would this work for crystals?

I know this type of question has been asked over and over - I probably asked something similar myself. Ive done tons of research and cant figure it out on my own.

My cat had struvite crystals 5 years ago and since has been on a few RX foods. NOW he only had one issue with the crystals so obviously the food has been good for him. But I hate them and want him off for the fact that it isnt good otherwise. Plus I now have another cat and would like them to both have healthy, natural food.

I had always fed him RX dry and wet (more dry though).
I know canned is very important - so could any recommended for/against continuing to feed him Purina RX canned - and then feed him Natural Balance original dry?? OR maybe reverse the brands dry/wet.

He does drink a lot of water on his own - which i know is also important.

THANKS!! and happy holidays!!

This is a sit down and discuss with your vet issue... It depends on many factors : what type of crystals, the ph ... No IMHO that particular brand while good is NOT ever appropriate for a cat with any urinary issues

Healthy and natural do not always go hand in hand///

Rx food is = to medicine

IMHO no, no way I would do that, especially since he eats mostly dry... You might get by with Dry RX, and some other safe canned wet food - but you should discuss it with your vet... IMHO, if it ain't broken, don't change it!

Thanks for the info.

Thats why I came here.

Honestly Im not going to ask my vet - she will want me on the RX food only. Horrible vets in my area - been to every one.

I know it makes sense to continue what works - but i just fear my cats life will be cut short if he continues on food that has no real nutritional value.

So this is where I just get confused and upset over this... but will consider what youve stated for sure.

Originally Posted by m935

Thanks for the info.

Thats why I came here.

Honestly Im not going to ask my vet - she will want me on the RX food only. Horrible vets in my area - been to every one.

I know it makes sense to continue what works - but i just fear my cats life will be cut short if he continues on food that has no real nutritional value.

So this is where I just get confused and upset over this... but will consider what youve stated for sure.

Click to expand...

RX foods do have nutritional value, they are balanced and complete... If you do not like Purina, you can choose a better one, like hills... Yes, they are not the best ingredient wise, but they do serve a purpose... If you are still worried, feed more wet then dry...
You say you fear your cat's life can be cut short due to the nutritional value on the RX foods, but your cat's life can be cut really short if he has crystals and becomes blocked - that can kill a cat in 24-48 hours. IMHO there is a reason why the vets want him on the RX, and I honestly would keep him on it... If it was just the case of recommending him to be on regular Science Diet "just because", then yes, I would probably not listen and do my own thing... But when it comes to prescription food, I consider it as good as medication in preventing serious issues... and Crystals is not something to take lightly IMHO.

CRYSTALS!!! OH NO....I have dreams of them and they ain't something we girls would wear in a ring.
I have a kitty girl rescued from life on the Long Island Railroad tracks. 'My Crystal Queen'....with 7 cats it took a long time to find out who was peeing around...many months....and then I was always taking urine to the vet to try and find who...need I say more. And then when they get really experienced..they are unbelievably cunning. Just when you think all is well...you find pee.
Yes, if if ain't broke - don't fix it....Oh - how many times I have done that - when all was better, thinking about trying better foods etc.,...EVERY SINGLE time I changed her food - Zap, wham...bam...crystals again...ph high...struvite, then oxalate, then struvite...
And the hardest part is the behavioral problems that are in play because they relate the litter box to any discomfort. I have been working at this since 2007 at least. Life BC (Before Crystals) was smooth sailing...all were on Wellness...wet and dry... now because of the situation all are on prescription C/D....It works....all I care is that she does not continue to get crystals...my life is hell and hers is too. Most of everything in our apartment is covered in plastic....just the other day she sprayed all over a wall. She goes in and out of her behavior...but before Crystals she never had a litter box problem.

I am trying to sneak Petguard to the others...but if I go out of town and have cat sitters it is tougher. Good luck.... if your cat has a genetic tendency -- I would not fool with the food if it is working. The MOST difficult part is behavioral - if that starts happening -- it can take years to undo. As I have learned.
I still plan to contact Dr. Loops for her crystal problem and see if there are holistic alternatives. http://www.charlesloopsdmv.com

WOW Regina Im so sorry to hear that. That's really a shame - but its great you care so much to do what you can for her. These situations make me wonder how cats who have uncaring "parents" make out.

And so with all responses considered... I will keep him on the RX food. It will most likely be purina though - due to price.

The only issue I have now is my other guy. He is a stray and ive had him for close to a year now. I feed him what i feed my ferals - country acres which is the crappiest of the crap food. I hate giving him that... but theres no way i can afford 3 brands. (i do add diatomaceous earth though AND WAS adding apple cider vinegar to water - until i read that isnt good for crystals.) UGH!!! Unless he could get the RX also.

This is why I dont have real children.

