Struvite Crystals In Cats Treatment

Struvite oxalate and urate.

Struvite crystals in cats treatment.

Urinary crystals in cats. When cats have struvite plugs in their urethra the tube that extends from the bladder to the outside of the body to discharge urine they are typically comprised of larger stones and are often mixed with crystals. There are three common crystals and stones in cats. Struvite specifically is a material that is composed of magnesium ammonium and phosphate.

Less common stones include ammonium biurate cystine and uric acid. Depending on the crystals present and other factors such as the urinary ph we can make an educated guess. Struvite crystals are microscopic crystals that are found in the urine of some cats. Once the stone is formed it increases in size over weeks or months.

Struvite crystals develop in concentrated urine once the urine becomes supersaturated crystals aggregate to form stones. The crystals themselves can be perfectly normal but become problematic when they combine to form grit or stones of varying shapes and sizes. Struvite and calcium oxalate are the most common type of stones in cats. Struvite stones are crystal like formations that are small in size and primarily made up of magnesium ammonium and phosphate.

Though it would be reasonable to think that if the cat was proven to have struvite crystals on their urine exam that any stones present would also be struvite this is not always the case. You may be alerted to this problem when you see your cat straining to urinate urinating outside the litter box urinating frequently has an increased thirst and or has cloudy or. Around half of all urinary stones in cats are struvite crystals.