Because crystals in the urine that are passed in the litter box may be missed by pet owners other symptoms may help pet owners discover something is wrong with their cat.
Male cat urine crystals.
When a cat is unable to pass urine due to a blockage they can become very sick in a short amount of time.
Different types of crystals may develop if your cat isn t eating a proper complete and balanced diet.
Also any condition that changes your cat s urine ph such as kidney disease or long term medication use can cause crystals.
A mixture of cells that are used to line the bladder mucus and crystals formed from minerals in the urine.
If the crystals form in to stones diets are not effective at dissolving them and they require more drastic intervention.
The detection of urinary crystals is not synonymous with kidney stones or the clinical signs associated with them nor is detection of urine crystals irrefutable evidence of a stone forming tendency but there is some association with an increased risk for kidney stones in animals that are.
Crystals in the urine are dangerous to cats causing infection and inability to urinate.
Male kitties neutered or not can suffer from crystals in their urine though crystals occur more frequently in fixed ones.
Crystals in cats also known as feline crystalluria is a medical condition which involves the formation of crystals in the cat s urine.
Additional causes of urinary blockage are from feeding foods high in magnesium or the presence of an underlying condition called feline idiopathic.
Though the main symptom of crystalluria is the appearance of fine crystals in freshly expelled urine other symptoms from accompanying conditions may also occur.
Flutd includes crystal formation in the bladder which might obstruct the cat s urethra.
Younger cats can develop crystals in their urine just as easily as older cats so age isn t really a factor.
Worryingly crystals can actually cause a blockage in some cats.
Struvite crystals are microscopic crystals that are found in the urine of some cats.
Male cats are far more likely to form urine crystals than females but that doesn t mean females can t be affected.
Struvite specifically is a material that is composed 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.
Many believe that this is due to cats eating commercial foods that acidify the urine.
This is more of an issue in male cats as their plumbing is a lot narrower.
Interestingly these crystals used to be extremely rare but now account for roughly half of feline urinary crystals.
These crystals which are microscopic in size tend to appear like fine sand and often occur as part of or because of other conditions.
A male cat s urethra can also become blocked by small urinary stones or by urethral plugs.