Urinary Health Diet?

[amysuen]

We got Snickers' urine test results back last week and there was no bacteria, but the vet said there were lots of crystals in the urine. He recommended the Royal Cabin SO or Hill's Science Diet c/d, canned or dry and said it would only work if that was the ONLY thing he ate.

After reading through all of Dr. Pierson's information I'm thinking that putting him on either dry food would be a BIG mistake so I'm planning to continue feeding him her homemade recipe. I've been adding a little of the homeopathic urinary tract to his food and enough water to make it oatmeal consistency. We also plan to buy some of the homeopathic calming stuff when it's back in stock at PetCo.

What do y'all think? It's hard to ignore a vet's recommendation but I know dry is really bad for urinary issues, plus they all have grains in them. On the other hand, I'm going to be devastated if he ends up having a blockage because I didn't change his food.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

If Snickers is already on a homemade diet and having crystals, then I'm not sure just adding more water and the "homeopathic urinary tract" (whatever that is ) is going to be enough to dissolve the crystals. Once they form it's hard to get rid of them, but I do know that prescription food does seem to help...how I don't know, but it really does seem to work well. You don't have to put him on the dry food, though, the canned food works just as well from what I understand. And once they are gone, then maybe you could monitor his PH level to make sure it stays within the proper range, and perhaps adjust his homemade food appropriately? I know many people don't want to feed the S/O or C/D forever, so find appropriate replacements.

Is he stressed out? You mentioned getting him some calming stuff, that's why I asked. I'm guessing you already know that keeping him calm is half the battle too, but once again, my feeling is that once he has the crystals, he needs to get them dissolved first with the prescription food change, then worry about how fix issues going forward.

 

[MegAH2]

My cat blocked up again, because I thought switching him to an all-wet-food diet would help his situation (Not CD wet food, mind you!). I was in a quandry of how to settle out which cat could eat what. I couldn't afford to give all 4 cats the Hills Prescription food. Plus, the dry food (at that point anyway!) had wheat in it, a factor for another one of my cats. I resorted to shutting him in a room for half the day, until he started running away from me! I figured going with wet food would help flush out the crystals, right? Wrong! I spent thousands on a surgery.. I highly recommend going with the prescription food. Mine eats the dry food now, with some wet food daily. However, he has had the surgery and is doing great!! I highly recommend that surgery if you need to have it done.. some people have bad stories but my cat's doing great!

 

[MegAH2]

Also, he happened to be perpetually stressed out (I trapped him at 4 months). Both times he blocked up after I had been dogsitting and staying at someone's house for a couple of weeks at a time. That's why I opted to spend twice the amount for surgery, as it would have been to clear the second blockage.. if your cat tends towards stress, like mrsgreenjeens talked about, definitely stick with prescription!

 

[amysuen]

If Snickers is already on a homemade diet and having crystals, then I'm not sure just adding more water and the "homeopathic urinary tract" (whatever that is ) is going to be enough to dissolve the crystals. Once they form it's hard to get rid of them, but I do know that prescription food does seem to help...how I don't know, but it really does seem to work well. You don't have to put him on the dry food, though, the canned food works just as well from what I understand. And once they are gone, then maybe you could monitor his PH level to make sure it stays within the proper range, and perhaps adjust his homemade food appropriately? I know many people don't want to feed the S/O or C/D forever, so find appropriate replacements.

Is he stressed out? You mentioned getting him some calming stuff, that's why I asked. I'm guessing you already know that keeping him calm is half the battle too, but once again, my feeling is that once he has the crystals, he needs to get them dissolved first with the prescription food change, then worry about how fix issues going forward.

Thanks for your thoughts! The vet thinks he's stressed out, although we haven't had any major changes in our lives except for the older 2 cats dying in December. (The only constant in our lives is change...) We'll try canned S/O or C/D to see if that helps dissolve the crystals. Part of me wonders if the change to homemade is part of the problem, since he never had problems when he was on free fed kibble - even after the other cats died.
PS - Here's a link to the "homeopathic stuff."
PPS - How would I monitor his PH level? The only time I've seen him in the litter box is when he was having issues, and the vet visit with urine test was over $250. I know pets are a financial responsibility, but there's only so much $$ to go around...

