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.
Struvite crystals in cats treatment.
Struvite crystals are the most common form of mineral crystals that form in a cats urinary tract.
Less common stones include ammonium biurate cystine and uric acid.
Struvite crystals are microscopic crystals that are found in the urine of some cats.
Struvite crystals are made up of magnesium ammonium and phosphate.
Struvite crystals develop in concentrated urine once the urine becomes supersaturated crystals aggregate to form stones.
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.
Struvite and calcium oxalate are the most common type of stones in cats.
Depending on the crystals present and other factors such as the urinary ph we can make an educated guess.
Struvite oxalate and urate.
There are three common crystals and stones in cats.
The development of crystals and stones is mostly dependent upon the ph of the urine and the concentration of minerals in the urine.
Urinary crystals in cats.
Struvite stones are crystal like formations that are small in size and primarily made up of magnesium ammonium and phosphate.
The crystals themselves can be perfectly normal but become problematic when they combine to form grit or stones of varying shapes and sizes.
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.