Urinary HEALTHY Diet

In a quest for a new more urinary healthy diet for our cats I went for a second opinion vet appointment yesterday. This in addition to reading TCS and various internet articles until my head was spinning.

My head is still spinning. I really do not know which vet to listen to or whether to listen to either - or what strong opinions to take into account that Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]ve heard on the internet, pet shops or from some other cat owners. Or should I just stick to the diet Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]ve fed to my cats because generally my cats have been rather healthy this far.

Vet #1 did not think it was necessary to change diet despite issues
Vet #2 thought it might be good to add some more wet into diet but not necessarily Rx
Vet #1 promoted Hillâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s Rx if one was to go Rx
Vet #2 was not hot on Hillâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s at all and was more for Royal Canin
Vet #2 admonished gravy type wet food and gave a sample cans of Royal Canin gravy to go home with
Vet #1 mentioned Cosequin before Rx food as something to try
Vet #2 totally discounted Cosequin for urinary health
Vet #2 thought that grain free food being bad for urinary issues was nonsense
Both vets, especially Vet #2 thought that one did not need to go on all Rx diet for it to be effective (I mention this particularly as it has been discussed it other threads)

In addition, neither vet was able to offer insight on lot of general questions, like are there types of foods to be particularly avoided, eg too rich ones, ‘ashyâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji], light, senior etc. Neither vet was worried that my UTI boy is overweight too, and could use dietary help in that regard. Talk about “talking to your vetâ€; and Vet #2 markets herself as nutrition specialist.

I really still did not get a great idea for our boysâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji] diet change. I will see if they like the RC wet food I got to try. I am not very impressed of the ingredients I have to say. My cats all like the Wellness grain free I have been feeding. I would like to find out more whatâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s so bad about it urinary-wise before I totally drop it. Is it just the ash-content? I had been quite interested in the Cosequin and that kind of got shot/laughed down now. Should I still give it a go? It would be fairly easy supplement to add and does not seem like it can harm much. Of course it won't change the diet...

Sophie has had 2 bouts of cystitis. She eats the same food as the other 2 cats, who haven't had any problems. You're right, it's frustrating. I thought maybe the litter could be the problem, because "The Worlds Best Cat Litter" is kind of dusty. I remember why talcum powder was banned for baby's butts and thought it might be something similar with cats, but the vet totally dismissed my theory. She gave me a homeopathic remedy and antibiotics for the bacteria. She said stress also causes urinary tract issues. Maybe it's different because I have girls? Sophie's condition cleared up, but since I don't know what caused it, I'm worried it will occur again. BTW--Pet Naturals has these UT Health cat treats that all the cats love. Can't hurt, right?

Originally Posted by Petfindergal

She said stress also causes urinary tract issues.

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Stress seemed to be the one issue that both vets most strongly agreed upon and emphasized. It's kinda stressful too I find it so odd too because in our case the kitty who fell ill is the LEAST stressing of our cats. The teddy bear who kinda goes with the flow. That's why I was more geared into looking for other 'reasons'.

Btw, neither of my vets asked anything about litter as in what I use (type if I have changed etc). Only thing they said in relation to that was that "gotta keep it clean", and after they heard I have 4 huge boxes for 3 cats and clean it daily and that Teppo did not have bacteria, they reverted back to the stress...

Well, the one thing I'll do in relation to that is that I will plug in Feliways for any longer absences from now on. One thing I can do for certain stress.

One thing I've learned is that all cats are different, which really doesn't help you I suppose. Also, prescription diets are prescription diets for a reason. The ingredients might not seem like the best food to give a cat, but they were developed as prescription diets for a reason, so even if you think the ingredients look bad, but the cat is doing well with the food, then its a good food for the cat. At least from what I've learned.

With that being said, one of my cats has had crystals and a severe blockage and he now eats Royal Canin SO, as do all of the other cats. My vet pushes Royal Canin because he thinks it has more research done than Hill's, but I was told that if the RC diet didn't work, then he would switch me to Hill's Prescription Diet. He has treated many cats with urinary problems and some are on Royal Canin and some are on Hill's (and some are on other diets but this seemed to be rare so I don't know what those diets are - but my point is - these cats are all treated by the same vet). I think it really just depends on the cat, as to which choice is better. For me, Royal Canin has been wonderful and my cat hasn't had any problems since I started him on it.

I know it can be confusing, but I'm wondering if you're just going to have to try one out, see how it goes, and if it doesn't work, then switch to what the other vet said. I'm not a vet so I could obviously be wrong here, but it seems like even though both vets have 2 different opinions, neither opinion is necessarily "wrong".

IMO, grain free foods aren't good for UTI health. Canned will help, so I encourage you to feed as much canned as they'll eat/you can afford.

I have one UTI kitty who has to have C/D. Otherwise I can feed Purina ONE Urinary dry or Pro Plan Urinary dry without issue. (They also get canned food 2x/day) Not great ingredients, but it works for them.

Another online resource:
http://www.catinfo.org/
great reading!

Originally Posted by white cat lover

IMO, grain free foods aren't good for UTI health. Canned will help, so I encourage you to feed as much canned as they'll eat/you can afford.

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My vet says:

The more the dilution
The less the pollution

Water and water bearing food helps clean the system.