Is anyon familiar with Pet Naturals of Vermont Urinary Tract Support for Cats?

I'm still searching for something to help in the short term with Cindy's crystals.  She can't eat the vet food because of allergies and while putting the methigel on her paws works, she's now scared and hiding in her room afraid to come out.  I need something that I can get that she will eat without all the interaction from me because she doesn't tolerate that well and I don't want her to have to live  her life sitting on her bed in the sphynx postion

I have an order for the NOW L-Methione that I'm going to try first, but if I can't get her to eat that, I'm looking for alternatives.

These are the ingredients

Active Ingredients Per 2 Chewable Tablets:
Uva Ursi 100 mg
Chanca Piedra (Phyllanthus niruri) Powder 75 mg
Cranberry Juice Extract 50 mg
Marshmallow (Althaea officinalis) Root Powder 50 mg
L-Methionine 50 mg
Corn Silk Powder 30 mg
Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C) 30 mg
Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) Whole Plant Powder 25 mg
Olive Leaf (15% Oleuropein) Extract 25 mg
Lactobacillus acidophilus 17.5 million CFU

Inactive Ingredients - brewers yeast, fish flavor, microcrystalline cellulose, silicon dioxide, stearic acid, vegetable stearate.

Seems okay to me, especially the probiotic part of it. I don't think cranberry juice really helps cats with urinary issues, but in small amounts I am sure it wouldn't hurt!

Thanks!

Hopefully the methionine won't be a problem. It's a very small amount of powder you need to mix into her food, and as far as I can tell, it's tasteless. As it's already an ingredient in many foods, I doubt she'll mind it. :cross:

I'm worried now because I read that the methionine can cause anemia if they get too much.  How much is too much?  Especially if it's already in the food.

Hun, the methigel you're giving her IS methionine - just with stuff added to make it tasty. The amount per serving is 400mg, and I think you're supposed to give it 1-2x per day?

So I took a 500mg pill, sprinkled half on Spooky's food in the AM, and half in the PM. I gave it to her for a month, but you should follow your vet instructions for how long to give it to her.

It's safer than cranberry. I'll have to find the link later.

...or supposed to make it tasty.

LDG said:

Hun, the methigel you're giving her IS methionine - just with stuff added to make it tasty. The amount per serving is 400mg, and I think you're supposed to give it 1-2x per day?
So I took a 500mg pill, sprinkled half on Spooky's food in the AM, and half in the PM. I gave it to her for a month, but you should follow your vet instructions for how long to give it to her.
It's safer than cranberry. I'll have to find the link later.

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Yes, I know the methigel is methionine, and I worry about that too.  I'm just a worrier.  I am supposed to give her 1/2 teaspoon a day of the Methigel.  I'm trying to put it in her food now, but I know doing it that way she's probably not getting anywhere near 1/2 teaspoon. I use the blender and blend it in, but she never finishes all her food so I don't actually have a handle on how much she is getting.  I read somewhere (sorry, I can't find the link) that 1/8 of a teaspoon of the methionine is all you should give and that if they get too much it can cause the type of anemia they can get from onions.  I just wish I could check her pH.  Can you check pH after the urine is in the litter box?  Because I'm not about to try while she's actually going as skittish as she is.  I sure don't want to have to add fear of using litter box to the list.

Try feeding smaller meals so she finishes all the food. Unless she is one of those cats who, no matter how little you give her, she leaves some. My Ootay was like that.

Misty8723 said:

I read somewhere (sorry, I can't find the link) that 1/8 of a teaspoon of the methionine is all you should give and that if they get too much it can cause the type of anemia they can get from onions. 

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Here's the abstract of a study re: methionine and Heinz Body anemia: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3826869

Cats fed 0.5 g of methionine/kg for 52 days had a moderate Heinz-body hemolytic anemia with methemoglobinemia at treatment days 17 to 31, but thereafter recovered from the anemia despite continuation of methionine feeding, indicating an adaptation of the cats.

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(Cats fed 1g of methionine per kg only took 6-10 days to develop the anemia).

To put that into perspective.... Spooky weighs 11.5 pounds. That's 5.2 kilograms. So, to induce anemia with methionine, she'd need... 2.6 grams a day (5.2kg of body weight x 0.5g of methionine).

I was giving her 500mg a day (one capsule).

There are 1,000mg per gram. So to induce anemia (that wasn't life threatening, but self-resolving once her body adjusted), I would have needed to give her 5 capsules a day.

I hope this helps you feel more comfortable!

...and no, there's no way to test her urine pH once she's peed.

