Glycerol as thickener

[KittyMom21]

Hello All,

I'm new and have been learning a lot from this platform!

I wondered if anybody knows whether Glycerol is safe for cats as a thickener? Purina uses them in their wet food and their hydra care drinks. I looked into this as my 2 year old has a sudden increased SDMA and the only change is that I have introduced Purina Hydracare. I learned from this forum that some cats tummy are sensitive to thickener (carrageenan/tapioca, etc) so I got in touch with Purina to see if their Hydracare Drinks contain any, their response was that they do not use thickener but Glycerol. When asked how much they use they said it's a commercial secret. It seems to me that it's safety margin lies in how much is used?

A quick search online shows that Glycerol can induce AKI in rats, and it has been re-evaluated in 2017 as a human food addictive:

https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.2903/j.efsa.2017.4720

Protective effect of quinacrine against glycerol-induced acute kidney injury in rats - BMC Nephrology.

As there is no study that evaluates its safety margin for cats, I'm a bit worried about feeding this to my boy. I wondered if any of you pet guardians know more about glycerol as an addictive, am I worried too much?

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. don't know much from a personal perspective about glycerol/glycerin in cat food, but here is an article (see link below) about it from PetReviewer.com, if that helps any.

As far as Hydra Care, there were some members who were recommending it, but I think maybe one of them - Furballsmom , spoke out not in favor it, more recently. I don't know if it had anything to do with glycerol, and maybe I am not even accurately remembering her comments about it, so I've tagged her so she can offer her opinion directly.
Glycerin In Pet Food - Pet Food Reviewer

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi, thank you .
I want to ensure people are aware that Hydra Care may decrease urine specific gravity, so it isn't appropriate for use for every cat.

However, that doesn't address the glycerol issue, which honestly puts me off using it.

This approach, including using tall drinking glasses since some cats love those, might be helpful;

Tips To Increase Your Cat’s Water Intake - TheCatSite

 

[KittyMom21]

Thanks both for your input! Much appreciated

Furballsmom, fascinating observation, I suppose when urine specific gravity is decreased, SDMA will be increased? I wondered how you found out about its effect on urine specific gravity?

 

[KittyMom21]

Purina's explanation on using glycerol in their pet food:

Oil By-Products in Purina Pet Food | Purina

 

[white shadow]

Hi KittyMom21 and a warm welcome to the forum !

....I suppose when urine specific gravity is decreased, SDMA will be increased?

No. One has nothing to do with the other.

Here's a reliable, plain-language coverage of the SDMA diagnostic test - and, the first paragraph is concise: What is SDMA?


You mentioned Hydra Care....it would appear to contain 1% glycerol according to this Vet's article.

Hope that helps!