Urinary Struvite & Calcium Oxalate crystals found in my male cats urine....help, advice...please!!!!

So my 3 year old male cat was acting very strange yesterday, he was running in and out of the liter box and urinating very small amount's. My first thought was uh-oh UTI. So I got him to vet immediately and we did a urine analysis and yes he did have a UTI and it came back he has the struvite & calcium oxalate crystals in his urine. This is the first time anything like this has happened with him. He's never had a UTI, other than a few ear issues he's a healthy cat. I have always fed the CORE WELLNESS INDOOR GRAIN FREE kibble cat food previously, but the vet suggested I switch over to the Royal Canin Urinary SO food (dry kibble), which I did, and he likes it very much so. Now I have never had to deal with this before, and I am so paranoid he's going to get blocked, I've been sleeping in the cat room making sure he's urinating (yes I am loosing my mind over this, the cats are my kids), does anyone have any tips? And the other thing is I have 3 other cats, and I have always free fed, the bowl is always full of the core wellness, now I've had to take it up and trying to get everyone on a feeding schedule and I'm having to feed everyone separate and it's a slight nightmare and the furr babies are far from happy. We have a recheck in 2 weeks to see how he is coming along, and if the crystals are gone after he's done with this bag, is there another food I can just switch all my babies over to? My other cats are not sensitive to anything in particular but I have heard that once the crystals are gone switching over to Hills Prescription Diet c/d Urinary multicare is a great food to get them on and prevents crystals by keeping the ph level for the urine where it's supposed to be. Has anyone done this or used the c/d before? Would it be alright to put all my cats on this if no one has any problems with it? What helps more in everyone's opinion, dry food or wet food? I'm just a mess and so worried about my boy!! Any advice would be so helpful, as I said I have never had this go wrong before so I am a wreck! Thanks

My cat also had uti/struvite at age 3. He mainly had kibble at that time. I fed the wet c/d food for him until he was back to normal again. After that and using up the entire case of c/d food, I switched him to a better wet food and he hasn't had a blockage since. He's on Trader Joe's canned, Dave's canned and 25% commercial raw per day now. I'd transition away from dry food especially for male cats.

I'd try to get the canned prescription food instead to get your cat more hydrated. More water will dilute the urine and hopefully prevent stones from forming.

I've heard that Wellness can actually cause urinary problems in cats. There are several threads on the Food and Nutrition forum about what to feed cats with urinary problems: http://www.thecatsite.com/f/64/cat-nutrition

Canned food is best to keep the cat well bydrated, and those kidneys working well to flush out waste. Catinfo.org goes into more detail.

Hmmm..

You can't have Ca oxalate and struvite crystals at the same time. Do you know what the pH was?

It is not very likely for a 3 year old male to have a urinary tract infection.  Was there a culture done? And how was the urine collected?   Frequently kitty has cystitis w/o bacteria but vets, along with human MD's will give abx at ANY sign of urinary issues.    Without the culture it is hard to tell...

I would not feed ANY dry to a cat with urinary problems. Lots and lots of liquid is helpful.   Get some Tinkle Tonic.

See if you can figure out something that is stressing your boy.  Cystitis is very stress related...  Playing a lot can help reduce stress.

I went through this for several years. Off and on.  It ain't fun! My boy was stressed about an outside kitty.

Hopefully this is just an isolated episode for you.   Symptoms can come and go rapidly. After several days of no symptoms, and you think you are all good, and there it is again...    Treatment has to be kept up for a while to help heal the bladder so don't stop treatment just because symptoms went away...

We also did cold laser. It had an immediate and dramatic effect!  The size of the pee balls just about doubled after our first treatment!!

There is a great article on catinfo.org on urinary health.

Good Luck!

Furmummy said:

 
Hmmm..

You can't have Ca oxalate and struvite crystals at the same time. Do you know what the pH was?

It is not very likely for a 3 year old male to have a urinary tract infection.  Was there a culture done? And how was the urine collected?   Frequently kitty has cystitis w/o bacteria but vets, along with human MD's will give abx at ANY sign of urinary issues.    Without the culture it is hard to tell...

I would not feed ANY dry to a cat with urinary problems. Lots and lots of liquid is helpful.   Get some Tinkle Tonic.

See if you can figure out something that is stressing your boy.  Cystitis is very stress related...  Playing a lot can help reduce stress.

I went through this for several years. Off and on.  It ain't fun! My boy was stressed about an outside kitty.

Hopefully this is just an isolated episode for you.   Symptoms can come and go rapidly. After several days of no symptoms, and you think you are all good, and there it is again...    Treatment has to be kept up for a while to help heal the bladder so don't stop treatment just because symptoms went away...

We also did cold laser. It had an immediate and dramatic effect!  The size of the pee balls just about doubled after our first treatment!!

There is a great article on catinfo.org on urinary health.

Good Luck!

Click to expand...

Actually yes you can have both, I'm a vet assistant and work closely with a 40+ year practicing vet. Cannot recall the the ph level at the moment. Urine was collected at home as he was squatting in a liter free disinfected box with a urine sample cup (cleanly as possible, could not collect at vet's office too stressed). I stayed in the bathroom for 5+ hours w/ him and put the cup right underneath. It was rushed back to the vet within 5 mins ( I live very close). Urinalysis was done and it was discovered a severe UTI and both crystals. I have switched over to the dry S/O food and I am currently waiting for a shipment of wet to come in, everywhere is out!! He was put on strong antibiotic and we have a recheck in about a week at the end of a course of 2 weeks of antib's. He seems to be doing great, using the liter normally now, no more running in and out every 4 mins. This was our first bout with anything like this and I am praying it is the last. I use the Dr. Elsey's liter and I am OCD about scooping & cleaning but maybe there was some type of bacteria left over that caused a UTI and I missed it. But I appreciate the info very much as I am new to dealing with this in one of my own!

Calcium oxalate forms in acid urine and struvite -or triple phosphate- forms in alkaline urine. They need opposite conditions in order to precipitate.

Therefore, they will not be present together.

Using specialized food to reduce/eliminate Struvite crystals if the cat actually has Calcium Oxalate crystals could lead to not so good outcomes.

If I were you I'd check the pH a few times before going with an acidifying diet. Just to be sure... It could save you a lot of trouble down the road...

As a Medical Technologist working in a hospital lab for over 30 years, I always like to verify before taking an action that may or may not be the right one.

Personally, I'd want to be 100% SURE what crystals my cat has before proceeding, and pH readings will give you that information.

Best to you and your kitty. Urinary issues are NO fun!!