Looking for a UTI friendly dry

roofus

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One of my 3 cats (the lone female) recently finished a dose of antibiotics to help with a UTI. We currently feed Innova dry and were looking for something more UTI friendly. I looked into Nutro Max Cat Roasted Chicken Dry, but the fiancee wants to go back to Iams since that's what the cats ate before (not even sure they have a UTI friendly dry). I don't think I've ever seen Mystique drink water once in 2.5 years, so I've recently ordered a Drinkwell to maybe help with that. She laps up tuna water like you wouldn't believe, but I'd rather not feed that too often. Wet is out of the question for now, although I am working on convincing my fiancee. Any and all help and other food recommendations is greatly appreciated!
 

white cat lover

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Max Cat Chicken. It's great, IMO. My UTI kitties eat it no problems. Iams is very $$$ for the crummy ingredients.
 

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One of my cats Pico had a bout of struvite crystals about a year ago and he's now on RX Royal Canin Urinary SO dry mixed in with the same wet food (plus extra water added). My other healthy male is on Nutro MAX Cat Roasted Chicken dry with the MAX cat canned food for UTI health as a preventative measure. I highly recommend the line, but if your cat is pre-disposed to urinary tract problems, I also suggest adding more moisture to her diet either through canned food (even small amounts once a day or every other day) or adding small amounts of water to the dry food. My boy who had the crystals drinks very little to begin with so in order to promote a dilute urine and maintain urinary pH, it's important to give him wet food, extra water etc. I bought them a drinking fountain and even still, Pico doesn't drink very much. IMHO, the success of the fountains really depend on the cat. There aren't any other urinary tract health formulations in Canada aside from Technical (branch of Royal Canin). In the US, I'm pretty sure that Purina (?) makes a brand certified for urinary tract health but maybe someone can correct me if I'm wrong.
 

cazlee

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It may be somewhat over kill, but my mother has to feed her siameses Science Diet C/D (?) The prescription one for urinary problems...

One of her cats had a severe UTI and struvite crystals that lead him into acute renal failure, and he has been eating it ever since without relapse. I'm not a fan of how high the grain and corn it seems to be, but considering the state Furrball was in before he was fed this, I can't complain. He doesn't require sub-q treatments anymore. He's just one of those kitties, that like some people, has kidney stone and kidney/bladder infection problems.

She feeds them the wet x2 a day and leaves the kibble out for them to snack on.

Alot of the OTC urinary formulas are still too high in salt, magnesium and phosphorus for alot of kitties predisposed to stones, but if this isn't a problem, then I would figure any urinary health formula would be fine.
 

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Originally Posted by cazlee

It may be somewhat over kill, but my mother has to feed her siameses Science Diet C/D (?) The prescription one for urinary problems...

One of her cats had a severe UTI and struvite crystals that lead him into acute renal failure, and he has been eating it ever since without relapse. I'm not a fan of how high the grain and corn it seems to be, but considering the state Furrball was in before he was fed this, I can't complain. He doesn't require sub-q treatments anymore. He's just one of those kitties, that like some people, has kidney stone and kidney/bladder infection problems.

She feeds them the wet x2 a day and leaves the kibble out for them to snack on.

Alot of the OTC urinary formulas are still too high in salt, magnesium and phosphorus for alot of kitties predisposed to stones, but if this isn't a problem, then I would figure any urinary health formula would be fine.
WET food I agree... but so far only cats with VERY severe stuvites NEED an rx for life... most RX ers are oxalate crystals which NO OTC has been PROVEN to help.. I note the RX s actually had more salt and mag last I checked
 

cazlee

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Originally Posted by sharky

WET food I agree... but so far only cats with VERY severe stuvites NEED an rx for life... most RX ers are oxalate crystals which NO OTC has been PROVEN to help.. I note the RX s actually had more salt and mag last I checked
Any time we switch him off, he develops more crystals. It must be doing something right if it's keeping the crystals small enough to pass/no crystals at all.
It may have been oxalate crystals rather than struvite, this was about 5 years ago so I don't remember alot of details.

To me, if it works, don't mess with it. He was very nearly dead from the blockages and I would never want him to go through that again. He went through about 3 months of crystals/UTI recurring every time we would switch him off what the vet was feeding before he nose dived into renal failure. If you can recommend a direction to go off of the prescription food, I'll pass it along to my mom, but she really can't afford another 2 grand vet bill.
 

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roofus

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Originally Posted by Aquarius

I would say, when you can, wet food only! It's really the best thing for cats, especially ones with a history of urinary issues...

But until your fiance comes around, check out these dry foods: Innova and California Natural (and some good information): http://www.naturapet.com ; or Wellness http://www.omhpet.com/wellness/cat_w...dry_index.html ; or http://www.petguard.com. All good foods!

Good job on ordering the drinkwell, you will be glad you got it!
Innova (not the EVO) was what we were feeding while the cats got the UTIs. We've since switched to Nutro Max and the cats won't touch the Innova now. Also picked up some Hill's c/d based on the vet's recommendation, but I prefer to not keep them on that for life. Thanks for the responses.
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by Aquarius

I would say, when you can, wet food only! It's really the best thing for cats, especially ones with a history of urinary issues...

But until your fiance comes around, check out these dry foods: Innova and California Natural (and some good information): http://www.naturapet.com ; or Wellness http://www.omhpet.com/wellness/cat_w...dry_index.html ; or http://www.petguard.com. All good foods!

Good job on ordering the drinkwell, you will be glad you got it!
The % ages in many of wets are NOT UTI friendly....

Originally Posted by Roofus

Innova (not the EVO) was what we were feeding while the cats got the UTIs. We've since switched to Nutro Max and the cats won't touch the Innova now. Also picked up some Hill's c/d based on the vet's recommendation, but I prefer to not keep them on that for life. Thanks for the responses.
HUMM they must like the dry ... I do suggest discussing % with the vet... the ones I give are the GENERALLY ACCEPTED UTi friendly guidelines...
 

carm

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Originally Posted by sharky

The % ages in many of wets are NOT UTI friendly....
There is some evidence in the nutrition scientific literature that increased moisture in the diet (i.e., through wet food, increased water uptake) plays an important role in promoting a dilute urine, maintaining urinary pH and hence, preventing the re-occurrence of crystals. Ideally, one should buy "UTI friendly" foods with low Mg and ash, DL-methionine, however, IMHO a quality wet food is definitely better than dry food for a UTI-prone kitty (especially those who have multiple flare-ups). I feed my boy RX Royal Canin Urinary S/O for prevention of struvite crystals and we haven't had any problems for a year.
 
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