Do cats with crystals have to stay on prescription cat food for life?

Hi, what's been bothering me is, do cats that once had urinary crystals have to stay on prescription cat food for life?
I have a cat,and he was diagnosed with urinary crystal a few months ago, and the vet gave him some medicine that was able to dissolve the stone, and he was on special diet Royal canin urinary so, everything went great and for 2 months later, he was clear of stones. The vet told us to stay on special diet, and he prescribed a new one that was royal canin kidney cat food, and he told us to eat this for a while and then switch to urinary so, and this month, after an ultrasound, it is found that he has a little bit of stone again. I highly doubt that is was because of the kidney cat food, I did some research, and it's said that if you don't have kidney problems, don't eat it. Anyway, we switched him back to urinary so,and I am not going back to see that vet again.
I'm just worried that staying on urinary so for life isn't a good choice for their health. My cat drank plenty of water since he was diagnosed with urinary crystal,probably triple the amount he used to drink. I'm thinking that this might be one of the reason that his stones dissolved.
So does any cat parent have the same issue as me? I really don't like giving him prescription cat food fir the rest if his life. He's only 2. And some saying on the internet is that prescription cat food is not good for a long run. So will grain free canned food help? Do you have in mind any particular brand? I don't really have that much of time cooking for cats ( I barely even cook for myself ). My previous vet said the answer should be staying on prescription food for the rest of his life. What do you think?
Thanks for watching my very very long post. And I'm really grateful you took your time to help me. Thank you very much.

You want to maximize the fluids (moisture) in your cat's diet.

Any canned food that your cat enjoys, will do fine.  Including adding extra warm water to your cat's meal, if he/she will tolerate soupy slurry.

You don't need to spend top dollar on Royal Canin, Science Diet etc. canned foods.

You also don't need to spend $ on so-called premium canned foods such as BFF or Tiki Cat. There's no need in my opinion. Unless of course, by-products and/or carrageenan are something you're adamantly trying to avoid.  Even Royal Canin has by-product protein in their canned/dry foods.

Your cat drinks plenty of water, I'd say he's on the right path.

I agree with Marc999 I've come to the conclusion that's it's not the food you feed but how much moisture is in the food. I am forced to feed some dry because of my schedule but I put down more water bowls in my cats usual paths around the house. My cat is 3 months post blockage and I still have him on prescription dry. He has his usual wet food now but I did have him on prescription wet. If you can convert to all wet food I think you have tackled half the battle.

Thanks. I'm glad that I got one thing right at least, he's drinking plenty of water, and I'll take your advice and add more canned food to his diet.

I'm happy to hear that your cat is doing great. It almost scared the hell out of me when mine got sick. I read a lot of articles online, I don't know whether they are all true, but I do think drinking more water is why he dissolved his stones so quickly. I'm gonna switch to a more moistly diet. I hope your cat doesn't have urinary troubles in the future.

yoyochi046 said:

Hi, what's been bothering me is, do cats that once had urinary crystals have to stay on prescription cat food for life?
 

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Short answer: no For a more in depth answer to your question, see http://catinfo.org/?link=urinarytracthealth

My previous cat had a urinary issue when he was about 6 and was put on C/D dry food for about a year or so. Then I put him on regular dry food and he had no urinary issues.

You just need to get more water into the cat to keep the urinary system healthy. Urine that is too diluted because of a lack of water in the body is prone to crystals and body wastes clumping up which causes blockages and infections and inflammation. The easiest way to get waer into the cat is by  feeding canned food. Some people add extra water to the canned food as well. Any brand of canned food will do, anything from Friskies and Fancy Feast to the high end premium brands. Whatever your cat likes to eat and you can afford is good Grain-free is ideal. Some of the regular Fancy Feast are grain-free. It's not mentioned on the label so you have to read the ingredient list.

Thank you soooo much!!! He still has some urinary so left, about half year supply. I'll try to add canned food now to get him to drink more.

It all depends on what type of crystal it is.There are certain nutrients that contribute to the development of crystals like phosphorous, magnesium, etc. I would discuss this with your veterinarian. I know that isn't popular advice here but your vet would know how crystals develop.  It isn't simply just adding moisture.  Sure it is a part of it but all cats should eat canned food in my opinion.   If you don't want to risk another urinary obstruction, talk to your vet.  Ask your vet what type of crystal your cat had and see how it should be treated. I know the diets are expensive and the ingredients are the greatest but see if your vet knows of other foods you can feed.  And don't feed fish diets as they are not a natural food for cats.

