Cat With Urinary Crystals

[susan denning]

I took him to the vet today, after he had litter box trouble this morning. She confirmed urinary crystals (he's there being treated right now). I'm kicking myself for not having started him on wet food sooner. Also, I'm wondering if I made a mistake in trying to keep him as a pet (nice, but rather shy, so maybe would have done better as a barn/farm cat). I'm looking for advice moving forward. Also for encouragement from someone whose cat had this and is now stable (I'm afraid of it becoming a chronic problem.

 

[Snowhite525]

Urinary crystals are something that can be treated and prevented! At the current moment do not fear that it will become a chronic problem. Usually urinary crystals are caused by the urine being too acidic or alkaline. Diets can potentially (and commonly) be the leading reason for this. These things can also be attributed to the bacteria from urinary tract infections. By switching to a higher quality and or prescription diet and clearing up the urinary tract infection with medication (if one is present) you can potentially dissolve the crystals and prevent this from being a future problem. The amount of water consumption for your kitty is also important. The more water he drinks, the more diluted his urine will be and less likely that any crystals will form. Some things I might suggest to increase water intake would be:

1. Offering a low sodium broth or tuna juice
2. Making broth cubes (ice cubes out of broth) or tuna juice cubes
3. Try adding just regular ice cubes to water bowls
4. Leave a faucet to slowly drip- many cats love water from faucets. I have two fountains in my home, one of which I spent over $100 on that has multiple spouts, yet one of my cats still will and always has preferred the kitchen or bathroom sinks.
5. Try adjusting different water bowls with different heights of water- some cats prefer shallow full bowls, while others prefer to reach into containers to drink, with this being said you can even try offering a cup for your kitty to test out.
6. Try adding a small amount of water to their kibble.
7. And last but not least - I know you already mentioned it...add canned food to his diet.

Now if your boy is a nervous nelly and seems to be a high anxiety/high stress character...try to determine what could be causing the stress and either removing it or helping your kitty to cope. Stress can cause something called interstitial cystitis....I'm not saying your kitty has this but to prevent the possibility of a stress induced urinary tract infection (which could then cause crystals) try to eliminate it altogether....Pheromone diffusers or sprays are a wonderful aid in many cases. Feliway is a top choice. Try to avoid pheromone collars though - most are not the break away kind and can be choking hazards. Boredom can also lead to stress. Kitties that started out as an outdoor animal then are moved to indoors can certainly have an issue in this department. There are many different resources available online to get ideas on enriching an indoor environment. There are a wide variety of different toys/puzzles/activity centers that may aid in his indoor life. Scratch posts, cat trees, and perches are excellent. Especially ones that make it so that he can lay by the window and peer out to bird watch or just see outside...so to sum things up...don't stress, it will all be okay. Fix the possible current problem(s): get the crystals dissolved/cleared up, make sure he's on the diet that is recommended by your vet, increase his water intake, if applicable clear him of his uti, reduce his stress/enrich his environment, and continue to work towards making him have a fur-ever home.

 

[susan denning]

Thanks. So far the major change I've made is starting him on Royal Canin SO which he is eating fine. To give him the best chance of recovery, I would like to start some wet food. I tried him on some Royal Canin SO wet food this morning. He ate some, but not as much as I would like. Any advice on encouraging him to eat some wet food (maybe putting the dry food up overnight? Also, how long can you leave wet food out before considering it spoiled?

 

[Snowhite525]

Royal canin SO is a great diet for him right now. Alot of their diets are labeled with an S/O index, meaning the diet provideds a urinary environment that is unfavorable to the development of crystals. We see excellent results with the urinary SO. As far as trying to get him to eat his wet...I think your best bet maybe doing timed feeding twice daily. It may make him more likely to eat what you are offering. Make sure to pick up whatever he doesn't eat within 30-60 mins though. While beginning this transition we commonly hear from clients, "I feel like I'm starving my cat!" ....this maybe true but you have to stay strong! Lol kitties have an excellent way of making you feel guilty, but a little bit of hunger at meal time can be a very powerful motivator. You could also try different forms of the wet SO. I know that royal canin makes a pate form and a morsels and gravey. You may find that he will be more willing to eat the kind with chunks of meat compared to the ground up one. They come in smaller cans (3oz) I think but, if he'll eat it then it's worth a try - for some cats eating wet food really boils down to a texture issue. You could mix a little broth or gerbers meat flavored baby food into his moist food, but just a little...don't overdue it with mixing things in. He needs to eat a pretty exclusive diet right now to dissolve his crystals. As far as the food spoiling, usually we recommend picking up whatever they don't eat within an hour or so. Try doing just a tablespoon at a time during his feedings. That way you aren't wasting food.