My cat blocked up again, because I thought switching him to an all-wet-food diet would help his situation (Not CD wet food, mind you!). I was in a quandry of how to settle out which cat could eat what. I couldn't afford to give all 4 cats the Hills Prescription food. Plus, the dry food (at that point anyway!) had wheat in it, a factor for another one of my cats. I resorted to shutting him in a room for half the day, until he started running away from me! I figured going with wet food would help flush out the crystals, right? Wrong! I spent thousands on a surgery.. I highly recommend going with the prescription food. Mine eats the dry food now, with some wet food daily. However, he has had the surgery and is doing great!! I highly recommend that surgery if you need to have it done.. some people have bad stories but my cat's doing great!

Thanks for your thoughts too! We can't afford to give all 4 cats special diet food either, and really can't afford the surgery for Snickers. Part of why we started homemade was to save money. Our daughter had to put her Buddy down because he got blocked and surgery would've been $700+, with no guarantee it wouldn't happen again. I'll try the canned and hope that helps.

 

[MegAH2]

The only thing I can think of, is to see which cat likes or doesn't like what type of food.. you may have no problem just leaving out the food. ALL my cats hated the SD, couldn't get Hans to touch it. He happened to love the CD wet food, which none of my other cats will touch. This worked out great, and I wish I had figured this out before the hassle of separation, or not feeding him any and having to make the choice of paying all that or not... Good luck to you all!

 

[Vega's Dad]

What had Snickers been eating before showing symptom the first time? I'm thinking if it's only because of stress or also food related.
Hope you figure out a plan and he'll get better soon!

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Snickers could very well be stressed out because of the switch to his new homemade diet. With cats, pretty much anything can be a stress trigger . And now if you have to make another diet change, it may cause more issues . Hard to say. But here are some tips on easing stress: Six Surefire Strategies To Reduce Stress In Cats

As far as trying to keep track of his PH, yes, you would need to place a PH strip (human strip) under his "stream" in order to get an accurate reading. That being said, there is now a new litter out there that will let you know if their PH is out of whack. It's called Pretty Litter. But you would need to isolate him to make sure he's the only one using the box. Oooh, oooh, I just found this info (it's from a blog, so I can't attest to it's accuracy, but it sounds logical):

"Checking your cat's urine pH level yourself is easy and safe; it also saves you and the cat from a lot of grief. In a clean cat litter box, put a little aquarium gravel or some non-absorbent litter, just enough to make him scratch around in it. Before the cat’s usual elimination time, p lace the litter box in a quiet place in the house, if possible confine the cat to a quiet room. After the cat has made her liquid deposit, dip a urine pH test strip in the urine, shaking of the excess gently. If the pH level reads between 6.6 - 6.8 and if it's higher or lower, call your vet for further consultation. The most accurate results can be obtained if you can check her urine sample as soon as she has eliminated. This pH strip test results might be high if she ate several hours earlier, a re-test should be done immediately after she's eaten. If the result is normal, there is no worry, but if the results are still high, then you need to take her to the Vet immediately."

 

[lalagimp]

I put Tommy on Pierson's recipe with his first blockage. Later he blocked twice in less than a week and we did the surgery, but I still keep him on her recipe. We were using Cranberry Relief since he got back from the hospital this last time. I spoke with Dr Pierson a week or so back and she said I would discontinue the CR and that we could lower the bone content in his food so there are less minerals for the struvites to attach to. I was doing bone-in ground rabbit w turkey at 2:1 lb and now we're doing 1:1 w boneless and bone in . She said that prescription urinary formula can be good for about 2 weeks while the chemicals are dissolving struvites. We think his last two blockages were a bout of cystitis and not crystal formation so there's also the possibility of Trixsyn helping keep the bladder walls soothed, and we also have been told to max out on the mg of fish oil per pound. The recipe provides you with a range and she said take it all the way up.

 

[willerin]

Just going to give my two cents on this. My cat had partially stress related crystals as well, and they did not dissolve until I ONLY fed prescription wet and dry food. They didn't even dissolve when it was 80% prescription 20% alternate wet food.

I stuck with the prescription food for 6 months and she had no symptoms whatsoever after the switch. Then, a couple weeks ago, I made the switch to all wet food (grain free and low carb is very important) and she's been fine. The brand I chose also has an ingredient in it that many prescription foods use to dissolve crystals (a tiny amount, but still, it can't hurt).

Hope you figure it out! I know how stressful it is.

 

[amysuen]

The only thing I can think of, is to see which cat likes or doesn't like what type of food.. you may have no problem just leaving out the food. ALL my cats hated the SD, couldn't get Hans to touch it. He happened to love the CD wet food, which none of my other cats will touch. This worked out great, and I wish I had figured this out before the hassle of separation, or not feeding him any and having to make the choice of paying all that or not... Good luck to you all!

