Sorry I logged off and did not answer your question. As you found out yourself, you can add it to cat food.
But if you use the kitty bottle and get it down your kitty via that route, you know that none was left over in the food.
It really does help with urinary problems in male and female cats.
Honestly, I’ve had remarkable results with this. I had a cat that sounds a lot like yours, and another without the stress, but chronic UTIs. I used to feed grain free food, wet food (which she hated), do everything “they” say to do. It didn’t work. Here’s what did:
I switched to the above food. For a long time I added water to the dry food, which said princess cat would lick up.
I started frequently bleaching all of my litter boxes, and made sure they were cleaned every single day. Those bacteria proliferate in there (trust me, I’m a microbiologist…)
We had really, really hard water. I started giving the little princess spring water, and cleaning the water dishes everyday with hot water and soap (again, the bacteria proliferates in there).
Honestly, I haven’t had a UTI in either cat in 5+ years. I will say, both of these cats do have food water drives, so they drink plenty on their own.
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We had issues off/on with my cat Kiki, diagnosed as a UTI, twitchy bladder… etc. It went on for years, with various Vets and diagnostics.
In the end it was Interstitial cystitis [iirc]… but too late by then to save him.
I would want an answer, a diagnosis, not just a alleviation of symptoms.
Yes for UTI and for overweight cats who might be prone to diabetes, if not all cats in general, a wet, low carb diet is preferable.
Re your UTI cat not finishing her food and the fatty cleaning it up:
My Lab doesn’t eat all her food and the Beagle tends to finish for her… and since Beagles are prone to balloon… I feed the Beagle less, let her finish what the Lab walks away from as the rest of her meal… voila! No one is getting too much/overeating!
Thanks! I’ll be checking the local pet stores for this tomorrow. If I can’t find it I’ll order on amazon. She is on some kind of holistic urinary supplement, but I have no idea if it is a waste of money or actually effective.
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I have a very similar issue (check out my old thread on it), with a very similar cat. I tried all types of food from Origin, Fromm, to Purina UTI and the cat still got UTIs that were not managed even by antibiotics. I took her to the vet multiple times and the vet finally said let’s look at the food. I think part of it was the food and part of it was the stress - she does not handle a busy house well.
I did not want to try Science Diet initially because I don’t love the ingredients, but it’s been over a year since her last UTI (knock on wood, I really hope I am not jinxing her). I get the Science Diet UTI/Hairball formula. Within a few weeks she became much less reclusive (UTI was making her painful, making her withdrawn) after about a month her coat bloomed, and she has done so well.
I also bought the Platinum Performance Cat supplement and she has been on that as well. I am very happy with it. I ordered it online. It was not that expensive - I think it was about $40 for 1,000 day supply (both my cats get it so it’s more like 500 servings).
BTW, I do mix the Science Diet with other grain-free options. I get a big bucket and dump about 60% Science Diet and then about 40% of another brand (Fromm, Wellness, Blue Buffalo, I mix it up every bag). I think this helps keep her balanced. The SD is IMHO very expensive considering a much higher quality food is the same price ($43) but I think it is cheaper than vet bills, so…
I wish wet food came in a less wasteful form. I do not feed it except on occasions. In the AM she gets 1/4c of mixed food and PM she gets 1/4c soaked with hot water and Platinum Performance supplement. BTW I also have a 2 cat household and the nonUTI cat loves the soaked food that the UTI cat has… so I lock the UTI-cat in the bathroom while I shower and feed her then - by the time I’m done she’s eaten the full 1/4c and I can let her out. It doesn’t take extra time out of my day because she has learned when I go to shower she gets fed. Easy way to solve that problem.
What about a dehydrated raw diet like Honest Kitchen or something? My cats love that stuff!
As of yesterday we suspect that Problem Cat is reacting to the grain in the urinary health food that she is eating. She has broken out in hot spots and dandruff and the only time that happened before when she was eating grains (also a urinary food - she’s been on grain free food since I’ve owned her other than that). We have switched her from that to Wellness Raw Air Dried - which has higher moisture content than the traditional dry food with 2/3 of her diet still being the wet.
Good point about sanitizing litter boxes - we do scoop every day but have not been sanitizing.
My cats do drink quite a bit of water.
We got them Wellness Air Dried raw last night after Problem Cat was diagnosed with an allergic reaction to the grain in her urinary food - seems to be a bit of a compromise between wet and dry food moisture-wise. PC likes it while Fat Cat doesn’t (but I know he will eat if he gets hungry enough…unlike PC).
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I think she is not tolerating the grains well as she has broken out in hot spots/skin issues both times she has been on UTI food (and never on grain free food) - first time was on science diet and second was on royal canin. Unfortunately we can’t lock her up to eat because she is a bit of a diva and finds being locked in a room too stressful to eat (never mind the fact that she will sit in the same room happily for 8+ hours as long as the door is open). As long as she starts eating the Fat Cat won’t disturb her (she is quite dominant).
Do you have any concerns about bacterial growth with the soaked food?
I also find the wet food wasteful but I am making my peace with it. It is difficult with this particular cat since she will only eat fish or poultry, only eat flaked food, and won’t eat the same flavour twice in one day. Over the past two days she has decided that she won’t eat tuna… thank god the Fat Cat will eat anything that comes out of a can.
I’m going to start the sanitizing the water containers everyday. I already bleach the food dishes after each meal. Plus I’ll use bottled water vs the tap. Tap water here is so hard it leaves a crust on the dishes.
I bought cosequin from Petco this morning and will put it on his food tonight. I’m not going to sanitize the litter boxes everyday. Simply not in my wheelhouse.