 

[susan denning]

Thanks. I definitely think a fearful personality is part of the problem (he had a mucus plug as well as crystals) and I think the vet thought so too, so am trying to give him more space (not grabbing him except for medications). That's helping, as he's acting a lot more calm now. I'm concerned that I never see him drinking much (although I did catch him drinking yesterday) and he's not eating the wet food. I would hate for him to have to have IV fluids again or worse get plugged again from lack of hydration. I'm going to try a fountain. Do you think it would be ok for me to try different kinds of soft food as long as it's SO?

 

[Snowhite525]

Well there's the actual urinary SO that comes in a light green label can, then there's different kinds that just have the S/O index. The actual SO is going to be ideal. It dissolves crystals the others just act as a preventative. Trying pate vs morsels in gravy of the SO would be fine. You could call your vet and ask them if they would be willing to prescribe and let him try science diet SD. I am not sure which kind he has but this diet is designed to dissolve struvite crystals. Your vets office should have the results of his urinalysis on file and be able to tell you if it would be an ideal diet or not. Plus science diet guarantees their food. If he won't eat it you can return whatever he doesn't eat for a full refund. On another note trying a water fountain sounds like a good idea. I'd say ask your vets office about doing subcutaneous fluids, but if he's a high stress kitty this may not be the right route. It would however really help to keep him hydrated and everything flushed. I guess it would depend on how you think he'd react. Did they put him on an antibiotic and or pain reliever? Or just switch his diet?

 

[Snowhite525]

You said you were giving him meds, I guess I'm just curious as to what they chose as a treatment route aside from diet change.

 

[Lalka]

When your cat is doing better, you should ask your vet for a different food without grains. I looked at Royal canin S/O:
Ingredients:
Chicken by-product meal, brewers rice, corn gluten meal, corn, powdered cellulose, wheat gluten, chicken fat, natural flavors, salt, potassium chloride, fish oil, calcium sulfate, monocalcium phosphate, egg product, sodium bisulfate, vegetable oil, DL-methionine, fructooligosaccharides, choline chloride, vitamin...

 

[susan denning]

The meds they put him on were

Onsior, prazosin, and buprenorphine

We gave him all of the pain meds (except for the last dose of buprenorphine, because we thought it was making him too sleepy). He's still on the prazosin.

They also advised pushing fluids as much as possible. I'm concerned about him drinking, because I don't see him drink much. It's possible he does it when I'm not around. I will try the fountain. Also, different kinds of wet SO. He is a high stress kitty, plus I don't have the funds (I owe my parents for the vet visit), so would rather not give him subcutaneous fluids if it not an emergency.

Am I right in thinking he needs a followup UA before I take him off SO foods? If it would keep the problem from reoccuring, I would gladly keep him on the SO for life. I'm concerned that if I push the PH to low, he might go on the develop oxalate stones.

 

[susan denning]

When your cat is doing better, you should ask your vet for a different food without grains. I looked at Royal canin S/O:
Ingredients:
Chicken by-product meal, brewers rice, corn gluten meal, corn, powdered cellulose, wheat gluten, chicken fat, natural flavors, salt, potassium chloride, fish oil, calcium sulfate, monocalcium phosphate, egg product, sodium bisulfate, vegetable oil, DL-methionine, fructooligosaccharides, choline chloride, vitamin...

 

[susan denning]

Hi, can you recommend a dry food without grains? Or are most of those wet food? I am going to make the effort to transition him to wet food, because I suspect he needs that for hydration.

 

[Lalka]

Can you put at least 3 bowl of water in different rooms? not plastic, like old ice cream containers. you do need to clean the bowls and give fresh water everyday (water changed everyday)

There is a lot of grain free food. Orijen would be my first poick for dry food.

 

[Lalka]

all wet food diet is too expensive for me so i ll let other ppl answer you. For dry i feed Acana (from canada) and Oven baked-duck (bee cant eat chicken) , wet is oven baked, boreal and ziwipeak. If you live in the US you ll have a lot more options.

 

[susan denning]

Thanks, I will look into Orijen. As far as the water is concerned, he has three bowls going that I refill every morning (two in our garage and one in our kitchen) where he spends most of his time.

I'm curious (I'm using one plastic dog style water dish that i got because of the no skid backing, and two porcelain cereal bowls that I repurposed). Why not plastic? Also, are there certain styles that would be the most cat friendly?

