Food Allergies and Crystals

Hey everyone... I haven't been here in ages but again come seeking amazing advice. I didn't get the chance to go on VIN last week [so I don't have access to a password] so I'm hoping someone here can help.

My cat Napolean has SEVERE food allergies which have been managed by feeding Herring & Sweet Potatoe by Cal. natural and giving him Depomedrol injections when his ears start getting icky. We've tried all kinds of diets, he always finds something to be allergic to, on the Cal. Natural he's at least doing better.

Well... a couple days ago he couldn't pee. He wasn't blocked, but it took him a long time to go. We got our urine sample and we catheterized him and flushed his bladder, which revealed TONS of sedimentation. The urinalysis showed struvite crystals. I x-rayed him, no stones.

So my cat cannot be on C/D. Like I would figure throw im on c/d once the cystals go away start feeding him wet food of a better kind. He's on dry food right now because both of the cats act like they're starving when they're on wet food [used to feed wet only]. Anyway I've been advised I can put him on Vitamin C as an acidifier so he can stay on his special diet. Anyone have expirience with that? I could put him on DL-methionine too. I was just curious if anyone had expirience with crystals and what they ended up feeding their cat. Did the wet diet clear it up?

I also read fish based foods have a higher occurance of urine problems, but he does the best on this food.

Anyway any input is welcome!

Thanks!
Suzanne

That is a big problem. I have a Allergic cat that is stuck on C/D and Royal Canin Urinary. If I try to take her off it the bladder problem comes back. You need to get him off the Depo Shots. They are what caused 2 of Cocos Bladder Problems. The Vet said she can not be on Depo anymore because they cause crystals. Also fish is bad for a cat with bladder problems. Coco eats wet and dry.

Yes fish often has to high a calcium and phos ratio for Uti health ... I would likely suggest working with the vet and bringing in maybe a homemade UTI recipe and seeing what is thought... PM me if you want it

You need to get him off the Depo Shots.

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I should clarify he doesn't get them that often. He didn't have any depo for about a year, until a month ago when he had REALLY BAD yeast infections in both ears. The depo is always a last resort and if he gets them he only gets about 1 injection a year. But I will keep that in mind. The issue I have is, do I keep him comfortable or let him scratch his ears off?

I have a Allergic cat that is stuck on C/D and Royal Canin Urinary.

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What are her symptoms like? How badly does she react on the c/d? I've never offered it to my cat so I have no idea. But it has chicken in it which he is very allergic to. If it just had pork [it says it has pork-by products] then he might be okay because I don't think he's had pork before... but the chicken is an issue.

I would likely suggest working with the vet and bringing in maybe a homemade UTI recipe and seeing what is thought... PM me if you want it

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It would depend on what the diet consists of and how complex it is? Neither of my cats will eat raw meat. Even if I partially cook it they will not touch the stuff. The other issue I have is that I can't complete the diet, because he's allergic to so many things. So I would pretty much have to expiriment with ingredients he can eat, which would mean for a while the diet would be able to be balanced, which I imagine could also cause more issues with the bladder? if you have a recipe I'd love for you to PM it to me, but I'm very cautious about him not having a balanced food. I know cats are more sensitive than dogs about their diet. If the diet couldn't be entirely balanced [because I don't know what sets off his allergies] would that make it ineffective against the crystals?

I am so totally not trying to sound like I'm arguing, I just have no idea what happens when cats don't get the full nutrition they need. I mean I saw on an SPCA show the woman who only fed her cats rice and they were all blind... so it really freaks me out because I can't just throw 10 different ingredients at my cat because I only know what meat proteins he's allergic to and that he's allergic to peas.

Let me see what is in the Royal Canin Urinary.
Coco is ok with chicken so she is fine on C/D.
Now you have me wondering.
Coco has Ear problems and nothing helps her.
I wonder if its Allergies now.
I would not give the C/D to your cat since he reacts to chicken.
Look at Cocos ears.
She has been like that since she was young.
Do you think her problem is from food?
I guess you will have to let him have the depo and watch him for bladder problems. Better then his ears getting real bad.

it aint to complicated ... it does have what supplements to use and you can use virtually any meat ...

Coco has Ear problems and nothing helps her.
I wonder if its Allergies now.

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With ears like that I would totally think allergies. Napolean's reaction first started out as facial pruritis. Since we started changing foods it changed to him itching his ears and causing yeast infections... so I would say food allergies, or an allergy of some kind. It could be ear mites, but it's unlikely if they've always been like that, and ear mites are different than yeast... so you might talk to your vet the next time you go in and mention the dirty ears.

We haveand we tried alot of meds but none have worked.
I had never even thought it could be allergies.
I should have thought that because that cat has Asthma and is Allergic to alot of stuff. We tried ear mite meds and yeast meds.
The other cats have never caught it either.

Three things must be present in order for crystals to form. Ph is too high or low, low volume of urine with leads to a high concentration of minerals in the urine. To combat this we need to dilute and flush out the urine. Diluting purges the ph and of course dilutes the minerals. The only way this can happen is to feed a high moisture diet. So that rules out all dry food. Feeding a all canned diet should take care of crystals forming.

Also feeding a raw diet is not too complicated. A balanced diet only contains about 4-6 items.