A few years back, one of my kitties had several bad blockages and he had a perenial uresochtomy (not sure how to spell - but the surgery to change his opening so he would not block!) - at the time, he kept blocking despite dietary changes and in the end surgery was the best option.
Thet vet put him (and my other kitties, since I had 5 cats and it was hard to separate them out for feeding) on Royal Canin S/O (dry and soft). Although he could not block, we did want his urine to have a good pH so he would not develop stones or irritating crystals. This cat's urinary pH issues have been resolved on this food (he was tested regularly for a few years), and everyone seems good on this food. The S/O gets the pH very "balanced" (in between that for struvite and oxalate crystals so it is not making the other cat's urine get too acidid or base etc.).
But now all my cats are turning 11 years old in a few months, and I am worried that the "elevated sodium" (not sure how elevated it really is - I could call the company to ask) in this S/O food is not so good for them - esp. if anyone is predisposed to CRF. Since the problem kitty's urine has been stable for years now, I am thinking I may be able to switch everyone over to a good senior food for the dry food, and separate out the differing needs of this one kitty for his wet meals. But I don't want a senior dry food that produces "a slighted acidid urine" like Royal Canin Senior as this would not be good for my potential oxalate-crystal-forming cat. I want suggestions for a good quality senior dry food that will give a good balanced pH in the middle. I also feed wet food, and will continue to give my urinary issue kitty the S/O for his wet meals - I can increase the amount of wet food that he gets hence he may eat less dry food - but he would have access to the dry food so I want something reasonable for him too.
Any ideas???
p.s. Separating for dry food meals has proven pretty difficult, so not the best option...
Thet vet put him (and my other kitties, since I had 5 cats and it was hard to separate them out for feeding) on Royal Canin S/O (dry and soft). Although he could not block, we did want his urine to have a good pH so he would not develop stones or irritating crystals. This cat's urinary pH issues have been resolved on this food (he was tested regularly for a few years), and everyone seems good on this food. The S/O gets the pH very "balanced" (in between that for struvite and oxalate crystals so it is not making the other cat's urine get too acidid or base etc.).
But now all my cats are turning 11 years old in a few months, and I am worried that the "elevated sodium" (not sure how elevated it really is - I could call the company to ask) in this S/O food is not so good for them - esp. if anyone is predisposed to CRF. Since the problem kitty's urine has been stable for years now, I am thinking I may be able to switch everyone over to a good senior food for the dry food, and separate out the differing needs of this one kitty for his wet meals. But I don't want a senior dry food that produces "a slighted acidid urine" like Royal Canin Senior as this would not be good for my potential oxalate-crystal-forming cat. I want suggestions for a good quality senior dry food that will give a good balanced pH in the middle. I also feed wet food, and will continue to give my urinary issue kitty the S/O for his wet meals - I can increase the amount of wet food that he gets hence he may eat less dry food - but he would have access to the dry food so I want something reasonable for him too.
Any ideas???
p.s. Separating for dry food meals has proven pretty difficult, so not the best option...