Dry Food Recommendations? (UTI problem)

naia

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Hi. My cat Pooch (5 YO) is currently on his second UTI... only seven months since his first UTI. We've already taken him to the vet. Pooch is now on Amoxycillin and Prednisone. He seemed to improve during the first three days of the antiobiotics, but now, 9 days into the medication, he seems to have gotten worse. He still pees / dribbles, but he is in there for longer periods and more frequently. We are taking him to the vet tomorrow again to be re-examined.

As a parent, thoughts are wondering through my head... trying to find out what caused it. We switched our cats over from Nutro Complete Care Dry Food to Wellness Core. The switch was gradual, lasting at least two weeks if not a little longer. Last month, we decided to add some wet food into Pooch's diet. We went with Wellness for that as well.

Ever since Pooch's current UTI, I started wondering if it might be the addition to an increase of fish in his diet that could have been the cause. A lot of the flavors were mixed with fish, or had fish in it. The 'Chicken' and 'Turkey' formulas didn't have them, but those were the only two out of all the other flavors I had picked. Determined to cut out the fish from his diet, I went to the store today to switch all the fish- wet foods to the chicken and turkey formulas.

My concern now is the dry food. While Wellness Core is a great food, I am concerned about the fish that's in it. It seems like there might be too much fish in the ingredients to my liking. My question is... Should I keep Wellness Core and observe since I've already cut out the (huge amounts of) fish in the wet food? Should I switch from Wellness Core, and if so, switch to what? Any recommendations and/or similar experiences is appreciated.


(We've also tried Innova before, and the cats didn't seem to like it. Also note that my other two cats don't seem to be having any problems.)

Thank you!
 

sharky

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unfortunately UTI friendly drys are not always what we consider great ingrediants..

ie
purina pro plan and purina one have certified formulas

nutros max may once again be certified...

KEEP the wet ditch the dry ////

Grain free drys by and large are the Worst for UTI health
 
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naia

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Thanks Sharky.

I don't plan to cut out the wet food, just the wet food that includes fish as ingredient. I exchanged my fish-containing Wellness cans for some no-fish Wellness cans. So should I keep the Wellness Core for now and see how Pooch does without the fish in the wet food?

I am hesitant to go full wet food because I have one cat (Luke) who doesn't really like wet food, he only eats a little. A full wet food diet would be too expensive too.

It almost feels like I could never get the best of both worlds with the dry foods.
 

sharky

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if you want to feed dry get one that is UTI friendly ... CORE is NOT at all
 
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naia

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Would it be OK to feed my other two cats on the UTI formula?
 

sharky

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yes .. they are not RX s diets and are okay for healthy cats to eat
 

kitytize

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I fed Purina One Urinary Tract Health for 9 years with excellent results.
 
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naia

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We are headed to the vet to get a new antibiotic for Pooch. Let's hope this one does the trick!

What is a RX diet?
 

tamgirl99

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I went through this with my cat this past summer. She has now been eating Max Cat Adult Chicken dry for three months and hasn't had a problem since. She also loves this food and so does my 1-year old, who I have to fight to keep away from it since she has IBD and cannot tolerate the corn. Good luck with your kitty!
 
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naia

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Pooch is now on Clavamox twice a day, and his Prednisone pill is to be taken twice a day as well. If there is no improvement by Monday, then we're going for an x-ray.

Something I noticed today when he pee'd on my water-resistant jacket... is that it looks like there's little bits of sugar in his pee. I touched the urine, and it felt like sugar mixed with water. Are those crystals?
 

mews2much

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Those are crystals.
Has he had a ultrasound?
Coco had them caused by Depo Mendro and Pred.
She was on C/D and Royal Canin Urinary for bladder problems.
 
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naia

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No, he hasn't had an ultrasound. When we went to the vet today (before we saw the crystals) he said Pooch would need an xray if Clavamox didn't work. We are going to call the vet tomorrow morning and tell him that there are crystals in his urine.
 

mews2much

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I hope they are strovite and not oxide.
My sisters cat just had surgery 3 weeks ago for oxide crystals and stones.
Coco my cat had bladder stones the went away with s/d.
I sure hope the pred isnt making your cat worse.
Coco had pred for asthma and it caused a few of her bladder problems.
Midnight and Maui eat c/d even though she isnt sick.
Easier for my sister.
Coco is on k/d now because of her crf.
We are taking a chance her crystals will not come back.
I hope your cat fills better.
 

alpine'smom

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To OP:

My cat is currently on antibiotics for a UTI, and the only thing the vet could figure out for a cause was her transitioning to Wellness dry(regular chicken, not CORE). She said she's had several cats come in with UTI's and traced it back to Wellness. Even though I'm sad your kitty got a UTI, I feel better knowing someone else out there has a similar issue.

The cat is back to Purina ProPlan for now, and maybe I'll try another transition next year.

