Asking for another Pray for another one of my Bunch - Ashley more crystals

I took Sebass to the vets today and since I was headed there it just so happened that there was a lot of pee on the floor in the bathroom this morning.

It was a lot of pee not just a little bit like there has been from time to time. So I got some pee in a bag (good thing I scrubbed the floor yesterday) and I'm assuming it's Ashley because she is the one who likes to do this a lot and we confined her before to find out that the pee matched. I asked the vet tech while I called to check on Sebastian and she said she still has a lot of struvite crystals in her urine and her pH was 7 1/2-8.

Sebastian has struvite crystals as well and he is being fed the C/D cat food. Claudia I think still has it but I'm not certain. I've been feeding our guys the California Natural Chicken and Brown for cats and kittens and that's about $30 a bag of cat food and we go through 2 bags a month usually. I am wondering though in the back of my mind did I make a good choice in switching their cat food??

I never had problems crystal in cats pee but maybe I just never checked it out either because we always assumed it was Anika peeing until she passed away and the peeing continued and then we found out Ashley had crystals and they checked Claudia and said she did too.

So we put everyone on the C/D food but then Hermes aka Little Man kept scratching his head open so much (went through a surgery to remove the tissue and that didn't tell us much at all) that we went to the California Natural Chicken and Brown Rice for cats and kittens and just recently he scratched his head open again and he had to wear the cone for about 2 weeks and then he's finally left his head alone for now.

Now I'm just thinking if we have to switch Ashley back to the C/D food which I'm sure they are going to want us to do then I guess we'll just have to keep an eye on Hermes to see if he opens his head again or not.

I'm sure these crystals are the reason why Ashley keeps peeing outside the box. Before we put her on Amitriptyline and that really didn't see to help her. I know Mary what you are going to say about that too and I did talk with my vet about it and she said she would look into it but I'm thinking the reason why she keeps peeing must be the crystals but I can't be sure.

I remember when we were trying to start to feed our cats better we tried the Felidae for Cats and Kittens and Ashley ended up becoming allergic to it so we had to stop that one. I'm wondering if another brand would work for her or not.

I know the last time I asked the vet about this they said it's pretty common for cats to have crystals in their urine and it's mostly genetics in a cat.

So none of my cats are related other than we all live together and yet now 3 of my 10 cats have it.

Melissa

Prayers for Ashley and Hermes and your whole family there..

:( Awee poor Ashley.. I hope you get to feeling better soon.. Your sure Stunning with Beauty.. Sending Prayers & Huggss.. Keep us posted..

Melissa, I'm sorry you're going through this, and that your pets are, too.

I have had extensive conversations with other folks who have had this issue with their cats and we've found out a few things through our discussions.

1) Vets are rarely schooled in nutrition. They'll often recommend junky food and/or dry food for cats with urinary issues, albeit urinary health food. Our research has led us to the knowledge that wet food is best for cats with urinary issues. Every bit of info I read in books or on-line said that not only should cats with urinary tract issues not have dry food, in general, cats should be fed wet/canned food diets.

2) If it's high PH causing the issues, you need to find out what foods have low PH and also go as far as to check your drinking waters PH levels.

This link might help you out some:
http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.ph...=show&item=017

3) get a copy of the urinalysis and research it on your own

I went through over a year of struggling to understand the urinary issues and find a solution for Tiger Lily, whom I ultimately ended up rehoming. Her issues were stress induced sterile cystitis. She never had crystals or bacteria, just high PH and blood, straining and leaving little behind. We went as far as an ultra-sound to be absolutely sure there was nothing anatomically or medically wrong with her. We went the route of low-ph canned food only, amitriptyline for stress, segregating her from the other cats, etc. It just wasn't working. We deduced that Tiger Lily just was not meant to be part of a multi-cat household. Since she has been re-homed to an only cat home, she has been fine...no more amit., no more cystitis.

It can be really stressful for all involved when urinary issues are going on with our pets, believe me I know. And the stress itself is enough to cause the issue.

I hope something I've shared will help you and that you can get these urinary tract issues in the past.

Oh No!
That has to be one of the most painful ailments that can strike a Cat and one that is alos embarrasing as no Cat wants to be dirty!
:(
We are praying that your White Coats can cure Ashleys condition before it gets any worse.:love:
Awesome Angels are with Ashley now , helping her feel better!!:love::love:

Big prayers for Ashley and Sebastian!!

Melissa, I'm sorry to hear this.:( I also agree that most vets aren't very well educated when it comes to nutrition. I used to feed all of my cats Royal Canin Urinary S/O because of Storm's urinary problems. Then my RB Starr and Pearl became sick from it. The vet I have now and the holistic vet that I used to see both recommended that I start feeding my cats a grain free diet. They even said that it would be good for Storm as long as I fed him plenty of canned food mixed with extra water. I've been feeding Innova Evo dry and canned for a little over 2 years now and Storm's never had any more urinary problems since. I've also started feeding them some of the Nature's Variety canned too. Even though he had the PU surgery because he became blocked 2 times, he would still either get struvite crystals or UTI's with other diets.

Now I don't feed as much dry as I used to. I mix some dry in with the canned and then I mix in some water. For Storm I make sure to that it's more like a gravy and he gets his without any dry. For Sky, Sunny, and Ziggy I just put a little water so that I can mix up the canned food better with the dry. For Pearl I give her a little canned food on her mat and then I give her dry food separately because she's very picky.

I hope that you'll be able to find a new diet that will work for all of your cats. I also hope that the crystals aren't being caused by stress. I'll keep you and all of your cats in my thoughts and prayers. Please take care.

Prayers going up for Ash and Sebass and you, too, Melissa. You must be exhausted. :love:

Awww! I hope you can get to the bottom of it and find a diet that works so things can get better.