Struvite stones: Prescription Diet vs. Methionine supplementation on standard food?

[Bancho]

Hi all!

My sweet 2 year old Persian boy (Toulouse) had a really horrible time in May 2024. His bladder completely got blocked and we had to rush him to the ER Vet where he spent three days in the hospital. The vet did say that the urinalysis showed it was struvite crystals and we were sent home with an Rx Diet.

Reblocking is really common and we learned a lot about PU surgery. My partner and I have decided to hold off on a surgical consultation and just be extremely strict and consistent with the Rx Diet. We only feed him wet food and also add a couple tablespoons of water and mix it in so he's extra extra hydrated. Basically Toulouse eats soup for every meal
We are so happy that Toulouse has not reblocked since May. He is peeing really well.

I know 'don't try to fix what's not broken', but Toulouse is such a foodie and we feel bad that he cannot enjoy treats anymore, especially these meat gogurts he would go crazy for.
I was wondering if anyone has had complete success with supplementing methionine to combat struvite stones while still feeding their cat non-Rx food? (Of course this question only applies for males who did not have PU surgery)

Thank you!

 

[Margret]

My experience with this was many years ago, and isn't totally analogous, so I don't know how much it will help, but take it for what it's worth.

We had a male cat who got blocked with some kind of kidney stones; I don't know for sure that they were struvite but it sounds right. He did have the surgery to shorten his urethra (the longer urethra is the reason this tends to be a bigger problem in male cats). Supplements were not offered, so we didn't give them to him. Nor was a prescription diet. However, I started doing research on the stones and discovered that they were composed primarily of minerals that have very high concentrations in sea water, and hence in fish. Since struvite stones are composed primarily of magnesium ammonium phosphate, and sea water is very high in magnesium (though not too high in phosphates) fish could be a culprit. When I started making sure that the cat got no fish in his diet, the urinary tract problems subsided.

Now, as already mentioned, this was a very long time ago, around forty years, and medicine has progressed since then. I would suggest talking with your vet about which foods are the biggest culprits and which might continue to be appropriate cat treats for your guy. You might be pleasantly surprised.

 

[silent meowlook]

If he is doing well, don’t mess with it. Be happy he is doing so well.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. I'd stick with the Rx food for now, and have repeated testing done to see what happens with struvite stones. Some cats, once they are back in balance can go back to 'regular' foods. There are many on the market that cater to urinary tract issues, including stones, that are non-Rx and you can do some research on those in the meantime.

As far as the treats, are there any offered by whatever company you are using for the Rx food? I am guessing meat gogurts are what I call lickable treats, and if you stay away from ones that contain a lot of 'extras' or the fish ones, I personally don't know why he can't have one here and there.

 

[jclark]

Dog and Cat Urinary Problems

Uretic™ Cat Food for Feline Urinary Health | Wysong

We feed this to our cats mixed with a C/D Urinary. However I have to tell you that we recently lost one to a urinary blockage which went undetected because his symptoms were masked by the fact that the cat was also on a NSAID to treat post-surgery inflammation.