Crystal Cat Diet

Urinary tract crystals aren't just painful for cats; they also can be dangerous. If they block the urethra in a male cat, crystals can become a life threatening emergency. Among the symptoms of crystals in cats are blood in the urine, crying out while urinating, producing little or no urine, urinating outside the litter box and licking the urinary opening. Veterinarians believe diet plays a role in whether a cat develops crystals.

Types of Crystals

Struvite crystals are a combination of magnesium, ammonium and phosphorous, and thrive in alkaline urine, according to the doctors at Utah Veterinary Clinics. They're most likely to afflict young adult cats. Older cats are prone to calcium oxylate crystals, which form in acidic urine. Both types of crystals have sharp edges that rub against the walls of the bladder, causing irritation and inflammation.

Causes

Veterinarians believe both stress and an all- or mostly dry-food diet, which lacks sufficient moisture, can influence a cat's urine pH and cause it to be either too alkaline or too acidic. Either condition creates an environment that encourages formation of crystals.

Prevention

Cats need water, according to veterinarian and feline nutrition expert Leslie A. Pierson. "Water helps flush out debris," including crystals, she says on her website, Catinfo.org. It also keeps the urine diluted, and diluted urine is considered less irritating to the bladder wall."

Using cat fountains, locating water bowls throughout the house away from food dishes and adding flavoring, such as unsalted chicken broth, to a cat's water can encourage drinking.

Proper Diet

Feeding an all-wet-food diet is "the healthiest way to keep your cat's bladder flushed out and happy," Pierson says. Because most cats don't have a strong thirst drive and drink very little water, wet or canned food provides the additional moisture they need to create dilute urine and maintain the proper urine pH. According to Pierson, a meat-based wet-food diet also "leads to mildly acidic urine" and an environment that is inhospitable to the formation of crystals.

Feeding Schedule

Veterinarian Holly Nash says cats that are prone to crystals should be allowed to freely feed or should have several small meals every day. Writing for the website PetEducation.com, she says the pH of the cat's urine tends to become more alkaline after a large meal. "By eating small meals throughout the day, the urine pH will stay more acidic," she says. The veterinarians at the Rutherford Animal Hospital in Rutherford, New Jersey, add that a consistent and predictable feeding routine can reduce the stress that may lead to crystal formation. They recommend feeding wet food three or four times a day. Wet food won't go bad if left out for several hours, so it can be fed the same way as dry food.