Apollo needs to eat a prescription diet after his surgery

[Zein]

Hey all, my cat Apollo is having a surgery soon to get rid of Struvite bladder stones. The vet prescribed him Hill's cd dry and wet food. My girlfriend and I are trying to figure out a way to still be able to give our boy treats in some way, since he absolutely adores getting treats. From crunchy treats, to meat sticks, to those little liquidy tubes they lick while you squeeze. I'm going to talk to her tomorrow about specifics regarding treats and dry food, but I'm stressing out and would like to hear what others have to say.

The way the vet spoke about it made it seem like anything that isn't specifically labeled "cd compatible" is off limits.

Do any of your cats eat any treats while being on the cd diet? Hill's has "Hypo" treats that might be compatible. Royal Canin and Purina also have urinary treats that say they're compatible with their brand prescription diets, but I'm unsure if that means it's safe to give Apollo either when he's on Hill's.

The only specific treats I found online that have low ingredients and a lot of reviews mentioning that their vets approved of this snack for their cd diet cats are these:

https://www.chewy.com/get-naked-urinary-health-crunchy-cat/dp/39026

They seem good, and I'm going to ask my vet about them, but my concern is if she's never looked into them before and would prefer to err on the side of caution, making her simply write them off as incompatible.

Another snack that's been heavily recommended is Churu due to its extremely high hydration: https://www.chewy.com/inaba-churu-grain-free-chicken-tuna/dp/169590

And if nothing else we're open to handmaking treats with fresh ingredients if anyone has resources or experience with that.

On another note, I read that there's a lot of anti-dry food sentiment. Should I be concerned giving Apollo prescription dry food with how high it is in carbohydrates? Or is it not as bad as people make it sound? He definitely prefers wet food to dry food, but tends to be excited to eat both.

 

[Alldara]

Z Zein There are two conflicting studies currently for cats with bladders issues.

One says it's best to have them on urinary food and either wet or dry is the same result.

The second one was about glucosamine, but actually learned that the better prevention of flare ups was for those cats on wet diets.

The thing about wet diets, is that you can add more water at any time to increase hydration, but also to "flush" the bladder. This is very helpful in preventing issues.

If his surgery is to remove all the stones and sedimentation, it's usually fine to use an "over the counter" urinary food to prevent further crystals. My boy is on Purina One urinary from PetSmart. Veterinarians like to have your cat on the prescription version for at least 1 year usually though.

Any treats with moisture is best. Churu is great, or Catit tubes. You can also put in a bowl and add more water, or I add glucosamine to Nobel's too. PureBites also makes wet treat packages.

Any treats that are cat safe that have blueberry or cranberry should also be fine in moderation. I don't give more than 5 or so a day.

Nobel is on a 90% wet diet, water added and has no flare ups for almost 8 years now.

I also recommend using a litter that is neither clay or pine (Nobel had frequent flare ups on pine too). And checking out the advice on this page: Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease (FLUTD) | International Cat Care

 

[Zein]

Thank you so much! So would you think that the cranberry treats I posted a link to is okay? We currently give him catit, glad to know he can keep that going. We don't give him treats too often, so I'm not concerned on giving him too many.

Also, the vet suggests he stay on Hill's for the rest of his life. I'd like to be safe, so I was on board with this permanent transition. It's also why I'm so concerned about still being able to give him treats. I'll still ask her about the primarily wet food diet to maybe have a more flexible diet in the future.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. How old is Apollo? Has he been prone to urinary tract problems in the past? It is very unusual for struvite crystals to have to be surgically removed, unless he has an extreme case of them, which I would have thought to mean he has had ongoing urinary tract issues. Most of the time, the urinary care foods contain less minerals that can help to reduce crystal formation as well as dissolvement of existing struvite crystals. That seems to be aided by getting a cat to drink more water which, as mentioned above, helps to flush sediment from the bladder - and keep a more balanced urine PH. The urine PH being balanced also aids in restricting sediment development which leads to the development of new crystals.

Feeby had surgery at the age of 5 to remove oxalate stones, which generally are not dissolved with specialized food. However, she was placed on Hill's C/D afterward, and for the better part of the time she was on it, it was the dry version. She has always been a prolific water drinker, but I later added the canned version anyway, thinking it was likely better for her in general. She has never had new stones develop, struvite or oxalate (knock on wood even after 13 years). But the entire time she was on this food, she also got non-renal related treats. My whole point being in telling you about her is that the treats didn't seem to be an issue for her.

 

[Alldara]

Thank you so much! So would you think that the cranberry treats I posted a link to is okay? We currently give him catit, glad to know he can keep that going. We don't give him treats too often, so I'm not concerned on giving him too many.

