Struvite crystal update

[gussy14]

Hi everyone,

I posted a couple of months ago about helping my cat avoid struvite crystals through diet. It was highly suggested by the forum that I eliminate dry food, which I reluctantly started to do. (It grew on me.)

I just got back from the vet 2 1/2 months after I came to this forum for advice. The vet told me there were no crystals, no bacteria, and no blood. His exact quote was: "keep doing what you're doing." Yipee!

Just wanted to say thanks. My cat is healthy - I'm paying more for food, but it's certainly worth it to keep him out of the vet's office and off that icky prescription diet.

 

[smitten4kittens]

Yay! I'm a firm believer in a wet diet. So glad he's doing better.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Yay!  Great news!!!!!!

 

[minka]

 

[bluesea13]

That is fantastic news Gussy14! The entire experience is extremely stressful and scary and it's wonderful to hear your baby is doing well off the prescription diet. I was wondering if you could share the brand name of the wet food with the forum? My 5 year-old male is recovering from having a blockage removed a few weeks ago and is currently eating Royal Canin SO canned and dry. I'm not a fan of the ingredients and have been looking for a good wet food all over the web. I'm afraid to take him off the prescription, but would really like to try at some point soon.

 

[gussy14]

Hi Bluesea!

Welcome! I'm so glad your furbaby is doing better. What a scary experience to have a blockage removed!

Are you in the USA? If you are, here are the kinds that I use: Authority, Felidae, Triumph, Innova, and PetGuard. I would also do the Evo or most Merrick flavors, but my cats don't seem to like them as much. I try to keep my cost around $1 per cat per day, and I can do it with these (we have 2 cats and buy the big cans where we can). The brand matters to a point, but the most important thing is to feed a low-carb, all-canned (or raw) diet. Note that grain-free does not mean low-carb, a lot of companies put potatoes or peas in their food. Also, avoid fish with a struvite crystal cat. It's too high in phosphorus.

This is a great website where I got a lot of my information: http://catinfo.org. It's written by a vet, and there is a chart where you can figure out which foods are low carb. There are some lower-end brands that are actually decent.

I also have a water fountain, which I definitely recommend, as the key to avoiding crystals is WATER. I don't see my cats drink from it a lot, but their pee clumps are the size of hockey pucks (and sometimes softballs!), so I think they must be drinking something even though I don't see it.

Very important: Please do this in collaboration with your vet (as I did). I was fortunate that my guy did not have to have surgery, but I know when they do, you really have to have an abundance of caution. Since you're already feeding the SO canned, see what happens if you just take away the dry and increase the wet - my cats didn't really miss it. I know it's painful to just stop it since it's pricey, but my local Humane Society was thrilled to get a (partially used) bag of SO.

Please keep us posted and let us know how it goes!