This invention relates to test strips which may be used in pieces in combination with a bed of conventional cat box filler for detection of feline urinary tract disease.
Feline lower urinary tract disease (FLUTD) can be a life-threatening condition for cats. In particular, the main problem that cat owners face with FLUTD is that the disease is life-threatening to the cat by the time the symptoms are noticeable to the owner. Crystals of magnesium ammonium phosphate (MAP) can precipitate in the cat""s urinary tract and obstruct it. If left untreated, a xe2x80x9cblockedxe2x80x9d cat will die within days. Furthermore, treatment is costly and traumatic to the cat, to say nothing of the affect on the cat""s owner. With early detection made possible by occult blood testing, cat owners could in theory successfully treat the problem of FLUTD simply by changing the cats"" diets.
The major problem for early detection of FLUTD is that the cat owners are unsophisticated in detecting the symptoms. With the symptoms going unrecognized, often by the time the pet owner takes the cat to the veterinarian, it is simply too late.
While detection systems are available for FLUTD that rely upon occult blood testing of urine, it is a fact that it is difficult to conduct the test or even when to know one needs to conduct the test. One easy answer is to provide the test material in the cat box filler in which the cats normally urinate.
However, providing a reliable occult blood detection system in cat box filler itself has its own problems. For example, the test indicator material must be stable when exposed to a wide variety of ambient conditions varying from extremely dry, to extremely humid, all over a wide range of temperatures. Often such stability is very difficult to achieve.
Another common problem with normal test indicators is that pet owners are insufficiently observant to notice a color change before the color indicator decays. Thus a reliable indicator should stay at the changed color for a period of at least 8 hours in order for the pet owner to have a sufficient chance to observe the color change.
Another problem often occurring with test reagents mixed with the cat box filler is that the cat""s sensitive sense of smell will detect any odor changes, making the cat shy away from the litter. Thus any test reagent which can be successfully mixed with cat box filler must be provided in a substantially inoffensive odor form for the cats.
Yet another common problem which must be overcome is providing a cat box filler/test reagent combination which has shelf life stability such that it can be stored in merchandisable containers for a sufficient period of time to allow transport, shelf display, purchase, and then use.
Previously-used materials and systems for detection of FLUTD have involved one or more of the above deficiencies. It is a primary object of the present invention to overcome these deficiencies with a material and system which can accurately test for FLUTD and which can be safely and reliably stored, transported, and ultimately used by the pet owner.
In particular, it is one object of this invention to provide test strip materials which can be subdivided into pieces and then conveniently homogeneously mixed with conventional cat box filler to provide a safe and reliable occult blood test for FLUTD.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide test strip materials which can be combined with cat box filler which exude only odors that are nonoffensive to the cat.
Yet another objective of the present invention is to provide a test composition which can be mixed with conventional cat box filler and still show adequate stability towards changing weather and light conditions.
An even further objective is to provide a FLUTD test composition which can be triggered for test by as few as 100 red blood cells per microliter of cat urine.
A yet further objective is to provide a litter additive composition which has a pink color in the unreacted form, since such color is found pleasing to the pet owner.
The method and manner of accomplishing each of the above objectives will become apparent from the detailed description of the invention which follows.
Test strips for detection of feline lower urinary tract disease (FLUTD) which remain stable when exposed to ambient conditions, and which provide a positive color response for at least 8 hours, are provided for use in combination with conventional cat box filler.