Unbalanced cat foods cause urinary issues!

sarah ann · Jun 11, 2014

Beware the expensive, high protein brands of cat food!

Both Natures Variety and By Nature do not have enough methionine in them. The reason I know this is that 2 of my cats have developed crystals while eating those foods.

Their urine ph is very high!

Today my old cat had to be rushed to the vet as he was straining to urinate and nothing was coming out. I'm so mad. Now I have an expensive vet bill and a sick cat who is on IV fluids. The vet said if he does not urinate in the next few hours I should take him in to the ER vet.

I think there should be a class action lawsuit against pet food companies for not balancing the diet for urinary issues. People wonder why their cats keep having problems? Well, if your cat's urinary ph is at 8.0 instead of 6.2, obviously it is only a matter of when your cat is going to get sick off of the food. It is not if, it is when!

I'm finding many of the so called "grain free", high protein, cat foods are not balanced for urinary tract health. Somehow they think adding more protein will fix the ph problem! It doesn't!

I FINALLY got my young cat recovered from crystals so he is no longer peeing in the house, now my old cat is miserable with the same problem...

Stupid pet food companies. You think you are doing you cat a favor by going grain free. People might hate Purina, but my cats NEVER had urinary issues while on it!

Willowy · Jun 11, 2014

Dry foods in general encourage urinary issues, as most cats just don't drink enough water to keep their bladders and kidneys flushed out.

That said, after doing some research into dog kibbles, many of them do have ridiculously high calcium levels (both high-quality and low-quality foods, but some of the higher-end foods are the worst offenders), and poor balance in other minerals as well. Looking into mineral levels is just as important as looking at the ingredients, but it's not easy to find that information :/. It's too bad we can't trust pet food companies to actually make food that's good for our pets.

denice · Jun 12, 2014

Methionine is an amino acid so it is found in meat. Some kitties what ever the reason, I think it may be genetic, need more than good quality food to control issues with crystals. I know the Hills food for crystals prevention works by adding it to the food.

ldg · Jun 12, 2014

Denice said:
Methionine is an amino acid so it is found in meat. Some kitties what ever the reason, I think it may be genetic, need more than good quality food to control issues with crystals.

This is absolutely true. Stress alone can raise pH levels, and that takes more than diet to control. On a raw diet, which contains the maximum methionine as per AAFCO, my cystitis-prone cat, Spooky, had a urine pH of 8.0. She went into the raw diet with struvite crystals, and the diet - with added methionine - did dissolve the crystals. The diet is low mineral, because I use eggshell rather than bone to balance her calcium, and I target a Calcium-to-phosphorus ratio of 1.1:1 for her.

Yet she still develops an inflamed bladder, and has had 2 urinary tract infections in almost 2.5 years on raw now (the inflamed bladder is the perfect host for infections. And this is not something particular to the raw diet according to my vet, who is neither pro-raw nor anti-raw). No more crystals - but her issue is bladder inflammation.

I help her physically manage this inflammation with corn silk tea (which also helps bind excess minerals in the urine to help flush them) and slippery elm bark powder (SEB). I use D-mannose to prevent any further infections. Knock wood, it appears to be working so far. In fact, I just switched from giving SEB and D-mannose individually to giving her the Vet's Best Urinary Tract Support supplement. It's a tablet you quarter before giving it as a treat, and she loves it. She gets 2 a day. I help control her stress with lots of pets and play, L-theanine, and now Bach's Rescue remedy.

Here is an excellent article on just how complicated the problem can be:

http://veterinarymedicine.dvm360.com/vetmed/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=743091&pageID=1&sk=&date=

ldg · Jun 12, 2014

I should add, before I switched to raw, I fed Nature's Variety Instinct, Wellness, Ziwipeak and Weruva foods in no particular rotation. I had three boys, all had blockages, several of them more than once. Two had struvite, one had calcium oxalate (prior to feeding these foods, and on a predominantly dry diet). And on this wet-food only diet (with water added to each meal), none of them had any further problems.

peaches08 · Jun 12, 2014

Crystals isn't even well understood in humans (and we're the most researched). Yes I agree about pH, keeping the bladder flushed, etc. But even specialists in this particular field will tell you that some people are just more prone to them. I believe this is true with cats as well.

