Meow Mix wet and Whiskas Purrfectly Chicken/Fish

My cat Seffie has developed a UTI of some sort. I'm wondering if it might be her food. She's 19lbs and 6 years old. I've worked the Purina Indoor corn-based dry food out and replaced it with Nature's Recipe Hairball Formula with chicken and brown rice; this is to help her lose weight. I've also switched from pate foods to those yellow plastic things of Meow Mix wet and pouches of Whiskas Purrfectly chicken and fish. She no longer free feeds/grazes during the day because I gradually phased that out as well. I only give Seffie and my other baby, Po, their dry food after they've eaten their wet food at night, before I go to bed. 

I'm trying so hard to get them healthy and then Seffie gets this UTI that makes her want to urinate frequently. Could it be the dry food? The chunks of fish (that they love) in the Purrfectly Fish food? The Meow Mix?

Do any of you have experiences with these foods? My dad suggested I start mixing her dry at night with Purina Urinary blend...even though it's corn based, which I don't like because I think it contributed very much to her weight gain. Thoughts?

19 lbs and she has lost weight? That is a big girl! I hope she is receiving treatment from a Vet as UTI's can lead to permanent damage or worse. 

There is evidence that fish can cause UTI's. The wet Meow Mix line is ALL seafood based regardless of the flavor. I used Meow Mix for a while for my babies because most have no by-products. Once I learned about the problems fish can cause, I have been trying to ween them off. Another negative to fish is that is addictive.

There are other causes of UTI's such as a diet high in magnesium and/or ash, unclean environment, and stress. 

 Seffie has always been much bigger than other cats; she's just got a huge frame to start with. When I first saw her dad wandering around the neighborhood (before she was born), I swore he was a dog until I got closer. 

She is getting treatment from a vet: 2 weeks of Clavamox and if she doesn't seem much better by tomorrow night/Friday night, then a re-evaluation. 

What wet food would you suggest for her? Any specific brand/blend?

Personally, for a cat with urinary issues, I'd cut out the dry food entirely. As for canned foods, paté varieties are usually higher protein and have fewer nasty additives then shredded/"filet"/etc. kinds. It's hard to find a cat food without fish, so just start reading labels and give any fish-free canned food a try. For foods that are easy to find, Friskies Mixed Grill and Fancy Feast Turkey and Giblets are fish-free (there are others but those are the 2 I could think of right now :tongue2. For any other recommendations, what stores are near you?

I've got Wal-Mart, Target and Petsmart the closest with cat food...

People are telling me to cut out the dry food and that's sad, but I'm going to do it. I'm almost there as it is; she only gets dry food at night after her wet food. With the wet food, I split one container of Meow Mix or a pouch of the Whiskas between Seffie and Po twice a day, so that way they each get one "can" between them daily. 

Dry food has never made sense to me for cats with urinary or kidney problems. They need plenty of fluids and don't usually get enough when on dry food.

Petsmart offers Wellness grain-free canned foods - high quality but on the expensive side. Either the Core or the ones with the little yellow triangle on the label.

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=12007162&f=PAD/psNotAvailInUS/No

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4323150&f=PAD/psNotAvailInUS/No

If you find a flavor they like, Wellness offers 12 oz cans which is more economical with multiple mouths to feed. My Petsmart does not carry the 12 oz cans but can be easily found on the web. I just had 3 cases of Wellness Complete Health Turkey delivered today for my girls!

http://www.wellnesspetfood.com/product-details.aspx?pet=cat&pid=7

Good luck

signorinasirena said:

 Seffie has always been much bigger than other cats; she's just got a huge frame to start with. When I first saw her dad wandering around the neighborhood (before she was born), I swore he was a dog until I got closer. 

She is getting treatment from a vet: 2 weeks of Clavamox and if she doesn't seem much better by tomorrow night/Friday night, then a re-evaluation. 

What wet food would you suggest for her? Any specific brand/blend?

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Glad she is under a vet's care.  I would probably do what the vet suggested BUT...  There is always a but if Seffie were my cat I would probably take her off kibble entirely for the UTI as well as weight loss.  Kibble is calorie and carb dense which contributes to obesity if the cat eats too much of it.  UTIs can be fairly common in cats on an all kibble diet if they don't drink enough water to hydrate themselves.  Cats are wired to get their hydration from wet food (prey in the wild) instead of loading up at the water bowl.  That said, many cats do quite well on all kibble because they drink plenty of water.  Due to the weight issue and the UTI I would try to get her on an all wet diet myself. 

My company, The Nutro Company puts out 2 lines of wet food.  You can check them out at http://www.nutro.com/natural-pet-food/natural-cat-food.aspx All 4 of my cats have done very well on the Nutro wet lines.  The Nutro Max Cat is the more economical of the 2 lines.  In addition to the Nutro wet products, I will feed a variety of other premium wet foods to give them different flavors and textures.  Keep us posted on the progress of Seffie's weight loss and her UTI.