I can try that, but so far the kittens will eat anything, which is good because they eat the homemade without toppers or making me jump through hoops first, but will probably eat the CD too.

What had Snickers been eating before showing symptom the first time? I'm thinking if it's only because of stress or also food related.
Hope you figure out a plan and he'll get better soon!

They'd all been on free fed kibble. I didn't transition them as slowly as I should have, I didn't find out about that until later, so the change might have been the stress trigger.

Snickers could very well be stressed out because of the switch to his new homemade diet. With cats, pretty much anything can be a stress trigger . And now if you have to make another diet change, it may cause more issues . Hard to say. But here are some tips on easing stress: Six Surefire Strategies To Reduce Stress In Cats

As far as trying to keep track of his PH, yes, you would need to place a PH strip (human strip) under his "stream" in order to get an accurate reading. That being said, there is now a new litter out there that will let you know if their PH is out of whack. It's called Pretty Litter. But you would need to isolate him to make sure he's the only one using the box. Oooh, oooh, I just found this info (it's from a blog, so I can't attest to it's accuracy, but it sounds logical):

"Checking your cat's urine pH level yourself is easy and safe; it also saves you and the cat from a lot of grief. In a clean cat litter box, put a little aquarium gravel or some non-absorbent litter, just enough to make him scratch around in it. Before the cat’s usual elimination time, p lace the litter box in a quiet place in the house, if possible confine the cat to a quiet room. After the cat has made her liquid deposit, dip a urine pH test strip in the urine, shaking of the excess gently. If the pH level reads between 6.6 - 6.8 and if it's higher or lower, call your vet for further consultation. The most accurate results can be obtained if you can check her urine sample as soon as she has eliminated. This pH strip test results might be high if she ate several hours earlier, a re-test should be done immediately after she's eaten. If the result is normal, there is no worry, but if the results are still high, then you need to take her to the Vet immediately."

Thanks for the link! We've gotten similar info from the vet and are trying some of the ideas. I'd heard of Pretty Litter but forgot about it - that's worth looking into. He doesn't use the litter box when I'm around - the only times he has were when he was having problems. In the past we've locked him in our daughter's room with a litter box but I'm worried that might cause more stress. I knew cats were psycho, but never knew they were SO psycho!

Just going to give my two cents on this. My cat had partially stress related crystals as well, and they did not dissolve until I ONLY fed prescription wet and dry food. They didn't even dissolve when it was 80% prescription 20% alternate wet food.

I stuck with the prescription food for 6 months and she had no symptoms whatsoever after the switch. Then, a couple weeks ago, I made the switch to all wet food (grain free and low carb is very important) and she's been fine. The brand I chose also has an ingredient in it that many prescription foods use to dissolve crystals (a tiny amount, but still, it can't hurt).

Hope you figure it out! I know how stressful it is.

Thanks! The vet said we'd have to feed 100% prescription food for it to work, but didn't say there could be a time limit to it. The way he made it sound I thought Snickers would have to be on the special diet the rest of his life.

 

[amysuen]

I put Tommy on Pierson's recipe with his first blockage. Later he blocked twice in less than a week and we did the surgery, but I still keep him on her recipe. We were using Cranberry Relief since he got back from the hospital this last time. I spoke with Dr Pierson a week or so back and she said I would discontinue the CR and that we could lower the bone content in his food so there are less minerals for the struvites to attach to. I was doing bone-in ground rabbit w turkey at 2:1 lb and now we're doing 1:1 w boneless and bone in . She said that prescription urinary formula can be good for about 2 weeks while the chemicals are dissolving struvites. We think his last two blockages were a bout of cystitis and not crystal formation so there's also the possibility of Trixsyn helping keep the bladder walls soothed, and we also have been told to max out on the mg of fish oil per pound. The recipe provides you with a range and she said take it all the way up.

Thanks lalagimp ! What Cranberry Relief were you using?

I've been thinking about contacting Dr. Pierson but I don't have Snickers' test results so I don't know if she'd talk with me. I'm making more food tonight and will max out the fish oil as a start - it won't hurt the others to have more fish oil. We're only feeding chicken and turkey so far and our cats haven't transitioned from fully cooked yet. I've been looking at rabbit and would like to make the food more raw but afraid to make any changes right now.

