Canned Food for 7yo Male w/ Struvite Crystals - Ontario

Can anyone recommend some good canned brands for managing struvite crystals?

I have him on the "Go Daily Defense" which is a stew, but it's actually high in carbs, and I read that high carb diets will make the struvite crystal problem worse.

The vet prescribed "royal canin urinary SO" made for struvite crystals, but it's low quality and he will only eat the dry food, not canned (which is also low quality).

Ideally the canned food would be as low in carbs as possible, and state its biologically appropriate.

Any suggestions? Is the vet brand still better since it is made specifically for struvite crystals?

Thanks

Petcurean Go: http://www.petcurean.com/product/go-daily-defence-chicken-stew-recipe-for-cats/

edit: What i might do is actually try mixing something like the weruva chicken canned food with royal canin SO canned food and see if he will eat it.

It seems like in cases with struvite and potential blockages, it's more important to go with the special formulated low-quality foods than the regular high-quality ones.

Just to note, he's been eating Wellness/Go his whole life, and i've now seen way too many people mentioning wellness and struvite crystals to ever put him back on that again.

In the case of struvite crystals, the prescription food does seem to really work.  However, as you said, it also has a lot of what many of us classify as "junk" in it.  BUT, since it actually works, you have to weight the options.  Other people have switched to a different food with success, and monitored their PH just to make sure it was ok.   You want a food that is lower in Magnesium, Phosphorus and Ash.  Honestly, i've never heard that lower carbs will help prevent crystals, specifically.

We have many, many threads on this topic...here is just one:  http://www.thecatsite.com/t/302645/food-help-please

Apparently it is because metabolization of carbohydrates creates an alkaline environment in their urine, which promotes formation of these crystals.

Starchy things like potatoes are especially bad because they are so much more dense in carbs.

I switched him off the Go "stew" version which has gravy and carrots, peas, and potatoes, which even though they promote as "grain free" is obviously not carbohydrate free, and causes the same issues that grains do.

I have him eating the weruva paw lickin chicken cans now, which is pretty much shredded chicken breast in a light gravy. It's only 3% carbs and very low in ash and magnesium/phosphorous, it's about the best i can buy here (besides the tikicat stuff i guess).

I ordered some ph strips too, just need to figure out how to measure his urine with it lol.

I believe there is a pH litter you can get, I'm not sure how expensive it is though. They do sell it at PetValu, perhaps on amazon.ca as well. 

As for the food, I would think canned would be better as it has higher water content. But I had a cat with oxalate crystals and he was on special food for many years, even on that he had issues that recurred. I wish I had known more then. 

Good luck with your kitty.

Just stick the urine test strip under your cat as he's peeing. Or, stick a long handle ladel under to catch the pee and then dip the test strip into that. Or buy a new litter box, fill it with clean aqurium pebbles (not the typical fine gravel one, something more like this), after your cat has peed, tip the box to pool up the urine into a corner (remvoe gravel if needed) and dip the test strip into the pee puddle.

There may be alternatives to the SO food: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/254489/alternatives-to-expensive-urinary-so-food

I have a cat with struvite tendency. The kibble provided by the vet made him sick and led to other serious problems. So I've been feeding him Purina One for Urinary Tract kibble, which he doesn't much like, for one meal a day. I may switch to all wet. I'm feeding Sheba and Friskies, and I mix them both with quite a bit of water. The water is the most important part because it will dilute the urine so that crystals can't form.

Some people say their cats won't eat it with the added water, but I mix it up well, like a slurry, and Mingo laps it right down. You could try this to start with one of the Gravy Lovers from Fancy Feast. Not the best nutritionally, but you don't want your cat to starve. 

I would feed the highest quality wet food you can afford. Great brands are Feline Naturals, Ziwipeak, Tikicat, Weruva, to name a few. You could also look at freeze dried raw foods like Primal or Stella and Chewy. You are correct that high carbs can trigger urinary issues. You may also want to look at giving him a daily supplement of either slippery elm or d-mannose to help promote urinary health. 

Additionally, you might want to look at feeding homecooked or raw. Something like EZcomplete might be a good option for you.

http://www.littlebigcat.com/health/slippery-elm/

http://www.littlebigcat.com/health/urinary-tract-disorders-in-cats/