why do cats get crystals in their urine?

Answer 1

I wish many people here would listen to Brittany and learn that it does matter what food your cat eats. If the cat eats poor food the money you may save will be taken from you when the cat has a urinary crisis and you have to pay the vet bills.

I don't care how many bowls of fresh water you put out for your cat it is never enough to hydrate a dry food diet and that's only if the cat will drink a significant amount of it (and they don't).

The crystals in the urine occur when the ph balance (alkaline vs. acid) gets out of whack in the cat, sometimes this can be from over-concentration of the urine, it can also result from stress. So crystals form when the urine is too alkaline - stones (which have to be removed surgically from the bladder) form when the urine is too acid. So the prescription food you get from the vet has methionine added to it to acidify the urine.

If your cat has a problem with crystals I would definitely change to canned food so that he has plenty of moisture to keep his urine dilute. You may want to use the special diet food (all cats seem to hate the stuff) to get things corrected and then change the diet. With wet food you can add your own methionine in powder form and test the urine for pH yourself with the test strips you may have used in high school science class. The cat's pH is a little more acidic than human is. Lavendar to pink is acid, blue is alkaline.

I'm not exactly sure what ash has to do with it. I suspect that ash residue may be alkaline and most food manufacturers are now aware of the problem and have taken measures to reduce the ash in their foods.

The issue of stress is like the chicken and egg connundrum. Does the cat get stressed because his urine is burning him or is he stressed by something that causes the urine to get out of balance. Maybe once the situation starts the two factors feed off one another to exacerbate the problem.

Answer 2

Your cat is in soreness and suffering. Cystitis is an extremely severe situation that may kill a cat in an issue of hours if it escalates and an entire blockage occurs. in case you have not got the potential to be a in charge puppy proprietor then you definately might desire to discover a sparkling abode with somebody who can look after this destructive animal as quickly as achieveable. there is not any abode scientific look after this situation. the only thank you to end the soreness is to get suitable vetrerinary scientific care. i'm hoping this destructive cat isn't left to go through for any further than is mandatory. i will in basic terms think of what pain it would desire to be to have sharp crystals and an infection making making your bladder bleed.

Answer 3

my cat just went through that and i had to spend $300.00 to get him fixed up. She said it was the type of cat food and treats that i was feeding him ( friskies) so the lower the price of food the higher the ash content. if there is any ash content in the food it just acts as a filler to fill their bellies a bit more. I am now feeding my precious Nova cat food its all natural with absolutely no ash content in it. its a bit more pricy than friskies but at least i wont have to deal with a huge vet bill again!!!!

Answer 4

There is too much ash in the cats diet. "Ash" is basically how much would be left over if you incinerated the food. I recommend switching your cats diet to Science Diet. It's expensive, but it has less ash and can stop this health problem.

Answer 5

Because the salt builds up in the cat's body and they have a hard time to pass it through the penis.

Answer 6

They are prone to this, or some are more so than others. Special cat food is available for such cats. Get it. It has to do with their diet.

Answer 7

i have had cats all my life and i have never encountered this problem. i always feed my cats meow mix. there have been no problems with it.

Answer 8

Same reason people do, not enough water in their diets