Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Diet that helps dissolve struvite bladder stones in cats
By Tefft, Karen M et al.·Published in Journal of feline medicine and surgery·2021·Department of Clinical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Effect of a struvite dissolution diet in cats with naturally occurring struvite urolithiasis.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of cats with bladder stones made of struvite were put on a special diet designed to dissolve these stones. Out of 12 cats, 9 completed the study, and 8 of them showed improvement with the stones disappearing on X-rays, often within the first month. One cat had partial improvement but continued treatment and eventually saw complete resolution. The diet not only helped dissolve the stones but can also be used to help prevent them from coming back in the future.
People also search for: cat bladder stones treatment · struvite diet for cats · how to dissolve cat uroliths · cat urinary diet for stones
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to determine the efficacy of the low struvite relative supersaturation diet in dissolution of feline struvite cystoliths. METHODS: This was a prospective, open-label, two-center study. Twelve client-owned cats were enrolled based on the radiographic appearance of their uroliths and urinalysis parameters. Cats were fed the test diet exclusively for up to 56 days. Cats were radiographed every other week until radiographic evidence of dissolution occurred or the end of the study period was reached. Cats with radiographically apparent uroliths at the end of the study period underwent cystotomy for stone retrieval and analysis. RESULTS: Nine of the 12 cats completed the study. Eight experienced radiographic dissolution; seven of these had complete dissolution within the first month of treatment. One cat, whose owner declined cystotomy after partial dissolution at day 56, had complete radiographic resolution at 70 days of treatment. Two calcium oxalate urolith cores were removed from a cat that had partial radiographic dissolution. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: The test diet was successful in dissolving suspected struvite cystoliths. As this diet is suitable for maintenance feeding of adult cats, it may be a suitable choice for long-term prevention of feline struvite urolithiasis.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32705911/