Supplement to Hills C/D food

Hello,

Firstly, I want to thank all the contributors to this forum. I use this site quite often as an anonymous user and find the information tremendously helpful.

My cat Ryu was blocked last year and had the PU surgery to widen his urethra (after failed catheter attempts). He and his sister (who doesn't have crystals) are both on the Hills C/D diet and have been for the last year.

I have been reading a ton about dry food being bad.

That said, Ryu and his sister share a 2.9oz can of the Hills CD stew a day.

Once in the morning and for dinner they each get 1/4 of the can with 1/4tsp of canned pumpkin, 1tbsp of water, and for Ryu, 1/4tsp of D-Mannose powder

They share 3/4 -1 cup of Hills C/D Dry stress food daily that I give in 3-4 servings throughout the day so I can monitor the free feeding. I sometimes moisten the dry food if I know they are going to eat it right away.

Ryu is 12 lbs

Ibuki is 9 lbs

That said, I was hoping to continue to increase their wet food intake so they possibly both could eat 1 can of the 2.9oz Hills CD stew daily with possibly 1/2 cup or less of the Hills C/D dry daily, but the cost of the 2.9 oz cans is quite high so I was wondering if there were any good wet food suggestions that I could use to supplement the Hills C/D Stew. Perhaps even feed them a 3rd meal with a different brand. I certainly will eat the costs if need be if its a bad idea to mess with their food, but figured I would ask the experts first.

Thank you for your help.

Perhaps this thread will help you?

Maybe try adding some freeze dried to their diet like Stella and Chewy's or Primal. You could also look into homemade cooked. I probably wouldn't do raw unless you were willing to take them off kibble completely. 

Thank you for the very helpful information.

I contacted the folks at Stella and Chewy's regarding supplementing a Hills C/D diet with their products.

I also contacted the folks at Weruva regarding the same thing.

I found this post as well regarding Weruva and UTI cats if it helps others.

http://www.weruva.com/tid-bits-deta...ary-tract-issues-crystals-can-I-feed-Weruva-6

Regarding the small 2.9oz cans of Hills CD Stew, Hills recommends 4 to 4 1/2 cans a day for a 10-12 lb cat.

Canned  840 kcal/kg (69 kcal/2.9 oz (82 g) can)

If I am reading the calorie count correctly, thats roughly 280-310 calories a day per cat. 

Right now I am doing about 20 calories per pound, so it would appear I would be about 1.5 cans short of their requirements if I go strictly wet food.

Have you found a sweet spot for your cats regarding how much you feed them calories per pound? My cats are indoor only.

Thanks again for all your help.

Will they eat the 5.5 oz cans in the non stew formula?  I think it is a bit cheaper to buy it in the 5.5 oz than the 2.9 oz.  

Have you found a sweet spot for your cats regarding how much you feed them calories per pound? My cats are indoor only.

Thanks again for all your help.

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I have a lot of cats right now, and several are kittens, so I don't really monitor their calorie intake as they eat as much as they want. My older cats eat around 20/cal per pound. Although because I feed a combination of several foods including raw I make and some kibble, I don't really know exactly how much they eat in calories. I do weight their foods, and I do weight them all the time so I know whether they are gaining or losing any weight. 

I think if you start at 20/cal per pound and see how it goes. If they are starving then possibly add more, if they aren't eating it all feed less, and then weigh them regularly to see if they are maintaining their weight. 

They do eat the larger can stuff, I just think they tire of it quickly. I have seen them walk away from it with out 1/4 of it left in the bowl, which is atypical with wet food for them, as they usually lick the bowl clean.

Thank you.

missmimz said:

 
I have a lot of cats right now, and several are kittens, so I don't really monitor their calorie intake as they eat as much as they want. My older cats eat around 20/cal per pound. Although because I feed a combination of several foods including raw I make and some kibble, I don't really know exactly how much they eat in calories. I do weight their foods, and I do weight them all the time so I know whether they are gaining or losing any weight. 

I think if you start at 20/cal per pound and see how it goes. If they are starving then possibly add more, if they aren't eating it all feed less, and then weigh them regularly to see if they are maintaining their weight. 

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Will do, thank you for all the help. I really appreciate it.

I have upped their wet food intake to 2 of the 2.9 oz cans a day and cut their dry food to about 1/2 cup split out between the day. There appears to be a small amount of dry food left, which I am using as my indicator of if they are starving or not.

Do you just use a human scale to weigh them?

And to help others, Stella and Chewy's replied with

Thank you for your interest in Stella & Chewy’s.  We do not have products that are specific to anyone health concern.  However, we do have other cats who have crystal issues who do very well on our products.  I would highly suggest making sure that if you use the freeze-dried that it's rehydrated with cool or warm water prior to feeding.  The other option would be the frozen.  The high moisture in these products will help to flush your cats' systems properly.

Of course, any time you're dealing with a specific health concern, we suggest consulting with a holistic vet to be sure it's right for your cats' individual needs.

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Thanks all.

philbnv said:

 
Do you just use a human scale to weigh them?

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Yes I have this toddler scale that i use to weight them. It's accurate and they usually just lay down on it  

Good luck! I hope your babies like Stella and Chewy's! 

missmimz said:

 
Yes I have this toddler scale that i use to weight them. It's accurate and they usually just lay down on it  

Good luck! I hope your babies like Stella and Chewy's! 

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Thank you again for all your help, I really appreciate it.