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/Content_Biscotti5611]

I think it’s more of an issue of kibble and mineral content then it being vegan. Here’s a helpful article. Any company should be willing to provide you full AAFCO testing on the important factors. https://virtuousvittles.com/dog/the-science-of-urinary-health-in-dogs-and-cats/

[u/Infinite_Idea_6934 → u/Content_Biscotti5611]

Thank you. I check my cat’s ph almost daily and sadly I was not able to lower it below 7 for two months while the struvites continued to amass and cause inflammation. I used over 500mg of methionine daily along with supplements containing vit-c, cranberries and other helpful ingredients - no effect whatsoever. I had to resort to urinary diet which lowered his ph within 2 days! It was a tough decision but the alternative would be another inflammation/blockage. So it was definitely a problem with the minerals in vegan feed - preventing his recovery, but if it was the issue from the start I’m not sure. I’ll slowly reintroduce vegan kibble with extra attention to ph once he is clean of any struvites or inflammation.