Also, the vet suggests he stay on Hill's for the rest of his life. I'd like to be safe, so I was on board with this permanent transition. It's also why I'm so concerned about still being able to give him treats. I'll still ask her about the primarily wet food diet to maybe have a more flexible diet in the future.

I find those treats a bit high in Phosphorus for my liking. This is a personal fear/preference.

I've given treats from Orijen, Arcana, Blue Buffalo and Nuna. And temptations dental.

Also these treats but I don't know if they are Canada only: UT Support for Cats

another brand might be Canada only called Fruitables. I haven't tried but they have great reviews in our adoption group from a local rescue.

Personally, I would not give a full dry diet as being able to add extra water to Nobel's food has been life-changing in terms of keeping his bladder flushed and free from crystals. You'll have to see if the dry food works for you both.

However, I always recommend that people feed their cats at least one can of wet food per day with at least a tsp of added water. This has a greatly positive impact on your cat's overall health. It doesn't need to be prescription or expensive diet. A box of the Purina Pro Plan urinary has 3 flavours and would last you just under a month on that plan. Remember to lower the amount of dry food if you do this.

It also means if he becomes ill and struggles to eat, that making a "soup" of wet food will be easy for you to do. You'll just need a blender (which is the main thing I say to keep on hand for cat emergencies). It's come in handy many times in my life with my cats and roommates's cats.

 

[Zein]

Hi. How old is Apollo? Has he been prone to urinary tract problems in the past? It is very unusual for struvite crystals to have to be surgically removed, unless he has an extreme case of them, which I would have thought to mean he has had ongoing urinary tract issues. Most of the time, the urinary care foods contain less minerals that can help to reduce crystal formation as well as dissolvement of existing struvite crystals. That seems to be aided by getting a cat to drink more water which, as mentioned above, helps to flush sediment from the bladder - and keep a more balanced urine PH. The urine PH being balanced also aids in restricting sediment development which leads to the development of new crystals.

Feeby had surgery at the age of 5 to remove oxalate stones, which generally are not dissolved with specialized food. However, she was placed on Hill's C/D afterward, and for the better part of the time she was on it, it was the dry version. She has always been a prolific water drinker, but I later added the canned version anyway, thinking it was likely better for her in general. She has never had new stones develop, struvite or oxalate (knock on wood even after 13 years). But the entire time she was on this food, she also got non-renal related treats. My whole point being in telling you about her is that the treats didn't seem to be an issue for her.

He's 6-7 years old. The issue was that when he first started exhibiting issues, he totally emptied his bladder prior to going to the vet (peed in his carrier) and they couldn't get a urinalysis done. They gave him a steroid, which temporarily made him seem okay (and suggested a handful of things like getting a 2nd litter box, antibiotics, and potentially new food). Fast forward a few weeks, and blood is present in his urine and it won't stop. We were able to collect a urine sample ourselves and went to the vet over it. They x-rayed him and found the stones and our vet was immediately concerned that because of how inflamed his bladder has been, he'd be at risk of blockage.

This is his first time exhibiting urinary problems.

We plan to feed him a dry and wet food diet going forward, making sure that his wet food has extra liquid.

 

[sophie1]

I had this exact problem with one of my cats. The vet and I put it down to a combination of stress (kitchen remodel and he had an infected tooth) and high bone content in his raw diet. He was getting Nature Variety medallions (the old recipe not the new one) and some homemade raw from 10% bone chubs.

My vet also recommended a urinary canned food diet, but my cat is a die-hard fan of raw foods. He refused the Hills, Royal Canin, Purina, and an expensive, high quality fish-based canned food my vet suggested. I tried for weeks but he would eat each one once or twice then would only take small nibbles. Finally, my vet said that a raw diet is actually one of the best treatments for FLUTD and he was at a loss to explain why my cat got it while on a raw diet. I started feeding him homemade raw (boneless chubs) or lightly cooked grocery bought meat with eggshell calcium and the Alnutrin mix I had on hand, adding plenty of extra water.

He still needed several months of medication with amitryptline, but then I discovered methionine. My vet said that's what cats used to be treated with for struvite stones, and as long as you monitor urine pH carefully, it works well. It's also a key ingredient in the urinary foods. I used Pretty Litter and frequent U/A's at the vet for monitoring, and ended up dosing him with 1/4 tsp methionine twice a day. His urine pH is still a bit higher than it was before the struvite episode, but it's normal range and no more stones, and he's now doing well and no longer needs the methionine. I'm keeping up with the Pretty Litter and (see other thread) mixing up his raw food to keep bone content in the 6% range.

So, it's important to have a vet willing to work with you. My feeling was that if stress contributed to the problem, adding more stress over the issue of diet can't be good.