Specific canned food recommendations for prevention of struvite crystals

[mschauer]

I've frequently posted that when a cat that has previously been diagnosed with struvite crystals that it was extremely risky to feed anything other than a prescription diet or a raw diet in order to prevent recurrence of the crystals.

Lately though I've been seeing quite a few posts by people who say they have successfully and over a long period of time prevented the recurrence of crystals by feeding an all canned but non-prescription, grain free diet.

I know there are many threads on this topic but I am most interested in hearing from people who have had at least 12 months success at preventing the crystals. I read someplace that the average recurrence time of struvite crystals is 18 months so getting information from people who have been feeding their crystal prone kitty just a non-rx canned diet for a significant period of time is important.

My questions then are for those folks who have gone the non-prescription, non-raw route and their cat has been struvite crystal free for at least 12 months:

Approximately how long has your cat been struvite crystal free?

What general guidelines do you use for picking or rejecting a canned food?

Specifically which foods have you been feeding during the crystal free period?

 

[Columbine]

Shadow got crystals 10 years ago. He refused point blank to eat the wet prescription diet. Prior to his crystals he'd always eaten a mostly wet diet with a little dry. We switched the kibble to the RC urinary, but went back to the wet he'd willingly eat...which wasn't good quality by any means (I just didn't have the knowledge back then). He was on whiskas pouches - usually gravy ones - for a few years. Then he refused those so we switched to Sheba fine flakes in gravy, and later gourmet mon petit gravy. After his brother died he wouldn't eat that - in desperation we tried him on a complementary food -Almo Nature classic pouches.

All of these foods were largely fish flavoured He's always been a good drinker, so he's pretty good about staying hydrated.

Since getting Asha, I've finally got Shadow onto decent food (seeing Asha eating it finally got him curious enough to try ) He's now getting grain free, high meat canned food - a mix of Catz Finefood, Nature's Menu and Thrive Complete. I haven't totally weaned him off fish, but 4 flavours are fish free, 2 are 20% fish, 1 is 35% fish and one (special treat) is pure fish. Since going onto these foods, I've noticed that his pee clumps are much better on the days when he get no kibble at all. I'm trying to train my family out of putting the kibble out, but old habits die hard

I'm not convinced that he's ever eaten enough of the kibble to make much of a difference regarding crystal formation.

My guidelines now for his food are :-

Grain free

Poultry based if possible
(Asha doesn't handle beef and I prefer not to have a food in that either of them can't digest)

No gums/carrageenan

Low fish content (for the most part)

And the big one - Is it likely that he'll eat it :lol3:

Hope this is the kind of information you're looking for

 

[mschauer]

Hope this is the kind of information you're looking for

It is. Thank you! How long has it been since any prescription food was part of his diet? He has been crystal free for 10 years?

I hope others with chime in! 

 

[Columbine]

Shadow has barely eaten any kibble for around 3 months. As I said, certain family members insist on putting it out alongside the wet food, but Shadow tends not to even look at it now...he much prefers the wet food.

Shadow had a really bad bout of crystals when he was 3 - his bladder was close to rupture and he needed emergency surgery. He made a full recovery, and has never had crystals since then. He's 13 now, and still going strong

 

[mschauer]

No one else???

Come on, I know there are lots of folks who don't feed the prescription foods.

Share!

 

[jcat]

Jamie had struvite crystals in December 2008 and was put on an Rx diet (half dry, half wet - his preference): Royal Canin Urinary SO and Hills c/d, both wet and dry, plus another Rx wet food, Vet-Concept Low Mineral. He remained crystal-free until his death (HCM) in March 2013.

He accepted the prescription dry until his death, as long as he got some non-prescription dry once or twice a week, too, but refused to eat any of the Rx wet food after about 18 months, IIRC. Three brands weren't enough of a rotation for him. At that point we switched back to his usual commercial wet brands, the main criteria being that they were grain-free, consisted primarily of meat, and he'd eat them. The brands were European: Almo Nature (complementary) , Animonda Carny (complete), Bozita (complete), Cosma (complementary), Schesir (complementary), Applaws (complementary), Grau grain-free (complete), Catz finefood (complete) and Thrive (complete).

 

[mschauer]

Thanks Tricia!

I thought quite a few people had gone the no prescription food at all route. I guess not.

 

[jcat]

Maybe it was enough to switch to any old all-wet diet, or they had better luck using an acidifier than I did.

I've always believed that Jamie developed crystals from eating a grain-free dry food (mainly Orijen) even though it only made up half his diet. His trouble started several months after giving him only grain-free brands, and the dry he got afterwards had grain. He had a urinalysis every 3 or 4 months, and the problem never recurred.