From my understanding, Royal Canin SO works by adding salt to the diet (among other things), making the cat more thirsty. So if the water drinking has increased since eating the SO, it will likely also go away if stopped. It goes with the theory that diluting the urine is key. Even if crystals form, they'll be flushed out with the larger volume of urine. 

This is one of those questions that really doesn't have a good answer. You'll find dozens of answers from everyone here & from all different vets and vet nutritionists. What most seem to agree on is the wet food only with added water mixed in, as already mentioned. For my baby, I give him Hills C/D stew wet formula with water mixed in about 50% of the time & then the rest is with higher protein, grain free wet (also extra water mixed in). Its been working well for him. We all have to find the right balance for our kitties. 

I thought the prescription diets worked by making the urine more acidic? So those foods, crap though they are, are guaranteed to make the digestive system more acidic and prevent the formation of crystals.

Our vet also emphasizes the importance of adding water. She's not worried that we no longer buy the c/d food for our cat Pushy who had crystals, but she knows we feed him 95% wet and always add water to it.

yeah, I think you're right, this type of discussions should be made with a vet, I just want to know more about how all you guys think, and then discuss the possibilities with the vet, as soon as I find a new one.

yeah, I'm kind of worried those prescription foods aren't good enough for the cats. One thing that everyone here seems to agree is the more water the merrier! I'll let him stay on the prescription food for a little bit more while I add some more canned food until he eats them. It's wierd that cats don't like canned food, I have 2 cats, one won't even go near the canned food, it's so frustrating getting them to eat it.

I totally understand what you're going through in trying to transition a dry food cat to eating wet food. Many of them get addicted to the crunchiness & most manufacturers spray the kibble with stuff that makes them want it even more. This website has a wealth of info (catinfo.org). This link is specifically about transitioning from dry to wet. Hope it helps!

http://www.catinfo.org/docs/TipsForTransitioning1-14-11.pdf

Urinary prescription diets so add salt so that the kitty drinks more. They also strive for a certain urinary pH and lower the amounts of phosphorus and magnesium in the diet. Phosphorus is in meat, though, so they achieve less phosphorus by lowering the amount of meat.

Many cats do not need the prescription diet and can simply eat wet food. Some cats do have urinary problems that can't be solved through normal means, though, and need the prescription diet.

If you want to try a wet food diet, you can test the urine pH with urinary test strips. They are available at Amazon or in the aquarium section of the pet store. You have to get a mid-stream sample, though. And I would still get the urine tested at the vet's office once in a while.

Mid-stream sample? Woo, that would be a challenge wouldn't it? Would a cat let you whip a PH strip under his/her privates?

Marc999 said:

 
Mid-stream sample? Woo, that would be a challenge wouldn't it? Would a cat let you whip a PH strip under his/her privates?

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Some cats couldn't care less what you do to them while they're in the litter box. My Aby is one. Other cats need their privacy and won't "go" if you're nearby. You could stick a long handled soup ladle under the tail to catch a urine sample. There are other ways to get a urine sample without litter contamination.

Yes Urinary SO and c/d both have added salt but the other nutrients are also in certain proportions so as not to contribute to crystal formation. It creates the correct urine ph. Yes with some cats you can feed canned and more wet food but not all cats. I have seen repeated blockages on cats because the owner fed regular wet foods. Prescription foods have their place and have been effective in managing many things like urinary, gastrointestinal, hypothyroidsim etc. The companies, regardless of the ingredients, ensure that the nutrients are optimal for cats. However, for certain conditions such as urinary crystals and kidney failure for example, certain nutrients need to be reduced. But they do make sure the diets will nourish your cat. I am not saying they are the only diets out there but they have a purpose. Check out Rayne Clinical Nutrition. They have a urinary diet that is based on natural ingredients.

I have a couple of thoughts on this topic.

One, if your cat blocked, then I think the formation of crystals is a more serious problem. You might need to consider a specially-formulated urinary food. Or, if you decide not to feed this type of food, you must be vigilant about monitoring your cat and its litter box habit to make sure there is not another block.

Second, switching to wet food does not guarantee that crystals will not form. There could be something in the food that is causing crystal formation. I mention this because my cat never had crystals when he was on dry food, but he developed crystals when we switched him to canned food. Once I switched the canned brand, the crystals went away.

I am on a prescription diet for my cat. He's almost finished it actually. He had an inflamed bladder. I now put him on a wet food only diet. I even add water to his wet food all the time. My concern is after the prescription diet is done I bought some Purina Pro Plan Focus urinary tract formula which was better for my wallet. I'm wondering if this is just as good as prescription diets? I'm quite worried about it. Cuz I don't want my kitty to get sick again. Sadly I can't afford the expensive stuff so make do with what I have financially wise