Prescription Diet G/D for Bladder Stone Prevention

Has anyone been prescribed this food for their cat to prevent Triple Phosphate Crystals/Stones from forming in their bladder? Initially she was going to prescribe me S/D formula then moving to C/D formula, but she changed her mind to go with this G/D formula instead seeing as I have a wide range of cat ages in my house.

My vet says that she thinks there was an underlying infection present causing the stones to form, which is likely to have been cleared up by the anti-biotics she's been on for the last 2 weeks and will be on for another 8 days. (fingers crossed)

I asked her specifically about the water intake and she agrees that this is likely an issue and therefore she recommended moist food. The other vet recommended adding water to the moist food to make it something they lap up like a soup.

Most of what I've read out here was recommending Walthams and I was just wondering if anyone has had any luck with the Prescription Diet Formulas? I had brought home a bag of their R/D formula which all of my 6 cat collectively turned their noses up to and I'm a little concerned that they might do the same with this stuff.

-Monica.

Originally Posted by Monica's Six

Has anyone been prescribed this food for their cat to prevent Triple Phosphate Crystals/Stones from forming in their bladder? Initially she was going to prescribe me S/D formula then moving to C/D formula, but she changed her mind to go with this G/D formula instead seeing as I have a wide range of cat ages in my house.

My vet says that she thinks there was an underlying infection present causing the stones to form, which is likely to have been cleared up by the anti-biotics she's been on for the last 2 weeks and will be on for another 8 days. (fingers crossed)

I asked her specifically about the water intake and she agrees that this is likely an issue and therefore she recommended moist food. The other vet recommended adding water to the moist food to make it something they lap up like a soup.

Most of what I've read out here was recommending Walthams and I was just wondering if anyone has had any luck with the Prescription Diet Formulas? I had brought home a bag of their R/D formula which all of my 6 cat collectively turned their noses up to and I'm a little concerned that they might do the same with this stuff.

-Monica.

Click to expand...

Hi Monica,

I have never had Hills G/D prescribed, but I have had S/D - my cat would not eat it...was thoroughly stubborn about it. Instead, I found a food my vet agreed was fairly comparable, and that my cat would eat.

I do have a cat on Hills Z/D - and not only does he love it, all the cats, if they get the chance, love to eat it as well. So, I think it depends on the cat and the particular prescription diet.

I have one question/concern...g/d is a reduced protein food, appropriate for cats in early kidney failure (and yes, as the Hill's site says, it may be prescribed for other reasons)...but normal healthy cats do not need, and I'd ask if it's beneficial for them to be on a reduced protein food.

I understand that what needs to be treated here is the triple phosphate crystal formation, but even so, since your vet is suggesting G/D, one of a huge number of foods that you can find the values for on this list, I am going to recommend you go read (and print out for reference/discussion with your vet) this site/list: KatKarma Canned Cat Food List

Best wishes to your fellow,

Originally Posted by Pat & Alix

I have one question/concern...g/d is a reduced protein food, appropriate for cats in early kidney failure (and yes, as the Hill's site says, it may be prescribed for other reasons)...but normal healthy cats do not need, and I'd ask if it's beneficial for them to be on a reduced protein food.

Click to expand...

Thanks for that URL, I'll go check it out.

Somewhere along the line someone updated my record with the vet to say that Zoey's age is 8, which is not true, and I've asked them to update it several times and they haven't. She's only 4 or at the most 5. There was concern with the S/D formula that other types of crystals could form, because she's an "Older Cat", which she's not. That being said my oldest cat is 10, and it's likely that they'll all end up sharing the same food in the longer term, and this food was something she felt she could recommend for all of my cats. She did mention that this food was used for cats with renal failure, which she said my cat wasn't, but she had consulted with Hills directly and this was their combined recommendation.

