Please help! I have an 8 year old female cat named Stella who had surgery in November to remove a calcium oxalate bladder stone. I was told by my vet she would have to eat prescription food for the rest of her life. She has been eating about 3/4 of a can of Science Diet C/D wet food plus 1/4 cup of the C/D dry food daily. The vet tech warned me that she might gain some weight and to "watch out". Well, Stella has gained about 1.5 pounds in 2 months! My vet has offered no help as he insists she must stay on this food. Has anyone else encountered this situation? I don't want her to get another bladder stone, but I also don't want her to become diabetic due to excess weight and carb intake. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
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Alternatives to Hills C/D food
- Thread starter CatMama44
- Start Date
Hi. I am a bit surprised by that weight gain, and was never told by my vet that Hills C/D would do this. Feeby started on Hills C/D about 10 years ago after having had surgery for oxalate stones. And, she was on dry only (which is worse calorically than canned) until about 2-3 years ago when I started adding Hills C/D canned. She was also overweight to begin with, but never gained additional weight because of the food.
Based on what you are feeding Stella, she is getting about 220 calories a day on this food - which if you use 'the standard' rule of thumb of 20-25 calories per pound, is enough to sustain a cat weighing around 10 pounds. How much did she weigh before she started the food? Is 220 calories too much for her size? I will tell you Feeby (15+ yo), who is pretty sedentary, can sustain her 16 pound weight on about 250 calories a day, which means she only really needs about 15-16 calories per pound of weight - and that is on almost exclusively canned food.
I know of no food specifically for urinary tract issues that contains a lot less calories than Hills, at least not drastically anyway. However, you will have numerous members tell you that there is no need for urinary care food if a cat is consuming enough water - through canned food only and water. It may be true but I can't afford to take that chance as Feeby has been stone free since the surgery and food change.
Based on what you are feeding Stella, she is getting about 220 calories a day on this food - which if you use 'the standard' rule of thumb of 20-25 calories per pound, is enough to sustain a cat weighing around 10 pounds. How much did she weigh before she started the food? Is 220 calories too much for her size? I will tell you Feeby (15+ yo), who is pretty sedentary, can sustain her 16 pound weight on about 250 calories a day, which means she only really needs about 15-16 calories per pound of weight - and that is on almost exclusively canned food.
I know of no food specifically for urinary tract issues that contains a lot less calories than Hills, at least not drastically anyway. However, you will have numerous members tell you that there is no need for urinary care food if a cat is consuming enough water - through canned food only and water. It may be true but I can't afford to take that chance as Feeby has been stone free since the surgery and food change.
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Can you get Royal Canin urinary SO. I feed mine 95%wet and only add half a dozen nuggets of dry to the wet if he doesn't finish it all. He was previously 95% dry which I believe caused the urinary issue.
https://www.animeddirect.co.uk/royal-canin-feline-urinary-s-o-morsels-in-gravy-adult-wet-food
https://www.animeddirect.co.uk/royal-canin-feline-urinary-s-o-morsels-in-gravy-adult-wet-food
There are two 'styles' of Royal Canin SO Canned products - one is a pate style that they just changed the ingredients to, and the one noted above is morsels in gravy. I have not found the morsels in gravy one in other than 3 oz cans (65 calories), and Feeby doesn't like anything but pate style anyway. But, have used the pate style with Feeby before in the past in conjunction with the Hills. The pate is available to me in 5.8 can and is 135 calories, so it is a bit less than the Hills (since they changed the ingredients). I also saw a moderate calorie morsels in gravy - 3 oz can for 56 calories. However, after they changed the ingredients in the pate RC SO, Feeby no longer likes it. That doesn't mean it would be the case for your Stella.
The availability of RC SO and the types/sizes seems to depend on where you might be located (in this case UK vs. US).
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- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #5
Thank you for your reply! Stella weighed 10 pounds prior to switching food and now weighs 11.5 pounds. She was on a dry food only diet of Nutra MaxCat and unfortunately is NOT a water drinker - which I believe is how she got the stone. I was afraid to give her the C/D dry only, thinking she might get another stone but it sounds like Feeby has done great on it for 10 years. Does she drink much water? I agree with you - I have read numerous comments on other sites stating you don't need prescription food but I'm not brave enough to change. I will try to figure out her calorie intake prior to switching to see how many calories she was consuming.
Well, take a look at the food
V
verna davies
suggested as well. But, yes, Feeby has always been a good water drinker - even before the stone surgery. So, that could have been why the Hills C/D dry was not so much an issue for her.
Yes, please let us know what her caloric intake was before. Just curious. Also, compare protein/carb amounts in her previous food vs. the Hills - that does play a role too.
Yes, please let us know what her caloric intake was before. Just curious. Also, compare protein/carb amounts in her previous food vs. the Hills - that does play a role too.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #7
My vet did mention Royal Canin but he doesn't carry it. I will check into other vets in the area. I'm hoping I can get 1 can to see if Stella will eat it before I order a case. She also was on 95% dry and drank very little water which I believe caused the stone to form. I discovered the dry food she was on reduced the risk of struvite stones, which then increased the risk for calcium oxalate stones.
Don't know where you are located, but in my area RC SO (pate style) is available at PetSmart that has a Banfield vet care within the facility who wrote the prescription for me even though I don't use their vet services. RC SO does state that they help to reduce oxalate crystals as well. That is why I started using both Hills and RC - to give Feeby some variation in foods.
I live in the UK. RC can be bought online easily and here RC have a policy that a full refund is given if its not liked even if there are a couple of sachets used.
