What do you feed a UTI prone cat?

Hello.

I was curious upon reading about UTI and crystals in our cats plus experiencing this with one of my own cats what other people feed their cats for all this.

So what do you feed?

How do we know that we are feeding the right stuff?

Has anyone tried herbal things and if so, what and how did it work?

Most importantly, WHY do these cats get these crystals. It really does seem to be a prevalant problem for domesticated cats.

C

A lot of people, myself included, believe simply a diet higher in moisture is better. So, basically a canned diet or raw diet, or maybe just install a water fountain for them to drink out of. But I'm always getting UTIs mixed up with crystals (both of them have completely different causes, lol)

Originally Posted by fluffysimba

Hello.

I was curious upon reading about UTI and crystals in our cats plus experiencing this with one of my own cats what other people feed their cats for all this.

So what do you feed?

How do we know that we are feeding the right stuff?

Has anyone tried herbal things and if so, what and how did it work?

Most importantly, WHY do these cats get these crystals. It really does seem to be a prevalant problem for domesticated cats.

C

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In places like Petco, certain brands offer a different line for everthing you can imagine, special hairball food, food for fat cats, food for cats between 1 and 7 years, like thirty different kinds of food to worry about and one of them is specifically UTI.

So what do you feed?
my uti girls eats canned raw and homemade( low to no fish ) ... NO dry cept for cookies

How do we know that we are feeding the right stuff?
I know I have adjusted diet correctly when she doesnt get one for a while

Has anyone tried herbal things and if so, what and how did it work?
she is on herb s .... I guess the herbs show in other areas , better coat( she is 18) more energy and less outside the box

Walthams Urinary SO is good for UTI and crystal prone cats. It can be feed to all cats apparently according to my vet.

My two persians are on Waltham's SO. One had urinary problems but the other is healthy. I feed them both the same food because it's very difficult to feed different foord to two cats. It seems to be working-my problem cat had not problems since i swtiched to Waltham SO.

Originally Posted by fluffysimba

Hello.

I was curious upon reading about UTI and crystals in our cats plus experiencing this with one of my own cats what other people feed their cats for all this.

So what do you feed?

How do we know that we are feeding the right stuff?

Has anyone tried herbal things and if so, what and how did it work?

Most importantly, WHY do these cats get these crystals. It really does seem to be a prevalant problem for domesticated cats.

C

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I feed my cat Pico Waltham's Urinary SO canned and dry formulations, and he hasn't had any reoccurrence for 6 months.

As for why domesticated cats are prone to UTIs/crystals, the jury's out on that one. The precise etiology/cause of FLUTD isn't well understood, however, diet, genetics and the amount of water consumed seem to contribute to formation of crystals in the urine. Cats naturally have a low thirst drive and therefore, are prone to forming concentrated urine (which in turn affects urinary pH).

I fed my foster who was prone to stress related cystitis mainly wet food, and it did help. He had cystaid and Metacam for flare ups

Originally Posted by Sicycat

Walthams Urinary SO is good for UTI and crystal prone cats. It can be feed to all cats apparently according to my vet.

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Do they like it? My cats are picky. Might I say that your cats are gorgeous!

Originally Posted by batgirl2good

Do they like it? My cats are picky. Might I say that your cats are gorgeous!

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I have picky cats too but they both seem to like this food.

Mine are picky two but eat dry Waltham's So fine. They would not eat wet SO food though. They only lick gravy from Nutro pouches for their wet.

I personally feed Natural balance dry food. Upon looking at dry food and soft food (of various brands) the ash in dry food is WAY higher than in soft food. I found that extremely interesting as ash seems to be connected with this problem our cats get.

I did find this and found it interesting:
http://cats.about.com/cs/catmanageme...rinaryhlth.htm

Guess I have more research to do.

Originally Posted by fluffysimba

I personally feed Natural balance dry food. Upon looking at dry food and soft food (of various brands) the ash in dry food is WAY higher than in soft food. I found that extremely interesting as ash seems to be connected with this problem our cats get.

I did find this and found it interesting:
http://cats.about.com/cs/catmanageme...rinaryhlth.htm

Guess I have more research to do.

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NO in reality the drys are lower ... remember wet food is 70-85% water or broth thus you have to multiply by four to get the dry matter analysis ...the wet % is on the label ...

so example
dry food 6.75% ash ( would be under 7 total since dry is only 10% mositure)

wet food has ash of 2% is a minimum of 8 and likely closer to 9%

ash is a mineral leval and in a wet food can be higher since wet is generally more easily digested

Where do you find Walthams so ?

Originally Posted by fluffysimba

Where do you find Walthams so ?

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Vets office /// SO is a RX

Alrighty. I've never even seen it here. Seems all the vets around here carry are Science Diet. *gag*
LOL

You may have to have it ordered ...

Aw shoot, that's too bad. Depending on the cat food distributors that the vet clinics in your area deal with, you might not even be able to order it. I've encountered vet clinics that have an arrangement with Hill's to only carry and recommend their products, so it's not even possible to order it from them!

It seems that there are some online pet food distributors in the US - that may be an option if you can't get Waltham's Urinary SO locally. One big 16.5 lb bag lasts several months and even longer if you're feeding a mix of canned and dry food. Good luck!

Originally Posted by fluffysimba

Alrighty. I've never even seen it here. Seems all the vets around here carry are Science Diet. *gag*
LOL

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A few years ago I found the Walthams SO info online and asked my vet about it. She actually had not heard of it so she had to special order it for me. Now they carry it in stock in the office because they say its so popular and lots of cats are on it.

Originally Posted by Sicycat

A few years ago I found the Walthams SO info online and asked my vet about it. She actually had not heard of it so she had to special order it for me. Now they carry it in stock in the office because they say its so popular and lots of cats are on it.

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I found website that sells it on-line but you need a vet prescription there too.
My vet moved and didn't let me know so I had to run to two other vets before I found the third who carried this.
Since my cat had no episodes since being put on it, I didn't want to risk it and have cat relapse.