Hey Alpha Cat -
If your Your RX fellow is fine with that - keep it going. Like the others said...it serves a medicinal purpose. Just remember - the wet food is important for crystal control - they get a lot more water in their digestive system, therefore, running through the bladder.
As far as your other kitty....there are probably other brands better and not costly....One of the brands that all the rescuers around here get is a Costco brand cat food 'Kirkland'...and a large bag is pretty reasonable (can't recall the price)...yet has a decent list of ingredients.

P.S. It is great you are feeding...do you have winter shelters? Maybe you don't have the weather.....However, are the feral cats you feed spayed and neutered? That is crucially important - as we say - "feeders are breeders" - if not...try to contact a local TNR (trap-neuter-return) group to help you with that. They also 'tip' the left ear - it is a universal message to rescuers and city animal control people that the animal has been fixed and they do not pick them up. You save so much suffering of the mothers and the kittens and the male cats settle down and stop fighting.

I dont have a costco and all ferals were tnred

Originally Posted by m935

I know this type of question has been asked over and over - I probably asked something similar myself.

Ive done tons of research and cant figure it out on my own.

My cat had struvite crystals 5 years ago and since has been on a few RX foods. NOW he only had one issue with the crystals so obviously the food has been good for him. But I hate them and want him off for the fact that it isnt good otherwise. Plus I now have another cat and would like them to both have healthy, natural food.

I had always fed him RX dry and wet (more dry though).
I know canned is very important - so could any recommended for/against continuing to feed him Purina RX canned - and then feed him Natural Balance original dry?? OR maybe reverse the brands dry/wet.

He does drink a lot of water on his own - which i know is also important.

THANKS!! and happy holidays!!

Click to expand...

Look up wysong. They carry a food for crystals. Its natural and most of their foods have good ingredients. I know you need a prescription from your vet for struvatrol, their dog food for struvite crystals but im not sure about their cat food. I used their supplement called biotic ph- which i added to my dogs raw food and the crystals have not returned (knock on wood). However i would still talk to your vet about this food. Just to keephim/her updated and keep an eye on your cat.

i think that's worth looking into, I was just thinking, why can't they bottle the elements in the RX food that help dissolve crystals and sell that separately? I have been feeding Royal Canin SO and while it does work (and is a 'premium' brand) it's full of corn and by-products (even the canned). Not to mention the price is sky-high and it's super high in fat. It's tough dealing with one cat on it when you have others as well.

I looked up Wysong and it really has some good reviews -especially the uretic formula. There are a few stores in my area that carry it too. It is a bit expensive... but if both my cats can eat it (people have stated they feed it to all their cats despite urine issues)

Im easily swayed obviously.... but Im definitely looking into this brand.

THANKS!!!

I can only repeat what Sharky, Carolina and others have said - and my boy had struvite crystals - this is the type of question that must be discussed with a vet. The prescription foods are part of the clinical treatment for the condition - and no matter what the ingredients look like to a lay person, they are there for a medical reason.

As I understand it, it's not a question of certain 'parts' of the prescription being key - it's the entire composition of the food that is necessary as part of the treatment.

That said, my guy is on Hills C/D wet and dry - and so is my girl, who did not have any urinary issues. I asked three separate vets and they all said it's fine to feed her the same food. Yes, that did make the feeding routine easier. Cost wise - really not that much different than the mid-premium food I had been feeding, and of course, saves me hundreds in vet bills, and my cat's life.

But, I cannot emphasize too strongly - this is not the sort of issue that can be dealt with without consultation with a vet.

I just want to reinforce what others have said. My Muddy has chronic bladder issues that have caused him to block and land in the ER twice. The second time was my fault. Like yourself, I was questioning the value of RX food and started to wean him off of it, knowing that Muddy ate primarily wet food and drank lots of water. One day a friend of mine was killed in a car accident and I was gone the entire day helping out his family. I was stressed, and when I got home at 1AM that night, I found out that my stress caused him to stress. He blocked and I had to rush him to the ER, where he stayed in intensive care for 2 days. A simple change of routine for that day was enough to push him over the edge.

Muddy hates Royal Canin and Science Diet RX brands, but absolutely loves the Purina UR. So that's what he gets. Day in and day out. It keeps him from blocking and will extend his life rather than cutting it short.

Another way to look at the price of RX food. What will it cost you in medical treatments if they block versus the extra cost of the food? Muddy's ER visits would have paid for a lifetime of RX food for him.

Well now my paranoia is taking over. All these great reviews seemed to be copied from one site to another- literally - I found the same exact quotes.

Not to mention the constant perfect spelling. I wouldnt think twice about this if it werent for hte fact that we now know people get paid to leave great reviews on sites.

so... I will also talk to my vet and see if they have anything to say.

Its also good to know my other cat can eat the same no matter what.

thanks....

