In some urine samples they do not have irregular protrusions but have smooth borders and can resemble calcium carbonate although these do not occur in the urine from dogs and cats.
Types of crystals in cat urine.
The presence of crystals doesn t always mean that your pet has bladder stones or kidney stones but sometimes it can mean that your pet is at an increased risk for stone formation and other issues.
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.
The crystals themselves can be perfectly normal but become problematic when they combine to form grit or stones of varying shapes and sizes.
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.
The problem is urine crystals are painful.
There are many scientific types of research about its cause but the particular predisposing factor for the cause of crystalluria has not been fully understood.
Depending on the crystals present and other factors such as the urinary ph we can make an educated guess as to which types of stone are present.
Struvite crystals are microscopic crystals that are found in the urine of some cats.
These crystals can be observed under low magnification particularly when seen in large number however low numbers may only be seen at higher magnification.
Struvite specifically is a material that is composed of magnesium ammonium and phosphate.
A cat affected with struvite crystals calcium oxalate crystals or any other type of crystal will suffer from the same array of symptoms and are affected in the same way.
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.
Crystalluria is a medical condition where crystals are expelled into the urine.
Calcium oxalate crystals on the other hand are usually present when urine is too acidic.
Crystals in cat and dog urine are often one of several common types.
Certain breeds like english bulldogs and dalmatians are predisposed to these crystals.
Clinical signs of urinary crystals include trouble urinating blood in the urine and lethargy.
The microscopic crystals forming in the urine come about when minerals are super saturated in the urine which later turns into fine sand like crystals.
Younger cats can develop crystals in their urine just as easily as older cats so age isn t really a factor.
My cat spooki has urinary crystals we realized this after months of her urinating on our bed everyday out of nowhere and at some point i saw glitter in each pile of urine.
