What to feed cat with crystals?

[lunabell87]

Found out today about my cat (chi) has crystals, a lot of crystals. No stones in his bladder or kidneys. The vet wants to put him on a perscription diet but I'm concerned about the grains and by-products. He said we can feed any wet food but the vet kind helps desolve crystals.

He has only eaten grain free dry food with no by products. Should I feed the vet food for now due to him having a lot of crystals and wait for them to clear up? Or should I try another wet food? Read alot of bad reviews for perscription foods which worry me too.

 

[LTS3]

Personally I'd put the cat right on a commercial canned food and return the prescription stuff to the vet. You can read this for more info about diet and urinary issues: http://catinfo.org/?link=urinarytracthealth

Dry food will just continue to cause urinary issues because of the lack of water in the food. Most cats don't get enough water from drinking out of a bowl to meet their needs so it's easiest to just feed food that has a high water content to keep the urinary system working optimally.

 

[pushylady]

I'm not a big fan of the prescription foods either, but when my cat had recurring crystals years ago, the only thing that really got him on track was the vet food - Hills c/d. Once we committed to having him on that, he had no more problems with crystals. We kept him on it for over a year, then started to introduce other wet foods. He now eats a variety of commercial canned (I try to keep it grain free because of his herpes). He's been fine for years now. The important thing IMO is to first dissolve those crystals and make sure he's well before introducing the better canned food you're more happy about feeding Chi.

 

[hellomisskitty]

I'm not a big fan of the prescription foods either, but when my cat had recurring crystals years ago, the only thing that really got him on track was the vet food - Hills c/d. Once we committed to having him on that, he had no more problems with crystals. We kept him on it for over a year, then started to introduce other wet foods. He now eats a variety of commercial canned (I try to keep it grain free because of his herpes). He's been fine for years now. The important thing IMO is to first dissolve those crystals and make sure he's well before introducing the better canned food you're more happy about feeding Chi.

I agree. This is the route I took when my girl developed crystals: kept her on the prescription canned for about 9 months to clear and stablize the emergent situation then transitioned to a high-protein, grain free canned diet.

 

[cordeliasmom]

I have a female cat that ended up blocking from a struvite stone. Before that I was strickly feeding canned food, natural balance and natures variety. As an LVT in an emergency hospital i had no problems putting her on royal canin s/o canned and dry. I see too many cats come in blocked after their owners took them off the prescription diet. It can be done, but the process needs to be slow and your vet needs to be involved so that you can test urine samples to make sure the crystals arent coming back. Unless you have $1-3000 laying around at all times for unblocking your cat. For reference my girl is now on a rotation of high protein canned food supplemented with dry prescription and has rechecks every 4-6 months with her vet for a urinalysis to monitor whether this is working. So far so good but if it comes down to it I won't risk her life again because i feel better feeding a certain food when another has been proven to work.

 

[missmimz]

I would feed 100% wet or raw food, no kibble. High quality ingredients with limited to no fillers, and add extra water fountains to encourage drinking. 

 

[lunabell87]

After reading pushylady and cordeliasmoms posts, I think I will go with the perscription wet food for now. He will be getting Royal Canin SO. Once he is in the clear, I will ask the vet about switching to another brand. He already said we can feed any brand of wet food we wanted, he just wanted to get rid of crystals asap since he has a lot.
My vet isn't against grain free type foods since he has recommended different brands before. I know my vet is worried because we lost 3 cats in a row, cancer, old age and heart disease in a young cat. Chi's brother is the one who died from heart disease and Chi has it too. So I'm sure my vet wants to make sure nothing else goes wrong.

 

[pushylady]

so sad you've lost so many pets recently. It sounds like you have a caring vet who is doing what he can to help.