Mogli has been on a grain-free wet diet, with a couple of pieces of grain-free dry a day, since we got him over two years ago, and so far, so good. :cross:

 

[mschauer]

Maybe it was enough to switch to any old all-wet diet, or they had better luck using an acidifier than I did.
 

I suspect most people find that simply switching to an all wet, non-prescription diet isn't  a reliable alternative to the prescription foods. I was hoping to find specific recommendations for people that would be an alternative to the expensive prescription foods or raw food. I guess not. 

 

[andreiamlm]

Hi

Sorry to hijack the thread but the Orijen brand wasnt it supposed to be a good dry food? my cats vary between eating fancy feast wet canned and some orijen dry cat & kitten. Do you think the orijen brand is bad? Thanks!

 

[Columbine]

Orijen is a good dry food, and many members feed it without any problems. Its simply that feeding any dry increases the risk of dehydration (unless measures are taken to boost fluid intake), and dehydration is one of the primary triggers for urinary tract issues.

Many members who feed a combination of wet and dry food add a little water to the wet food to help compensate for the lack of moisture in the dry

 

[andreiamlm]

THank you for your answer. I give canned food everyday also. I'm still figuring it out about what brands are best and what brands are complementary or complete? I thought all canned wet food was complete =(. I've been giving Purina Gourmet (I think is similar to Fancy Feast) and I'm looking for healthier options I read it's not a great brand =( There aren't a lot of brands available here in Lisboa, Portugal for cats. =/

 

[Columbine]

Check out http://www.zooplus.pt/. I use their uk site, and they're great. Lots of brands that are hard to find elsewhere, and really good prices too

 

[andreiamlm]

Thanks Do you have any go to brands you know are good? I once bought Applaws and when they arrived it had the info "made in thailand" and I was afraid to give it to my cats. =( Sorry for being so inquisitive I find the vets around here are still on the only dry food wagon. So for them canned food it's only for special days. It's nuts!

 

[Columbine]

I feed Catz Finefood, Thrive Complete, GranataPet, Feringa, Bozita and Animonda vom Feinsten, with occasional Almo Nature Classics (supplementary food) as a treat. I also feed Nature's Menu, but that isn't on Zooplus and can be harder to find.

Animonda Carny, Grau, Lily's Kitchen and Terra Faelis are also good (imo anyway ), but my girl isn't good with too much beef (ruling out the first two), and my fussy boy isn't keen on the last two - and they also seem rather expensive for what they are, especially when compared to some other brands I listed.

I'm aware there's a huge price range there - I'm sure you can find something to suit your budget. Interestingly Bozita (the cheapest) is my boy's firm favourite at the moment, and he's refusing to eat anything else Before that, he was insisting on Thrive - the most expensive :lol3: You never can tell with cats

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[lavishsqualor]

Having read so many horror stories about cats' suffering so terribly, I've become paranoid about my two cats getting crystals.  Both are just shy of a year and eat nothing but wet food.  Occasionally, they will get three or four pieces of dry food as a treat.  (I feed my ferals dry and one night I came home to find the cabinet door where I kept the bag open, a mostly empty 5 pound bag of food, and both of my cats lying around in a food coma.  They will go nuts for dry food!  I had to move it from the cabinet under my sink because they figured out how to get it open!)

I even add water to their wet food. 

Are there any other precautions I should be taking?  As someone who has had kidney stones THREE TIMES in my life, I know the agony first hand.

 

[Columbine]

It sounds like you're doing everything right. Try not to worry about it, but do remember that crystals aren't 100% down to diet. I have heard of cats who've been fed a raw or wet diet all their lives getting crystals. They were very unlucky, but it can happen.

You're doing absolutely everything you can, and no one could ask more. You have two very lucky cats

 

[andreiamlm]

thank you so so much Columbine I could hug you right now! thank you!

I feel exactly like you Lavish.  I can't even make them drink water at all they rarely do it so I'm always so worried about their fluid intake! I have to confess that sometimes when I hear them make a big number 1 (sorry TMI) I relax a little and think all is good and they are hydrated. I know I know cats' moms are a little nuts for their little paws

 

[lavishsqualor]

So what exactly do the prescription diets have, or don't have, ingredients wise that prevents crystals?  I feel as if I heard foods with low ash content are good, no?

 

[ruthm]

 
So what exactly do the prescription diets have, or don't have, ingredients wise that prevents crystals?  I feel as if I heard foods with low ash content are good, no?

I have been researching this myself- it appears that the prescription diets are very low protein and are monitored constantly.

http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/vmth/small_animal/nutrition/client_info_sheets/uroliths.cfm

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=1+2142&aid=2729