I am not paid by anyone to leave great, or bad, reviews - nor do I know any of the other posters on this site in real life. And, lots of people actually do know how to spell

The thing is, if you've dealt with this situation, and if you also weigh the authoritativeness of various internet sites, a lot of people will come to the same conclusion - vets have medical training, prescription food is clinically tested, and physical exams and lab tests will tell you if a given food works for your cat. And, I tend to trust sites such as Cornell or Tufts over some of the more, ah, enthusiastic layman sites, especially those which seem to think that vets like to prescribe prescription food just for fun and profit.

Feline nutrition really is an evolving field. But only your vet has examined your cat - no one on the internet has.

My Jeta is prone to struvite crystals and, for several reasons, I didn't want to feed the RX foods. When I was considering trying to go with a non RX processed food I realized that even if I found something that worked I'd need to keep an eagle eye on the ingredients to make sure it didn't change and so might not work anymore.

I read a study where it was determined that a struvite crystals problem recurs on average 18 months after the first time. That means if you went with something non RX you would need to be hyper vigilent for at least that long to be sure the problem was under control.

If I were going to try to find something other than an RX food I'd want to have the cats urine tested frequently at first (once every month or two) then maybe not so frequently for a couple of years to make sure the crystals weren't accumulating.

Jeta's problem was what pushed me to feeding raw. Fortunately I had already done a lot of reading on raw feeding. It isn't something you can just jump into. Jeta has been crystal free for 3+ years on raw.

In your situation I suspect you and your cat are better off sticking with the RX foods.

Just a personal experience.

My 3 Original cats are all on Royal Canin Urinary SO - mostly the canned form - using the dry as a bedtime treat.

A note about Natural Balance Ultra, Dry - the Original Formula, this is no scientific finding, just a GUT reaction -

I thought I found a quality food, and the cats were loving it - most of the time. I also was feeding them Trader Joes canned food, along with the NB dry.

After a few years of NB, our older cat started having issues with crystals - and the vet put him on the Royal Canin Urinary SO prescription diet - it's been three years (+/-), and he is doing fine - his coat is beautiful (he's all black), he's active - and generally seems in good health.

Then, August of this year, our female (Phoebe) started having bladder infections. I had to take her to the emergency vet to get help for her. The antibiotics did the trick, but just 3 months later - she was back to displaying the same symptoms. I immediately took her to her regular vet - who wisely did a sonogram. The sonogram showed one stone. We scheduled her for surgery - and the vet found another smaller stone too.

Phoebe is now on the RC Urinary SO - canned.

Her brother, Simon, has never displayed a problem, but he now is on the same diet as the other two. Perhaps his chemistry is different, who knows, but - it's now just easier to feed all three the same diet.

I won't feed any of my other cats on Natural Balance Ultra (dry) any longer - don't know if the food had anything to do with it - but, I highly suspect it did.

Since KiKi's had his first issue, I've stayed away from anything with fish, especially tuna.

I really don't like the ingredients in the RC, but - I can't complain about the results - they are on the canned food 99% of the time.

That's my experience, and, I may be completely wrong - but thought I'd share what's happened and my suspicions about the Natural Balance Ultra dry food - because you mentioned it in your first post.

g

P.S. I just read your post - #15 - I really don't understand if I read what you wrote correctly - hmm?

BTW, I am not a professional reviewer, and am very familiar with most of those that have taken their time to respond to your original post - and I don't believe them to be Professional Reviewers, either.

I'm curious as to what text was taken from other websites, - oh, and there is a thing called Spell Check to help keep mis-spellings to a minimum.

Originally Posted by jimmylegs

i think that's worth looking into, I was just thinking, why can't they bottle the elements in the RX food that help dissolve crystals and sell that separately? I have been feeding Royal Canin SO and while it does work (and is a 'premium' brand) it's full of corn and by-products (even the canned). Not to mention the price is sky-high and it's super high in fat. It's tough dealing with one cat on it when you have others as well.

Click to expand...

The Biotic ph- i mentioned is made by wysong and is basically a supplement containing tje ingredients to help lower the ph of the urine. The biotic ph+ increases the ph of the urine which is needed in case of calcium oxylate crystals. You can get the biotic ph- or utetic at a pet store you can check on the wysong website.

yeah the Natural Balance is already bagged up ready to be returned. But I really appreciate you telling me your story.

I feel at this point ignoring any of these posts would not only be rude on my part for bothering to ask the question in the first place but make me a careless, selfish "parent". The only good point to those cats/owners who have suffered with crystals is that others can now learn and save their cats from the same.

So Tigger will stay on Purina rx and Max will begin... today. (slowly I know) I mean that has to be better food than country acres - right?
Its $25 for 40 lbs!!!



THANKS SO MUCH EVERYONE!!! and again - HAVE A WONDERFUL HOLIDAY!!!!