cosequin for bladder health? - Page 3

you have a grocery store? check the store label ... surprisingly many are actually decent foods for a bargain price

Are you in close contact with successful raw feeders? Do you know how to do a raw diet safely? Do you have all the advice and guidance you need for starting a raw diet? Do you have the info you need for balancing calcium and phosphorus? Using taurine? (And a lot of other things.)

Just in case, if you ever want to include rabbit in the diet, please read this article for important information

http://www.felineinstincts.com/order...yinrabbit.html

The fact that you, personally are happy about it, doesn't mean it is working for your cat, which, IMHO, it is not, if she continues to have UTIs... so that's why... If your plan is not working, you change plans... It is as simple as that. Corn might be nasty on your mind, but it works for UTI when in a food with chicken, and that is the problem you are dealing with it, so... Why fight against it, and keep doing what clearly is not working?
By the way, there is a member here, who lost her young cat who was prone to UTIs... she is pretty sure the raw diet had a big contribution to his death. She is a very knowledgeable cat owner and raw feeder, ex-breeder, and still disaster hit home. Be VERY careful with that - her cat was only 2 years old. She had vets close by... IMHO you are putting yourself into a very very risky situation with that, by doing this without a close vet guidance.
I have watched this thread without saying anything, but now I feel like I just have to say it...
There are about what, seven pages of this thread?
Seven pages of members who have experience with UTIs, who care about you and your cat, trying to give you advice, and you are not listening... You just want to keep going on your plan..... which is NOT working.

If what you were doing was working, I would not have any problem with it... I believe in not changing a team that is winning (in sports).... But when it is losing, you HAVE to do something about it. You are defending a losing team, IMHO, and the only one who suffers here, is your cat.
Your cat doesn't care if there is corn in the food... she cares that she is healthy, and she doesn't have an UTI. She cares that she is not in pain... So, if I were you, for your and her own good... I would highly recommend start listening...

I do not think I was rude, just honest - and very careful to not be rude actually, and nowhere I said you where going to kill your cat because your are stubborn - those are your words, not mine.
If you are talking about the raw, well... it is the truth... it is believed that it had a high contribution in a cat's death here, who had a UTI at the time, and that is a fact. That cat was UTI prone like yours. It is not a pretty fact, but it is one. If you think that bringing up this fact is rude of, me... oh well... If it was my cat, I would simply view this as sound advice.

blueandfrodo, I'd just like to tell you how sorry I am that you feel the way you do about our heartfelt attempts to help you and your kitty.

Any condition involving the urinary tract is very, very painful. That in itself is very, very important. Treatment has to be individualized for the patient. If there is a bacterial infection, the appropriate antibiotic is absolutely necessary to kill the bacteria. Untreated bacterial infection will spread to the kidneys and eventually cause a deadly systemic infection. A change of diet without medication will not treat the infection, will not kill the bacteria. Treating the infection with the appropriate antibiotic is vitally important.

If allergy is causing inflammation - and with that inflammation tremendous pain - the ingredients that are causing the inflammation must be eliminated from the diet.

If alkalinizing ingredients (fruits and vegetables) are raising the pH, the higher pH can cause bacterial infection and it can also cause struvites. A cat can have crystals and a cat can have stones. Stones can cause horrific, life-threatening complications that come on suddenly, without warning. They also cause ongoing problems (because they are constantly irritating the lining of the bladder), including pain. Sometimes stones show up on X-rays, but many times they don't and they only show up on an ultrasound. (That's why with an ongoing urinary problem doing X-rays and an ultrasound is vitally important.)

I've been thinking a lot about your situation. Your location and the veterinary care available to you. In your circumstances I would go out of my mind. I just couldn't take it.

In a previous post you wrote: "my cat has never had an ultrasound done and i actually doubt that there is an ultrasound machine for pet use anywhere even close to me."

I have to say something about this. Find out what's available to your vet and insist that your vet does whatever is necessary to help your kitty, to get to the bottom of this problem. Also insist on a fasting level urinalysis and, if necessary, a culture and sensitivity test. Plus X-rays for starters. Assert yourself and be the determined advocate for your kitty that your kitty needs. Your kitty's life depends on it. You can't allow your kitty to suffer or, God forbid, even die, because of inferior, uncaring vet care. Right now you don't exactly know what's wrong. It's essential that you find out and that you treat whatever needs to be treated. Do not hesitate to speak up and be assertive. Do not allow your concerns to be brushed aside. There are potentially life-threatening problems here that must be investigated before you can safely decide that a change of diet to raw is all you need to solve your kitty's problem.

Please, please, please, listen to us, take our advice. We've been there, we couldn't give you the advice you need if we hadn't. And believe me, the advice comes from the heart.

Have you indicated to your vet that you're open to commercial prescription urinary foods if she feels it may do some good?

So far, unfortunately the OP is not willing to consider putting her cat on a prescription diet, regardless if it would be beneficial to the kitty:





She has also been warned that switching to a raw diet could make things worse.

Some cats, due to genetic make up, need special foods, and whether the human likes what's in the food or not, the cat's health and well being should come first, in my opinion.