Best canned food for preventing struvite crystals?

[Koshkonong]

I was able to buy Rayne RSS Health cat food directly from Rayne online and have it delivered to my home in Illinois. My 17 year old cat, who is in the early stages of kidney disease, has been steadily and slowly losing weight on a half and half mix of kidney formula Royal Canine and an assortment of other canned brands. He is into variety when it comes to food, but seems to like the Raynes. I am still using a half and half mix because he invariably stops eating when given the same food daily.

 

[purplesdk]

Hi all!

My kitty just recently developed his first UTI and has struvite crystals. He's about 5 pills away from finishing his antibiotic and seems to be doing a lot better now, still not 100% but getting there!

(here is the original post about his problem: Kitty has his first UTI, what to do from here? )

The vet put him on the Hills Prescription c/d dry food, and he's been eating it. I've stopped all of this normal food and treats as I know the ingredients could do him more harm than good, depending. I did get him some freeze dried chicken treats and beef liver treats and those seem to be a win for the most part

After reading many posts I bought him some canned food (various flavors of the small cans of Fancy Feast). I've gotten him to eat 2 cans so far, and added a little water to it as well. I plan on keeping the dry food for now and see how he does on it, making it available 24/7 as we have always free fed him. He's always eaten dry food, and since the vet said that would be best, I'm sticking with it for now. I know they make the canned version of the c/d but I'd like to get something a bit more affordable and accessible if I could, if he's going to be eating it everyday and just nibbling the dry.

But I was wondering what wet food is best for cats prone to struvite crystals? There are so many options and it's a little overwhelming.

Also, how often should he have the canned food? Twice a day? + the kibble for nibbling? Not sure since he's never eaten it before. He is definitely a bit curious and hesitant at the same time since this is all VERY new to him, he's almost 11 years old and wondering why his mother has suddenly changed his routine after all this time. lol

Thanks!

Daisy

Purina Pro Plan Focus makes both a dry and canned food for Urinary Track Health Formula. My cat had the same problem and she now eats both the wet and dry forms of this food. The dry runs about 15$ for a medium sized bag (can't remember the exact weight) and the canned runs around 80 cents to a little over a dollar per can (3 ounce size).
Her condition cleared up as long as she stays on one of these foods and has plenty if fresh water every day. Any time I would switch her to a different food, it would come back. Hope this helps.

 

[zorisuzaru]

Obviously each cat is different, but we had the same issue a few years back; after years of constant UTI's and being misdiagnosed with PKD (we no longer use the same vet) he was eventually tested for the crystals and put on the prescription dry food to break them down. From that point on he never experienced another UTI and was a changed cat, seemed much more energetic and cheerful. We were also informed that part of the way the food works is by making them thirsty to encourage more drinking, we did notice this effect on him.

I would follow the vets advice, based on my experience the food does work. However if you are concerned then I would always encourage getting an opinion from a second vet. We would leave the dry food out permanently and then for some variety feed him 2x daily with wet food. The only problem with this method is if you have other cats, they tend to all eat the prescription dry food which is expensive!