Please help!! Foods that promote urinary tract health in a 4 year old neutered male c

pearce1974

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I have recently acquired a neutered male cat who is happily on friskies dry gourmet poultry and 9 lives canned when I got him and I would like to change for preventative measures. this is the breakdown:

friskies dry gourmet poultry: phosphorus 1%

9 lives chicken and tuna wet: ash 3.5 %

I looked online at the purina pro plan urinary tract health for adult cats and while the wet looked promising the dry had 6.2% ash! but Phosphorus (P) (Min.) 0.6%
Magnesium (Mg) (Max.) 0.075% looked good.

the wet: 1.5% ash

What foods would meet my requirements for preventative health. this is a great cat but I would like to better his diet. Please respond asap!! thanks!!
 

beandip

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Originally Posted by pearce1974

I have recently acquired a neutered male cat who is happily on friskies dry gourmet poultry and 9 lives canned when I got him and I would like to change for preventative measures. this is the breakdown:

friskies dry gourmet poultry: phosphorus 1%

9 lives chicken and tuna wet: ash 3.5 %

I looked online at the purina pro plan urinary tract health for adult cats and while the wet looked promising the dry had 6.2% ash! but Phosphorus (P) (Min.) 0.6%
Magnesium (Mg) (Max.) 0.075% looked good.

the wet: 1.5% ash

What foods would meet my requirements for preventative health. this is a great cat but I would like to better his diet. Please respond asap!! thanks!!
I'll wait for the experts to give you some ideas for specific foods.

For urinary tract health, the most important thing is moisture IMO, so wet food in general is good. Of course the recall mess limits your choices now, and that's a bummer. If he has a history of bladder/urinary problems, I would suggest avoiding "fishy" flavors. If he doesn't have a history of trouble, I would still only serve the fishy foods in moderation....lean toward the other meats instead.

The reason the ash %'s look so different in wet and dry is because the numbers are not expressed in the same terms (dry matter). The wet food %'s have the moisture factored in. So you have to convert to compare "apples to apples".

Since most canned food is about 78% moisture, an easy quick way to estimate the dry matter %'s is to multiply by 4. So on the can you see

Ash 1.5% ...multiply by 4 and you get 6%. That's an estimate.

If you want to be exact, you take 100 minus the moisture %

100%-78% = 22% - this gives you the % of the food that is "dry" ..ie total minus water = dry

Then divide your values on the can by that (22)

So you see Ash 1.5%, divide that by 22

1.5 divided by 22 equals .068 ...multiply by 100 to make it a percentage and that gives you the dry matter %..which is 6.8% ...so pretty close to the estimate done the easy way.


I'll spare you any further math details..but to be fair you can make the same conversion for the dry food...because I'm guessing it's 10% moisture. Long story short, the bare bones "dry matter" Ash % for the dry you mentioned (purina pro plan urinary tract health) is 6.9%. ...if it shows 6.2% on label w/ a 10% moisture content.

This is also why the protein % looks lower in canned food...but it's not. When you compare dry matter to dry matter, the wet's protein numbers are generally higher than dry. It's very confusing for the consumer.


I hope I didn't completely confuse you.
 

taima

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My cat has urinary problems with crystals & is on prescription Science Diet CD. It has Ash max 6.5%, Phosphorus min 0.4%, & Magnesium max 0.08%.

I think the phosphorus & magnesium are the main ones to watch.
 

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In terms of magnesium levels in dry food, anything up to 0.1% is pretty standard. Other than conducting feeding studies attesting to a food's ability to maintain urinary tract health, most of these special non-RX dry foods have magnesium levels around 0.08%. One of my boys is currently on Nutro Max Cat Gourmet Classics Roasted Chicken dry (Mg 0.085%; certified for UT health) plus the cans. However, we're likely changing him to Royal Canin Indoor 27 (Mg maximum of 0.1%), Fromm Family or Technical (Canadian branch of Royal Canin) Indoor Urinary Health formulation. I haven't quite decided yet.

As previously mentioned, the prescription maintenance foods like Hill's C/D and Royal Canin Urinary SO are used for kitties who are prone to crystals, and have lower levels of magnesium and ash than pet store brands. Although 2 separate vets told me it should be ok to feed my non-FLUTD boy this food, I decided against it.
 

butterfli1227

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Raw Food, De-Hydrated food is your BEST bet. There is no ash because there is no cooked bone in it it contains all the moisture a cat need to function properly. If you need a few pointers or suggestions I would love to help you, but raw food has given me the best results in EVERY way. I swear by it.
 

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Originally Posted by butterfli1227

Raw Food, De-Hydrated food is your BEST bet. There is no ash because there is no cooked bone in it it contains all the moisture a cat need to function properly. If you need a few pointers or suggestions I would love to help you, but raw food has given me the best results in EVERY way. I swear by it.
ASH is not a UTI issue as almost all foods today are in the SAFE range ...

Raw is great but many cant do it ....IF you are looking at RAW consult a Nutrionally minded VET ...

.1 Mag is WAY too high for UTI health if issues are present ... .09 mag in a dry for uti health is the HIGHEST recommended
 
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pearce1974

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Thanks, I got the purina pro plan diet for urinary tract health, wet and dry. for the dry the magnesium was .075. With all the recalls and panic right now, I am confident with this and boris actually eats it. I just fed it, so if he gets a little uncomfy I won't get mad, I have my enzyme cleaner ready
thanks, again but...so far so good!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
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pearce1974

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Fearing Wheat Gluten I am stuck With friskies Special diet For urinary tract health In beef/chicken And beef/liver because purina Pro Plan Wet For urinary tract health has wheat Gluten. Friskies numbers Are not as ideal As pro Plan Wet but at least No problems with wheat Gluten
 
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