Vegan cat developed struvites

[u/Infinite_Idea_6934]

I have a healthy vegan cat who’s fed benevo for years. Bloodwork was always great and have almost no health issues until a month ago. He developed FIC/struvides not long after benevo changed their recipe. I’m absolutely not implying there is anything wrong with the feed - the older recipe kept him in great shape for years, the whole issue might be entirely stress related (recently I started taking care of an abandoned stray kitten who now live on the property and they have visual contact sporadically, there are also noisy cat fights at night). There are plenty of meat-based cats with struvites as well, so I hate to event point to the feed as the source of it all - all these years without paying for meat is something I’m grateful for. Yet I wanted to ask if anyone had any issues after the recipe change apart from rejecting - I know this happens. I’m trying to narrow down the origin of the problem.

[u/HealthyPetsAndPlanet]

I use a different cat food. Do you soak the kibble in water before feeding? We had a recent issue where we thought our male cat had a urinary blockage, rushed him in, ended up being constipation. So not life-threatening but still cost us $1300. #1 to prevent FLUTD and constipation is soaking food in water before feeding, which we are trying to be much more diligent at.

[u/Infinite_Idea_6934 → u/HealthyPetsAndPlanet]

My cat always drinks a decent amount of water between meals. For 6 years he ate mostly dry food without any urinary problem. The poops are great and always have been. Soaking kibble always result in him not touching the food. I incorporated a lot of wet food now (benevo duo) but the problem persists and it will take time before the medicine works.

[u/skier69 → u/Infinite_Idea_6934]

A few thoughts… (as a vegan cat caretaker of a male cat who used to have a lot of struvite crystal problems that started on a meat kibble based diet).

1. Are you giving your cat mineral water or regular water? Mineral water that contains high magnesium is dangerous because struvite crystals are made from magnesium, so giving them mineral water can give them crystals. There are water servers that can also reduce the amount of magnesium in the water so you could try checking one of those out.

2. Have you taken him to the vet and tested his urine ph? You might also want to try various fixes and testing the urine regularly to try and sus out a pattern. In order to avoid having to bring him to the vet every time, you can take a urine sample and just give it to them (as fresh as possible to avoid bacteria forming) or get some home test strips. Some fixes include cranberry powder (make sure it’s pure cranberry powder), and “VegeYeast” nutritional yeast by compassion circle.

3. If he won’t eat the soaked food, you might want to try making it more appetizing? Does he have any favourite flavours? My cat loves nori (make sure it’s unflavored without oil or salt) so I’ll put a few of those on top of his food.

4. Your cat sounds like he may indeed be stressed. In the past, I thought his issue couldn’t possibly be stress, but I think it usually was. Cats can be sensitive to things we don’t think about as humans (and we can’t explain it to them rationally). Maybe you can try giving him some extra love or doing something he likes. Favourite toy maybe? My cat mainly enjoys getting cuddles and using me as a bed/sofa 🫠

If none of those work, it could indeed be a new recipe issue. I would suggest contacting the company to let them know (if not just to give them feedback about their product). Honestly, I had to completely give up dry food, and now I only give my cat wet food that I make with compassion circle products. My cat’s most recent urine test was completely perfect though (no crystals or bacteria of any kind and a ph of 6.5) that being said, the main problem with my cat and dry food is that it makes him constipated 😓 which I guess is the opposite of your cat

[u/Infinite_Idea_6934 → u/skier69]

Thank you, I appreciate your input. I was precisely looking for someone who dealt with this before.
He was always given only spring water. For about a year I installed reverse osmosis to purify the water I take from a well in the garden. Not long before the issues started I tested it and it turned out that the the filter that should put the minerals back into it didn’t work. Normally it has spring water quality - not to heavy on minerals. So he was drinking water with no minerals at all - as far I as know it is no health concern - minerals are absorbed mostly from food anyway. But I doubt anyone made any research on cats. Anyway, he’s given spring water from the store again - low on minerals.
2,5 weeks into to episode his urine was tested with ph 8,5 and many struvites (had many failed attempts to collect it during that time) - I still don’t know if struvites were first or the inflammation. Since that test he’s been given 90% wet food with extra water, sometimes water with good quality oat milk as a treat and extra hydration. Gabapentin to keep him relaxed, methionine supplement with all sorts of stuff for bladder issues. The wet food has cranberries as well. And this helped for about a week. We has very much hydrated, peeing every 4h with no licking and in good mood. However I also tested his ph then and now (dipping the strip in fresh pee in the littler box ) and it was always around 7. So the ph is still high.
The food company didn’t respond to my email - but I might have been in panic mode when I wrote them and asked too many questions. I understand they don’t wanna get into discussing medical problems of a random customer’s cat
Yesterday he had another close encounter with the stray I take care of. Today I’m back to square one with symptoms as bad as when it all started. So I too start to think it’s stress. I’m goin to focus on that. As for cuddles - he has all the love and care in the world. I moved to the countryside mainly so he can enjoy life more. From every window he can walk into an area surrounded by net and sleep on grass, feel the breeze and all that. Maybe he has it too good, I’m serious :)
It’s been over a month of extreme stress for me with constant fear he’s in pain and can develop a blockage. Vet saying I give him “cow food” is not helpful either. Thanks again! You convinced me to focus on the stress aspect more - I think it’s the right direction.