Crystals In Cat Urine Diet

Different types of crystals may develop if your cat isn t eating a proper complete and balanced diet.

Crystals in cat urine diet.

It takes approximately two months to correct levels via dietary changes. Also any condition that changes your cat s urine ph such as kidney disease or long term medication use can cause crystals. Cats that are routinely fed a diet of dry food are particularly at risk for struvite crystals. Dry foods are too high in some minerals and increase the risk of the cat developing crystals.

The more concentrated the urine the more likely minerals can become crystals and eventually stones. They ve evolved over millennia to get most of their moisture from prey. It mainly occurs due to lack of or inadequate moisture in cat food or lack of drinking water. Many believe that this is due to cats eating commercial foods that acidify the urine.

This partnered with a diet of dry cat food can lead to crystal development in the cat s urine. Dry cat food provides very little moisture in their diet can make their urine too concentrated making it difficult for them to pass the crystals. The three standard crystals in cats are struvite oxalate and urate. Crystalluria is a medical condition where crystals are expelled into the urine.

This has been the major reason that special dry diets have such variable results with preventing urinary crystals and stones in cats. Interestingly these crystals used to be extremely rare but now account for roughly half of feline urinary crystals. So how do you make a cat drink more water. Dealing with calcium oxalate crystals and stones can be a little more of a challenge.

An underlying cause for the development of struvite crystals is that many cats are reluctant to drink water from bowls. Cats should naturally have a very low acidic urinary ph and a ph over seven an alkaline ph can encourage certain types of crystals to form. The detection of urinary crystals is not synonymous with kidney stones or the clinical signs associated with them nor is detection of urine crystals irrefutable evidence of a stone forming tendency but there is some association with an increased risk for kidney stones in animals that are. Struvite and calcium oxalate are the most common crystals but their formation can t often be pinned to one cause.

Urinary crystals is a common problem in dehydrated cats. Cats should be fed a diet that consists of both wet and dry food. These crystals form when there is more magnesium calcium phosphorus or protein in the urine that it can be dissolved. These diets only contain 10 water.

These crystals which are microscopic in size tend to appear like fine sand and often occur as part of or because of other conditions.