Raw Food -- Feline Urinary Infection

Hi.

I've been feeding my cats a raw food diet (felinefuture.com) for about five years now, and one of the cats was recently diagnosed w/feline urinary infection due to crystals in urine. Vet advised to switch him from raw diet to the Science Hills diet.

Since my cat has been eating raw ... I am suprised that he has FUI. Any thoughts as to why FUI formed -- Vet thinks it may have been related to his raw diet.

Thanks!

Really? This is very interesting to me...

I am not surprised that your vet is reccomending Science Diet and blaming raw. Most vets who know very little about raw diet jump to conclusions and fall back on their beloved Hills. I'm thinking that there is more going on here, but since your vet already thinks he's got the answer, he won't work hard to find a different solution. (This may sound harsh, but I've encountered a lot of vets who operate this way).

Perhaps a second opinion from a holistic veterinarian is in order?

And a quick question. How do you feed raw? By that I mean are you buying a pre-made product or making it yourself at home. If you're making it yourself, which recipe do you use?

I use the feline future recipe/product. (felinefuture.com)

If I'm using meat with bones, I make the recipe from scratch (using the recipe feline future used to post).

If I'm using meat WITHOUT bones, I make the recipe w/pre-made powder that I order from feline future.

I wouldn't think raw could be the cause of a UTI. My kitty currently has a UTI, but he was on kibbles and wet food. We have since switched him ONLY to canned and raw- the vet I saw said these were the best options as they have more moisture in them and they fill the cat up more because of the high protein. My cat is 4.25 years old and hasn't ever had a serious health problem previous to this either- he's only been to the vet for neutering, ear mite treatment (when he was a kitten), worm treatment, and now this. I'd be interested in what everyone else says here.

I'd personally keep him on the raw. If he got a uti, going to a food with less moisture is not going to help any, in my opinion. Some cats are just more prone to uti than others. You can eat oranges until you're purple, but you can still catch a cold.

I would also recomeend a second vet ( holistic preferred) /// take your recipe in with you as it may need a tweeking ... I would use the RX canned only to help rid the trouble now