Cat Urinary Tract- Struvite Crystals in Urine

A quick run through

We are now dealing with Moejo not only having IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) but now he is having a problem with Crystals in his Urine.
I noticed him having trouble urinating a couple weeks ago. I knew about the condition. So I knew what to look for. But for those who don't know.

If your kitty is:

Spending alot of time in the litter box.
Straining to Urinate or maybe you think he might be having a hard time defecating.
Yelling out in pain.
Painful to the touch.
Urinating a little and stopping or not urinating at all
Urinating out side of the litter box or in weird places
Licking their genitals alot
In male cats the penis may not withdraw into the sheath
Blood in the urine
Weird color of urine, Brownish, dark yellow (can mean blood)
Struvite crystals sometimes stick to the fur around the penis
White or yellowish discharge around penis

If you see any of these symptoms it can be a life of death situation and you kitty should be taken immediately to the vet! a cat can die from as little as 12 hours from not urinating. The urine backs up into the kidneys and the kidneys will stop producing urine! Which means all the toxins in the busy will build up and send the kidney's into kidney(renal) failure. So it is very important to watch for those signs! And be quick you kitty may need catheterized to release all the urine and help him clear some crystals of stones!

What causes crystals in the bladder? Alot of scientists think it is caused by high amounts of ash in the food. Cheap food has way, way to much ash. But evidence in a lab setting has not showed favorable out comes for this theory. They have not been able to prove that ash causes stuvite crystals in the bladder. But just in case and for many other reasons it is important to feed your animals a good quality food. Which I do feed all of our animals very good quality food.

So why Did Moe get crystals?

Crystals are formed in the bladder when magnesium levels are to high. This causes the bladder to become acidic and causes struvite crystals to form. To much magnesium in animal food can cause this. But I think Moe's problem is that one of our other cats pick on him so he doesn't come out of the bedroom much. So I don't know how much water he normally intakes but I would guess probably not enough.

and yes not enough water can cause their to be not enough liquid in the bladder to keep the alkalinity normal. There for causing buildup of to many toxins and making the bladder acidic.

Moe also has a UTI (Urinary Tract Infection). This could have caused some of the crystals or could just be secondary caused by all the crystals.

So what will they do for your Kitty at the vet?

• 1st is a urine sample. Needs to be collected in a clean container. No cat litter! Just urine. They will test it for several different things including a Crystal count. Moes count was so high that they could not come up with a number. His urine was also dark and some of the other tests could not be read correctly and will have to be done again. At our normal clinic I paid $31 for the urinalysis.

• 2nd they will check for Kidney stones! Specially in Male cats. Their Urethra is alot smaller so if a kidney stone is flushed out it could cause a block. This is normally done with an ultrasound.

They will shave kitty's belly and put a jelly on it and look around with their hand held. Hopefully no stones are found. This will range in price from $80 to $250 and it includes the office visit. Hospitals will charge alot more then Vet clinics. So always check clinics first. Moe was lucky and has no kidney stones to be seen.

• So next he has been put on Clavamox ($30 every 10 days) for 4 weeks for his UTI and I would assume to stop any further complications due to infection.

• He was put as SD ($1.60 a can) food. Which is very high in sodium and will be on it for 4 weeks. The sodium will make him drink more and will help flush his kidneys out. Next we will need to do a full blood panel to check and make sure his kidney function is doing ok with the high Sodium food.
  This will run about $100 to $120 dollars.
• At some point in the next week or so I will need to send in another urine sample to test again. To see how things are progressing. To see if the "flush" is doing its job. And to see if the other tests, that were messed up by the color of his urine the first time, can be completed. Another $31

This will not be the end. He will have to be on special food for at least 2 to 3 months if not for the rest of his life. It will not be the SD. It will be a food a little lower in sodium but higher then normal food. It will also be low in Magnesium and Phosphorus.

After you kitty gets crystals once it is something you will always have to be awear of and make sure kitty is urinating normally at all times. It can be a returning problem.

Moe is doing ok today. He has been relaxing in the bedroom and I have now put water and food bowls all over the house to make sure he is getting enough. I will update later.