 

[MoonRockyMistyMuffin]

This could be the reason for the crystals:

Male cats need to have wet food in their diet, because not enough wet food will cause crystals. Not really in female cats though. If the vet wants you to stick to your recommendation, make sure he is getting a lot of water.

 

[amysuen]

Thanks MoonRockyMistyMuffin . We bought them a fountain but I've never seen any of them drink from it. We also have water in the basement and second floor. My homemade food has more liquid than the recipe's minimum and I add even more when serving so it's no thicker than oatmeal consistency.

 

[hannah's.dad]

hi,
a couple of things you can do for your cat with for urinary support.
add tinkle tonic, google it for more information & also add apple cider vinegar to there diet. you cn put it in the food. but what you can do it dilute a little and rub it on the month and the cat will lick it off.
my cat also had crystals and vet recommended royal canin. (which i didnt want to give) and i gave the above. just note that the above remedy takes around 3 weeks to show results. but they are usually fine after that.
hope it helps.

 

[blueyedgirl5946]

I had two cats who had urinary issues. The vet prescribed the Hill's dry food and my cat ate it for the rest of his life, and he ate only that. They never had crystals again and neither of them died from kidney issues. I am glad I followed the vets recommendation because it solved their problem.

 

[Mary Ann P]

We got Snickers' urine test results back last week and there was no bacteria, but the vet said there were lots of crystals in the urine. He recommended the Royal Cabin SO or Hill's Science Diet c/d, canned or dry and said it would only work if that was the ONLY thing he ate.

After reading through all of Dr. Pierson's information I'm thinking that putting him on either dry food would be a BIG mistake so I'm planning to continue feeding him her homemade recipe. I've been adding a little of the homeopathic urinary tract to his food and enough water to make it oatmeal consistency. We also plan to buy some of the homeopathic calming stuff when it's back in stock at PetCo.

What do y'all think? It's hard to ignore a vet's recommendation but I know dry is really bad for urinary issues, plus they all have grains in them. On the other hand, I'm going to be devastated if he ends up having a blockage because I didn't change his food.

Pardon me but BALONEY!! These were the ONLY foods we fed our cat and she still got crystals in her urine. IF you really knew the "stuff" they put in those canned foods it would make your blood run cold! PLEASE check out Cornucopia Pet Foods. Yes, it is expensive, but so is anything that is good. We spend a lot at the grocery store for decent food for my husband and I and like my husband told me "our cat gives us her endless love and trust, why would we even consider feeding her garbage?!, buy her the best we can get! It is cheaper than the Vet bills"!

 

[beckbjj]

I highly recommend giving Dave's Pet Food Restricted Diet Magnesium & Phosphorus a shot. My big boy kitty was blocked several years ago, and after a couple days in the hospital and a short stint on Hills S/D and C/D, he's been on the Dave's ever since and now pees like a racehorse! ;-)

 

[amysuen]

Pardon me but BALONEY!! These were the ONLY foods we fed our cat and she still got crystals in her urine. IF you really knew the "stuff" they put in those canned foods it would make your blood run cold! PLEASE check out Cornucopia Pet Foods. Yes, it is expensive, but so is anything that is good. We spend a lot at the grocery store for decent food for my husband and I and like my husband told me "our cat gives us her endless love and trust, why would we even consider feeding her garbage?!, buy her the best we can get! It is cheaper than the Vet bills"!

"Baloney" was my thought after reading the ingredients in the ones the vet recommended. I want to call to see what kind of crystals he had, then call Dr. Pierson, but I haven't gotten up the guts to call the vet yet. (I don't want to be one of THOSE patients, who's always questioning...)

I highly recommend giving Dave's Pet Food Restricted Diet Magnesium & Phosphorus a shot. My big boy kitty was blocked several years ago, and after a couple days in the hospital and a short stint on Hills S/D and C/D, he's been on the Dave's ever since and now pees like a racehorse! ;-)

I looked into Dave's but the only one I found is pork-based and our cats don't like pork. I think the chicken one is restricted protein, which isn't good for them either. If there's a chicken/turkey based restricted magnesium and phosphorus I missed please let me know!

 

[beckbjj]

Yeah, I'm thinking there must be something about pork, because the Hills s/d (and maybe the c/d, not sure) is also pork. The Hills c/d comes in a chicken flavor and I think also a seafood flavor, but I'm not sure offhand if they're still made with pork. I'm fortunate that my one who needs the urinary food is fine with pork!