urine crystals and food choices...Help!

grayley's mom

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Hello everyone,

I'm new here and need help finding food for my kittie. My cat Grayley is 5 years old and was diagnosed with crystals in her urine when she was about 1 year old. The vet put her on dry Prescription c/d and told me she would have to be on it for the rest of her life. For the past few months, I've been researching cat food and it burns me that I have to pay so much money for this c/d that isn't very nutritious. (It cost more to feed my 10 lb cat than my 80 lb dog!)

My research into a proper diet has made me confused. Several things I read says to feed the cat low magnesium/low ash diet. Well, what does that mean? Somewhere I found that the magnesium level needs to be below 0.025%. I can't find a dry food with a mag level this low. I've also read that this is not the real issue and cats need to be fed a high protein/ low carb diet.

Grayley has been off the c/d since November. At first I was feeding her Wellness canned but cannot afford to keep her on this. Right now she is getting Iams canned chicken (which seems to have the best ingredients of the grocery store canned foods) with some Innova Evo dry food.

I wish I knew if these were good choices for her. She has started urinating on the carpet again (twice in 2 weeks) and is licking all the hair off her pelvic area. I don't know if these are signs of a UTI brewing or signs of stress from the upheavals of the holiday season and my changing her food. The rest of her behavior is completely normal.

If anyone has any BTDT words of advice, I would love to hear it. Grayley is a wonderful cat. I've never been around a sweeter more affectionate kittie. I have already spent hours on the internet studying this issue and feel like I haven't made any progress. Any budget minded ideas are also appreciated. I would love to say that money is no object with my sweet kittie but I also have to balance her nutritional needs with my darling 80 lb house dog, my 3 precious kids and handsome husband.

Thank you for your help,
Laurie
 

sharky

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Dry food should be under .9 % For existing problems .85 is best ...

Purina
Nutro
both have certified formulas

For ingrediants I prefer the Nutro max
 

marysmith

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Stay away from Nutro Products:
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/pets/nutro.html

The above like has several reports of kitties still getting sick from eating that brand. It was one of the companies that had recalled food back in March.

Wellness is a good brand even if it is higher priced.

In the long run, if you feed your kitties a good food you will not have to spend so much money at the vet in the future.
 

jenniferd

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It sure sounds to me like she is having issues again.
She might have to go back on the prescription food.
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by MarySmith

Stay away from Nutro Products:
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/pets/nutro.html

The above like has several reports of kitties still getting sick from eating that brand. It was one of the companies that had recalled food back in March.

Wellness is a good brand even if it is higher priced.

In the long run, if you feed your kitties a good food you will not have to spend so much money at the vet in the future.
... the dates are all very close to the recall.. and yes many sent food in too 100 different companies
... I do agree wellness is good I give it to my dog ... I feed the cat nutro and taste of the wild ... HOPEFULLY you wont... I have spent yrs feeding good food yet still have vet bills
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by sharky

Dry food should be under .09 % For existing problems .085 is best ...

Purina
Nutro
both have certified formulas

For ingrediants I prefer the Nutro max
Needed to add a 0
 
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