 

[susan denning]

Also, by cleaning, I guessing maybe soap as well and a rinse? I have been doing just a rinse, so probably wouldn't hurt to add some soap.

 

[Snowhite525]

Omgosh I can't stress enough at how many cats we see have urinary issues while eating grain free foods. People think they are the best option and they've become quit the craze but I can't stress enough for you to ask your vet before deciding to transition to grain free... PLEASE. The first thing that we look at when a urinary case comes in is what food they are feeding...more times than not they are on a grain free or lower quality food. Honestly if he were my kitty I would keep him on a royal canin food designed for maintenance that has that S/O index or something like science diet optimal or C/D. One of my kitties a few years back had interstitial cystitis and I transitioned her to c/d. She loved it and I seen a huge difference in her urinary issues. Come to think of it! - Royal canin even makes a diet called urinary/calm. It's specifically designed for high stress cats that have urinary issues. We see excellent results with this diet. That might be number one on my list of foods to feed once he's cleared his crystals. Ask your vet their recommendations on this specific diet.

Regarding the plastic bowls...plastic is a very porous surface it has a tendency to harbor bacteria. They can cause chin acne. Stainless steel or ceramic are better to use if possible. Even then do make sure you frequently wash them out with a mild soap like dawn dish soap, and keep to with changing it out with fresh water daily.

Doing a follow up UA is also a very good idea. It would just reassure that he is no longer experiencing any problems. We usually recommend one after a month or the meds are finished. They did a good job giving meds for pain relief, onsior is an nsaid which will help with pain and inflammation, buprenex is excellent for pain relief as well but yes it certainly can cause them to act a bit loopy, then the prazosin helps him to relax and not have urethral sphincter spasms. Just a side note subcutaneous fluids are different from intravenous fluids and are generally very inexpensive. A set up to administer these at home is usually around $15. It requires a bag of fluids a drop line and some needles. But I get it with cost being an issue...I imagine his problem has already cost a pretty penny. Having a kitty block can become expensive quick. There's a lot of costs associated with it...getting him unblocked by placing a urinary catheter, overnight stays at a clinic, bloodwork, a UA, possible IV fluids, medications... it's enough to make a persons head spin.

 

[susan denning]

Thanks. If I were to put both cats on an OTC urinary diet could that cause problems for my senior cat?

 

[susan denning]

Omgosh I can't stress enough at how many cats we see have urinary issues while eating grain free foods. People think they are the best option and they've become quit the craze but I can't stress enough for you to ask your vet before deciding to transition to grain free... PLEASE. The first thing that we look at when a urinary case comes in is what food they are feeding...more times than not they are on a grain free or lower quality food. Honestly if he were my kitty I would keep him on a royal canin food designed for maintenance that has that S/O index or something like science diet optimal or C/D. One of my kitties a few years back had interstitial cystitis and I transitioned her to c/d. She loved it and I seen a huge difference in her urinary issues. Come to think of it! - Royal canin even makes a diet called urinary/calm. It's specifically designed for high stress cats that have urinary issues. We see excellent results with this diet. That might be number one on my list of foods to feed once he's cleared his crystals. Ask your vet their recommendations on this specific diet.

He's on the Royal Canin SO, and the vet approved both cats being on that diet, so it might be considered maintenance. Besides that and the Hills (which seems to be the other contender), what other SO foods are out there?

 

[danteshuman]

I don't have cats with this issue but I do have a water fiend. My guys have a big bowl of water that gets rinsed and refilled daily. They also have a smaller bowl in the bathroom that gets dumped & refilled 4 or so times a day, plus I leave the faucet on a trickle after I'm done washing my hands for my cat that loves running water. You might be surprised how happily your cat drinks water if you are always offering him a fresh bowl of water or a bit of running water. I use glass bowls for their water. Also you might try bottled water in one bowl to see if your cat prefers it?

 

[susan denning]

I don't have cats with this issue but I do have a water fiend. My guys have a big bowl of water that gets rinsed and refilled daily. They also have a smaller bowl in the bathroom that gets dumped & refilled 4 or so times a day, plus I leave the faucet on a trickle after I'm done washing my hands for my cat that loves running water. You might be surprised how happily your cat drinks water if you are always offering him a fresh bowl of water or a bit of running water. I use glass bowls for their water. Also you might try bottled water in one bowl to see if your cat prefers it?

They are drinking quite a bit on the new diet, so that's probably a good sign I will think about a cat fountain.