cranberry bottle says free of sugar.