Personally, I have enough evidence to support the lack of water intake and stress theory, based on the fact that I used to have a water fountain upstairs which I stopped filling when I went away this past Christmas. I've also come to understand that Zoey specifically doesn't like person I had taking care of the cats while I was away. I really thought she had become one of those shy cats that runs away from company, but last weekend my parents came up and she recognized my fathers voice and came bounding down the stairs to see him, disproving her being an anti-social cat. She never comes downstairs when my friend is over, so I think she won't be taking care of my cats ever again. Zoey also constantly licks the perspiration off the sides of my cups upstairs, which makes me think she prefers to drink upstairs, so I'm going to be starting up the upstairs fountain again and see if I catch her drinking out of it. I've also been bringing up a cup of filtered water with ice cubes in it as it seems as if she likes her water extra cold. She drank quite a bit last night and this morning and she seemed to be extra lively after her drinks, despite her morphine patch.

The one thing I can say about this whole ordeal is that I've learned a lot about Zoey. She's always been a great cat, and I'm learning more and more each day about her specific needs.

-Monica.

My cats hate this G/D forumla cat food. So I just accumulated some data from the website you posted and I think I am going to ask to go back to the Purina Indoor Cat Formula that my cats love so much.

Here are the stats I found...

Brand/Formula Protien Phosphorus Sodium Fat
Hills G/D Dry 33.4% .55% .34% 18.90%
Hills S/D Dry 34.2% .77% .30% 22.63%
Hills C/D Dry 34.6% .67% .37% 16.30%
Purina Indoor 30.0% .80% (????) 9.50%

The S/D is what she was going to prescribe for my cat originally... She only moved to the G/D because I have two older cats (who haven't had any stones).

They love the Purina and I think they'd be happier with that. I'll be curious to see what the vet has to say tommorrow.

Monica,

I am curious, I can not find Purina Indoor 30% on the katkarma list...am I missing it, or are the values you give for the Purina from the package's label?

My concern is that the values on the katkarma page are calculated based on dry-matter analysis (I mis-spoke before when I said "as-fed") which is different than using the guaranteed analysis values on the package which are based on "as-fed".

Just something to consider, as the dry matter analysis values may be higher than the as-fed listed on the package.

Not to make this totally confusing

Originally Posted by Monica's Six

Has anyone been prescribed this food for their cat to prevent Triple Phosphate Crystals/Stones from forming in their bladder? Initially she was going to prescribe me S/D formula then moving to C/D formula, but she changed her mind to go with this G/D formula instead seeing as I have a wide range of cat ages in my house.

My vet says that she thinks there was an underlying infection present causing the stones to form, which is likely to have been cleared up by the anti-biotics she's been on for the last 2 weeks and will be on for another 8 days. (fingers crossed)

I asked her specifically about the water intake and she agrees that this is likely an issue and therefore she recommended moist food. The other vet recommended adding water to the moist food to make it something they lap up like a soup.

Most of what I've read out here was recommending Walthams and I was just wondering if anyone has had any luck with the Prescription Diet Formulas? I had brought home a bag of their R/D formula which all of my 6 cat collectively turned their noses up to and I'm a little concerned that they might do the same with this stuff.

-Monica.

Click to expand...

If you can get the infection cleared up, and then tweak the diet to leave her urine slightly acidic, and you won't have problems with stones or crystals in her urinary tract. And you shouldn't ever have to deal with an infection again.

A simple Urinanalysis can determine the Acidity/Akalinity of her urine. Then all it takes is a bit of trial/error.

My 2 Cents,

Spotz

So, what you are saying is that I am comparing Apples and Oranges... I gotcha!

I got the Purina Numbers from their website and they are in fact Guaranteed Analysis Numbers. The Dry Matter Analysis is a way to make the measurements comparable, right?

The Guaranteed Analysis Numbers for Phosphorus on the side of the G/D bag says .3% compared to .8% for the Purina... Interesting!

I was thinking that because of the reduced fat and protien content of the Purina food that they would likely eat more of it and therefore ultimately end up consuming more Phosphorus then they would eating a higher protien/fat food like the G/D. Ofcourse, I can't see how they could eat any less of the G/D food!

Thanks for the info!