Crunchy Snacks for Kitty with FLUTD?

cheeser

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Thanks to all of the wonderful suggestions, we're finally able to get Buddy to eat something besides a steady diet of fish-flavored food.  Yay!

Now we have a new challenge. :-)

When he has an upper respiratory infection and/or his allergies are giving him fits (which is often), his appetite for canned food pretty much takes a nosedive, and he'll only eat a fraction of what he'd normally eat.  But if we offer him something crunchy, he'll greedily devour every little crumb.  So we've always tried to encourage Buddy to consume as much canned food as we can, and then supplement it with some kibble or Temptations. *hangs head in shame*

However, now that he's been diagnosed as having FLUTD, I'm not sure what to do.  I don't want to accidentally trigger another attack by giving him the dry food he seems to so desperately crave when his nose is all stopped up.  It's like if he can't smell or taste his food, he at least wants to hear it crunch. ;-)

Is there a healthier alternative to kibble y'all can recommend to satisfy Buddy's need to crunch when he's feeling a bit under the weather, and that wouldn't be bad for his FLUTD?  Any help would be greatly appreciated!
 

LTS3

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 So we've always tried to encourage Buddy to consume as much canned food as we can, and then supplement it with some kibble or Temptations. *hangs head in shame*
Is there a healthier alternative to kibble y'all can recommend to satisfy Buddy's need to crunch when he's feeling a bit under the weather, and that wouldn't be bad for his FLUTD?  Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Don't feel bad
A few pieces of kibble or treat like Temptations is ok
It won't harm your cat or cause any issues with the FLUTD. You can add extra water to the canned food if you want to be really sure that the urinary system is kept healthy.

If you want something healthier, though, try these treats:

http://www.onlynaturalpet.com/products/Only-Natural-Pet-HealthTreats-Poultry-Crispies/999310.aspx

Also try freeze dried meat treats. Some brands are prety crunchy., like Halo Liv A Littles and Bravo treats. There are many other brands of freeze dried meat treats.

For something more like kibble, try ZiwiPeak air dried raw food. Freeze dried raw food is an option but most aren't as hard as kibble.
 

lokhismom

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Pure Bites are great.   They are freeze dried treats.  You can get them at Petco or Petsmart 
 

xcourtney3

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I wouldn't worry too much about giving occasional dry food as long as you're giving him canned with extra water added. I would avoid dry with fish, and maybe look at something with lower levels of ash and magnesium (I don't know if these are still considered valid concerns for FLUTD but it wouldn't hurt to look out for it)
 
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cheeser

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Don't feel bad
A few pieces of kibble or treat like Temptations is ok
It won't harm your cat or cause any issues with the FLUTD.
Thanks!  I'm sure he'll be delighted to hear that.  Sometimes he'll eat those when he won't eat anything else -- which can be a good thing, and maybe a not so good thing. ;-)

Buddy was in really bad shape when we took him in, and we had to feed him with a bottle until he could eat and drink on his own.  So whenever he gets congested and starts to lose interest in eating, we tend to bend over backwards to get him to eat anything.  And if all we can get him to eat is 1/4 of a 3 oz. can of food and as many Temptations as he wants, well...we figured that was better than letting him go downhill like that again.

But after accidentally stumbling across this site and Dr. Pierson's site, I'd like to try to limit the Temptations and kibble as best I can, and the items you suggested certainly sound like a step in the right direction.  Thanks a million! :D
 
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cheeser

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Pure Bites are great.   They are freeze dried treats.  You can get them at Petco or Petsmart 
Awesome...and very convenient!  Thanks. :-)
 
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cheeser

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...and maybe look at something with lower levels of ash and magnesium (I don't know if these are still considered valid concerns for FLUTD but it wouldn't hurt to look out for it)
Yeah, it may not necessarily help, but as you say, it wouldn't hurt. :-)

I think I spend more time reading the nutritional labels on my cats' food than I do my own these days.


Thanks much!
 

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Ours have a history of urinary tract issues supposedly, but no problems since they've been with us.  Their regular diet is rehydrated freeze-dried raw and canned food.  The freeze dried I make really soupy and the liquid is always gone from those bowls.

They tend to like crunchy treats (have shown little interest in chewy ones) so they've had a few different things.  Originally it was Temptations, then I found that they liked Castor and Pollux Organix.  Then they stopped being too interested in that one.  We've taken to buying the small trial bag of Orijen Cat and Kitten as treats.  It does have a little fish in it which maybe isn't ideal but it is treats and not a large part of their intake so I think it is okay.  The little bag of food is probably more economical than most treats, although I prefer to simply seek out something packaged as treats which tends to have fewer ingredients (if I pick the right ones)  and avoids the fish.  But I also want them to enjoy the treat.  Doesn't do much good if they just refuse it.
 
