Ash content, again

I agree and know that meat products have more ash than plant because of bone, etc....but I don't see how he says ash is misunderstood and outdated....there is need for a concern regarding ash.

ORIGINAL: papillon806

I agree and know that meat products have more ash than plant because of bone, etc....but I don't see how he says ash is misunderstood and outdated....there is need for a concern regarding ash.

Yeah, I'm with Papi on this.
But THANK YOU for posting that information because I really didn't understand the connection between high meat protein and ash content. I FINALLY understand it.

Actually, Ash is what left over from a food after it has been burned at 600 degrees (thus the term Ash). Since minerals don't burn at that temperature, the ash is composed of minerals (calcium, phosphorus, potassium, iron, copper, etc, etc.) It's not "left over minerals" so-to-speak, but IS the actual mineral content of the food. It's not so much the high meat diets that are a concern, but diets high in bone, bone meal, or especially high in added minerals or supplements. That's why it's so important to balance the diet.
 
I don't really think the EP states they add CGM to prevent UTI's, but to lower the urinary pH as it has been shown in studies that CGM (while not as digestable as meat) does tend to lower urinary pH. Normally plant materials will increase urine pH, but since CGM has had all (or most of) the plant fibers (cellulose, etc) removed and is mostly protein, the urinary tract does not react the same as it does with other plant sources.
 
 
Here's some info (although VERY technical) that may be useful.
[linkhttp://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1250243]http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1250243[/link]
 
"Urinary pH, struvite activity product, and number of struvite crystals in urine were lower for the CGM group"

For my dogs I just make sure the food I'm feeding has a higher calcium than phosphorus content.  Nature's Variety is a wonderful food with the balance I look for....so do most good quality dog foods have the proper balance[] 

For good urinary tract health it is a bit more than just picking the right kibble.  I have an 11 year old Newf (which 11 is quite old for a Newf as opposed to a Rottweiler, Golden Retriever or Lab where I wouldn't consider 11 to be old at all for those breeds).  Cassie comes from very short lived lines and all her littermates and line have lived to be only about 8 years and all suffered from kidney failure and urinary tract problems, allergies, immune disease etc. 

So, for Cassie these problems are genetic.  We make sure she always gets water and canned food in her kibble meals...a dry kibble meal is hard on the urinary tract as it is not natural for a dog to eat dry foods like that...even bones have moisture in them. We give her a good rotation of good quality foods like Nature's Variety, Go Natural, Natura, Solid gold etc.  She gets a raw meal at night which raw meat contains lots of moisture, yogurt, sardines etc.  When I give raw bones I make sure she gets low phosphorus meats in her raw meal with egg shells for extra calcium. 

We must be doing something right because the breeder is really in awe of how well Cassie is doing, especially since the line is prone to problems.  Also, her last blood test really impressed the vet, her phosphorus to calcium levels were perfect as was all her levels.  Athena my 7 year old Rottweiler just had a blood test done as well & it was perfect (I do one yearly for dogs over 6)...

You can feed a dog to avoid predisposed problems...and I am fortunate I figured out how to with my dogs[]   Although what I do for my dogs may not be right for all dogs.

You had told me before in another post that ash is more of a concern with Urinary Tract Infections than magnesium.