Feeding Your Cat with Urinary Crystals: Weruva Review

Last Updated on May 13, 2021 by Holly Anne Dustin

I was excited to see one of my favorite cat products of all time as a choice to review this month.  I worked in pet retail for 7 years and Weruva was the product line I recommended to most of my cat–and then dog–customers.  Especially for cats like mine who have a problem with urinary crystals.

Life and Cats received a product to review from Chewy.com in exchange for my cats’ honest opinion and an honest review.    The opinions shared are mine and my cats’ alone.

Weruva Cat Food

David and Stacy Forman founded Weruva when they adopted 3 rescue cats, and like you and I, went looking for the best cat food to feed their feline friends.  But they found nothing and decided they could do better.

Weruva is a high protein, low carbohydrate, bone-free, and  low phosphorus cat food line.  They prepare the food for your kitty the same way you would prepare it for yourself; using boneless, skinless, white meat chicken and filleted fish.

Weruva produces their “human-style” food in a USFDA certified plant. They are British Retail Consortium certified, which is one of the strictest food safety standards in the world. The plant also produces human food products shipped all over the world.  The Paw Lickin’ Chicken flagship cat food product is sold as chicken a la king for humans in the UK (without the cat vitamins of course), it’s that good!

I appreciate that they did the research on cat nutrition and formulated a product line based on the true biology of cats.  When they expanded into dog products, they brought in a kibble.  But there is no kibble in the cat line because cats need moisture that a dry diet does not provide.  The food is ph balanced for urinary health.

When I adopted Plush I learned more than I ever wanted to know about caring for a cat with urinary crystals.

I am not a vet and I don’t play one on the internet. I’m just obsessed with research and trying to do the best I can for my cats. If you have a cat with urinary crystals or stones, I would encourage you to do your research and discuss food changes with your vet. This is my personal story of why Plush and I became loyal Weruva customers.

Cat Biology and the Modern Cat Diet

The urinary crystal problem begins in cat evolutionary biology.  Cats are biologically desert creatures, with a high thirst tolerance.  They conserve water in their body by concentrating their urine.  In the wild, cats take in most of their water through their prey.  All the small rodents, birds and lizards are 60-70% water.

Cats don’t have tongues designed to lap water.  They can never drink enough water to overcome the dehydration caused by the modern cat’s diet.  Dry food products have 10% water.  The is one of the major reasons that the therapeutic dry food diets designed to fix cats with urinary crystals have such variable results.

Struvite Crystals

Struvite crystals are deposits of minerals and organic material in the cat’s bladder that form the crystals and clump to form larger stones.  Finding crystals in a cat’s urine isn’t unusual. The minerals are naturally and normally found in a cat’s system.  It is a problem when the lack of water concentrates the urine and forms the crystals and stones.

The causes of struvite crystals in cats include:

• Diet
• Decreased water intake
• Urinary tract infection
• High concentration of magnesium, ammonium and phosphate minerals in the urine
• Urine pH favorable to forming crystals
• Stress
• Lack of exercise
• Certain drugs and dietary supplements
• Congenital liver shunt
• Breed predisposition (including Persians)

The first time I rushed Plush into the vet for a urinary blockage I asked the vet why?  After all, I fed a top quality, low-carb, dry food.  I thought I was doing everything right.  The vet said a lot of times you don’t know why.  Stress/diet/breed all mix and things just happen.

He told me what I expected to hear.  After treatment, Plush would have to be on a prescription diet for the rest of his life.  I bought the bag of food they gave me and took him home.

But I couldn’t get past the ingredient panel.  Why would I take my cat off a high protein, meat-based diet for something filled with corn, fillers, and by products?  Couldn’t I acidify his normal diet?  Wasn’t it possible it was the stress of his background and recovery from starvation caused this?  They outright told me he’d block up again and to keep an eye on him.

What are the symptoms of a urinary tract problem?

• Painful and frequent urination, jumping in and out of the box is a common sign.
• Straining to urinate, small pee balls in the box
• Genital licking
• Chronic urinary tract infections
• Urinary tract obstruction (especially in males)
• Spraying (males and females can spray)
• Peeing on the floor/sink/bed, etc.

