Struvite crystals

[pitbullmamaliz]

I took a urine sample from The Piss to the vet today because she's begun peeing all over my house again. She doesn't have a UTI, but she has a TON of struvite crystals. She said she hasn't begun forming bladder stones yet, fortunately. However, I need to feed her a prescription diet for the rest of her life. I said, "please don't say it's Science Diet," and the vet tech made a face and said "we don't even sell that here." So I'm feeding Purina UR, which is crazy expensive and has the awesome first ingredient of corn gluten meal. I'm paying $27 for an 8lb bag of corn.

Please tell me there is something comparable health-wise but better nutrition-wise that I can switch her to after this first bag. Or am I stuck feeding Purina to her forever?

[ArtGypsy]

My vets say Science Diet C/D for the rest of Cinco's life....

I went on various cat forums and even people who DESPISE science diet seem to agree it's the best thing for struvites.....

[Malli]

Well, prescription vet diets for stuff like this are proven to work, and I've not heard yet of other diets that are not. So with feeding non-prescription diets you run the risk that the crystals may get worse...
Diet is important either way, but were we talking about a boy kitty, its life or death, as they have narrower urethra that can actually completely block up.

That strategy is what I choose for Oscar. I don't even think he has food allergies, but it's a case of me knowing its highly unlikely the vet diet he eats will make him worse, can't hurt, and might even help a little with his allergies.

In the end, its your choice

Honestly, the way I have always looked at it is that although the food is a little more expensive, I do not have the money to be clearing up a skin infection that might come from eating something he's allergic to. ($110 a pop per vet visit and antibiotics, plus possible other products)

[pitbullmamaliz]

It's not the price that bothers me so much as the ingredients.

But I will feed it to her and do so with a smile. She seems to enjoy it - she inhaled it! I don't think she liked her healthy food she was getting, anyway.

[mnp13]

The question is, why does it work, and once you know that, can you find a way to replicate that?

I feed mine half a can of wet food every day, mixed with about 1/2 a cup of water so that I'm sure they are getting enough water intake as well, so they are hydrated which is also supposed to help.

And I don't blame you - cats, all felines actually, are pure carnivores - and the first ingredient in the food is corn .

[BullyLady]

It works by lowering the pH of the urine, crystals form less easily in acidic urine. One thing you could do is get some pH test strips (make sure they ate for urine not fishtanks) and see how her urine pH changes on different better quality foods. I know in dogs Wellness promotes a low urine pH.

[pitbullmamaliz]

How long would she have to eat each food before I would notice a difference, though? I don't want to exacerbate the problem in the interest of science.

[LMM]

And I guess raw is not an option here? Being an obligate carnivore, the mere thought of a cat eating corn gives me the willies but I know not everyone can do raw.

I also like the idea of the pH stripes too.

[pitbullmamaliz]

With as picky an eater as she is I can bet money she'd starve first. She won't even eat cat treats for god's sake.

[BullyLady]

I can't imagine more than a week, kidneys handle things as they are digested, so a week would give you some good data. I have also heard of purposely giving excessive vitamin C. The idea there is that since the body doesn't store vitamin C, rather excretes it in the urine, the additional citric acid in the urine will lower the pH.

[Malli]

I've heard of literally day(s) on the wrong food and seen the results, so I'd think fairly quickly.

I know its not just the money, but I've seen urinary blockage (or worse, bladder surgery) cats run into the thousands of dollars, which most people have difficulty affording, and I know no one wants to see their pets sick