Anybody know what to do about civvie with Struvites?

I'm writing this on behalf of my sister and her cat George (or Porgee). George is grossly obese and it's all because of his "necessary" diet - Royal Canin Urinary S/O. This food is evil, I've decided (as listed on Janet & Binky's page, Urinary S/O is 30% protein, 40% fat, and 30% carbohydrates, etc.).

Amazingly, George has tested negative for FD, but he seems to have a chronic problem with struvites, and needs help maintaining acidic urine. However, I'm reading more and more and it seems like the answer for struvites is the same for the prevention and management of FD (and other feline ailments) - a High Protein/Low Carbohydrate diet. I just wonder if that would be enough for a cat that has a chronic problem... or maybe if his chronic problem weren't simply being caused by the inadequacy of his former food.

This cat is short haired and was once svelte and gorgeous, now his gut - honest to goodness - swings from side to side when he jogs. Does anybody here have experience with struvites? I'd love for George to be able to lose weight - I know that gut is just shaving months off his lifespan, one by one. My sister would be heartbroken if she didn't get as many years of company as George could give her. :sad:

 

I would go straight to Dr LIsa's site www.catinfo.org and if that isn't enough information than I'd see if your sister could afford to do a phone consultation with her

Jen

 

Thank you! I've read the parts of that page concerning Diabetes, but I'd never picked up on the mention of Struvites - that's what skimming will get you, I suppose. I sent off an email to Sis', so maybe that link will help motivate her. That food is terrible - not to mention expensive.

 

when i nearly lost one of my civies to struvite crystals they had me put him on one of those prescription diets, of the dry kind unfortunately. same thing, turned him into a tub of lard who couldn't walk 6 feet without wheezing from the strain of all his fat.

2 years on that god awful food made him get calcium oaxylate (sp?) crystals and the clinic i had went to for years wanted to put him on another prescription food for those kind. mind you, the vet wasn't the same as the clinic had sold out to a corporation and i was already having bad feelings about the new staff.

my diabetic had just been diagnosed and i had taken her to a feline diabetes specialist who happened to be in my town so i ended up asking her about her thoughts on this other cat and she told me that i'd just be chasing crystals for the rest of his life if i kept him on those foods. she told me to put him on the same wet food as my diabetic, low carb wet store bought foods and he'd been find.

that was in 2006 and he is still with us today, no more instances of any kind of crystal, and he's slimmed down about 6-7 pounds and can move again.

oh, at that point i got copies of all my records from that clinic and never went back. all my kitties go to the new clinic since that point

 

yep, low carb wet is the best thing. read dr lisa's comments on crystals rather than struvite specifically.
add water to food, too. that helps a lot.

 

AJ had struvite crystals a few years back. Thank goodness I caught it in time. My vet at the time put him on Hills S/D wet for a couple of weeks to disolve the crystals and then he was put on Hills C/D wet and dry for quite a while. AJ got fat on the C/D and I'm convinced that's what gave him FD. Since he got diagnosed with FD, he's been on the low carb, high protein diet and has no trouble with crystals. And, he looks great.

 

wheezer also had struvite crystals and put on hills s/d ad the crystals did dissolve. unfortunately he was on dry all his life and he developed diabetes. my other civvie had oxylate crystals and needed surgery. since then, they all have been on lo carb wet and subsequently I make my own raw. they have slimmed down considerably and have had no further urinary problems.
I am also fostering 2 diabetic boyz. the one came to me at 18# 12oz and I put him on wet and he is down to `13# 7.2 oz. it does take a while and you have to do portion control but all cats are healthy and slim or slimming down

 

I have two kitties that have had struvite problems that are on CD. One has been on it for about 14 years and is doing fine. Not fat at all. One key is portion control.

 

Thank you, everybody, for all the input.

George, last time I heard, was being fed 1/2 cup twice a day. I thought it was less, and it may have been at one point, but the poor guy was miserable. I don't know for certain about now. That sounds like plenty of dry food for one boy, but I don't know - I've always had problems wrapping my head around scale and measurement.

Well, I gave her the link to Dr. Lisa's website, if she does something it'll be her choice. Now - to fuss over my own cat. :roll:

 

yeah, i kept asking the vet every few weeks after the first episode what she thought of my tiger's weight when we went in for our checkups. like i said, his first bout with them was pretty bad so we were in to the vet quite often to make sure he was flowing good for a couple months.

after a few months it was like a light went off in the vet's head and her reply to my question about his weight "ohhhhh, he's officially obese". she had been telling me to reduce his portions, pretty much to if i reduced them again, he wouldn't get fed. LOL!! poor guy.