Suggestions for Urinary Health Cat Foods

Hello good people,

This forum has been a godsend since joining. My cat Max was close to the brink of death, and because of all the input and suggestions I got here, I was able to save his life. He's now on a lifetime diet of urinary health food. Which is a little depressing since, I get the feeling he doesn't enjoy the cat so much, and there are so few options.

He hated all the Hills brand recipes.  But I've gotten him to eat the Royal Canin brand, both pate and giblets.  He's been eating it steadily since May, but I can literally see how bored he is of it. He runs into the kitchen with his tail up, all happy.  And then I put the cat food in his bowl, his head drops, his tail sinks, and he stares at it for like 10 mins before begrudgingly eating it.

When I asked my vet (who I'm not a big fan of, btw) for other ideas/brands, he told me about Purina's st/ox brand.  Can anyone else recommend that brand?  It's pretty expensive, so before I buy an entire case of it on a site like Petfooddirect.com, I'd rather have him sample it, but the vet didn't have any.

And besides Purina and Hills... are there ANY other options?  I refuse to believe it comes down to just 3.

Thanks!

What many have done in similar situations is stabilize the kitty for a few months on the prescription diets. Rotate between them, whatever. Then transition, slowly, to an all canned diet that is high protein, low-carb. Add extra water to each meal.

The two most important components in bladder and urinary tract health are the amount of moisture moving through the system ( anyone provided this link? http://www.catinfo.org ), and the proper pH in the bladder. The prescription foods are formulated to target a neutral to slightly-acidic pH. They do this with the combination of ingredients and the addition of a urine acidifier, often L-methionine. Carbohydrates in food raise the urine pH. Struvite crystals form in an alkaline environment.

But a diet that is based on animal-tissue and that is low carb (no grains, low starch content) targets the proper pH, and a low ash (mineral) content helps prevent excess minerals that need excreting. Another reason to avoid dry, as meat "meal" in the food often has a higher ash content.

I give my kitty that remains prone to crystals in her urine even on a raw food diet corn silk tea. This soothes the bladder and binds with excess minerals to help remove them. This is used in people to help prevent kidney stones. I give her a tablespoon every day or two mixed into her food.

Maybe you can add a few toppers like shaved bonito, Fortiflora, or fresh meat. Fortiflora is a probiotic with animal digest in it. Animal digest is something that is sprayed on kibble to make it appetizing to kitties. You can get it at Amazon or your vet.


My kitty had a UTI and I was told to feed her prescription food, but I did not. I went with 100% high protein canned and measured urine pH with dipsticks.

Hi!!! I too had a young cat on the brink of  death because he was blocked up from too much  grain free dry food and not enough drinking!!! Luckily my cats only vet, unblocked him and put him on Royal Canin So urinary wet food. He loves it and almost a year later, he remains unblocked and still loves his food!! My other cats like his food too, and get it as a snack.My vet says that its a well balanced diet and it won't hurt the others by eating it. All of them eat Royal canin dry So but only as a snack. The food makes them drink more water,which then flushes out their kidneys. I'm not real gung ho about the ingredients, but as long as my little guy is happy and not blocked, that's all that matters. All my others eat a grain free canned diet along with their crunchy snacks. Hills diet was exchanged,because my cat hated it and would try to "Bury " this food. Also, if your vet makes u feel uncomfortable...Switch Vets!!!! Try to find one that does only cats. Hope this helps.

I have two furbabys that in the past, one had crystals 4 years ago and 1 furbaby eats only Royal Canin So urinary canned food, due to the fact that the second one ate too much dry food and did not drink enough water so he blocked up,,the vet was able to unblock him, but was wondering if I could add some grain free canned cat food to his food for variety? Poor kid Hate to think he has too eat this his whole long life!!! What do you think??  The other cats like his food and by the time he comes to eat his food is all eaten up!!!! Can he eat canned grain free food ? They all get dry food but only as a snack. Hope i didn't confuse you!!! Thanx!!!

gladys said:

Hi!!! I too had a young cat on the brink of  death because he was blocked up from too much  grain free dry food and not enough drinking!!! Luckily my cats only vet, unblocked him and put him on Royal Canin So urinary wet food. He loves it and almost a year later, he remains unblocked and still loves his food!! My other cats like his food too, and get it as a snack.My vet says that its a well balanced diet and it won't hurt the others by eating it. All of them eat Royal canin dry So but only as a snack. The food makes them drink more water,which then flushes out their kidneys. I'm not real gung ho about the ingredients, but as long as my little guy is happy and not blocked, that's all that matters. All my others eat a grain free canned diet along with their crunchy snacks. Hills diet was exchanged,because my cat hated it and would try to "Bury " this food. Also, if your vet makes u feel uncomfortable...Switch Vets!!!! Try to find one that does only cats. Hope this helps.

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My boy had crystals 2 years ago and was put on Hills C/D. We gave it to our girl as well because it was just too hard to keep food and them both separated. Our vet also told us that it wouldn't hurt her to have it. We're now slowly changing over to a high protein wet food since it's been over 2 years with no reoccurance.

gladys said:

I have two furbabys that in the past, one had crystals 4 years ago and 1 furbaby eats only Royal Canin So urinary canned food, due to the fact that the second one ate too much dry food and did not drink enough water so he blocked up,,the vet was able to unblock him, but was wondering if I could add some grain free canned cat food to his food for variety? Poor kid Hate to think he has too eat this his whole long life!!! What do you think??  The other cats like his food and by the time he comes to eat his food is all eaten up!!!! Can he eat canned grain free food ? They all get dry food but only as a snack. Hope i didn't confuse you!!! Thanx!!!

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We are switching over but I am still using the Hills C/D to make it a slow switch. We are using grain free and trying to if d a combo of several brands he really likes. So far I know duck is a no-go! Doesn't like that at all .

My cat was just prescribed Medi-Cal Urinary SO. It is a canned food and makes his urine acidic so no crystals can form. I live in Canada but I'm sure you can find it online if you can't where you are. He actually really likes the food.

Thank you for all the suggestions! As I said, he's not a fan of the Hills.  But I may give Medi-Cal a try.

Thanks again!

My 11 year old male developed Hypercalcemia. After an ultrasound showed crystals, he was put in Royal Canin S/O.  It is salty and encourages a cat to drink more water, or so I was told by my vet. It only comes in dry food, not wet food.   His drinking picked up significantly.

Someone here suggested FortiFlora and I am using that to sprinkle on my kitten's I/D by Hills, as they are not enthralled with the flavor.

Thank you LDG about suggesting corn silk tea. I suffer from chronic kidney stones, so will give this a try on myself

Debbie

Is the FortiFlora safe for their bladders? My vet warned me that, even tuna fish is bad, as it would raise his PH levels.

I just checked the box for ingredients and I did not see any fish products in FortiFlora.  I'll leave this question to the experts here.  Thanks for pointing this out Max-the-Cat.

Debbie