Will this food encourage crystals?

lndscpsam

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Ok, poor Sluggo keeps battleing UTI's. I see crystals in his urine now even though he finished a two week run of Baytril about 2 weeks ago. I'm getting frustrated and the vet wants to change his food AGAIN! Sluggo was just switched a month ago to the Natural Balance Venison and Green Pea. It's supposed to be an allergen free formula. Does anyone have an opinion as to whether or not this food would encourage crystals in the urine? It seems to agree with Sluggo's tummy and he loves it, so I hate to switch again. The Science Diet junk the vet wants him on gives him diahrea. I don't know what to do. HELP!
 

sharky

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Can u give me the mag and total ash???
 

jenniferd

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I keep my cystitis and urinary problemed Persian on Waltham's SO. He is doing fabulous on it.
Ever since I switched him on it he had no more problems.
 

cloud_shade

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The Natural Balance website says that the canned version has a maximum of 0.025% magnesium, and the dry has 0.1% magnesium. I wasn't able to find the ash content listed on the web.
 

white cat lover

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Originally Posted by sharky

Can u give me the mag and total ash???
If I am remembering right, that is too high mag & ash. I wanted to feed it my girl who has had crystals so I could have all 3 downstairs eating the same food, but it wasn't a good choice.

I fee Solid Gold Katz-N-Flocken to my girl who had crystals.
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by cloud_shade

The Natural Balance website says that the canned version has a maximum of 0.025% magnesium, and the dry has 0.1% magnesium. I wasn't able to find the ash content listed on the web.
.025 mag in canned is okay ( preference is.022)

.1% is a bit too high for a UTI cat ... .085 and below are best up to .09 is acceptable
 

gingersmom

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I'm going to hijack here to ask a stupid question: I use clumping litter. How would I know if there are crystals in the urine when I'm scooping the clumps? What should I look for?
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by GingersMom

I'm going to hijack here to ask a stupid question: I use clumping litter. How would I know if there are crystals in the urine when I'm scooping the clumps? What should I look for?
Likely they look like little sparkels

most of the time it takes a urinalsis to find them
 

gailuvscats

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Originally Posted by GingersMom

e How would I know if there are crystals in the urine when I'm scooping the clumps? What should I look for?
If your cat urinates elsewhere, on a solid surface, and you happen upon it before it dries, you can feel the gritty material. If it does dry, you can see the sediment.
 

gingersmom

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Originally Posted by gailuvscats

If your cat urinates elsewhere, on a solid surface, and you happen upon it before it dries, you can feel the gritty material. If it does dry, you can see the sediment.
Another stupid question then, and thank you for the education: Would a cat with crystals be then more likely to urinate outside of the box?

I just want to know what to keep an eye out for with Ferris, as I know males are more prone to crystals.
 

white cat lover

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Originally Posted by GingersMom

Another stupid question then, and thank you for the education: Would a cat with crystals be then more likely to urinate outside of the box?

I just want to know what to keep an eye out for with Ferris, as I know males are more prone to crystals.
Yes, cats with crystals & UTIs are more likely to urinate outside the litterbox. That's why it is usually reccomended that if a cat goes pee otuside the box to take in a urine sample.
Males also tend to block up more from crystals because their urethras(is that the word?) are much more narrow. My Cow kitty blocked up.
 

gingersmom

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Originally Posted by white cat lover

Yes, cats with crystals & UTIs are more likely to urinate outside the litterbox. That's why it is usually reccomended that if a cat goes pee otuside the box to take in a urine sample.
Males also tend to block up more from crystals because their urethras(is that the word?) are much more narrow. My Cow kitty blocked up.
Thank you guys! And again, sorry for the hijack, but I really appreciate the info!!!

Lndscpsam, I hope you are able to get to the bottom of things (no pun intended) and that your boy gets better very soon!!!
 

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Polly eats hills c/d and does great on it!

Does your vet think cysitis is a possibility with Sluggo? If he gets crystals, he might need some kind of urine-acidifying diet, as my understanding is that crystals are usually caused by a pH that is too high. This was the case with Polly, but I could be wrong. Do you know what the pH was at his last urinalysis.
 

pat

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A key bit of information is missing here. There are two kinds of crystals, and they require different approaches...too acidic a urine causes one kind of crystal, and too alkaline causes the second.

You need to ask your vet what kind of crystals were found in the urine - they will be either Struvite or Calcium Oxalate.