Plush ended up blocking up again about 6 months later.  This time I did not take the prescription diet.  I’d been researching.  “The solution to pollution is dilution”, according to Dr. Ken Tudor.  The key is to make sure your cat is taking in enough water to flush out their system.

Add Moisture

How do you get a cat to drink more water?  You can’t tell them to go get a drink like you do with your kids.  A fountain or a dripping faucet might encourage them to drink more.  Leaving bowls of water around the house might help. Flavoring the water with a little tuna juice will intrigue your cat.  But you’re still fighting a big battle to overcome the moisture deficit if you are feeding a dry kibble diet.

Wet food helps solve the problem. Cornell recommends at least 50% of a cat’s diet be wet food.  Dr. Lisa Pierson insists that cats need a 100% moist diet.

The problems with dry food are:

• Water content is too low
• Carbohydrate load is too high
• Type of protein: too high in plant-based versus animal-based proteins

Diet for a Cat with Urinary Crystals

Any wet food is better than dry food.  But not all wet foods are created equal for a cat with urinary crystals. The prescription diets come in canned food versions but Plush wouldn’t touch it (I don’t blame him.  It looks and smells disgusting.)

Dr. Pierson recommends that we feed cats with a documented problem with large stones or a lot of crystals a food low in phosphorus. A low phosphorus diet is also low in calcium and magnesium and low in bone matter.  Weruva’s bone free products naturally are low in the minerals we are concerned about here.

I took the advice I’d been giving people all the time at work.  I started feeding Plush 100% on Weruva canned food.  All his treats were freeze-dried meat.  We also added extra litterboxes that we kept super clean and played more to reduce his stress.  Thankfully, we have been problem free for years now.

Cats in the Kitchen

Weruva’s Cats in the Kitchen line comes in cans and pouches.  I reviewed the variety pack in 6oz cans.  Overall, the line averages around 61% protein, 10% fat, and 12% carbs on a dry matter basis.   The protein is from high quality meat, not by-products or plant-based proteins.  It is low fat, which may not be appropriate for all cats.

A lot of the flavors are fish-based or mixed proteins.  Common wisdom says don’t feed cats fish, especially cats with urinary problems. I don‘t mind feeding the fish flavors once or twice a week because of Weruva‘s quality ingredients and bone-free production.  The Omega Essential Fatty Acids in the fish are good for the cats’ skin and coats.

It is a great option for diabetic cats, cats with kidney disease, and cats with urinary crystals.  The focus on a meat-based protein rather than plant-based carbohydrates keeps your cat’s system on the acidic side. This creates the hostile environment that prevents crystal formation.

Cats in the Kitchen is grain, gluten, and carrageenan free. The product contains xanthan gum and tapioca starch. Xanthan gum bothers some cats with inflammatory bowel disease.

If your kitty is on the tubby side, Weruva can help him lose the weight.  The “carnivorous focus” of Weruva’s cat food means Kitty will need to eat less to get the nutrition he needs. They keep the carbohydrate load low as cats can not efficiently use them which can lead to weight problems.

Paws Up

Cats in the Kitchen is an aspic style food rather than the chunks and gravy style that my cats prefer. It still looks like real food when you open the can instead of mystery meat mush or little square manufactured bits you get in so many foods.

If your cat likes a pate style this might have more texture than they are used to but it isn’t a shreds and gravy. It would be a great transition product for a pate eater. If they love shreds and gravy, try the classic line first and then offer Cats in the Kitchen for the added Omegas.

When I feed this line, I normally add a little warm water to give them that gravy feel.  My cats all love the food.  My cats aren’t picky and Weruva is a line that was pretty much all they ate before I switched them to a raw diet.  I knew they would love to see this back in the bowls. 

Plush and company thank Chewy for the chance to enjoy one of their favorite foods in exchange for this review!

If you have never shopped with Chewy before I have written a post about my experiences here.

Sources

The Not So Secret Solution for Urinary Crystals in Pets
Dietary Treatments for Bladder Stones
Bladder Stones in Cats
Bladder and Kidney Stones
What Dry Food Does to Your Cat’s Pee
Catinfo
Weruva