Struvite Crystals-what to feed my non-diabetic boy

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Pam and Stasha (GA)

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Because of Stasha I always fed Friskies, Fancy Feast and some dry EVO. Alex had trouble from time to time keeping wet food down. Since I couldn't pinpoint what the culprit was, I switched the cats to Cat Naturals after Stasha passed about 6 weeks ago. Last night we ended up at the ER vet and he will now be at my vet for a couple days. They want me to feed him their food, but I'm not a fan. Any suggestions?

Thanks
Pam
 
My cat Andy(GA) had crystals and they wanted me to feed him Royal Canin ( I think) Urinary SO, so I did for awhile until he would not eat it any more then he got stones and had to have surgery to remove those. I had four cats at the time and feeding him one food while trying to feed the others something else was really hard. So I would guess thats why he did not want to eat the Urinary SO.

Terri
 
The link is for Hills SD which is used for dissolving struvite crystals. Hills CD is for maintenance. Continued use of SD can cause oxlate stones which require surgery to remove.

kimouette said:
Very usefull infos can be found here : http://catinfo.org/?link=urinarytracthealth

When my cat had this problem I fed her with this :
http://www.petfooddirect.com/product/89 ... medium=cse

But I know what you guys are thinking... Another rip-off brand! But what can I say, it did work for my cat!
I dont know why it worked so well, but I'm sure you can find an alternative that offers better food quality with the same "working balance" between the ingredients
Click to expand...
 
i had a cat get struvite crystals some years back, before Mousie was diagnosed with diabetes and i learned about food.

they put him on dry c/d. which yeah, he didn't get struvite crystals again. he did get very very very very fat though on it. after being on it for 2 years he developed calcium oaxylate (sp?) crystals. they wanted to switch him to another prescription dry food for those but Mousie had just been diagnosed with diabetes and we were checking out new vets. i consulted with Mousie's new vet about my other cat and she said to put him on the same wet food as i was putting Mousie on so that's what i did, with extra water added. he never developed another crystal and he lost most of that weight he gained on the c/d

fwiw, dr. lisa has an informative section on her site i believe re: crystals. you know of her site? if not, it's http://www.catinfo.org
 
Thanks for the info-I guess I knew a lot-just didn't think it would happen-I know I'll be fighting the vets (nothing new), I certainly don't want Alex to go through this again. Any specific brands I should be looking at? I looked at the list-I want to feed all my cats the same if possible. Don't want to go the other direction with stones.

Pam
 
When my little guy Buddy got struvite crystals (two bouts!), I was told to make him eat more wet food, preferably grain free, and to stop feeding any kind of fish or tuna. He now eats Fancy Feast Classic, Wellness wet, and no fish. And the crystals have not returned.
 
My cat Max, non-diabetic, had the oxalite crystals and had to have them removed. Before all this happened we had him on Royal Canin SO. Had to take him off of it because he kept throwing up. I eventually learned that he was allergic to wheat gluten. Now have him on Royal Canin Rabbit and Venison wet and dry Rabbit. So far so good, and occassional bout of throwing up, but nothing like before. This food can also cause diarrhea, but you take him off of the wet for four days wait until he has a normal bowel movement and feed him the wet again. The rabbit has more calories than the venison. There is also duck, but it has a lot more fat in it. He also has irratible bowel syndrome (IBS) that's another reason he is on the Royal Canin and they do not make the crystals come back. From what I read, the Hills food, nothing against Science Diet, but the crystals do come back with that food.

Hope this helps!
 
my civvie Bo was nearly blocked with struvite crystals a few years ago. I fed the Hill's wet dissolution diet for about a week when Dr Lisa told me that any canned food with added water would work and be healthier that the dissolution diet.

