Is cranberry juice safe for cats with a history of urine crystals?

Urinary issues are quite common in cats. Different issues can include urinary tract infections, crystals in the urine, bladder stones, feline lower urinary tract disease (FLUTD) that is often related to stress, among many other conditions. As with most health-related issues, prevention is the name of the game. Offer your cat ample quantities of water to assure that they are drinking appropriate volumes. Some cats prefer running water sources, so a water fountain designed for cats may be helpful. Water can also be mixed in with canned foods or added to dry food. Monitoring your cat at home for changes is another critical step. Always be sure that your cat is using the litter box appropriately by urinating normal volumes several times per day and is not straining excessively in the box. Too much or too little urine volume can indicate changes that warrant veterinary attention, as can straining to urinate, vocalizing while urinating, or blood in the urine. If a cat has been previously diagnosed with bladder stones or crystals, your veterinarian may recommend a prescription diet to regulate the pH of the urine and mineral content of the diet to prevent the recurrence of these issues. Cats with previously diagnosed FLUTD may also benefit from calming pheromone collars or diffusers to keep their stress levels at bay.

Poor Dylan! I would recommend you keep him on a canned prescription diet for urinary crystals. Your veterinarian can recommend one that should work. I usually recommend rechecking the urine after at least 2 weeks of this diet to make sure the crystals are no longer present and the diet is working. You also can try environmental enrichment to see if that helps with his stress level. For example, you can use shelves to make space so he can perch up high away from the other cats and have his space. I would also make sure you have multiple litter boxes and they are cleaned regularly. We want to encourage him to use the litter box often and not hold his urine. Feliway is a product you can purchase either through your vet or at a pet store that sometimes helps with stress. It is a synthetic cat pheromone that is sometimes effective to help with stress and urinary issues with cats. It will not impact the crystals, but hopefully help calm him and make him more relaxed and use the litter box more readily. Some vets also will add in glucosamine to the cats diet. It won't hurt and could possibly help with his cystitis. Some cats needs other medications, like anti-depressants, if they are still having problems. Hopefully a few changes will improve Dylan's overall situation. Good luck!

Hello, sorry to hear about Jack. It really depends on what type of crystals your cat has, however, in general feeding canned wet food to increased moisture and water intake is generally recommended over dry food. Any wet food is preferable and it does not have to be specific for urinary stones. Some crystals are more likely to form with acidic urine and some are more likely to form with alkaline urine. However, they both benefit from having more water consumption which can be in the form for canned food. If you're unable to continue to feed the c/d food, then you may discuss transitioning to canned food with your veterinarian as a more feasible alternative. At this time, it is unclear if a urinary diet helps decrease the incidence of crystals. In regards to the nutritional content of the diet, it will be adequate to provide for Jacks' nutritional requirements as all diets are formulated following AAFCO guidelines. Hope this helps and best of luck.

Hello. The development of crystals in the urine is pretty complicated & not related to any one thing. Stress, diet, the amount of water consumed each day, & how Samie's kidneys deal with urinary waste products all contribute to the development of crystals. Sometimes there is even a bladder infection to add to the problems. So no, tuna does not cause crystals, & it takes more than a few days for the crystals to develop & start causing a problem. Based on the type of crystal present, placing a cat on a special diet can help correct & prevent further problems. Increasing the amount of fluids taken in each day can also flush out the crystals & we often recommend low sodium broths, stocks & tuna water to accomplish this. Find out from your vet what type of crystal is bothering Samie & see if a diet change would be appropriate for her. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

It is important that Ike has an increased amount of water in his diet to prevent the reformation of crystals in his urine. I can understand wanting to try to make his feeding regiment more cost effective, but if he doesn't get enough moisture in his diet, then he could develop crystals again. If you want to start adding some dry food to his diet, I would soak it the dry food in water to get more moisture into his diet. You can also try mixing a little bit of dry food in with the wet food.

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.

From Royal Canin's website: "This diet is only suitable for healthy adult cats that do not have a urinary issue or a history of urinary problems. This food is not a replacement for a diet prescribed by your veterinarian." If Elbi has already had a urinary problem, I don't recommend considering switching to the urinary care food. Urinary S/O is designed to encourage more drinking, as well as neutralize the pH of the urine - both of those together tend to almost completely eliminate the chances of crystals forming.