Need basic info on urinary crystals

Hi All,

Have been battling urinary problems with my feralish  5-ish neutered male Nate.

I was just told he has urinary crystals. This is the first time I have had a cat with this problem so I don't know much about it. With this visit the vet flushed his bladder; gave him extra fluids; gave him pain medication and is sending him home with a prescription diet.

I want to know what to expect and look for. Nate is not an easy cat to work on. Based on what I know about the feral colony he grew up in, he was around people all his life but probably never really handled. He is fairly neurotic actually. But he has adapted to inside life far better then I ever expected. He has no desire to return outside.

The first time he went to the vets for urinary tract problems, they did not sedate him. They x-rayed him, gave him a shot of convenia (sp?) and pain meds and set him home. They said his bladder was small and he wasn't blocked.  They wanted me to get the urine sample. They did not get any blood work.  My understanding is the x-ray was a bit of a battle.  I wasn't really thinking things through in terms of his temperament. I did try to isolate  him in the bathroom, but he is quick and strong and he was able to get out. After his second escape I decided I was doing more damage by trying to catch him and isolate him. He was completely freaked. It took over a week for me to get him out of hiding.

So, what should I look for or do. Can I expect a reasonable recovery if I keep him on the diet? He current diet is decent as he eats what my cat with IBD eats.  It was suggested by a friend that I should crate him. Am I looking at a history of battling this. My concern is that it is hard to monitor what is going on with him. I basically see him twice a day, morning and evening.  I do keep him somewhat isolated in what we called 'the apartment' - master bedroom and spare bedroom with connecting bathroom.

Am I safe to think that this is at least exacerbated by stress? So, stress control will have to become a priority?

Any thoughts, experiences etc.?

Fuzzycat said:

 

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Hi

Stress control is helpful.  I don't understand the suggestion to crate him.  He needs a special diet, not the IBD food so feeding separately is important.  And water intake is important.  He needs a lot of water to help keep him flushed so this doesn't recur.  Consider a water fountain and other sources of water, and lots of wet food.

Also, cats develop crystals when their urine becomes too alkaline.  There is a litter (linked below) that changes color when this starts to happe, giving you a heads up.  You can also buy PH testing strips and test your cats urine directly fro time to time if you want to go that way.

http://cats.about.com/od/essentials/fr/Perfect-Litter-Alert-Specialty-Cat-Litter.htm

StephanQ,

Thank you so much for responding. I will look into the litter and the water fountain.

Question - what is the advantage of the water fountain over multiple water bowels well maintained?

I brought him back from the vets on Tuesday. I didn't see him any signs that he had peed all day Wednesday. When I called the vets she said he must be peeing somewhere outside the box. I have been told this before and it gets me very frustrated. I would know if he was peeing outside the box. He is confined to one room with tile floors. I would smell it. Last time I took the bedroom apart to check.I found nothing and added to his stress level. And.....as it turned out he was partially blocked.

This morning I did see him in the litter box. He was going a little, but not the huge puddle I was hoping for. He was not crying (in his case growling) and licking  himself or acting in pain, but the but the vet did give him a shot of pain killer.

The vet wants him on Science Diet C/D. My understanding is Science Diet is not the best option for most things, but I don't know enough about urinary crystals in cats to know where to look for a better diet.

I read an article on the website's data base and my understanding  is there is no way to prevent crystals.

I am concerned about his quality of life. If every time I take him to the vets it stresses him out so much that it only exacerbates his condition, then all I am doing really is abusing him.

I thought urinary crystals was relatively common problem!

What am I looking at realistically? Is this akin of kidney failure, something you can manage for a time but ultimately it will have to let them go?

My cat was recently hospitalized because of a bladder stones. She had a rare urethral blockage for female cat, this is more likely in male cats. 

There are two major types of crystals/stones in cats--struvite and calcium oxalate. Struvite crystals can be dissolved with food while calcium oxalate cannot.  Calcium oxalate stones have to be surgically removed (this is what my cat had). The proper diet can help to prevent stones/crystals from forming. I would highly recommend you get Nate on a 100% canned food diet. My cat is currently on Royal Canin Urinary SO (RX) canned. Canned food has a significantly higher water content in comparison to dry food. The key with crystals/stones/urinary tract issues is to increase their water intake so they in turn are having a larger urine output and flushing their bladder more frequently. This helps prevent stone formation and the RX food can help with urine ph which contributes to stones as well. Cats are not inclined to drink a lot of water, and get most of their water content from eating. A water fountain since the water is "flowing" can be more enticing for a cat to drink over a bowl of stagnant water. Urinary issues can definitely be exacerbated by stress, but by getting more fluid in his diet he will be better off. 