He has eaten FF and Friskies with water added ever since with no sign of crystals.
 
ditto on susie and moochie. wheezer had them and was on hills special diet for this CD?? and they did dissolve then I got educated and all cats on wet.raw with water and no one has had any further problems
 
Alex has been completely flushed out and I'm told no crystals remain. The vet and office staff are really insisting on c/d. they gave me a free 2 pack. Of course he won't eat it. They also gave me an appetite stimulant. I gave up after the first two attempts and mixed Friskies with the c/d. He sniffs it but won't eat it. Tomorrow we're back to FRiskies and FF if he doesn't eat tonight. I tried mixing the c/d dry with hot water as they suggested and none of them will eat that either.

Pam
 
You don't need the prescription diet--any canned food should do. The key is getting him properly hydrated. Add some water to the food so that you're increasing his moisture intake. Most urinary tract problems are caused by the constant dehydration caused by dry diets--once you get rid of the dry you shouldn't have any more problems.
 
Thanks all! I took Alex back to the vet today because last night he seemed to be straining when peeing and his output was was very small. He kept getting into the litter box and back out. The vet said he's not blocked, probably still irritated from the catheter. I have been mixing c/d and Friskies and adding a little water and none of the cats will eat it. (Last night they got into a bag of dry food I was planning to give away). Tonight I finally gave up and gave them FF with no added water and they all ate. My other male, Elliott, has been in hiding since Alex came home. He seems afraid of everything-what gives? He came out long enough to eat and went right back upstairs. I should add that until 6 weeks ago when Stasha died, all my cats ate FF and Friskies and a little dry Evo. The 3 siblings are 6 years old and never had any health problems until I switched to the dry and gave up the wet. I'm sill kicking myself.

Pam
 
If he eats the FF, give him the FF. It will work just as fine as the canned c/d, since moisture what's needed to prevent the problem from happening again. You can try adding a tiny bit of water to it, like couple teaspoons--not enough to make it soupy, but adding those two teaspoons in every meal adds up. A pet fountain might also be a good idea to encourage extra drinking. Just go back to your old feeding plan of FF and Friskies--just make sure Alex does not get any of the dry EVO if you do decide to give it to the other cats. If it were me, though, I'd just get rid of the dry. It causes far more problems than it's worth!

Is Alex on pain meds? Also, do you think he's been overly stressed out the past few weeks, maybe because of Stasha? Stress plays an important role in UT issues. Gabby used to get a UTI (even on a 100% canned diet) every time I went somewhere for more than week.
 
After a couple of days of trying to get them to eat Friskies I went back to FF. Actually Alex is eating the best of the three. I don't think he was stressed by Stasha's passing. Stasha was the Queen-she was declawed and almost 20. Even the dogs were afraid of her-or perhaps they respected her-LOL. If anything, I think they are all happy to be getting more attention. I blame myself for changing to a grocery store dry cat food from the dry EVO and stopping the canned. Now if I could just get Abby and Elliott to eat more. Luckily they are both good sized cats and Abby can definitely stand to lose some weight. Getting enough calories is a challenge. Elliott only comes out of hiding at night until early morning. I don't want to go back to Stasha's schedule, feeding small meals 8 times a day (night)....

Alex is not on pain meds, he doesn't seem to be in pain. He is still getting his antibiotic for a couple more days.

Pam
 
Once the cats don't have constant access to food, they should develop more normal appetites and eat more at each meal. I feed Bandit 4 times a day, and it's not a problem at all. If I don't feel like getting up early in the morning, or waking up late at night to feed him, I take a frozen portion of food and put it in his auto feeder. You can also just leave canned food out for 6 hrs or more--just add a little water to keep it moist.
 
Had a talk with one of the vets last night. She wanted me to try Royal Canin. I said no. I would keep going with the FF and Friskies and add water. She was OK with that...we discussed the c/d dry because they will eat that. As much as I hated to, I sprinkled a little (very little) on their wet food this morning and they ate both the dry and wet. It's been a week of worry and stubborness. I'm afraid we're all stressing out over the food. I just want them to eat. So, we're gonna do the best we can. Thanks for all your help and suggestions!!

Pam
 
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