Crystals In Cat Urine

Crystals in the urine irritate the cat s bladder and can lead to bladder stones or to a condition known as feline lower urinary tract disease or flutd.

Crystals in cat urine.

Different types of crystals may develop if your cat isn t eating a proper complete and balanced diet. Crystals in cats also known as feline crystalluria is a medical condition which involves the formation of crystals in the cat s urine. The crystals themselves can be perfectly normal but become problematic when they combine to form grit or stones of varying shapes and sizes. Younger cats can develop crystals in their urine just as easily as older cats so age isn t really a factor.

Crystalluria is a medical condition where crystals are expelled into the urine. This is because crystals or bladder stones do not form when minerals are adequately diluted. Struvite crystals are microscopic crystals that are found in the urine of some cats. Also any condition that changes your cat s urine ph such as kidney disease or long term medication use can cause crystals.

Many believe that this is due to cats eating commercial foods that acidify the urine. Interestingly these crystals used to be extremely rare but now account for roughly half of feline urinary crystals. Urinary crystals are microscopic structures that can be found in the urine of many animals including cats. The detection of urinary crystals is not synonymous with kidney stones or the clinical signs associated with them nor is detection of urine crystals irrefutable evidence of a stone forming tendency but there is some association with an increased risk for kidney stones in animals that are.

I just changed her entire diet to wet cat food beginning today and going to see if i notice any changes in her urine within the next month. Struvite specifically is a material that is composed of magnesium ammonium and phosphate. These crystals which are microscopic in size tend to appear like fine sand and often occur as part of or because of other conditions. Some normal animals can have crystals in their urine although sometimes they are indicative of an underlying issue especially if present in large numbers or accompanied by urinary symptoms.

If the crystals form in to stones diets are not effective at dissolving them and they require more drastic intervention. My cat spooki has urinary crystals we realized this after months of her urinating on our bed everyday out of nowhere and at some point i saw glitter in each pile of urine. Male cats are far more likely to form urine crystals than females but that doesn t mean females can t be affected. Cats may develop urine crystals when the have a urinary tract infection or they may develop these crystals independently of any infection.

Flutd includes crystal formation in the bladder which might obstruct the cat s urethra.