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Need some dry food advice from the experts, please

post #1 of 10
10/14/11 at 2:29pm
Thread Starter 
One of our cats was on purina s/o (struvite formula) for a while doing well, when he developed a sensitivity to something in it and started vomiting up his food, so we switched him to an all-canned diet with our vet's blessing. He did well on it for a few months, then he got tired of it and started just barely eating enough to keep going. He has dropped a dramatic amount of weight over the last several months.

We got him checked out to see what was causing the weight loss, and the vet can't find anything. I really suspect it's because he's a dry food addict and just doesn't like the canned food so he's barely eating enough to get by. I have occasionally offered him a few bits of our other cat's dry food (a wellness flavor with some fish in it, not OK on a regular basis for a struvite cat as far as I know) and he gobbled it up and begged for more.

So to get to the point, I'm looking for a palatable dry food that is safe for cats prone to struvite problems, but that is also good for sensitive tummies. Prescription or OTC is fine - either way I'll run any suggestions past the vet. I need some ideas to present to her, since as a really busy vet she doesn't have a whole lot of time to research what's out there beyond the most common prescription foods.

Thank you!
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post #2 of 10
10/14/11 at 3:29pm
Have you tried Hills C/D? They have both canned and dry..... The canned they even have in fish flavor, I believe, since he likes fish.....
Were you giving an assorted canned diet to him? BTW, If I were you... if he has crystals problems, food with fish in it... !!! at all! Unless it is in a prescription formula....
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post #3 of 10
10/14/11 at 4:14pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Carolina View Post
Have you tried Hills C/D? They have both canned and dry..... The canned they even have in fish flavor, I believe, since he likes fish.....
Were you giving an assorted canned diet to him? BTW, If I were you... if he has crystals problems, food with fish in it... !!! at all! Unless it is in a prescription formula....
Thank you We were giving him canned Wellness, the fish and grain free varieties. In my experience they've been really good for my other cat with a sensitive tummy, but I guess he is a pickier eater. Our vet recommended trying c/d, which I plan to pick up for him. I'm hoping to line up some alternatives ahead of time just in case it disagrees with his tummy. Good to know they have multiple flavors of c/d now!
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post #4 of 10
10/15/11 at 10:58am
My boy had struvite crystals and is a dry food fiend - he doesn't really consider wet food to be real food...been like this since I got him as an adult stray. Anyway, he's on Hills C/D dry and I try to get him to eat at least a few teaspoons of Hills C/D wet per day. He loves the dry! I can't give him the wet C/D with the fish, as it seems to affect his stools for some reason.

Also, I think the dry now comes in chicken and original flavor .... I've been getting the chicken.

I think Dante has a sensitive tummy as the 'wrong' food will cause soft and/or very smelly stool. But the dry C/D really seemed to help with this as well. The key thing for me is that his urine has been perfect the last few years.

Good luck - finding the right food can be such a frustrating trial and error game.
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post #5 of 10
10/15/11 at 8:34pm
Is your cat underweight? Are you sure he's not just losing fat? How much is he eating in a day?

Instead of switching him back to what he's addicted to and risking him sticking his nose up at the wet food and getting crystals all over again, I would pick out some different brands/flavors of wet to peak his interest and/or add parmesan cheese, fish flakes, or some other tasty treat to his wet to get him to eat more. (Keep in mind, this advice is only for if he's NOT underweight/sick.)
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post #6 of 10
10/15/11 at 8:47pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Minka View Post
Is your cat underweight? Are you sure he's not just losing fat? How much is he eating in a day?

Instead of switching him back to what he's addicted to and risking him sticking his nose up at the wet food and getting crystals all over again, I would pick out some different brands/flavors of wet to peak his interest and/or add parmesan cheese, fish flakes, or some other tasty treat to his wet to get him to eat more. (Keep in mind, this advice is only for if he's NOT underweight/sick.)
He is underweight. He's a large framed cat and should normally weigh 13 pounds, but currently weighs only 9 (he was a little bit overweight at 14 pounds when we started him on canned, but he dropped the extra pound and then far too much beyond that). He's almost 16 years old so I'm not sure how successful we'll be at trying to change an addiction now. It doesn't seem to have worked so far We'll continue trying to find a canned food he likes, but right now we're mainly worried about getting his weight back up.

Thanks everyone for all the feedback so far, I do appreciate it!
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post #7 of 10
10/16/11 at 8:02am
In all honesty, before I add any 'treats' to his diet to force him to eat wet, I'd consult with the vet, especially since this boy had crystals. And if the dry C/D will work for him and his urinary issues, well, don't get too panicked that it's not wet food. The goal is to have a healthy cat - however you can get there.

This is definitely an area where working with the vet is key, IMO. As I mentioned, my boy had struvite crystals and has now been doing beautifully for over two years on a diet mainly of dry Hills C/D. He doesn't like wet and that's that from his POV. So, I'm not going to stress him further, not when twice yearly senior panels are showing me I have a healthy cat - and he looks healthy and happy to my layman eyes as well.
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post #8 of 10
10/16/11 at 11:08am
In addition to the Hill's c/d dry, you could try the dry Royal Canin Urinary or Iams/Eukanuba Struvite. Jamie prefers dry and fish, and really loves the Hill's c/d fish flavored.
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post #9 of 10
10/16/11 at 11:36am
My cats go crazy for EVO Turkey & Chicken formula - it's grainless, about 88% turkey & chicken, and 11% carbs. It's not cheap, though, at around $22 for a 5lb. bag
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post #10 of 10
10/16/11 at 11:38am
As Jcat mentioned, there are a couple of different prescription lines - thank goodness - in case kitty doesn't do well on one line. Even if your vet doesn't carry all the lines, she can prescribe them for you.
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