Crystals in urine

kirk

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We took one of our cats to the vet today because he was peeing often and had blood in his urine. The vet said he had some crystals in his urine. He put him on antibiotics and special food. He says he will be on the food longterm. We had a cat with crystals before and he was only on special food for I believe a month. Are they usually on urinary food for the rest of their lives? 
 

detmut

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We took one of our cats to the vet today because he was peeing often and had blood in his urine. The vet said he had some crystals in his urine. He put him on antibiotics and special food. He says he will be on the food longterm. We had a cat with crystals before and he was only on special food for I believe a month. Are they usually on urinary food for the rest of their lives? 
if the prescription urinary food is too costly, there are otc urinary foods: friskies special diet and purina pro plan. 
 

Columbine

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It depends on the urinary food. Hills do two types of urinary diet - a high strength one to be used strictly sort term to break down the crystals and and maintenance version to prevent recurrence of the problem (hope I've got that right).

Opinion is divided on whether a uti cat needs prescription diet for life. Most vets say yes,but a lot of people here have had success with various forms of raw feeding. http://www.catinfo.org has a big section on uti and discusses pros and cons of the various options.

I have a very finicky uti cat. I don't like feeding kibble,but he does if that makes sense. He's successfully maintained on approx 1/4 royal canin s/o kibble and 3/4 various non prescription wet foods. Of course, every cat is different.
 
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kirk

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It''s actually cheaper than the food he was eating before. I just don't like the ingredients.
 

Columbine

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I'm with you on the ingredients! My old boy is my parents' cat (I live with them for various reasons). He's a died in the wool junk food cat :lol3: My new girl is getting grain free, high meat etc etc. I may introduce some pre made raw too, but am a bit wary after my dogs took to it badly.
 

puck

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Some cats prone to crystals or urethral obstruction maintain best on the Royal Canin SO diet for the remainder of their lives; some owners find a balance of feeding OTC diets with high moisture content, with low magnesium/phosphorus and moderate to low calcium to limit the accumulation of crystals or "sludge" in their cats' urine. Canned food alone is enough of a change for some crystals cases. If a cat obstructs on canned or homemade diet, the Rx diet is reinstituted again. If they obstruct again, on Rx diet, PU surgery is recommended, to prevent the inflammation and obstruction in the future.

Royal Canin SO has the best long term benefit as we've (I and network of vet cohorts) clinically experienced, compared to Hill's c/d, or Purina UR. Hill's s/d is used short term as it's labeled for struvite dissolution; it's high fat, so obesity is a common side effect that we avoid by using other diet options amongst my network.

The cat's diet is the best management tool to limit the risk of urethral obstructions. Some deal with repeat obstructions, or a single lethal obstruction, that leads to a large bladder that ruptures or septicemia. The "ingredients" haven't led to any of them having a higher rate of dental disease, skin issues, parasitism, GI distress, or other indication of poor health. It has prolonged and benefited their health, overall.

Crystals love a highly concentrated environment, so the moisture content helping to dilute the urine some, but not to the over-diluted point of allowing bacterial growth. Balance. While making changes, it may behoove you to have your cat's urine specific gravity and pH spot checked in mornings and evenings various days to see if you are keeping him from being so concentrated or alkaline (high pH). These are fast, inexpensive in-clinic lab tests that need only a few drops of urine. Some dietary changes to reduce pH can cause the ideal environment for another crystal type, calcium oxalate, so ensuring that balanced pH as close to 7 (neutral) as possible is important.

Hope your boy's crystals dissolve without issue. Urinary problems are no fun at all, for us or our felines!
 

rlavach

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Yes and no. It really will depend on what will work best for your cat. Some cats eat hills c/d wet formula twice a day for the rest of their life & live long & fulfilling lives. For some other cats, experimenting with other high protein, low carb foods is equally as effective. There is really no 1 right answer that works 100% of the time. I wish there was!!

As others have mentioned, increasing water intake is key. So feeding all wet would do that & adding extra water into each meal would also help. The last vet I saw explained that she suggested he stayed on Hills c/d wet, but that really any wet is better than even hills c/d dry. The moisture is most important. So now my boy eats hills c/d stew formula & also a combo of Nature's Variety Pride, Cats in the Kitchen & Tiki Cat. Only non-fish flavors since some say the minerals in fish can aggravate the symptoms. You'll have to find the right combo that works best for him. Although the food you had him on seems like it was more expensive & then theoretically of higher quality, it obviously is probably not the best choice. 
 
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