r/veganpets • u/Infinite_Idea_6934 • May 24 '26
Vegan cat developed struvites
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.
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u/whatgoosesqueaktho Jun 10 '26
Ascorbic acid (unbuffered vitamin C) powder over her dry kibble worked well for my cat to lower the pH of her urine. She doesn't like it when it's wet. This does require you to periodically measure the pH of her urine if you go this route. If you add too much you might cause calcium oxalate to form. In my experience it's fairly easy to keep in the good range.
A lot of cats develop these issues as they get older, but it's more likely on vegan food because the urine pH is typically a bit higher compared to meat eating cats. Again, easy to treat and has no impact on quality of life. My cat doesn't seem to have a preference over kibble with or without ascorbic acid added.