Best Food For Cat That Had Crystals

[WhiteWolf]

Three weeks ago I took my four year old male cat, Tiggy, to the ER for peeing blood. He stayed for about a day and a half. He had a bacterial infection and struvite crystals. We have seen our regular vet since then who is supportive of both home cooking and raw feeding. His last urine test showed no crystals but he still had an infection (this was two days after starting his second round of antibiotics).
He has been eating half his daily portion of food as the prescription diet and the other half is high quality canned food. Since he is clear of crystals now I will be switching the prescription out with Wysong Uretic.
I have two other cats. There will be no more dry food for kitties ever in my house but this is getting really expensive. The other two will eat raw but so far I haven't been able to get Tiggy to eat it. I will certainly keep trying. Their diet is mostly canned with a little raw and some rehydrated Stella & Chewy's. Tig is also getting a UT supplement daily. I have heard that Rad Cat is the best commercial raw food for cats that are prone to crystals so I want to try that as well.
My question is, how important is low ash? My vet seemed to think that high protein, low carb was more important. Is commercial raw ok for cats prone to crystals? I'm thinking about slightly cooking the chicken to see if he will eat that. Trying to find ways to lower costs but keep it healthy.
I am looking at canned foods that have high protein, low carb but they don't all have low ash. EVO and Wild Calling are more affordable for me. Would it be ok to add this in to their rotation? Wellness Core just changed their formula and the Turkey & Duck looks pretty good:

Turkey, Pork Liver, Turkey Broth, Duck, Cranberries, Guar Gum, Ground Flaxseed, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Taurine, Cassia Gum, Xanthan Gum, Dried Kelp, Chicory Root Extract, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Alfalfa Meal, Salt, Iron Proteinate, Zinc Proteinate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin E Supplement, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Sodium Selenite, Niacin, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin A Supplement, Biotin, Potassium Iodide, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Folic Acid.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Well...I've always heard you want to try to keep the ash and magnesium lower. But the most important thing is to get as much moisture in him as possible, and to reduce stress. I've also heard that Wellness Core is NOT that good for urinary issues with cats, but don't know about this formula change .

Here's a thread that might be helpful to you. In it, there are other threads which have all kinds of other foods listed Canned Food for 7yo Male w/ Struvite Crystals - Ontario

 

[orange&white]

You will notice that the uretic diet foods will contain DL-Methionine (or the natural version, D-Methionine) fairly high on the list of ingredients. This amino acid is a urine acidifier, and is very effective at dissolving struvite crystals/stones. You want to feed uretic foods only until the crystals have dissolved, then go back to a regular maintenance canned food (raw is great for correct urine pH). Long-term use of high levels of DL-Methionine is linked to cancer, so use it periodically when and if there are future problems.

 

[orange&white]

Well...I've always heard you want to try to keep the ash and magnesium lower. But the most important thing is to get as much moisture in him as possible, and to reduce stress.

I think the link between ash and crystals has been disproven, but yes, water, water, water. No more dry food.

 

[WhiteWolf]

I have heard that a lot of cats have the issue come back shortly after the first time it happens so that's why I wanted to use a non-prescription wet food for a while after. Would one can a day split between three cats be too much for a couple months?
I am also adding extra water to the wet food. My vet said to get spring water because we have hard tap water.

 

[orange&white]

I have heard that a lot of cats have the issue come back shortly after the first time it happens so that's why I wanted to use a non-prescription wet food for a while after. Would one can a day split between three cats be too much for a couple months?
I am also adding extra water to the wet food. My vet said to get spring water because we have hard tap water.

I'm not sure how much is too much (or too long a time). I read an article about the DL-Methioinine dissolving crystals, and the recommendation by Dr. Pierson was 2-weeks on urinary diet: Tales from the Urinary Trenches: CatNutrition's School of Hard Knocks

 

[WhiteWolf]

Thank you for that article. I bookmarked it for if I need it in the future.

 

[orange&white]

From what I understand, it would be possible to feed any "regular" canned or raw food and supplement with D-Methionine if you have future issues. Again, I don't know what dose or for how long. It might be an option that you discuss with your vet.

Hopefully your kitty's on the mend and he won't have more issues after this.

 

[WhiteWolf]

Thank you. He seems to be doing well now. His coat looks really good and he is starting to lose weight with the wet only diet. He has a vet appointment next week so I will discuss it with her more. I feel so lucky to have a vet locally that is willing and able to help with nutrition advice.

 

[Linda Dwyer]

It wouldn't hurt to give a cranberry supplement daily. Cranberries are good for all urinary problems and if it doesn't help in your case it certainly can't hurt

 

[WhiteWolf]

I am giving him one of these every day:
UT Support for Cats by Pet Naturals® of Vermont

He won't eat it unless it is broken up in his food though so I am open to other options. I chose this one because it also has glucosamine.

 

[lalagimp]

We use for Tommy. Build it up for 2-3 weeks twice daily, then down to once a day only two days per week. He also gets bone broth pretty frequently and I think that's supposed to have glucosamine in it naturally. Any wet or raw is good if you have a FLUTD cat, but if you're still worried about it and stay non-prescription people have been saying good things about Dave's Dave's Pet Food Restricted Diet Magnesium & Phosphorus Grain-Free Pork Recipe Canned Cat Food, 5.5-oz, case of 24
I just feed raw now for the boys. I'm having a little trouble keeping them from losing weight on the higher portions so I'm talking with Dr Pierson tomorrow about my formula and methods to see what she recommends.