I would just make sure that he's peeing normally. Be aware of the size of his urine and how frequently he is going. If he's urinating very teeny tiny amounts like dime size or less (or nothing at all), straining, and taking frequent trips to the box frequently this sign there is a problem. The biggest concern you'll have is blockage which is a emergency and life threatening situation. Urinary issues can be tricky and frustrating, but a diet change can really make a huge difference in Nate's life. 

Fuzzycat said:

 
StephanQ,

Thank you so much for responding. I will look into the litter and the water fountain.

Question - what is the advantage of the water fountain over multiple water bowels well maintained?

I brought him back from the vets on Tuesday. I didn't see him any signs that he had peed all day Wednesday. When I called the vets she said he must be peeing somewhere outside the box. I have been told this before and it gets me very frustrated. I would know if he was peeing outside the box. He is confined to one room with tile floors. I would smell it. Last time I took the bedroom apart to check.I found nothing and added to his stress level. And.....as it turned out he was partially blocked.

This morning I did see him in the litter box. He was going a little, but not the huge puddle I was hoping for. He was not crying (in his case growling) and licking  himself or acting in pain, but the but the vet did give him a shot of pain killer.

The vet wants him on Science Diet C/D. My understanding is Science Diet is not the best option for most things, but I don't know enough about urinary crystals in cats to know where to look for a better diet.

I read an article on the website's data base and my understanding  is there is no way to prevent crystals.

I am concerned about his quality of life. If every time I take him to the vets it stresses him out so much that it only exacerbates his condition, then all I am doing really is abusing him.

I thought urinary crystals was relatively common problem!

What am I looking at realistically? Is this akin of kidney failure, something you can manage for a time but ultimately it will have to let them go?

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Fountains have an advantage for some cats in that some/many cats are attracted to gently running water.  If your cat is one of those a fountain can help.  A lot of people here really like this fountain: http://www.thecatsite.com/products/pioneer-fountain-big-max-stainless-steel

It sounds like is is becoming blocked again.  My shelter prefers Royal Canin S/O like the poster above.  This is usually a manageable condition, but it often takes a little time to get everything in balance. Your cat most likely has strubvite crystals, presumably that was confirmed by the vet.

Every cat is different and will display different symptoms of becoming blocked. My cat has been battling this since 1st of april this year and has had 5 procedures done and we're still 5 weeks out from hopefully closing the the door on this issue.

Some cats only have this issue once, others have it periodically for the rest of the their lives. The best thing you can do is change to an all wet diet if possible. What food did the vet tell you to feed? I feel my cat royal canin SO because my cat hated the Hills C/D.

My cat's issue was bought on by a dry diet with little water or wet food. At the time I didn't know it was dangerous for cats, particularly males to be on an all dry food diet, especially if they are not big water drinkers. I know it sounds contradictory to put a cat on a prescription dry diet but these foods are low in ash and magnesium which helps to lower the pH level of their urine. High pH can lead to stuvite formation. The food also encourages cats to drink more water too.

With the right management you can avoid kiney failure. This is often bought on by being so blocked that the urine has nowhere to go but back up into the kidneys and it forces the kidneys to fail.

Hi All,

Actually, I had him on a wet food diet before. He has always eaten what my cat with IBD eats. For awhile it was a raw food diet. Recently, it has been canned grain-free supplemented periodically with cooked chicken or cooked turkey. I usually feed Natures Variety limited ingredient foods, but occasionally I give them a little Wellness or Blue Diamond.  Now, he is on the Science Diet C/D as I said before. In the past I found that my cats ate Royal Canin foods better, but my vet gave me the brand they carry. I would have to get a prescription from my vet to buy the Royal Canin somewhere else. So far he is eating the C/D

As far as his blocking up again, I don't think he has unblocked yet. Or if he has he still in not peeing for some reason.  He was at the vets (for a second time) on Tuesday. The first time I took him in, they told me his bladder was small, so they doubted there was a real problem (they did not get a urine sample nor did they do blood work) . At that point when I saw him in the box he was either not peeing or peeing small amounts. I finally got him in again and made sure they were willing to sedate him so that they could work on him. At that point they said he was partially blocked.  They flushed his bladder and gave him IV fluids to encourage his peeing and pain medication and when I got him home he still did not pee. My big problem is that the vet did not believe me. This has been the case from the beginning. I keep being told he must be peeing somewhere else. I have taken the room part to make sure he wasn't. 

