FLUTD in cats - home remedy to prevent kidney stones in domestic cats

Don’t worry Stinky, we will take care of it.

Stinky is our pet tuxedo cat, its about 8 years old and very active as we say ‘athletic’ cat. He is extremely annoying as he starts meowing about 5am in the morning everyday till we actually wake up at 6am. However, he is always there at the front door to greet us when we are back from work. He gently purrs when we watch movies and disturbs peace by scratching on to the carpet just to get some attention. Needless to say, he is our pet cat and part of our daily lives.

Since yesterday evening, Stinky has been frequently visiting the litter box. First it seemed odd, but when we were about to clean his litter box there were not many identifications of pee. Today morning he visited the litter box almost 12 times and we checked and there were no symptoms of pee. He does like to lick himself (vanity of cats), but now his licks are mostly on the hindquarters. Worried I started digging for information online. The symptoms of frequent litter visits with no/little pee point to FLUTD (Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease).

If you are new to this issue I would strongly recommend that you at least glance at the link below. The article provides a snapshot of FLUTD and groupings based on age of cat.

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=611

After reading this article along with the other links that were provided, we educated ourselves with basic knowledge (though far from complete). Here is the information we had in our hand, Stinky is about 8 years old and male and we did not notice any blood in this litter box (which eliminates the urinary tract infection), it is very likely that he either has a urethral blockage or partial blockage. If it is UB it could be caused by two types of crystals depending on the pH of the urine. I created a simple diagram to help understand it better

The most common of it is the Struvite crystals. Dry cat food is the suspected source for this type. Most dry cat food lead to a “basic pH’ of cat pee due to ingredients from processed vegetable/feed sources. Stinky is highly likely to be prone to such since he mostly eats only dry cat food. Apart from his ‘basic pH’ issue, another common problem with excessive dry cat food use is chronic dehydration. Although young ones are able to cope up with it better, age does play a significant part.

If it is struvite crystals/stones/obstruction, immediate vet attention is needed. In our case we (as of now) think that we observed this behavior early. From a food scientist point of view, the easiest way to control blood pH is by using vinegar/citric acid. They provide acidity without altering pH by much. This prompted to more internet reading. And to my knowledge most home remedies, include ACV (apple cider vinegar) treatment. I was not sure if Stinky will eat anything that had vinegar in it, but to our surprise he licked the wet cat bowl clean.

Here is my recipe:

1. Half can wet cat food (preferably whiskers, since it is ground and easy to mix with ACV)

2. ½ tsp of ACV (I bought the one in walmart).

3. 1 Tbsp of warm water (this is way to make him drink more water)

4. We also applied ACV to his paws and hind quarters (places that he licks most often).

For long term we have decided to alternate between the dry cat food and the basic wet cat food. He is on schedule for two days of wet cat food per week. Also once every month, Stinky might have to go through the ordeal of ACV wet cat food, just as a means to purge any of those Struvite crystals.

My primary suspicion on struvite crystals is based on his food ingredients. I’m not particularly pleased to see lot of processed grains/feed in cat food label. At this point, I feel it is my responsibility to be aware of my pets eating habits, rather than blaming it on cat food makers.

Note: Based on my observation over past four days, Stinky is now back to healthy pee and poop. He is running around more often and ofcourse…. His restroom visits are back to normal. “Don’t worry STINKY, we will be there for you”.

Update: 03/14/2019 - Stinky was one of the reasons, I got into pet food industry. And after 7 years of working in this area, I have stronger opinions and beliefs about the underlying mechanism for this 'life threatening condition'. Will post a separate blog on Feline Nutrition.