Crystals in the urine

[sol164]

My male cat had crystals in the urine he was backed up, he had emergency surgery is there a chance that the problem can come back. Ever since the problem he has been eating cd feline cat food

[auntiejessi]

Mine wouldn't eat the CD, Hills, Iams - anything.  I have one male and one female kitty, and the male has had this problems as well.

They are now on Purina Urinary Tract, and are oh so happy because they are getting daily fancy feast.  My vet told me that as long as they eat it, the good stuff outweighs the bad (like ash), and that my male cat needs the water that's in the canned food.

He battled this for about 6 months, but has been fine for about 2 years now.

Jess

[brandam]

My two cats have also had urinary blockage issues in the past, the one only had it once and has been fine, the other one had it more than once and actually had the vet break up the crystals for me in hopes that it would clear it up, because I couldn't afford the surgery, well it did work., but my vet had told me that it was due to can food mainly vs dry food, and also suggested a vet-popular expensive dry food.  I tryed putting them on the vet's suggestive dry food and they hated it!!!, they wouldn't eat it, what a waste of money that was., so what I did was to look for low ash, low magnesium on the can food from now on and try to keep the ash content under 3.0, and it seems to have worked, and as far as dry food, I usually try to use one that is good for urinary health, Purina seems to have a few good ones they will actually eat, and there are a few others but I forget the brand name's.  I have found that if I stay away from the high numbers and don't feed them the cheap can/off brand/store name canned cat food it seems to have worked.  I will NEVER feed them store brand canned food again, because that seems to be what the one cat was eating at the time prior to the blockage!!, oh, and I was told to stay away from the fish products mainly., like NO TUNA.......that is what they recommended as well.  Hope this information may be helpful to others.....

[christy195050]

We have a lot of cats especially male cats with crystals and this is cause by dry cat food. We always recommend you go to completely nature foods ie raw meats and maybe some human tuna to add variety. If you continue to feed dry food the crystals will come back as it was the cause in the first place. You will find it impossible for your cat to drink enough water to counteract the biscuits so it is best to save the trouble and go for raw natural foods...sorry...bestest.

[kkFW]

The problem can come back if you don't follow the diet that your vet put you kitty on. My vet also recommends CD.  I have had 2 cats that this happened to, in one the problem came back 2 or 3 more times but has been OK for a long time now. He does eat CD.

[Savas]

Nature's Organic is a good brand of cat food, but it's pricey and you need to get it at a pet store.

I've got a low opinion of most of the large brand name special cat foods. They tend to be full of junk like corn and other filler ingredients.

Whatever product you use, it should use "real meat by products."

Frankly, I always suggest that you try feeding your cat cheap cuts of chicken, beef or fish, mixed with rice as a mash. It can actually be much cheaper than the specialty foods, but it is more time consuming to prepare.

This should help your cat's water intake as well. The formation of crystals is partly caused by dehydration, and cats get over 85% of their water intake from food. If you're concerned, you can use a feeding syringe to give your cat a few cc's of water once or twice a day to keep kitty hydrated.