What kind of urinary disease maintenance food do you use?

furbum

TCS Member
Thread starter
Adult Cat
Joined
Dec 3, 2005
Messages
289
Purraise
1
Location
Denmark
A few months ago the vet determined that Bootsie has a urinary tract disease. Struvite crystals were found in her urine. They put her on Hills s/d to dissolve the crystals, and now she is on Purina UR as a maintenance diet to prevent the formation of new crystals.

Thing is, I'm not sure if the food is working that well. She peed out of the box again and the vet suggested that the infection recurred. I was wondering what maintenance diets other people use for their kitties with this problem and how much success have you had with it?
 

xxpunkkittenxx

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
Aug 25, 2006
Messages
132
Purraise
1
Location
Hiding
I would go to a pet food supply store that provides foods for all animals- even horses- and ask them. they may have something that can help that is healthier for your cat than purina.
 

xxpunkkittenxx

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
Aug 25, 2006
Messages
132
Purraise
1
Location
Hiding
I ve not experienced a uti or anything like that with my own cts b4, but i can tell you to ask the vet. call and ask if they sell any eukanuba veterinary diets, then bring up if they have any that would better suit your needs. alsoask if they carry hard foods in the subscribtion you are needing.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #4

furbum

TCS Member
Thread starter
Adult Cat
Joined
Dec 3, 2005
Messages
289
Purraise
1
Location
Denmark
The Purina UR is what my vet recommended. I was just curious what other peoples vets were recommending and if there are better success rates with different foods. She said the infection could reoccur regardless of food but I don't believe this because it is a chemical reaction and needs specific conditions for occuring.
 

sharky

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Jan 30, 2005
Messages
27,231
Purraise
38
Mine would recommend raw ... I have seen the royal canin Rx formula in her office ...
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #6

furbum

TCS Member
Thread starter
Adult Cat
Joined
Dec 3, 2005
Messages
289
Purraise
1
Location
Denmark
Raw? Like just feed her raw beef, chicken, or fish from the grocery store? Does it have to be cleaned somehow? Or do you mean feeding mice or something?
 

kitytize

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Dec 21, 2005
Messages
2,155
Purraise
2
I fed Purina One Urinary Tract Health for 9 years and it worked wonderful for my male who had UTI problems. But recently one of my females got an UTI on this food and my vet felt it was from not enough water intake so now I added canned food to my cats diet.
 

gailuvscats

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jan 30, 2006
Messages
2,283
Purraise
34
Location
philadelphia
Below is a post I made elswhere on the site. Might have some helpful info for you.

Well, my guy must have detected the cranberry powder because he stuck up his nose, so I stopped putting it in. I also read something yesterday about magnesium in the wet food, and which foods are recommended. So I know I am feeding him right, the right diet creates acidic urine. Also, I just ordered some tablets that create an acidic urine. I will attach both of these articles if I can.http://www.swancorner.com/feilineurologicsyndrome.html this is the site that discusses food and FUS,
CarponTM
A Natural Urinary Acidifier
Treats and prevents Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease by acidifying urine and breaking up struvite crystals. Contains a natural acidifier extracted from berries. Tablet form.

Carpon100 tablets$19.30 + s/h
and above is the name of the product I ordered, developed by Belfield Pet Food Research Center

by Dr. Wendell O. Belfield
I hope you can find these links.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #10

furbum

TCS Member
Thread starter
Adult Cat
Joined
Dec 3, 2005
Messages
289
Purraise
1
Location
Denmark
Hi and Thanks for all the replies. I would love to feed my kitties raw food (and they would definitely be most happy on this diet) but will it be good for a kitty with urinary tract disease? Would I need to feed it in conjunction with the pills?

I've also seen the purina urinary tract health (pro plan?) that they have at PetsMart but I don't think they have that in wet.

I'm thinking that the Hills c/d diet might be the way to go (thanks for the link). Does anyone use this?
 

sharky

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Jan 30, 2005
Messages
27,231
Purraise
38
I am unsure if it would prevent but at least here with my two with issues ... The raw has helped with it all...It helped with Kandies Crf , uti s Gigi s allergies... I would suggest finding a holistic vet to talk to as they are most likely to know what meats would be best ..
 

vanillasugar

TCS Member
Alpha Cat
Joined
Feb 27, 2005
Messages
567
Purraise
1
Location
Ontario, Canada
Originally Posted by furbum

Hi and Thanks for all the replies. I would love to feed my kitties raw food (and they would definitely be most happy on this diet) but will it be good for a kitty with urinary tract disease? Would I need to feed it in conjunction with the pills?

I've also seen the purina urinary tract health (pro plan?) that they have at PetsMart but I don't think they have that in wet.

I'm thinking that the Hills c/d diet might be the way to go (thanks for the link). Does anyone use this?
Raw would be an excellent choice. It would be the most natural way to keep your kitties urinary ph where it should be and keep those crystals away.

C/D is often reccomended but I feel it is a very poor quality food overall, and while it may do the trick for crystals, you're risking other areas of overall health by feeding this diet exclusively. Pro Plan is also a rather low quality food.

What I would reccomend if you're looking for an alternative, as my second choice to raw, would be an all canned food diet, made up of high quality canned foods. Something without grains (or with a very low grain content), with no by-products, and I'd look for something with cranberries (and blueberries) just for the added benefit. This would be the best way to keep crystals from re-forming, while best nourishing your cat in all ways possible. But raw is always my first choice
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #13

furbum

TCS Member
Thread starter
Adult Cat
Joined
Dec 3, 2005
Messages
289
Purraise
1
Location
Denmark
I do like the idea of a raw diet because there would be less of a problem with extra ingredients that they might not be able to digest. I'll look into it a little more. It just seems... complicated. I don't suppose I could just feed them cold cuts..

