My cat has bladder stones. Should I change her diet before testing?

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Pan. Urinary SO is a high quality urinary diet. Provided your cat has the type of stones susceptible to dissolution, the diet can begin working in as little as 7 days. The size of the stones dictates how long until dissolution is complete. Struvite also known as triple phosphate stones are susceptible to dissolution. I hope this information helps!

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I am sorry you and Sanjee are going through this. First I think it important to wait until the stone analysis is back before deciding 100% what to do diet wise. Even though she has calcium oxalate crystals doesn't mean the stone will be that exactly, though it is likely. Calcium oxalate stones are the hardest to prevent recurrence. I recommend Veterinary Prescription diets like Royal Canin SO, Hill's c/d or Purina UR. I also recommend monitoring urine pH and concentration. Calcium oxalate crystals form in more acidic (lower pH) urine. If the diet alone won't control the pH and keep it more neutral sometimes we have to add potassium citrate. I think periodic X-rays to check for recurrence are also important. There are many small white dogs that have had many cystotomies to remove calcium oxalate stones. I hope this helps and I wish Sanjee the best today for her surgery and a speedy recovery!

Surgery may be the next option if he won't eat the prescription diet. Discuss other diets, both canned and dry, with your veterinarian first. It may take several weeks to months to fully dissolve any stones or crystals. Try to get him to drink as much water as possible to dilute his urine.

I'm sorry to see that Beau has this large bladder stone! The most common types of bladder stones in cats are struvite and calcium oxalate, but the only surefire way to differentiate between the two is with a stone analysis after the stone has been surgically removed. The Hill's C/D multicare can dissolve some struvite stones, but will not dissolve calcium oxalate stones. For the long term, however, this diet is fantastic at preventing a recurrence of such bladder stones and crystals. It's a bit of a gamble using a diet to dissolve stones, particularly in male cats, because of the potential of part of the stone breaking off and causing a urinary obstruction, or blockage, as this is a life-threatening emergency. I generally find it to be safest and most effective to remove bladder stones surgically since you know that it's going to work right away without the same obstruction risks. I hope that everything goes well for Beau!

The appropriate diet here would be the urinary diet either Urinary S/O or Hill's C/D, and then placing your pet on a liver protectant medication to address the liver issues. The liver protectant medication is called Denamarin, and has to be prescribed by your vet. I would then consider getting your pet an abdominal ultrasound to better define what is specifically going on with the liver, so that we know what mode of therapy would be best to manage things going forward, because these values (ALKP, CHOL) can be changed by not just the liver, but also the gallbladder and adrenal glands. I hope that your pet Ceca is able to manage both of her conditions well moving forward. Best wishes and take care. : )

I would recommend seeing your veterinarian for a recheck. Struvite stones often form secondary to a urinary tract infection so your vet may want to test Beemo’s urine to make sure there is not currently an infection present. If you’re able to save a stone for your vet they might want to send it out for analysis - occasionally dogs can have multiple types of bladder stones and it’s possible your vet may want to change the diet or add a supplement if this is the case.

Hello. I am so sorry for your concerns about Sofia. The RC Urinary s/o is an excellent diet, but sometimes we see a difference in the various manufacturers of these diets. The first thing to do, & this is a good time to do so, is recheck her urine. After about two weeks on a specialty diet, there should not be any ( or at least very few ) crystals in the urine. If there are still a substantial number of crystals, & depending on if they are struvite or oxylate crystals, you may need to try another diet, such as the Hills or the Purina lines of prescription urinary diets. Another thing to consider is switching to a wet/canned diet. The substantial amount of extra water a cat consumes with the wet diet helps to significantly dilute the urine thus helping to flush out existing crystals & preventing the formation of new ones. Best of luck & thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.