I switched Jonesy over to raw in early December, with some kibble on the side just because I didn't have time to feed more than twice per day. He's mostly been doing great, no more GI upset or skin problems that he had gotten with other foods. But last week he started occasionally crying while peeing. Still peeing normal amounts, and not straining at all, but clearly uncomfortable. Sure enough, the vet found struvite crystals and blood (red cells only) in his urine. She is concerned that the calcium/phosphorous ratio in the raw food may need adjustment, but first wants to clear the crystals, so we cut the kibble entirely and are feeding him only canned Instinct LID for now(none of the veterinary diets work with his dietary restrictions). I don't want to feed exclusively canned food long-term due to cost and the extremely limited variety Jonesy can actually have. I do plan on cutting the kibble permanently, though, and will work on adjusting my schedule for more frequent feedings to compensate.
Anyway, the vet directed me to PetDiets.com and BalanceIT.com to figure out a home-made diet that will be better suited for a cat prone to struvite crystals. PetDiets.com charges $350 USD (so $435 CAD for me) for one consultation, and another $100 for any request to modify the recipe they give you from that, and bases their recipes on the BalanceIT supplements anyway, so I'd rather not go that route if I don't have to. The BalanceIT Autobalancer tool is neat, and quite helpful for typical diets, but as soon as I check off the box for feline struvite crystals it gets weird. All of the recipes it recommends are at least 30% carbs, from white rice.
Is there a reason for the high carb content? With no health considerations checked off, there are plenty of low-carb or carb-free options, but any attempt to make a low-carb variation of a struvite diet comes up as "not possible". In fact, any change in the protein/fat/carb ratios or ingredients results in "not possible". Is it just an attempt to dilute the phosphorous content from the meat, or is there some benefit to the rice/carbs in this situation?
It would be great if I could just adjust the calcium/phoshorous ratio in my existing recipe or even just add an acidifier (as Jonesy's urine pH is rather high), but I can't find any specific recommendations anywhere for how to make such changes and my vet doesn't know enough about the topic to give such specific advice.
Anyway, the vet directed me to PetDiets.com and BalanceIT.com to figure out a home-made diet that will be better suited for a cat prone to struvite crystals. PetDiets.com charges $350 USD (so $435 CAD for me) for one consultation, and another $100 for any request to modify the recipe they give you from that, and bases their recipes on the BalanceIT supplements anyway, so I'd rather not go that route if I don't have to. The BalanceIT Autobalancer tool is neat, and quite helpful for typical diets, but as soon as I check off the box for feline struvite crystals it gets weird. All of the recipes it recommends are at least 30% carbs, from white rice.
Is there a reason for the high carb content? With no health considerations checked off, there are plenty of low-carb or carb-free options, but any attempt to make a low-carb variation of a struvite diet comes up as "not possible". In fact, any change in the protein/fat/carb ratios or ingredients results in "not possible". Is it just an attempt to dilute the phosphorous content from the meat, or is there some benefit to the rice/carbs in this situation?
It would be great if I could just adjust the calcium/phoshorous ratio in my existing recipe or even just add an acidifier (as Jonesy's urine pH is rather high), but I can't find any specific recommendations anywhere for how to make such changes and my vet doesn't know enough about the topic to give such specific advice.
