Diet and urine PH

I am new here My kitty pees everywhere and I took him to the vet and found out he has oxalate crystals

I did the lifemate ph litter and it shows he is on the lowest end of the scale (too acidic) How do I raise it?

I read somewhere that grain based foods are more basic than non grain foods... Can I put a bit of boiled rice in his food until he is where he needs to be?

Does he eat dry or wet food currently?

He is on iams dry food for kittens. I went to the pet food store and got him a can of wet food last night but he won't touch it. I know he like royal canin wet food but it's Sunday and everything is closed

Switching him to a fully wet food diet would be a great first step. I wouldn't suggest foods with grains, though. Cats are obligate carnivores and don't utilize them well.

I agree. Since his urine is so acidic though I feel like I should be doing more than just wet food for the time being. Is there anything else I can do to raise it more?

I think that there may be supplements of some sort that can be given to change the urine PH. I don't have experience with that, so hopefully other folks will chime in.

I wonder if it's important that I have a specific food for him or just that generally wet food will do?

When my cat got recurring crystals and blockages, we had him on c/d dry and wet. Over time we put him on just c/d wet. Then we started adding other wet foods to his diet, mostly grain free. He hasn't eaten c/d for years now and has not had any issues.
I think you can keep urinary tract issues at bay with an all wet diet, but it is important to get his PH levels right first, so you may be looking at a year or so on the prescription foods.

Whats c/d? and how do I raise his PH

c/d is Hill's c/d prescription veterinary food. It's designed specifically for cats with urinary tract issues. The other most common prescription food for these issues is Royal Canin Urinary S/O. Most vets use one or the other for situations like this.


Do talk to your vet before trying either of these foods though - oxalate crystals need a different approach to struvite crystals (the most common type). It's important not to confuse the two.

Hydration really is key for all urinary tract issues though. This article has great ideas to help that[article="30756"][/article]

Thanks a bunch, will be stopping in to see them today

It might be a good idea to talk tothe vet about the cat's drinking water. It is amazing what a difference it can make giving them a mineral water. But bottled waters vary enormously in the amount of minerals they contain. My cat had calcium stones in his bladder that did not go away until I put him on low calcium water and I found that the precentage of calcium in different waters varied from 6mm per litre to 76mm! Some waters are acidic, some alkaline. So finding the right water for your cat could help a lot.

That actually makes a lot of sense since the poor kitty never had health problems before. I got him from pretty far away so the water is not the same

From what I am reading distilled water might be the way to go as it apparently draws the minerals out of your body

I would be careful about that. I know that people are advised NOT to drink distilled water as it can have a bad effect. You want to have some minerals and other supplements that we get from most water, just not too much of the wrong ones. It is amazing the choice you can get from bottled waters. And even the water I buy for my cats has some calcium in it, I just keep it as low as I can. They have all been fine for 5 years on it now. I started it for Bonaparte after his urinary crisis, but now I have all of them on it. We live in a very hard water area, so I am sure it is better. It is just a case of reading the labels, and getting the right one for you.