Crystals in urine?

My ten year old tabby "Niki" has a small amount of crystals in her urine.
The vet. said to discontinue what I have been giving her as a maintenance/preventive routine consisting of: Organic pumpkin (1/5th of diet 3 xs a wk.)- Psyllium 1/2 tsp. once a wk.mixed in water - gourmet cat treats "hairball formula" by healthypetnet (8 "crunchies" as a treat daily)
thinking "Niki" was getting overkill on the fiber if no signs indicating she was
having any problems with her stools and to recheck urine sample in a couple
more months.
Continue with rest of what I have been giving "Niki" which includes: fresh ground turkey or boneless/skinless chicken breast from New Frontiers Natural Foods Store - mixed with Pet Guard chicken & wheat germ canned food daily -
organic egg yolk mixed into food 3 xs wk.
on occassion: slightly sauteed Pel Freez fresh rabbit - free range chicken livers 1tsp. daily - slightly warmed meyenberg goats milk -
Dry food only give few "crunchies" as treat Innova Evo for cats & kittens.
As like many vets she recommends science diet which I've read/heard is not
that great..highly processed etc. - & Brown Cow Cream Top Yogurt.
Fresh water available at all times using Fresh Flow drinking system
(plastic container with filter which I rinse ev. 2 wks. & change ev 2 months)
The supplements I give "Niki" are: "Mega C Plus" (Dr. Belfield formulation) 1/4th tsp. daily w/food - Cod Liver Oil 1/4th. tsp. daily w/food - "daily remedy" 1 xs day that has bach flower remedies in them made by local animal healer - Mason natural Vit. E 400 Iu D-Alpha mixed with food 1 every 6th. day -
Any feed back on Crystals in Urine or what I am giving "Niki" would be greatly
appreciated. Thanks!

I give my male cat Carpon (dr. Belfield) tablet twice a day. works great!

Please, if I might ask a question. What does fiber have to do with crystals in urine? I thought it was an acidic/alkaline balance. Does fiber interrupt that balance?

Um interesting diet. I have two cats with crystal problems. A special diet from the vet is all they eat. Science Diet C/D for Zoey and Waltham Urinary S/O for Saki. I dont know about all that egg yolk and stuff like that. How is that necessary?

Originally Posted by Sicycat

I dont know about all that egg yolk and stuff like that. How is that necessary?

Click to expand...

If I may, a lot of people who make their own cat food use eggs to supply some of the essential nutrients.

Hi, Trudy and Niki! Sierra, Serenity & I have sure enjoyed getting to know you both as you've learned your way around the site and are so glad you've joined us! Excellent job starting Niki's health thread More of our experts will be along shortly. You're such a wonderful Mommy, you and Niki are so blessed to be together!

Awww the poor baby Your doing great Trudy and i'm sure you'll get more help from our members

Keep us updated on Niki though when you can

Originally Posted by SchwarzeKatz

If I may, a lot of people who make their own cat food use eggs to supply some of the essential nutrients.

Click to expand...

Oops I missed the part where she said she didnt want to feed them the vet food because of the ingredients.

I am not too thrilled with the ingredients, but it seems to have kept my cats crystal problems under control.

Your diet looks good cept I might try for no wheat at all ie the wheat germ canned....

I dont see any heavy acidifiers>>>??? DOes Nikki have stuvite or oxalate crystals???

Is the local healer a qualified holistic vet??? If not I highly recommend finding one ....

I have two holsitic vets so if you dont have one please PM me and I will try to get basic answers...

Originally Posted by sharky

Your diet looks good cept I might try for no wheat at all ie the wheat germ canned....

I dont see any heavy acidifiers>>>??? DOes Nikki have stuvite or oxalate crystals???

Click to expand...

I have read that a meat based diet keeps the urine acidic naturally. Have you read/heard something different?

Originally Posted by SchwarzeKatz

I have read that a meat based diet keeps the urine acidic naturally. Have you read/heard something different?

Click to expand...

Muscle meat is not highly acidic... much of the organ is but in what % to commonly used grain s I dont know .... THis is what I unmderstood from my vet anyway..

