That they’ll actually eat and that isn’t super expensive? They don’t care for the PurinaOne at all. Any suggestions?
Any grain-free wet food is better for urinary tract health than any dry food.
Here’s lots of great info on why: http://www.catinfo.org/
I feed mine Nine Lives Plus Care (it says on the bag for Urinary Ph) and will use the Friskies Special Diet wet. All the cats (not just the one who had a blockage) will eat them and they don’t break the bank. I also will mix in cranberry extract gel–TSC carries it in the cat-med section and you can order different cranberry extracts from on-line vet suppliers. Have not had a recurrence.
I have a kitty with pancreatitis AND urinary tract issues, so food choices for him are limited. My two are currently eating Royal Canin Urinary SO, which is one of perhaps two foods the vet would approve of for him and I was absolutely shocked that they both seem to really like it. When does that happen??
He’s on the moderate calorie version due to his pancreatitis, but there is a normal version. They really liked the normal SO wet food, which was a pate, but as the mod cal version is chunks the wrong cat loved it and the affected cat thought it was made of aliens.
I won’t say it’s cheap, but it’s cheaper than vet bills.
The SO wet is already lower in calories (wet food is less calorie dense than dry), and WAY better for your cats. My fatso is losing weight very nicely on that formula, though he’ll be transitioned off of it as there is no scientific data supporting its use, and it contains corn flour, which has no place in a cat’s diet anyway. A grain-free wet diet, however, has been scientifically proven to lower urine pH over foods high in carbs. The link I posted above has links to that study.
I had to look at the poster name on this one because it looked exactly like something I’d post and I didn’t recall seeing this thread before :lol:
MoonWitch, I like the Before Grain 96% meat varieties. If dollars are a concern, you can feed the large 13 oz dog cans of THIS particular food to cats–I have confirmed with the company that they are nutritionally complete for the meows. Price is going to be about $1 day.
Putting a urinary issue cat on wet only (with water added in, even, to make a soup) is the absolute best thing you can do for it, and (IMO) will go a loooong way toward keeping the kidneys healthy and prolonging the life of the cat in a meaningful way.
Try the Purina PropPlan - this is supposed to be the higher “grade” food.
Or try Natural Balance - I had good luck with that for many many years. Both are well-liked by my kittehs and I have not had any problems.
[QUOTE=danceronice;6085038]
I feed mine Nine Lives Plus Care (it says on the bag for Urinary Ph) and will use the Friskies Special Diet wet. All the cats (not just the one who had a blockage) will eat them and they don’t break the bank. I also will mix in cranberry extract gel–TSC carries it in the cat-med section and you can order different cranberry extracts from on-line vet suppliers. Have not had a recurrence.[/QUOTE]
We used to feed them (I have four) the Nine Lives and they loved it!! Plus it had the same analysis as the “prescription” food that they wouldn’t touch. Sadly, I’m having a hard time trying to find a store that carries it anymore. I just ordered two bags of it online last night, but would like to find something that I can get at a store.
I also thought about trying the ProPlan to see if they’ll eat it. Only one has had any trouble, but they all eat the same. This is also why I have tried to stay away from the wet food, but I will definitely look into that again. If it were just him I would opt for the wet food, but with the four of them, it’s hard to juggle.
Just be careful putting them on anything other than the prescription diets. I’ll be the first to say that I HATE their ingredients (I feed raw to my dogs and am a total food snob), but, they work.
I have two cats on the Science Diet C/D. Before that, I had tried them on several high quality, grain free foods (both wet & dry). $800 in vet bills (between the two, they both decided to get horrible UTI’s within a month of each other, ugh!) later, I decided to bite the bullet and put them on the prescription diet. They have been 100% fine ever since.
I am considering switching them over to raw, just completely paranoid because I don’t exactly have another $800 to throw out.
Anyway, sorry for rambling a bit. I just always caution people when this topic comes up, based on my experience. I would LOVE to be able to feed a high quality food to my guys, but it’s just not worth risking their health.
Edit: Just saw the mention of the 9Lives Plus Care… very interesting.
If you do some research, you will find that there is virtually NO independent scientific data to back up the use of the prescription foods, wet or dry. A correctly balanced raw diet should not cause urinary troubles unless there is something missing from it, or if it is improperly handled (e-coli is a very common cause of UTI’s). Cats are obligate carnivores, and most of the “prescription” foods (which are ONLY designated as "prescription by the companies who make them, not by the FDA!) are too high in carbohydrates for cats because they contain grain products. Hill’s C/D canned has 22% of its calories from carbs…a balanced feline diet has no more than 7% carbs. There IS scientific data that shows that high carb diets contribute to urinary problems as well as diabetes in cats. The same studies show that a grain-free diet has less of a risk of issues.
I have a diabetic cat because I fell for the wrong claims for too long. And talk about vet bills! Not to mention the full urinary blockage that almost killed my other cat and cost over $1500, most likely caused entirely by a very expensive grain-free dry diet. Also, that same cat is just getting over a UTI despite being on a prescription diet.
There are no guarantees in animals…but IMO, by using the most up-to-date scientific data, we can give them the best we can.
I feed the Pro Plan urinary tract formula and all my kitties like it. I also feed them about a tablespoon each of Friskies wet in the evening. None of my cats have ever had any urinary tract problems but because I’ve heard that neutered males are prone to blockages I felt that feeding the urinary tract formula would be good as a preventative.
[QUOTE=HenryisBlaisin’;6085824]
If you do some research, you will find that there is virtually NO independent scientific data to back up the use of the prescription foods, wet or dry. A correctly balanced raw diet should not cause urinary troubles unless there is something missing from it, or if it is improperly handled (e-coli is a very common cause of UTI’s). Cats are obligate carnivores, and most of the “prescription” foods (which are ONLY designated as "prescription by the companies who make them, not by the FDA!) are too high in carbohydrates for cats because they contain grain products. Hill’s C/D canned has 22% of its calories from carbs…a balanced feline diet has no more than 7% carbs. There IS scientific data that shows that high carb diets contribute to urinary problems as well as diabetes in cats. The same studies show that a grain-free diet has less of a risk of issues[/QUOTE]
Maybe not but in my experience every time I tried to go off the food my one cat would have another episode(blocked twice, before food then UTI’S when I went off the food). Another had one episode (UTI almost blocked) and after going on the food, none since. It could be a coincidence but I’d rather just do what’s working for my boys.
I had my cat Oreo on Hill Prescription Diet Cd for urinary tract health that was prescribed by a vet (this was years ago cat is now gone from old age). He was on the food for ten years and he got HUGE on it. Turns out it’s high fat content and feeding the recommended amount was way too much. He went from a bit heavy to 22 lbs at the most. I consulted a different vet when I moved to a different state and he gave me the lowdown on prescription diets, the fat content and that at his age at the time (13) he’d grown beyond the age to worry about UT issues. I worried about putting him back on regular food but he did fine. He lived another three and half years and died of heart failure from old age (and probably being overweight from the diet).