Yes it does relieve my anxiety a bit.    I had read that study, but I'm lousy at math and all those grams and kilograms makes my head hurt.  Cindy weighs a bit less than your Spooky (around 8.5 lbs), so maybe 1/2 capsule? or 2/3 capsule?

I just wish I could check her pH.  Can you check pH after the urine is in the litter box?  Because I'm not about to try while she's actually going as skittish as she is.

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There's a litter called Scientific Professional Cat Litter that's supposed to change colors depending on the ph....  http://cats.lovetoknow.com/Scientific_Professional_Cat_Litter . Don't know much about it, other than that I've seen it at Petco....

Misty8723 said:

Yes it does relieve my anxiety a bit.    I had read that study, but I'm lousy at math and all those grams and kilograms makes my head hurt.  Cindy weighs a bit less than your Spooky (around 8.5 lbs), so maybe 1/2 capsule? or 2/3 capsule?

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How much of the Methigel were you supposed to give her daily? I can figure it from there, as we know Methigel has 400mg of methionine per teaspoon.

If you were supposed to give her 1/2 teaspoon a day, that's 200mg. So you'd give her a touch less than 1/2 a capsule - and I'm sure half a 500mg capsule wouldn't hurt her.

Krysta said:

There's a litter called Scientific Professional Cat Litter that's supposed to change colors depending on the ph....  http://cats.lovetoknow.com/Scientific_Professional_Cat_Litter . Don't know much about it, other than that I've seen it at Petco....

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Cool! Thanks for that link.

LDG said:

How much of the Methigel were you supposed to give her daily? I can figure it from there, as we know Methigel has 400mg of methionine per teaspoon.
If you were supposed to give her 1/2 teaspoon a day, that's 200mg. So you'd give her a touch less than 1/2 a capsule - and I'm sure half a 500mg capsule wouldn't hurt her.

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The vet prescribed 1/2 teaspoon of the Methigel.  So then that would be a bit less than a 1/2 a capsule and I can put it in her food so she can quit being freaked out about having goop smeared on her paws?  That would be totally awesome.  I've tried putting the Methigel in her food but that went over like a lead balloon.  Sniff? Sniff? Sniff? Something weird in my food! I'm not eating it!

Krysta said:

There's a litter called Scientific Professional Cat Litter that's supposed to change colors depending on the ph....  http://cats.lovetoknow.com/Scientific_Professional_Cat_Litter . Don't know much about it, other than that I've seen it at Petco....

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Oh, interesting.  Thanks! I will have to look into that.

It looks like the name of the litter has changed to Perfect Litter Alert. You can get a one month sample for shipping cost of $8.95 at this link.

https://www.perfectlitter.com/petecology1.html

Misty8723 said:

The vet prescribed 1/2 teaspoon of the Methigel.  So then that would be a bit less than a 1/2 a capsule and I can put it in her food so she can quit being freaked out about having goop smeared on her paws?  That would be totally awesome.  I've tried putting the Methigel in her food but that went over like a lead balloon.  Sniff? Sniff? Sniff? Something weird in my food! I'm not eating it!

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Yup, exactly right! 1/2 teaspoon of methigel is 200mg of methionine. If you ordered the 500mg capsules, a touch less than half a capsule (and this isn't rocket science, so it doesn't need to be EXACT, it won't hurt her) is the amount the vet wants her to have daily!

Just mix it into her food. Even better to use 1/4 capsule twice a day, help "smooth" the pH curve. :nod:

Spooky wouldn't eat the Methigel, but eats the methionine just sprinkled on her food, and I was giving her twice the amount you'll be giving your rincess:

LDG said:

Yup, exactly right! 1/2 teaspoon of methigel is 200mg of methionine. If you ordered the 500mg capsules, a touch less than half a capsule (and this isn't rocket science, so it doesn't need to be EXACT, it won't hurt her) is the amount the vet wants her to have daily!
Just mix it into her food. Even better to use 1/4 capsule twice a day, help "smooth" the pH curve.

Spooky wouldn't eat the Methigel, but eats the methionine just sprinkled on her food, and I was giving her twice the amount you'll be giving your

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Excellent!  Can I sprinkle it on her dry food?  I know she will eat that, but she's a whole lot fussier about her wet food.

Cindy won't eat it either, unless I smear it on her paws and she can't stand it there so she cleans it off. 

I was pleasantly surprised tonight when I came home, she greeted me, hung around and didn't go hide and right now she is playing cat chase with Swanie.

The problem with sprinkling it on dry is it won't stick to it. If she licks the bowl clean.... maybe if you feed her kibble to her crumbled up so she has to lick the crumbs up? :dk: