Alternatives to expensive Urinary SO food

skitty

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I guess it must really depend on the cat. My cat was on whatever the PetSmart brand was back when they had the scare about the melamine in the cat food and one of my cats had a complete urinary blockage and was in the hospital for four days. He was put on the urinary SO then I switched back to Science Diet at some point and another one of my cats had liver failure (we still don't know why other than it could have been an infection) and was in the hospital for over a week and we took him home to basically die but he survived. The vet suggested the Urinary SO again, so for a long time I bought but it is so expensive to feed three cats and the price just kept going up and up. I switched them to Taste of The Wild about a year ago and they have not had any issues what-so-ever. Skittles never had a urinary problem again after that first incident. Biscuit, the liver failure cat, has not had any issues since then and this was about four years ago that he was so ill.

Their fur and eyes look great. 
 

raintyger

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The prescription foods, from what I hear, do prevent the UTI's. But they are notoriously high in carbs. I opted to keep Poppy off prescription food, switch her to 100% wet with a little extra water. I even fed Wellness up 'til now. Am switching at least temporarily due to unrelated issues. It is over 1 year and 4 or 5 urine tests have come back fine.

There are a few wet foods that are especially good for urinary prone cats: Weruva and Fussie Cat. I warn you, though, that these are not cheap foods. The Weruva is lower calorie, so you end up feeding about twice as much food as with other brands. However, nutritionwise your kitties will be better off and you will save on other medical bills outside of UTI's.

You could pick a wet food and then test the urine with pH sticks. You could add dl-methionine to the food, it is cheap, in order to bring down the urine pH if you are worried about struvite stones. You need to do this under veterinary supervision and definitely home test the urine with pH sticks in between the lab urinalysis tests. For calcium stones Wysong makes a product called Biotic pH+. (There is also Biotic pH-, but using dl-methionine is cheaper and offers more control because you can measure exactly how much dl-methionine you're using. The Biotic pH- uses dl-methionine but has a lot of other ingredients, so it's hard to tell how much meds you're administering.)

Another thing to consider is to switch only ONE kitty at a time. If your choice doesn't work out too well then you'll only have ONE medical problem, not multiple ones.
 

mamacat42

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I had a male cat some years ago who constantly got blocked and I would have to take him to emergency vet.  The cutting off the penis was a very new surgery at that time and most vets did not do it.  We moved to another city and the vet there did the surgery.  My Charlie suddenly quit losing his hair, filled out and gained weight and was a healthy cat, he lived to be 17.  I never fed him anything but regular cat food, wet and dry.  If I were you, I would get your cat the surgery.  They are not like men.  He was a happy, healthy cat after that.
 

angels mommy

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I had a male cat some years ago who constantly got blocked and I would have to take him to emergency vet.  The cutting off the penis was a very new surgery at that time and most vets did not do it.  We moved to another city and the vet there did the surgery.  My Charlie suddenly quit losing his hair, filled out and gained weight and was a healthy cat, he lived to be 17.  I never fed him anything but regular cat food, wet and dry.  If I were you, I would get your cat the surgery.  They are not like men.  He was a happy, healthy cat after that.
This surgery is serious & usually only done as a last resort

The Rx food is expensive, but worth it. I managed to get it even when I was only receiving very little unemployment. To me, after all we had been through w/ the cystitis, it was well worth it!!  (& way cheaper than all the Vet bills!)

I totally agree w/ otto, stay off all dry food. My vet didn't even recommend the Rx dry.  I had been feeding grain free (Before the Grain & by nature brands) but unfortunately, Angel still had to go on Rx food.

He eats the Purina UR. it's 40.00/case of 24. He eats 1 can a day, 1/2 for breakfast & the other 1/2 for dinner. I even stopped any dry treats, & only give him Pure Bites treats. (freeze dried meats, cheaper to get the bigger bags for dogs & just break into pieces).
 
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carriej

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Ok so it's been awhile since I have been around.

Still looking for an alternative food, as the food cost just keeps going up and up... Yes, they are still on that blasted Urinary SO food... However, terrified to change because I don't want crystals again. Due to my geographical location, if I get in a situation where something happens during "closed" hours, I am in huge trouble as the nearest emergency vet clinic is several hours away.

I'm wondering if it would be OK if I found a wet food to mix with it?
 

cprcheetah

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I have 2 kitties with bladder issues, about 4 years ago I came across this site:  http://catinfo.org/?link=urinarytracthealth  I decided to switch them to an all canned food diet.  I try to do grain free when I can but a lot of the times it's Fancy Feast Classics or Friskies Pate.  I add a couple of table spoons of water to their cans, and both of them are on Cosequin (helps with bladder inflammation).  I have not had any bladder issues for 4 years, up until my older kitty who was having other health issues got a bladder infection last week.  But 4 years without a problem makes for a very happy mama.  DeeJay my older kitty was having flare ups (she has interstitial cystitis) every couple of months.  The premise of the Urinary SO is it has additional salt to encourage more drinking.  There are healthier ways to do that (canned food with additional water, water fountains etc).
 

molldee

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If your cat is doing well on the prescription, I wouldn't change it. I have my cat on Royal Canin Urinary SO WET food. I buy two cases on chewy.com, no shipping fee for about $80 and it lasts me 48 days. I also feed high quality low phosphorus WET food in the morning and afternoon, prescription at night.
 

denice

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If they were on the Hills Prescription diet I would say you needed to be careful with switching.  Hills adds an amino acid to change the urine pH, Royal Canin doesn't do that.  A wet food that is high in meat content, no grains and low amount of other fillers would be good.  Of course anything that ups the water in their diet including mixing some water into the food would be good.  
 

margaretcharles

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I know moisture content is a big one when trying to prevent crystals, but I thought it was the ash and magnesium content that is a big factor as well? It's been a while since I looked into it, but I think it was low ash and high magnesium (I can't remember the specific numbers anymore) in order to keep the urine a little more acidic to keep crystals from forming?

My ex had a cat that had some problems with crystals. He was on some special urinary tract, Purina food that was helping with his crystals, but he just kind of looked mangy and I don't think it was doing much else for him. We switched him to roasted chicken nutro maxx cat, and he did better after that, even though I would have preferred some better ingredients in his food. The food doesn't specifically say it's for urinary tract health, but the nutritionist at the pet food store said that that type used to be labeled as such but they took it off, but the content is still the same. Not sure how well it would work for your kitty, but it definitely worked well for my ex's cat.

When I was looking into it, I remember reading that if you have hard water and are just giving them tap water it might make it worse too. I know where my ex lived the water was really hard, and it also seemed to help a little bit when we gave him water from a jug. I'm not sure if it's actually a factor or not, but it could be something to think about?
 

denice

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I know the ash and magnesium content used to be thought to be a major contributor to the formation of crystals.  I have seen more articles lately that says that it is more about urine pH and enough water to dilute urine.  That's why Hills adds the amino acid to it's food.

http://www.acreaturecomfort.com/cathealth.htm

http://www.halopets.com/pet-education/pet-articles/feline-urinary-problems.html

The second article is from a pet food company so give it as much creedence as you feel it deserves.  I just thought it gave a good explanation.
 

matto

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According to my vet, my kitty probably got oxalate crystals from too much protein combined with too little exercise. I always gave her a high power protein diet, either the best brands or raw, but since I live in a small apartment, she doesnt get to lead the wild life that such a diet is constructed for. Thats why the protein levels in urinary s/o are low, apparently - however, there are different kinds of crystals and different causes, the most common being stress, apparently.
 

angels mommy

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According to my vet, my kitty probably got oxalate crystals from too much protein combined with too little exercise. I always gave her a high power protein diet, either the best brands or raw, but since I live in a small apartment, she doesnt get to lead the wild life that such a diet is constructed for. Thats why the protein levels in urinary s/o are low, apparently - however, there are different kinds of crystals and different causes, the most common being stress, apparently.
That's very interesting. I have never heard that before. I am in an apartment too, but Angel's first UTI  (Aug. 2012) showed that it was from bacteria. (no more out side after that!) but the second two episodes of cystitis w/ sturvite crystals, I believe was stress induced.  Oct. 2012 & Christmas day 2012.

(Oct. was still getting used to staying inside, but was good about it because he was on amatriptyline for the bladder spasms. I think the other reason was that his little kitty friend from next door was PTS, so I know he sensed that, & that she wasn't around anymore. As far as Christmas day, I don't know, because I was not gone that week any more that usual, just at work as normal.  I wasn't stressed for him to pick up on, so,  


Next month will be one year that Angel has been on the Purina UR SO RX food. Wet only.  ($40.00/case @ the vets)

He has done very well on it. I also continue to add water to it  from the PUR filter on the faucet.

It does have carbs though, so it's been hard to get him to loose weight. He was around 15 lbs. at his last vet visit this past summer

when he went for his shots. He may have lost a little, but not much, if any. It's hard to tell. The last time I weighed him on my scale, I thought he

lost a lb. but was the same at the vets. :-/

I have thought about asking the vet about doing 1/2 of the Before the Grain with 1/2 of the Rx food.

This way he is still on it, but we would be cutting the carbs a little!
 

matto

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Yeah, the protein causes either too much or too little acidity in her stomach, cant remember which. Seafood is strictly off the menu because of this, which we both hate, 'cos she loves tuna and I love giving her things she loves :p
 

otto

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Cats are obligate carnivores and they are designed by nature to eat a high MEAT protein diet.

Meat keeps their urine at the proper acidity

It's the quality of the protein that is important, not the quantity. Protein from grains is not an appropriate diet for cats.

Cats with urinary tract issues, generally speaking, need a diet that is first and foremost, moisture rich (no dry food), high in meat, low in carbs, no grains.
 

angels mommy

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Cats are obligate carnivores and they are designed by nature to eat a high MEAT protein diet.

Meat keeps their urine at the proper acidity

It's the quality of the protein that is important, not the quantity. Protein from grains is not an appropriate diet for cats.

Cats with urinary tract issues, generally speaking, need a diet that is first and foremost, moisture rich (no dry food), high in meat, low in carbs, no grains.
Yes, I don't know why they put grains in the Rx food! I hate that, which is why I am going to ask the vet about starting to at least cut the Rx food w/ Before the Grain, or By Nature, both of which he used to eat. It means spending even more money on his food, but at least it will last twice as long.

So, two cans, one of each, would last me two days sense he eats 1/2 a can for breakfast, & 1/2 for dinner. 
 

otto

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Mazy cat, my "struvite kitty" eats Rad Cat raw, and By Nature Organic canned, the turkey&chicken formula only. She cannot tolerate anything that is not organic so she no longer gets PMR, because I can't afford organic meats. I even buy eggs special for her, Pete&Gerry's certified organic, (no HMO), certified humane handled eggs.

She has a ruined digestion from 6 years on Hills c/d "prescription diet".

As for grains, I had a vet tell me one time that corn is an "excellent source of protein for cats who have urinary tract problems because it provides protein without the minerals that affect a cat's urine pH". What a load of bunk, I'm sure the vet was fed that line in vet school or by a Hills sales rep. Never mind that a cat isn't a cow and can't digest corn.

Grain heavy foods are not only an inappropriate diet for cats, they can do a lot of damage. They slow digestion, creating long term digestion problems, and affecting motility. They create bulk, which stretches the colon and intestine, reducing elasticity, motility and leading to chronic constipation and megacolon. With dry "prescription" foods of course, you are looking at chronic dehydration, also.

I am not a scientist nor a vet. I speak from first hand experience and my own reading and research over the past 7 years.
 
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finnlacey

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I run a website for kitties with IBD and corn causes MANY issues with bowel and digestion problems. Think of it this way, have you ever seen a cat run into a cornfield to eat the corn? No, they run into the cornfield to eat the MOUSE that ate the corn. Predigested grains are fine and natural from their prey. 
 

otto

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I live with my mistake in keeping Mazy cat on that food for so long every day of my life. Mazy can only eat a very few foods, and those have to be organic. She can't go more than a few hours at a time without something in her stomach, or she will regurgitate the next meal. She has cycles of regurgitation on a daily basis that lasts from just one random day to weeks of daily puking, before things settle down and she again can go 14-17 days without regurgitating again.

My life revolves around her dietary needs. I come home for lunch every day. I try not to plan activities on the weekend that will keep me away from home more than 6 hours. I get up in the middle of the night, every single night, to give her a small meal.

My apartment smells like cat puke. I shampoo and steam clean the carpets constantly, but there is no removing that smell after a certain amount of years of cat puke in the carpet, it's there to stay.

I'm no stranger to this kind of life, having cared for elderly ill cats, and chronically ill cats. But she's only 10, and it is difficult sometimes not to think about how much easier my life would have been at this point, if I had not fed her that terrible food for so many years. The hardest part to swallow is that I knew better, no other cat of mine was ever fed anything but canned food, but the vet had me convinced she had to be on this food for urinary tract health, and while she's always liked canned foods, she wouldn't eat the c/d canned, so I continued to ruin her with that awful stuff for six years before I finally reached the final straw.

She's tons better but it's been over two years since her diet change, and I don't foresee it ever getting any better than where she is right now.
 
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finnlacey

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I'm so sorry, we all learn the hard way it seems. 
 

otto

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Yes. But I share Mazy's story whenever I see threads like this in the hopes I can help prevent others and their cats from having to learn the hard way. Sadly, most people don't take me seriously, and say their cats are "fine". As Dr Pierson would say, every cat is "fine" on dry food, until s/he isn't.

And you know, the mass majority seem to think a cat puking several times a week, or even daily, is a "normal" thing for a cat, so they don't even attribute the problem to the food. Even after having it suggested to them.

And of course frequent vomiting or regurgitation eventually brings on a whole other set of health issues. Vicious cycle.
 
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