Research TikiCat canned foods. If your local pet store doesn’t carry it, it can be purchased online. Many of the flavors are made entirely of meat, vitamins and minerals. No grain, fruit or vegetables. Avoid fish-based foods - iodine is hell on a cat with kidney problems.
Seriously, I’ve got several very old cats that are doing fantastic on this food…one diabetic cat has been taken off insulin he’s doing so well.
Tiki cat is a great food.
Unfortunately when I tried Tiki cat, surprisingly my not very picky cat turned her nose up at some flavors.
I just wish it wasn’t so darn expensive.
I like to throw gizzards, hearts, livers and other gross parts into the cat and the dog’s dish. Seems cheaper and more effective for all.
Sheba cat food has these really need small portion wet cat foods that come at pate and cuts. I don’t know if they are grain free. They call it Perfect Portions. I think each half of the package is 1.3 oz. My local supermarket has it. Crave is another brand that has the same thing.
I had a female that had repeated bouts of cystitis and when I finally bit the bullet and pulled her off of all dry food, she has not had another episode since (years now).
I feed a commercial raw (Radcat) and I mix it with a ‘cup’ of Sheba. One heaping spoonful of raw and 1 container of Sheba. She gets it 2x/day and cleans it up. I too have a ‘Hoover’ that would eat all of his then go eat hers so she is shut in my bedroom for meals. She gets 20-30 minutes to eat and if it isn’t cleaned up, it goes back in the frig for the next meal. They both look wonderful. Shiny, silky coats and both maintain their weight well.
I have found a kibble that isn’t too bad (Tiki Cat…grain free with higher protein and less carbs) and I will dispense 20-ish kibbles in a food toy for both of them to work on when I go to work. I otherwise do not leave food of any kind out for them. So far, this small amount which they don’t even get every day hasn’t seemed to bother her.
I just couldn’t believe that the dry was contributing to the problem but since I got her off of it and she has not had anymore issues, I have to believe it.
Susan
I have a cat that had several flare-ups of idiopathic cystitis in 2011. I treated him with painkillers and sub Q fluids at the time but after doing some research, changed his dry food to Royal Canin Urinary SO and added cosequin to his nightly wet meal. He did not have anymore flare ups after that, and after a couple years I stopped the cosequin and he has been fine.
He also had a bald spot- from overgrooming right on his abdomen. Clearly, his bladder was bothering him.
Anxious cats tend to overgroom as well as get cystitis. Are you sure she isn’t overgrooming?
Also, the vet I had at that time was pretty much useless with suggestions for long term solutions- she wanted me to take him for an ultrasound and more diagnostics but had no ideas on how to keep this from happening. I switched him to RC SO on my own- I already had it since I have another cat that got calcium oxolate bladder stones and HAS to be on that food.
I also have the problem with a fat cat eating everything. I solved this problem by putting anxious cystitis cat’s food on a cabinet fat cat can’t jump up on. She’s too fat.
Thanks for all your help!
We have been feeding them about 50/50 wet (various brands) and grain-free dry (Wellness Core mixed with Wellness raw bites) and so far problem cat has had no flare ups. I have been mixing in water to her wet food to increase her fluid intake and she loves it- we have also started using a Feliway diffuser.
@horsenut_8700 I have been considering raw but am trying to find a brand in my area that is cost effective. All the ones available in my area are sold in too small of packages to be economical.
@Go Fish and @Sugarwells She loves Tiki cat but it is expensive and only sold at one store in my area - we buy the dented cans on discount and they are regularly in her rotation of flavours. I think all the flavours but one have fish? She will eat the chicken as long as I alternate with a different food but LOVES the fish flavours. I don’t think fish is as much of an issue for her- it doesn’t seem to trigger her urinary problems.
The humans in the house don’t eat meat so we don’t have any meat scraps/gizzards etc to feed the cats.
I have scoured every grocery store in my area and the only grain free wet food offered is Iams - which might be okay but they only have it in pate which she won’t touch.
@Kyrabee I have been unable to find the Tiki Cat kibble in my area 
And she gets stressed if she’s behind a closed door so won’t eat if I lock her up.
@Ruth0552 I am pretty confident that the skin issues aren’t overgrooming. They are all around her face and cleared up as soon as I threw out all the food with grains. To date the only time she’s had any skin issues has been when she is eating food with grains. I’m not sure if it’s a specific grain like corn or all grains because I don’t want to risk buying more food that I have to throw out.
Unfortunately my fat cat is super athletic and will go to any lengths to get to food.
I think right now we have found something that works for the cats - fat cat has even lost four pounds over the past few months!
Right now Im trying Royal Canin Urinary SO for all my cats as I have one that has had repeated bouts of crystals so had to have what the vet called “penis removal” surgery. All the cats like it but it seems to make them throw up a bit more than I’m happy with. This is the dry food, btw. Have you seen that at all???
I’m on my third month of feeding my four cats Royal Canin Urinary SO dry exclusively. I’ve noticed that they’ve stopped throwing up as much as they did before the diet switch, their fur is shinier and softer and they really like the taste of it. I’ve also noticed they poop less and and are peeing more, both their poop and pee have hardly any smell to them.
@alabama I haven’t noticed any change in throwing up since I started everyone on RC SO. Cats that puked up hairballs or regurgitated food before the change still do and the cats that never puke still never do. I actually have four on it due to the set-up/pairings of cats in my house and it’s impossible to keep certain ones separate. If you switched recently you might need to switch slower. Generally you’re supposed to mix your new food with the old one for quite a while to switch them over, and the typical result of NOT doing that is vomiting.
Thanks. I did switch very quickly, especially for the one with crystal problems. I didn’t know to mix the foods. That’s probably the problem.
