Struvite Crystals in Cats

[Louise]

I had my big yellow boy at the vet’s earlier this week. He was just a bit NQR. It was one of those “I can see a difference but no one else would” things.

The vet called me with the results from all of the testing and the only thing that she can find wrong is that his urine is alkaline and that there are struvite crystals present, with minimal small clumps. This is a cat who has had nothing but high quality, grain-free food, mixed with water to the consistency of soup, for all the the seven years he has been with me. Surprisingly, the vet said that it has been found that, as good as the grain-free food is, it can often cause an alkaline urine, which facilitates the growth of the crystals.

I got him when he was six – he’s 13 now. He was a stray, so no idea what he ate before he hit the shelter, but that’s so long ago that I wouldn’t think it would make any difference now.

So, he will go on a special diet. I looked at Royal Canin and Purina. I’m not happy with either of them, but, of the two, Royal Canin seems a bit better. At least, it has no wheat gluten in it. He’s one of those cats that will eat virtually anything that is put in front of him, so I’m not worried there.

He’ll be retested in about six weeks after we start the food.

I’m looking for any other suggestions, or ideas, that could help my big man.

I have lost three cat in the last year (all old and suffering from various diseases but it still hurts). I don’t want to think that I’m on the road to losing another one.

[DrBeckett]

There is actually nothing wrong with eating gluten. It is the protein portion of a grain. It is a newer myth that there is something wrong with eating glutens. Unless an animal or a person has celiac disease, gluten is fine to eat.

I often recommend to owners whose pets have crystals to give distilled water or bottled water. I live in the south where there is a lot of calcium in the water, so neither I nor my pets drink the water.

[WNT]

I had my cat on good grain-free dry and wet food. He racked up more vet bills a couple years ago than my horse and dog combined for the year due to recurring crystal blockages. I completely cut dry food from his diet, and his wet food (Royal Canin feline S/O) is a slurry of food, salmon oil, and water with kitty Cosequin in the morning. Knock on wood, we haven’t had problems since. He did not need to be “replumbed” but if it happens again we will strongly consider the surgery.

[Megaladon]

Distilled water :yes:

[Louise]

So far, he hasn’t blocked, which is a definite plus. Hopefully, we have caught it early. He like the S/O food, so that’s a plus. I will start mixing it with distilled water, instead of the plain water I have been using to make his “soup”. He gets Dasequin already. I’m pretty sure that does the same thing, and it works better on his arthritis than plain Cosequin seems to. Salmon oil is, unfortunately, one of the few things he absolutely will not tolerate, straight or mixed in food.

[Horsegal984]

What high quality grain free food was he eating? We seem to see a lot of cats on blue Buffalo having these problems

[Louise]

I was rotating him between two different foods.

Nature’s Logic Feline Chicken Feast
Wild Callings Trot’n Tommy

Actually, I’m still feeding that to my girls, but am wondering if I should switch them, also. I switched tonight to mixing all of their food with distilled water instead of tap

[Zu_Zu]

[B]
no advice ~ just Jingles & AO for your ‘golden boy’ !

((hugs)) for his ‘best cat owner ever’ owner ~

[/B]