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cheeser

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But I also want them to enjoy the treat.  Doesn't do much good if they just refuse it.
Yep.  The perfect is the enemy of the good, or something like that.  Sometimes you just gotta go with what works, even if it is less than ideal. ;-)

Thanks a bunch for your most helpful suggestions! *hugs you*
 

rlavach

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I have leftover Hills C/D dry food that I'll occasionally use as a treat for my FLUTD kitty. Mostly, I'll use freeze dried chicken or  oven dried treats from Petsmart. 
 
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cheeser

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I have leftover Hills C/D dry food that I'll occasionally use as a treat for my FLUTD kitty. Mostly, I'll use freeze dried chicken or  oven dried treats from Petsmart. 
Cool!  Thanks ever so much. :-)
 

artiemom

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My cat has FLUTD also. There are prescription dry food you could use as 'treats'. Only thing is, the bag is huge. Artie loved his dry, but all ate wet. When he came down with FLUTD, I changed things around to 99% wet and a bit of dry as a 'treat'. He gets about 20 pieces every other day or so. 

Currently, he has GI issues (constipation). I have been using a prescription GI (Royal Canin) dry food as his treats. This is supposed to be ok for FLUTD cats, according to the Vet. It does help him with constipation. I also add extra water to his wet food. I make it like a 'stew'..

You could see if the Vet has any prescription dry food for FLUTD cats. Maybe even ask if you could split a bag with the Vet? I am sure they use it for the hospitalized or boarded cats....

just a thought...
 
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cheeser

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Originally Posted by Artiemom  

You could see if the Vet has any prescription dry food for FLUTD cats. Maybe even ask if you could split a bag with the Vet? I am sure they use it for the hospitalized or boarded cats....
Well, the vet did offer to sell me a bag of Hill's c/d urinary stress kibble the last time he saw Buddy, which I declined since I wanted to get more moisture into his diet.  But maybe I could get a bag to have on hand, just in case the other treats that have been suggested don't work out when his little nose is all stopped. up. :-)

Thanks much!
 
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cheeser

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Stick wth Purebites skip temptations![emoji]128576[/emoji][emoji]128078[/emoji]
That's the goal. :-)

To be honest, I've never really liked the idea of him making a meal out of Temptations every now and then.  But I wasn't too thrilled about the idea of him stop eating altogether like he did when we first took him in, and was in such bad shape.  So at the time, it seemed like the lesser of two evils.

On the bright side, Buddy is finally willing to try some non-pate canned foods.  So one of these days if I can get him to eat some chunky style flavors, hopefully that will help to satisfy his need to chew something.  Baby steps. :-)
 

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I'd also recommend Purebites. My little guy also has FLUTD (had calcium oxalate stones removed and a perineal urethrostomy in October and has been doing great since!) and the vet said no other food other than his RX wet and dry Royal Canin Urinary SO. I found Purebites a few weeks ago though and bought them thinking they'd be ok since chicken was the only ingredient. I checked with the vet first to make sure and he said they'd be fine in moderation and to avoid things with calcium in them as that's what his stones were made of so anything containing calcium could aid in forming stones and we obviously want to avoid that.
 
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cheeser

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I'd also recommend Purebites. My little guy also has FLUTD (had calcium oxalate stones removed and a perineal urethrostomy in October and has been doing great since!) and the vet said no other food other than his RX wet and dry Royal Canin Urinary SO. I found Purebites a few weeks ago though and bought them thinking they'd be ok since chicken was the only ingredient. I checked with the vet first to make sure and he said they'd be fine in moderation and to avoid things with calcium in them as that's what his stones were made of so anything containing calcium could aid in forming stones and we obviously want to avoid that.
Thanks for sharing.  Glad your kitty is doing so well!

I'll head out to Petsmart as soon as I can. :-)
 

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There are over-the-counter urinary tract dry foods that you could use as a treat. I got some once, brand was Wysong.

On the not so crunchy but smelly side, there's freeze-dried liver.

Unless Buddy's really sensitive to FLUTD, I wouldn't worry about giving dry food as treats. Aim for 10% or less of daily calories.
 

2bcat

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Maybe it's just me but I don't find Pure Bites and similar to be crunchy.  The consistency is kinda like styrofoam. ;-)  Plus my two don't seem to care for those.

That said, even if the treats are crunchy, it's possible the cat won't crunch those anyway.  Put a few bits of a small kibble like Orijen down, and mine are more likely to swallow those whole I think.  I never really considered the size of the treat, so I might look at that going forward.  Most of them are small.  And yet the chewy vs crunchy still seems to matter with those small ones even though they aren't likely to chew them.  Cats....
 
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