abbyntim · Jun 12, 2014

Tim had a single urinalysis in January 2014 that showed struvite crystals. This was a routine urinalysis; he was not showing signs of distress and he was leaving nice pee balls in the litter box. Additionally, he'd had urinalyses before that came out fine. Over the summer of 2013, we had transitioned both cats from primarily dry to primarily Wellness grain-free canned. After this urinalysis, we eliminated the chicken-and-herring and turkey-and-salmon varieties. A urinalysis about two weeks later, and one in April, showed no crystals. Tim has been eating mostly Nature's Variety Instinct canned with added water since February.

rose2015 · Apr 26, 2016

Hi I'm so sorry to hear that about your cat. I's awful. May i ask what brand and type you were feeding? I'm not sure whether to go down the grain free Wet food path or just a low grain wet path to avoid any potential urinary issues. Your help is most appreciated. Thank you!

@Sarah Ann

snowyowl1 · May 5, 2016

Sarah Ann said:
Beware the expensive, high protein brands of cat food!

Both Natures Variety and By Nature do not have enough methionine in them. The reason I know this is that 2 of my cats have developed crystals while eating those foods.

Their urine ph is very high!

Today my old cat had to be rushed to the vet as he was straining to urinate and nothing was coming out. I'm so mad. Now I have an expensive vet bill and a sick cat who is on IV fluids. The vet said if he does not urinate in the next few hours I should take him in to the ER vet.

I think there should be a class action lawsuit against pet food companies for not balancing the diet for urinary issues. People wonder why their cats keep having problems? Well, if your cat's urinary ph is at 8.0 instead of 6.2, obviously it is only a matter of when your cat is going to get sick off of the food. It is not if, it is when!

I'm finding many of the so called "grain free", high protein, cat foods are not balanced for urinary tract health. Somehow they think adding more protein will fix the ph problem! It doesn't!

I FINALLY got my young cat recovered from crystals so he is no longer peeing in the house, now my old cat is miserable with the same problem...

Stupid pet food companies. You think you are doing you cat a favor by going grain free. People might hate Purina, but my cats NEVER had urinary issues while on it!

rose2015 · May 5, 2016

This is awful! The same thing with Wellness now Nature's Variety. We think spending money in premium foods will avoid this NOT CAUSE it! Ridiculous. Do you know what the correct methionine level should be? How are the kitties at the moment? Hugs to you

snowyowl1 · May 5, 2016

Sorry, technical difficulties. This is a quote from someone else that I wanted to know more about as well. I have the same question as you.

rose2015 · May 5, 2016

Oops sorry, I didn't read the beginning of the post properly! Silly me. The last week or two I've had kitty on low grain wet food with Holistic Select (good quality) and no constipation like with grain free. Although her poop is a lot smaller,lighter and less frequent than when I had her in 50/50 Wellness kibble & wet. Do you know if that's normal?

snowyowl1 · May 5, 2016

Usually cats aren't big into drinking water. They could have hard stools from not drinking enough water and/or being on a hard food diet alone. Kibble has some benefits for cats too or at least daily kibble dental treats cause the chewing scrapes off the tarter from their teeth. My vet told me healthy cats have a bowel movement once or twice a day. Vet also said that because each cat is an individual a bit harder stool for one could be their normal. Maybe check how much water your cat tends to drink everyday, pour out 2 cups and check how much is left after 24 hrs. With just soft food you'd think the stools would start to soften up a bit by now, unless this is the way this kitty has always digested her food.

rose2015 · May 6, 2016

Hmm that's a good idea! she barely drinks from her water bowl but we add extra water to each of her wet meals. The poops are not super hard, just pliable. Same texture as when she was on 50/50 kibble & wet, only a but lighter, smaller and less frequent. Argh, sometimes you wish they could just speak English and tell you if they're comfortable

Unbalanced cat foods cause urinary issues!

sarah ann

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Willowy

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denice

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ldg

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ldg

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peaches08

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abbyntim

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rose2015

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snowyowl1

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rose2015

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snowyowl1

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rose2015

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snowyowl1

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rose2015

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