Grain Free Wet OK for a Cat who has had Struvite Crystals?

Hi All -

My Question:

I've read that grain free foods may be bad for male cats who have had struvite crystals.  I did some reading about this (including multiple threads on this site) and the consensus seems to be that grain free wet food is fine (which is all I'm interested in).

Is my interpretation correct - should a (basically) all wet grain free diet be safe for a male cat who has had struvite crystals?

Background:

So I had an episode at new years where one of my cats got sturvite crystals for the first time and took just over a month to really recover.  He's been doing well now for about 4 weeks.  

We got him back to health on Royal Canin SO (dry and wet) but he really didn't recover fully until we shifted to an almost all wet diet.  

The problem is that my cats (especially the brother of the cat who got the crystals) seem to have some food sensitivity that causes constipation.  I can add some PEG 3350 to get their bowels moving which works OK but Dune (the one who never had crystals and is just along for the ride) has lost some weight and is just not as happy as he was before on this food.

Prior to the crystal episode, we have found a very specific balance of food where they were at a healthy weight and didn't have any digestive problems (50/50 (dry) Royal Canin digestive 38 and Natural Balance Ultra, plus some feedings of Natural Balance wet foods).  I suspect Dune has a sensitivity to some food ingredients so I'm trying to go grain free just to eliminate that as an issue.

Now I have them eating an almost all wet diet of Wellness Grain Free foods (they get a handful of RC SO dry right before I go to bed just to give them something to much on over the night, but we are talking like half a cup or less between the two cats).  They eat about a 6oz can each per day (2 cans total - maybe a little less as they don't clean the plate each time).  I'm trying out a few different flavours to see what they like.  They also really like the Natural Balance Venison and Green Pea Limited Ingredient Diet wet food so that is in the rotation as well.

I'll probably keep some SO around and use that for periods when they experience stress (like if we went out of town and had a sitter come by to look after them).  Fortunately they are fine with having different kinds of wet food.  They didn't like me taking away the dry food but that is behind us and, in fact, they seem to prefer having a few different flavours of wet to rotate between.

I pay enough attention to their litter habits now that I'd notice immediately if there was a problem.  My wife thinks I'm a little crazy

Well, there simply are NO guarantees that no matter what diet he's on that he won't get them again, but I would say that the key is to keep him as stress free as possible, get him to drink as  much as possible ( http://www.thecatsite.com/a/tips-to-increase-your-cat-s-water-intake), and , yes, if it were MY cat, I would feed a high quality low carb canned food, or raw  or homecooked food (NOT table scraps )

If it's a matter of them not eating the S/O or eating the canned, then definitely go with what they will eat, and keep a good eye out for signs of trouble, which you said you were. 

I agree with mrsgreenjeans. There are no guarantees that your cat won't get another UTI; all you can do is be proactive by, for example, feeding wet, reducing stress (play time, same routine day in day out), and sometimes anti-anxiety drugs or Feliway.
Ritz is prone to stress induced UTIs. I try not to worry too much, she'll pick up on it, too. And come home the same time every day and feed her. I fed raw, and kibble will never cross her lips. Now I do give her freeze dried treats, made of 100% meat. I buy the turkey breast flavor. Raw turkey breast has the most l-methonine in it; that is a natural acidifier and is in some of the Rx foods for UTIs (without the other stuff).
I also use a supplement, L-theanine, which is a relaxant, calming agent.

I absolutely know that there's no guarantee with this and I'm not expecting one. I just want to make sure I'm not doing anything to make it worse and that hopefully the choices I make are going to help as much as possible.

They will eat the SO but it gives them other digestive problems so it is really a case of trying to manage the risks.  Since I moved the whole herd over to wet things are all around better.  They have a water fountain, and get lots of love and attention.  Little stress.  

Unfortunately we do go away once in a while and Wesley (the one that had the UTI) doesn't like travel, but fortunately he loves the destination (as soon as he gets out of his carrier and sees where he is I think he's happier there than at home - a cabin in the woods with a fireplace he lounges in front of all day in a constant state of purr).

The UTI came on when we took them on a bit of whirlwind tour over Christmas and he was clearly very stressed out.  More so than he's been at any other time.  So now if we have to go anywhere other than the cabin where I know he's happy, we'll get a sitter to come by and take care of them in their own environment. 

It wouldn't be so complicated if his brother (particularly) didn't have such a sensitive stomach!  ...but so far so good with the all wet diet.  Sounds like short of going all raw (which I am looking into) my diet choices for them are about as good as I can get given the limitations.  

...looking into theanine now.  Honestly looks like something I could use!

Ritz said:

I also use a supplement, L-theanine, which is a relaxant, calming agent. 

Click to expand...

What dose are you using per cat?  Just one capsule of the dose you linked to?

I have 2 kitties who have issues with bladder infections and crystals.  I have kept them well controlled for 4 years with a canned food only diet, it is not always grain free but most of the time it is.  My one cat had an infection in December but she had a weakened immune system so that is what caused it.  I have a chihuahua who has battle struvite, oxolate and other crystals for years.  I switched her to grain free (raw) diet 3 years ago and she no longer has crystals.  Before that she was on grain free dry, and before that she was on Urinary SO........she still got crystals on both of those diets.  Every cat is different as to what causes crystals, but switching to a wet diet has made all the difference in the world for my 2 kitties.  Have you seen this website?  http://catinfo.org/?link=urinarytracthealth  It is a lifesaver for kitties with crystals and bladder problems.