Living with crystals...

Hey everyone. I was just reading through the forum and have a few questions for people. I just had Rambo into the vet after he seemed to be having trouble urinating. The vet believes he has crystals, but there wasn't anything in his bladder to test. She gave him some fluids and I've got some Royal Canin Urinary wet food for him.

I guess my questions are more about living with these crystals and what are the signs I should be keeping an eye on him for. Will he always need the Urinary Wet Food? Are there other foods, supplements etc that you guys would recommend to help him out with this. How have you dealt with this in your day to day (when you go away?) and when you have other cats without these problems (i.e. do you feed them both on the urinary diet?).

Any other hints or suggestions on how to help out my baby would be really appreciated. The poor guy isn't feeling too well right now.

Thanks everyone!

Hi! My cats have a bladder stone. I use c/d prescription food.
If you go back a few pages and do a search, you'll find stuff on crystals.

I am praying for sweet Rambo.

Thank you for your prayers. I was reading those threads...i guess I was just looking for some thoughts to ease my worries.

You'll definitely find lots about this on here, especially lately. Seems like everyone's talking about kitties with crystals. But some basic answers to some of your questions. Yes, you will always need to pay attention to his food, because high ash and high magnesium in many cat foods can contribute to the formation of crystals, but that is not to say that he necessarily always need a prescription food. I would recommend, though, that when he is feeling a little better and can hold more urine in his bladder without running to pee right away, you take him back to the vet so they can get a sample--this way they can know for sure whether he has crystals and what kind they are. Then you can discuss with your vet whether a high quality non-prescription food might be just as good for him. Also, feeding him more wet food than dry will keep him better hydrated and cut down on the risk of forming stones. Doublecheck with your vet whether the diet is okay for all of your cats, but most likely it will be--we've got both of ours on the same special food, even though only one needs it.

You can actually get some other tips on how to care for a kitty with crystals from the thread on this board started by a member who was deciding whether to adopt a kitty with struvite crystals (she did, btw).

Good luck to you and keep us posted on how Rambo is feeling!

Thanks mamacat. I am taking Rambo back to the vet on monday in the hopes that by then with a few days of diet they'll be able to get a urine sample from him. It's exactly like you say...there are a lot of people that seem to be having this crystal issue. The 4 cats to be seen before Rambo today were all their for urinary issues. Rambo is on a high quality (50% wet/50% dry) and still got the crystals. The vet is recommending that he stay off of dry (maybe forever), and he might always need the perscription diet...but hopefully we can monitor his condition and go from there. He's not allowed any treats or dry food so i have to try and keep him out of the foster room.

I guess i was looking to see how people had managed this condition over the long term, and how it might progress over time.