Kidney stones are relatively uncommon in cats, but when they do occur, they can be devastating. Kidney stones are caused when minerals in the cat's urine solidify and clump together to form a stone. Kidney stones are extremely painful for cats. They can block the flow of urine from the body, damaging kidney function and even causing kidney failure. Often, they must be removed surgically. When it comes to kidney stones in cats, prevention really is the best medicine.
Things You'll Need
- Special diet to prevent kidney stones
- Clean water dish or water fountain
- Salt
- Other testing equipment or prescription drugs as needed
Instructions
Preventing a First Occurence of Kidney Stones
If your cat has never had kidney stones, you can often prevent them with a few simple precautions. First, feed your cat at least some canned food. Dehydrated cats are more prone to kidney stones, and canned food contains extra water that helps keep them hydrated.
Encourage your cat to drink enough water by ensuring that clean, fresh water is always available. Adding 1/4 teaspoon of salt to each pint of water in your cat's bowl will encourage your cat to develop a healthy thirst.
If your cat shows any signs of a urinary tract infection (urinating outside the litter box, frequent urination, vomiting, weakness, depression or pain while urinating) take it to the vet immediately. Untreated urinary tract infections can often progress and lead to kidney stones.
Preventing Kidney Stones from Recurring
If your cat is diagnosed with kidney stones, ask your vet to determine what the kidney stones are made of. Because different cats have different body chemistries, stones can be made out of different materials. Struvite kidney stones, made out of magnesium ammonium phosphate, are the most common. However, some cats get kidney stones that are made out of calcium oxalate.
Once your vet knows what kind of minerals the kidney stones are made out of, she can prescribe a special diet to dissolve existing stones and help keep new stones from forming. If the stones are made of struvite, the diet will be low in protein, magnesium and phosphorus. It will also contain ingredients that will make the cat's urine more acidic, because struvite stones dissolve in acidic urine.
If the stones are made of calcium oxalate, your veterinarian will prescribe a different type of diet. Calcium oxalate stones form in urine that is too acidic, so the diet will aim to make your cat's urine more alkaline. Also, the diet should be high in phosphorus but low in salt, protein, glucose, sucrose, magnesium.
If your cat will not eat the prescription diet, ask your vet for a suitable, balanced recipe for homemade cat food.
Provide copious amounts of clean, fresh water for your cat. If your cat has struvite-based stones, add a little bit of salt (1/4 tsp. per pint) to its drinking water to encourage it to drink as much water as possible. However, if your cat has calcium oxalate stones, don't add salt to its water because salt increases levels of oxalate in the blood.
Take your cat back to the vet periodically for checkups. If your cat does not respond to a change in diet, your vet may prescribe a drug to help prevent kidney stones from recurring.
For cats with calcium oxalate stones, your vet may give you a home urine test kit to monitor the composition of your cat's urine and make sure that the therapy you are using is effective.