Could someone explain why grain-free dry foods are not good for UTI prone kitties?
 

sharky

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see dry foods usually contain meals ( concentrated dried meat s) /// this upsets the calcium , phosphorus and magnesium levels ( ie minus the water the chicken is no longer"perfect")... with grain frees there is nothing to regain the balance...

with a UTI certified you will find corn or corn gluten in all of them ... this is the best thing to buffer the above minerals
... grain free wets have far far fewer issues due to moisture
 

alpine'smom

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Thank you sharky, that was very helpful.


If I'm following you right, the gluten products are taking the place of water as a sort of mineral "buffer". Very interesting! Since Alpine eats wet and dry everyday, I guess I won't be so picky about the dry food being grain-free, since is caused her so much trouble anyway. I'll concentrate on the wet being grain-free.

These forums rock, I've learned so much!
 
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naia

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Originally Posted by Alpine'sMom

Thank you sharky, that was very helpful.


If I'm following you right, the gluten products are taking the place of water as a sort of mineral "buffer". Very interesting! Since Alpine eats wet and dry everyday, I guess I won't be so picky about the dry food being grain-free, since is caused her so much trouble anyway. I'll concentrate on the wet being grain-free.

These forums rock, I've learned so much!
Thanks for your similar experience. It really does help to know that there are other people dealing with the same issue. After Pooch gets better, we are going to change foods... no more Wellness Core. I am thinking of either Nutro MaxCat Chicken Formula or the Purina Pro Plan UTI formula.

After reading the forums through search, I found out that Nutro Maxcat Chicken used to be a UTI formula, is that right, Sharky? The Nutro ingredients look better to me than Purina Pro Plan. I also compared the UTI formulas of Purina One and the Purina Pro, and I think I like the Pro more. One thing I'm concerned about with Nutro is that... we used to feed Nutro Complete Indoor dry to our cats, and Pooch would try up every time after he ate. We don't know if he couldn't stomach the corn... or if he just ate too fast, because I know he loves Nutro.

Since Pooch is stressed out enough about his UTI, I don't want to switch foods just yet, though I have been mixing a little of their old Nutro food into the Wellness to hopefully reduce the amount of Wellness Core he puts into his body. When I mentioned my concern with the fish in Wellness Core, he said we should feed the same food for the time being.

So, what do you think? Nutro Maxcat Roasted Chicken or Purina Pro Plan? Or something else? I'm looking forward to recommendations.

Thank you, everyone, for all your help. It means sooo much to us!
 

momofmany

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Wellness Core has fish in it. I took my FLUTD kid off of it and onto Maxcat Roasted Chicken. He seems to be doing much better on it. I do give him primarily wet food, but he does want the occassional nibble of dry.

My Muddy needs prescription food but refused to eat any of it. My vet prescribed a urine deacidifier medication that is found in prescription foods. If your vet does a urinalysis and you find that he is acidic, ask about Urikare. Muddy blocked almost immediately when I took him off of it, thinking that his problem was gone.
 

sharky

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Nutritional Adequacy Statement
Animal feeding tests using AAFCO¹ procedures substantiate that NUTRO™ MAXÂ[emoji]174[/emoji] CAT Roasted Chicken Flavor provides complete and balanced nutrition for adult cat maintenance.
¹Association of American Feed Control Officials.
Ingredients
Chicken Meal, Corn Gluten Mealfor UTI this is good
, Wheat Flour, Ground Rice, Poultry Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Ground Whole Wheat, Natural Flavors, Chicken, Yeast Culture, Potassium Chloride, Salt, Menhaden Fish Oil (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Choline Chloride, DL-Methionine, Taurine, Zinc Sulfate, Dried Cranberry, Ferrous Sulfate, Vitamin E Supplement, Inositol, Niacin, Copper Sulfate, Ascorbic Acid (source of Vitamin C), Manganous Oxide, Riboflavin Supplement (source of Vitamin B2), Potassium Iodide, Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (source of Vitamin B6), Thiamine Mononitrate (source of Vitamin B1), Dried Blueberry, Biotin, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (source of Vitamin K activity), Folic Acid, Sodium Selenite.
Nutro Products, Inc. supports the safe, ethical and humane treatment of all animals.
Guaranteed Analysis
Crude Protein (minimum) \t32.00%
Crude Fat (minimum) \t17.00%
normal
Crude Fiber (maximum) \t3.00%
Moisture (maximum) \t10.00%
Ash (maximum) \t6.50%
Linoleic Acid (minimum) \t3.50%

Magnesium (maximum) \t0.085%
Zinc (minimum) \t200 mg/kg
Vitamin E (minimum) \t150 IU/kg
Taurine (minimum) \t0.16%low normal
Ascorbic Acid (minimum)* \t18 mg/kg
Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) (minimum)* \t0.05%
*Not recognized as an essential nutrient by the AAFCO Cat Food Nutrient Profiles.


Pro plan main ingrediants: corn gluten meal making it the MAIN protein (IMHO not a good thing) .... then chicken ( remember mostly water ) then wheat , brewers rice( low quality ) then corn ( IMHO gluten and strait corn should not be in same formula)

protein and fat are both lower ( ie this has far more grain )... the fatty acids are less than half ... Magnesium is a bit lower

IMHO I like the max better
 
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