Originally Posted by gailuvscats

I give my male cat Carpon (dr. Belfield) tablet twice a day. works great!

Click to expand...

Giving that to my cat Joey right now!!! He seems great so far!!!

Thanks.. good question!
that's why I'm here, the catsite forum. My daughter found out good info.
on her cat that the vet wasnt even aware of..
After looking over what I've been giving "Niki" she felt I was over doing the
fiber by giving more than one kind as a preventative/routine maintenance.
She said crystals in the urine can be caused by diet.
hey, happy turkey day out there, thanks again for awakening the ole brain cells w/your question.
Trudy

Thanks for your input..all is appreciated. This is a great place to pick other cat lovers' brains for "food for thought"
What I've read in diff. books ie "The New Natural Cat" "The Encyclopedia of Natural Pet Care" & "The very healthy Cat Book" are pretty much suggest raw
food diet - organic stuff ie raw egg yolk few times a week - I started that when I had a cat with bladder problems along with the vit E & Cod Liver Oil.
After going to a traditional vet. for awhile and feeling the anti biotics & such prescribed for my cat with upper resp. problems, her health took a real dive,
she was on her "way out" that's when I chose to seek alternative pet care and my cat hung out for an additional year with changing of her diet and doing things differently. Not sure about Science Diet, being so highly processed & by products in it, even though I know traditional Vets. swear by it. Wish there was a holistic vet in my area!
Thanks again for your concern & support.
Trudy

Hi Trudy, you're doing great! Yes, anything you reply to will be visible to all of us

I don't have any advice for you, but I hope your baby feels better soon

We have 3 females, and about 2 months ago our Tsuki was diagnosed with crystals (the other 2 were fine). The vet gave her medication and had us switch to s/d dry & canned for Tsuki. She's fine now, but we've decided to now feed all 3 with low acid food. We've got them all eating ProPlan urinary tract food (chicken??) in cans and the ProPlan dry, as we usually leave out the dry for throughout the day eating and give them moist for dinner. They all seem to eat it. Is there any chance this diet could cause problems down the road? Also we occaisionally will mix in some moist pouch non s/d food into the ProPlan (for those days when they are 'picky'.) I know when Tsuki was ill the vet cautioned against doing this, and we don't make a habit of it-- but as she is better now, I was wondering if this was wrong?

Hi Mauld, I am not an expert in Cat Nutrition so I wouldnt want to suggest what you feed your cats. I just go by my "little voice" after reading different
books like: The New Natural Cat by Anitra Frazier (I consider that the "bible" of all books) The Encyclopedia of Natural Pet Care by CJ Puotinen -
The Very Healthy Cat Book by Wendell O. Belfield, DVM & Martin Zucker &
Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for dogs & Cats.
I found they are all great resources for different issues including what to feed your pets and about dry & moist pouch foods or leaving food out during the day. I have questions myself, so what I can say is do what you're doing "put it out there" gather information then go with whatever feels right.
Best to you & your furry pals. Trudy

Originally Posted by mauld

We have 3 females, and about 2 months ago our Tsuki was diagnosed with crystals (the other 2 were fine). The vet gave her medication and had us switch to s/d dry & canned for Tsuki. She's fine now, but we've decided to now feed all 3 with low acid food. We've got them all eating ProPlan urinary tract food (chicken??) in cans and the ProPlan dry, as we usually leave out the dry for throughout the day eating and give them moist for dinner. They all seem to eat it. Is there any chance this diet could cause problems down the road? Also we occaisionally will mix in some moist pouch non s/d food into the ProPlan (for those days when they are 'picky'.) I know when Tsuki was ill the vet cautioned against doing this, and we don't make a habit of it-- but as she is better now, I was wondering if this was wrong?

Click to expand...

Pro plan is one of the few cetified food s for UTI health over the counter... I personally am not fond of the ingrediants but it has thru studies shown to be effective against struvite crystals so unless it is oxalate you may be okay ... BUT like anything with RX foods or specialty non RX .. CONSULt your VET