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=1741

This is a good article on the cause of both kinds and treatments (and though it says typically calcium oxalate crystals are not seen in the urine, I would ask the vet and not assume the crystals are struvite).
 

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Originally Posted by Pat & Alix

A key bit of information is missing here. There are two kinds of crystals, and they require different approaches...too acidic a urine causes one kind of crystal, and too alkaline causes the second.

You need to ask your vet what kind of crystals were found in the urine - they will be either Struvite or Calcium Oxalate.

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=1741

This is a good article on the cause of both kinds and treatments (and though it says typically calcium oxalate crystals are not seen in the urine, I would ask the vet and not assume the crystals are struvite).
You do need to work with your vet on this. Lucy ended up having a Struvite bladder stone but didn't have any crystals in her urine. Also, vets are seeing more cases of Calcium Oxalate because the pet food industry made their food more acidic to avoid the more common Struvite. So it is important to understand what type of crystals your cat is dealing with.
 

taima

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Crystals were found in my cat's urine about 6 months ago and he has been on the prescription Science Diet C/D food. The magnesium content for this food is 0.08% max and the ash is 6.5% max. I think - but not sure - that the phosphorus content may also matter for cats with struvite crystal issues. The phosphorus content in the C/D food is 0.4% min. When looking for a different dry food I could feed him I have noticed that a lot of them had phosphorus contents quite a bit higher.

The struvite crystals are caused when the ph is too high. My cat's last urinalysis showed his ph to be 7, which is neutral I believe, but I think his needs to be lower since he had the crystal issue (I think 6.5 at the highest maybe.) However the vet was not concerned as they did not see any crystals in his urine that time. (I only know the ph because I glanced a the result in his chart). That urinalysis was done with a free catch sample though, and when they found crystals in his urine they got a sample directly from his bladder with a needle. Not sure if that would make a difference or not.

Good luck with your kitty's problem! Mine has caused me much worry the past several months. He's my little baby.
 
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lndscpsam

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Originally Posted by sharky

Can u give me the mag and total ash???
Hi Sharky. The bag says 0.1% for Magnesium and doesn't list ash. This is the other analysis:

Crude Protein (min) 32%
Crude Fat (min) 12%
Fiber (max) 4.5%
Moisture (mas) 10%
Taurine (min) .16%
Omega 3 (min) .5%
Omega 6 (min) 3.0%
 
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lndscpsam

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Originally Posted by PurrPaws

Polly eats hills c/d and does great on it!

Does your vet think cysitis is a possibility with Sluggo? If he gets crystals, he might need some kind of urine-acidifying diet, as my understanding is that crystals are usually caused by a pH that is too high. This was the case with Polly, but I could be wrong. Do you know what the pH was at his last urinalysis.
Yes on the cysitis and that's why he's getting Cosequin sprinkled on his food every day now. I don't remember his pH level, but I think he had the struvite crystals. I just took another urine sample to the vet a couple hours ago and am waiting to hear the results. Btw, Science Diet gives Sluggo diahrea, so I don't want him on that. Before this whole UTI problem started about 8 mos. ago Sluggo was eating Nature's Variety Raw and doing fantastic. Then one day he had a UTI. So I'm not sure which direction to go. Btw, Sluggo doesn't like canned food! Thanks.
 

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Originally Posted by Lndscpsam

Hi Sharky. The bag says 0.1% for Magnesium and doesn't list ash. This is the other analysis:

Crude Protein (min) 32%
Crude Fat (min) 12%
Fiber (max) 4.5%
Moisture (mas) 10%
Taurine (min) .16%
Omega 3 (min) .5%
Omega 6 (min) 3.0%
Ideally, magnesium should be under .08% in a dry food....so that is high. Some cats may not get crystals again on .1% mag, but some will.

My Ophelia had struvite & Katz-N-Flocken works wonders for her.....but then again, she's not Sluggo! All I did was try a food that had acceptable ash, mag, calc, & phos levels & watch for urination problems.
 

cloud_shade

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Next time, can you ask your vet to do a cystocentesis to get the urine sample? It sounds like you are collecting it at home and then taking it in--is that correct? The longer the urine is outside the body prior to testing, the less accurate the results will be--more crystals may form as the sample cools down, for example.

Also, what symptoms is he currently having? The mere presence of crystals doesn't always equal UTI.
 
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