Cat food/urinary problems

It seems that lately my cat has become prone to urinary tract infections. The vet had asked if I changed her diet but I haven't.

Recently, I've heard from a couple of friends that cat food with fish can cause urinary tract infections in cats. Is this true?

I am not a vet, but I think that it has to do with the amount of magnesium and ash in the food. These elements are more prone to cause urinary tract infections (especially in males). They do market food with low amounts of these minerals. You should double check with your vet, though.

fkh98,

Yes, UTI's do have something to do with food and the fish content. My male casey ate Science Diet his whole life. I decided to switch to Purina One to save money. Within 2 weeks casey came down with a UTI. My vet told me that some male cats are more susceptible to crystals in their urine than others. My friends cat just had the same thing. It turns out that they were giving him alot of treats and feeding him Science Diet.

What kind of dry food are you feeding your cat?

I feed my cat Friskies and Alpo wet food. Also, fed her Science Diet and various other dry foods. Before she got the infection the first time I had changed to IAMS original formula dry cat food. The package says Helps Maintain Urinary Tract Health--low magnesium. Seems to me that this shouldn't have caused the infection at all. A couple weeks after the infection cleared, she got another one. That's why I was especially concerned. Meanwhile, I went back to the other various kinds of dry cat food and she seems OK.

Thanks for all the info. Really do appreciate it.

On the contrary. Unless the vet specifies that there is a problem with the ph balance in the urine, feeding a diet that helps with the acidity in the urine can actually cause crystals or stones. The best way to avoid a UTI is to feed a high quality dry food and get them plenty of water weather it be with wet food or tempting them with purified water.

My cats get lots of water because they love to drink from a running faucet. I let it trickle and they play in it and drink it for over 5 minutes. Lots of scooping, but I know they are getting a lot of water intake!!

Here's my 2 cents on the matter.

There is a difference between the typical male cat's LUTD (lower Urinary Tract Disease) and a UTI. Males are very narrow down there where they pass urine and so some of them, if their urine's PH is unbalanced may develop crystals and subsequently a partial and even full blockage. That is the classic LUTD (a.k.a. FUS - Feline Urinary Syndrome). It needn't involve any bacteria, at least not at first. It is true that some cats with this syndrome also develop a secondary bacterial infection with time, because the urine is not passing through properly and germs have time to multiply. Also, treatment of blockage, that is often invasive, may cause a scaring of internal tissue and hence a further susceptibility to bacterial infections there.

With females it is usually different. Females have a wider and shorter urinal tract and they don't tend to become blocked with crystals. On the other hand, this makes it easier for bacteria to enter the urinal tract from outside and cause a UTI (whereas with males chances of bacteria entering on its own are small).

Althoug females can suffer from LUTD and males can have a UTI, 99% of the time, males get the first and females the second.

As in both cases the urinary tract is inflammed many people consider both to be the same, while they're not.

Now, you would think that the PH balance should only affect males (causing crystalization), but I think it also plays a factor in the female version (inhibbiting or encouraging bacteria growth).

Sorry about the long lecture . I just learnt all this fairly recently from my vet (and then checked the books to learn some more). I think I'll jot down an article about feline urinal problems sometime soon.

Good information to have. Thanks.

One of my 6-year-old female cats is on prescription-only Purina Veterinary Diets UR St/Ox Urinary feline formula dry food.

In an effort to give her more variety in her dry food bowl, I've recently purchased Purina One Urinary formula with chicken and rice, and Purina Pro Plan Focus Adult Urinary Health formula, but she doesn't like the taste of either of those well enough to eat them on their own.  I'm mixing the three aforementioned dry foods with reasonable success.

So - to anyone readying this - if your cat is also on Purina Veterinary Diets UR formula dry food, what other non-prescription dry foods have you tried that work just as well?  I want to give my kitty more variety, but only if the dry foods are safe enough.

I just saw a 9-Lives dry cat food with tuna at the store the other day, with a low magnesium content and a 6.2 or so pH.  Has anyone here tried this one?

What about IAMS?  Every formula they have seems to be very low in magnesium.

Thanks!  :+)