Am I creating new stress each time I take him into the vets, enough to cause him to not pee? Is holding it a stress reaction? Am I abusing this poor guy? He is over weight now, is that a factor?

Could the pain medication be causing him not to pee?

My vet said nothing about the type of crystal found in his bladder.

I have looked into switching vets, but to get a morning appointment with a vet I am not established with is at least a weeks wait, if not longer.

He did handle this last visit a little better than the first. The first visit they did an x-ray without sedating him and I was told it was a fight (which I could have predicted). But, he is still fairly freaked. He is coming out from his hiding holes mornings and evenings, but I can't call him out whenever I want like before. He is not responding to me. Now, I have to extra, extra careful not to move around when I do get him to come out.

Catching him again is going to be a problem. Maybe in another week, with work I will get him to be a little more trusting. But, it sounds like I don't have a week. This idea that I can simply walk 1111up to him and pick him up and throw into a crate isn't working. I feel like nobody is hearing me when I say I need to make my medical care of him count.

HI;

I don't know if they placed a urinary catheter or not but if they did it can cause cystitis. Stress adds to that. With cystitis you will see frequent visits to the box and small amounts of urine. I agree that these vet visits are stressing him. Do you know how to check his bladder to see if he is blocked or not? Pretty simple. Best if you go online and check a site like handicapped pets .com. There should be detailed instructions on how to express a cat's bladder. just do up to the expressing part, but don't express. So, if it is frequent visits to the box with small amounts of urine, I would not be as concerned as no urine at all. Feed only the prescription diet canned food if he will eat it Get a copy of his medical records and any lab work that was done such as a urinalysis. There are different types of crystals. You need to know the type he has. If he is on antibiotics finish them up if they are not bothering him, but I doubt they will help if a urine culture wasn't done and also because most of these cases don't have bacteria. What is the pain injection he is being given? Do they give you anything to take home? Then taking xrays on him without sedation is idiotic. Great way to make a frightened cat terrified.

Look, it sounds like you don't have allot of faith in this vet and I don't blame you. The first red flag to me besides the treatment of your cat, is the fact that they wanted you to bring in a urine sample. Stupid. Useless to have a sample brought in. Of course it will be bacteria laden by the time you get it there. The only urine sample should be obtained from a catheter if they are unblocking with anesthesia or through a cystocentisis while sedated.

If the pain medication is meticam, and why do I think it is, please consider another veterinarian for a second opinion. It doesn't sound like you are happy with this one.

Quiet Cat, thank you for your input,

Up to this point I have been mostly happy with this vet. It hurt that I spent $300.00 on the x-ray, antibiotics and pain medication with no real diagnostic information other than no kidney stones. Well, and then there was the conversation with the tech who kept telling me that Nate must be peeing outside the box and I was just missing it. I finally  got a little testy with her and pointed out that she was making a very dangerous assumption given that a blockage will kill a cat.

I even asked them if the problem was that he was more feral than not and difficult to work with.  I thought maybe he had actually managed to bite someone during the x-ray. They said no.

He doesn't come across as  feral when with me.   I took him into another vets to be neutered etc. when I first brought him inside (he had a nasty case of conjunctivitis and his over all condition had deteriorated so we figured it was time).   I warned them that he was feral, but they didn't quite believe me. He got loose and went tearing through the clinic.

You probably are right about the cystitis. They did catheterize him  on Tuesday when they flushed him so his bladder and tubing may be inflamed. He is eating. Not massive amounts, but still it is a positive. I did ask the vet what kind of crystal and she said it was Struvite (sp?). She said the new Science Diet C/D was formulated to break up existing crystals as well as block the formation of new ones.

I believe they gave him Buprenorphine for his pain medication. I do know with horses certain  sedatives etc. (like Acepromazine) can make them more fearful (it is thought to make them hallucinate). I was wondering if pain medication can do the same thing in cats. It seems that a feral might fight anything that makes them disorientated and that would add to their overall stress.

I will give it time. So long as he is eating. I did change his box out to a larger box, one that had been used by Rikki his former room buddy. I thought maybe that might help encourage him to go.

I will go to the site you recommended to learn about checking the bladder. It seems like a very useful thing to know in general, especially if you have male cats.