Also, I found a great research article on the effect of calcium in breaking up struvite crystals.

article

Calcium is good because it competes with the magnesium which is the limiting reactant in struvite creation. The competing reaction with the calcium doesn't form crystals. So I'm going to look for ways of boosting Bootsie's calcium, perhaps soft bones? I've heard that milk isn't always digestible.

Maybe I should just get some mice afterall, meat and bones and all the good stuff in one package. No wonder it is the kitty meal of choice.


I checked Bootsie's UR kitty food and there isn't anything in there that obviously contains magnesium, and it does contain calcium.. But, why would years and years of research on kitty food produce something that is less good than raw?
 

vanillasugar

TCS Member
Alpha Cat
Joined
Feb 27, 2005
Messages
567
Purraise
1
Location
Ontario, Canada
Originally Posted by furbum

I do like the idea of a raw diet because there would be less of a problem with extra ingredients that they might not be able to digest. I'll look into it a little more. It just seems... complicated. I don't suppose I could just feed them cold cuts...
I'm glad you're researching! There's a lot of reading out there to do on the subject. It can be complicated, but it can also be just as easy as feeding wet food. The most complicated part of my cats diet is remembering to thaw it out. It's great!

But, why would years and years of research on kitty food produce something that is less good than raw?
Because the companies doing the research are trying to make cat food for as little money as possible which doesn't lend itself to healthy cat food unfortunatley


Interesting stuff on Calcium, I'm going to see if I can read more on this!
 

blueyedgirl5946

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Sep 10, 2005
Messages
14,593
Purraise
1,695
Both my cats with urinary problems eat Hill's W/D. They do well with it.
 

dr. doolittle

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
May 31, 2004
Messages
508
Purraise
1
Location
British Columbia, Canada
If your cats urinary tract problems are primarily due to infection, then then diet alone may not be the answer. Some animals are more prone to UTI's than others- females more so than males. When bacteria enter the bladder they change the pH of the urine and cause struvite formation.
I would stick to a good quality urinary diet- I like Medi-Cal and Royal Canin. This will help to create an environment less hospitable to bacteria. Then it is a matter of keeping your kitty stress free and drinking lots of water. Keep an eye on her for signs that she might be getting a UTI and take her to the vet for antibiotics when she needs them.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #17

furbum

TCS Member
Thread starter
Adult Cat
Joined
Dec 3, 2005
Messages
289
Purraise
1
Location
Denmark
I've noticed that Bootsie's UTI reoccurs when she is under stress. Could it be that the stress weakens her immune system so the bacteria population increases, causing the pH hike.
 

white cat lover

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Nov 17, 2005
Messages
22,206
Purraise
35
furbum, my Ophelia has crystals in her urine. I'll tell you what I've done.

1)Keep a Feliway diffuser plugged in 24/7...even if she is calm. It helps reduce stress.
2)Bought a Drinkwell. She still prefers to drink from a large bowl, but it's there if she wants it.
3)Feed wet food 2x a day. Right now, I'm feeding Iams new Chicken Entree & Pro Plan Urinary Tract Health Formula(crappy ingredients, but she loves it). I hope to order some Merrick Granny's Pot Pie & try Nutro Natural Choice Salmo & Shrimp Chowder to see if she likes them. MAX Cat Hairball formula wet, too.
4)Found a dry food I was comfortable with feeding...I am feeding Solid Gold Katz-N-Flocken.

I don't like feeding the Pro Plan that much, but I feel that feeding a high quality dry & lower quality wet is better than no wet at all. Ophelia was no longer interested in the Science Diet c/d...she barely ate 1/4 of a cup a day...and was incessantly begging for food even though she had some in her bowl. I offered her Solid Gold & she loves it.

I saw a Solid Gold booklet that had this article.(page 9 for Katz-N-Flocken & page 20 for Urinary Tract Disorders info)
http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:...s&ct=clnk&cd=3
While they are promoting their food, my vet agreed that it would be a good food to feed. Albeit, she also admitted she knows very little about food.

I have looked into several different foods & asked sharky for tons of help. I got a couple of food reccomendations, but mostly I look for foods that promote "URINARY TRACT HEALTH"...like Pro Plan. (The Pro Plan Urinary tact health can is tiny, tiny little chunks. Very popular at my house)
 

ms.blackie

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
Apr 7, 2006
Messages
246
Purraise
1
Location
Wadsworth, OH
Hi Folks,

I find it very strange how much dry food you can find with Urinary Tract
benefit, but very little wet food. I also could only find Pro-Plan wet which
didn't look that great in quality. My vet recommended wet as a primary
food & she hated the c/d hills he gave me, I mixed it in but she really didn't like it. So why do you think they dont sell more wet food types with Urinary
help?? I bought the capsules you add to regular wet food that is suppose
to help. I was at a loss too.
Brenda
 

sharky

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Jan 30, 2005
Messages
27,231
Purraise
38
Originally Posted by Ms.Blackie

Hi Folks,

I find it very strange how much dry food you can find with Urinary Tract
benefit, but very little wet food. I also could only find Pro-Plan wet which
didn't look that great in quality. My vet recommended wet as a primary
food & she hated the c/d hills he gave me, I mixed it in but she really didn't like it. So why do you think they dont sell more wet food types with Urinary
help?? I bought the capsules you add to regular wet food that is suppose
to help. I was at a loss too.
Brenda
Brenda
My hypothesis is that most wet foods fall withing the dietary guidelines for UTI health so many manufactuers only label dry which is a select few..
 
Top