My cat has blood in urine and crystals. Could her treats be the cause?

I would not feed him anything except for the prescription diet. You can take the can version of the diet and put it in ice trays and freeze it to make treats for him. You could also look at the brand of prescription food and see if that have a compatible treat. You could even call the company and ask - most are more than willing to help. I hope this helps!

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Felix. Blood in the urine can be the result of bladder stones or crystals in the urine, an infection, bladder cancer, a bleeding disorder or a condition known as idiopathic cystitis. This last condition is an inflammation in the bladder with no known cause. It is thought that stress can make it worse. Typically bloodwork, a urinalysis and x-rays will be done to determine which of these conditions may be the cause. Depending on why he has the blood in his urine, he may need to eat the diet longterm. He should eat it exclusively for it to be effective. I hope this information helps!

An ultrasound of the whole urinary tract can be helpful for patients with unexplained blood in the urine. This would be of the kidneys and bladder as blood can come from anywhere along the urinary system. X-rays of the abdomen, after a pet has been fasted for at least 12 hours, can also be helpful. This can be important in some cases as not all problems can be identified with an ultrasound, such as stones in the tubes that lead from the kidney to the urinary bladder (ureter). Additionally a urine culture may be helpful to make sure that there is no underlying infection that is causing the blood. And, it is important to know how the sample was obtained. If it was freely collected from the patient or in the litter box then it is more concerning. If the sample is obtained as a sterile sample directly from the urinary bladder with a needle, then sometimes the blood in the urine is from the sampling (best sample for culture though). I hope this helps and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

Hello, & thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. If I am reading your question correctly, you indicate that Sapphire's urinary diet may have contributed to her developing cancer. I have never heard of this. Now, any chronic inflammation/irritation does have the potential to possibly incite a tissue to mutate to a malignant form, but again, this would be very unusual. For example, a bone cancer can developed at the site of a previous fracture in very rare instances. If your veterinarians have submitted urine to a laboratory, the sample should have come back with evidence of cancer cells. An ultrasound should also provide evidence of cancer, as well as a biopsy of the urinary bladder. If there is no evidence of cancer ( & I would be very suspicious of this in such a young cat ), then I would have no issues keeping Sapphire on a urinary diet to keep her crystalluria under control.

What a cute kitty! Your vet can prescribe a special prescription diet to help manage the crystals in his urine. The one we commonly prescribe is Royal Canin SO diet, but there are several others available as well. These diets help keep the urine pH at an appropriate level and can decrease or eliminate the crystals in the urine.

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Beatrice. Royal Canin Veterinary Diets makes a prescription urinary diet as does Purina ProPlan Veterinary Diets. These options may be better for her if the current diet is not helping the crystals. This should be verified by frequent urine examinations. Adding more moisture to her diet through water or canned food will help dilute her urine. This will help as well. I hope this information helps!

Buddy is so handsome! Unfortunately, blood in the urine can be an indication of bladder stones, and inflammation of the bladder which can be extremely uncomfortable. Buddy may not be able to urinate, which can cause back up of urine in the kidneys and make him very sick. I recommend making sure that he has plenty of water to drink, but having him seen by a vet as soon as possible.