Wet food suggestions for male with urinary "issues"?

kady05

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My cat, Sneak, has now had 3 instances where he's had some urinary issues. 2 of the 3 times, he has NOT had any crystals, but just red/white blood cells in his urine, which antibiotics have always cleared up. One time he did have some struvite crystals, and was put on Royal Canin S/O for a couple months after that.

He had been eating Wysong Uretic (as recommended by my vet) and doing great on it, til a couple days ago when he started having problems again.. frequently going to the litter box is his main symptom. Otherwise, he acts totally normal, no crying, eating fine, etc.

So I took him in and again he just had red/white blood cells in his urine, no crystals. He's now on Clavamox and is already better after only 2 doses. I spoke with my vet today and he thinks I should switch him to a completely wet food diet (he's always eaten dry because I could never get him to eat wet). Thankfully, he's been eating the leftover S/O cans I had just fine, so I think he may be over the "I hate wet food" phase.

Vet doesn't think he needs to be on a prescription diet yet, since it doesn't seem like it's crystals that are causing his problems. So I'm wondering what you guys would suggest for a cat like him?
 

minka

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Other than buying a prescription diet, all wet food is going to have basically the same effect on him: putting more moisture in his system to keep toxins at bay.
 
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kady05

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Originally Posted by Minka

Other than buying a prescription diet, all wet food is going to have basically the same effect on him: putting more moisture in his system to keep toxins at bay.
That's kind of what I figured.. wasn't sure if there were any specific brands I should stay away from. I know I should avoid fish based formulas but that's about it.
 

furryfriends50

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Originally Posted by kady05

That's kind of what I figured.. wasn't sure if there were any specific brands I should stay away from. I know I should avoid fish based formulas but that's about it.
Avoid fish, grains, and also many with cats with urinary problems prefer to avoid fruits/veggies as well. Most of the 95% meat canned foods would probably work.
 

carolina

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I would highly recommend a prescription urinary diet. This is strike 3 and the last thing you want is to risk a blockage in a male cat - that is something you don't want to play with...
Hills C/D comes in dry or wet, and works for FLUTD caused by struvite or oxalate crystals, or feline idiopathic cystitis. Pretty much works all around as far as urinary diets goes...
If this wasn't a "chronic" issue, I wouldn't say prescription for sure, but since this the third time around and he is a male.... No way I would go outside of the prescription scope. Especially since he had crystals once. That can be deadly in male cats and he is showing to be predisposed to problems.
My opinion for what is worth....
 
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kady05

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Originally Posted by Carolina

I would highly recommend a prescription urinary diet. This is strike 3 and the last thing you want is to risk a blockage in a male cat - that is something you don't want to play with...
Hills C/D comes in dry or wet, and works for FLUTD caused by struvite or oxalate crystals, or feline idiopathic cystitis. Pretty much works all around as far as urinary diets goes...
If this wasn't a "chronic" issue, I wouldn't say prescription for sure, but since this the third time around and he is a male.... No way I would go outside of the prescription scope. Especially since he had crystals once. That can be deadly in male cats and he is showing to be predisposed to problems.
My opinion for what is worth....
Vet doesn't think it's necessary. Said that since the majority of his problems have NOT been crystals, putting him on a prescription diet probably won't change anything since that's what they're geared toward. He usually goes a year in between problems, so I wouldn't really classify it as chronic.. if he were having issues every couple of months, then yes, but this is like a once a year thing, it's odd.
 

minka

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Originally Posted by kady05

Vet doesn't think it's necessary. Said that since the majority of his problems have NOT been crystals, putting him on a prescription diet probably won't change anything since that's what they're geared toward. He usually goes a year in between problems, so I wouldn't really classify it as chronic.. if he were having issues every couple of months, then yes, but this is like a once a year thing, it's odd.
Then yea, I'd probably aim for fish-free grain-free canned food.
 
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kady05

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Originally Posted by Minka

Then yea, I'd probably aim for fish-free grain-free canned food.
Thanks, that's what I was thinking anyway, but just wanted to post here to see if anyone had any other specific suggestions
 

carolina

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Originally Posted by kady05

Vet doesn't think it's necessary. Said that since the majority of his problems have NOT been crystals, putting him on a prescription diet probably won't change anything since that's what they're geared toward. He usually goes a year in between problems, so I wouldn't really classify it as chronic.. if he were having issues every couple of months, then yes, but this is like a once a year thing, it's odd.
Sorry, I would classify as Chronic - if not chronic, he is for sure predisposed for trouble - as I said, this is strike 3.
Hills C/D, as I posted, covers all types of UTI problems, not only crystals. I am sure there are other urinary diets out there that do the same thing, but C/D is the one I am aware of the fits the bill. IMHO, problems like this once a year is too much - and the thing is, it happened 3 times already, which means really, it can happen again anytime.
If I were you, I would stick around for a bit before making a decision...
Not many posters responded to this... I see only a few posters here... Stick around a little more, hopefully more pet parents will come in...
 
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kady05

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I'm really just going by what my vet has told me.. my other cat is on Royal Canin S/O so it's not like he's against putting cats on prescription diets, he just doesn't feel it necessary for Sneak. Considering Sneak has always eaten 100% dry food, that may be all of his problems right there.
 
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