So I have two cats. One, Galen, has food allergies, so I put both him and Marcus on Natural Balance because Marcus will eat anything. Then I had to take Marcus to the vet because he had a blockage in his urethra. Vet told me he has struvite crystals and needs to be on a special diet. I figure, well, it is unfortunate, but at least my cat is coming home alright (I had a cat die in November in the vet while I was 800 miles away, so yeah, some trauma there). They put him on Hill's s/d for two months and want to put him on c/d for the long term.
Cue my issues:
1. The fat content in s/d is wicked high. 23% fat and 30% protein.
2. Expense! I've got over $2700 of vet bills to pay off. The expense for prescription food is...intense.
3. By product >.< The Hill's has meat by-product in it and I don't like to feed my cats anything with by-product. Also, since I've started feeding them this, Galen has started scratching again.
(When offering the Hill's and the Natural Balance, Galen blatantly ignores the NB despite the fact that he's been eating it for the past two months. He also ignores the NB wet food. Marcus, on the other hand, eats anything)
So, ladies and gentlefolk...any tips on what I can do about this? Is there a diet that doesn't have by-product that can help with struvite crystals that won't make Galen scratch? I need your help, feline nutrition experts.
(my vet insists on putting him on the Hill's)
Cue my issues:
1. The fat content in s/d is wicked high. 23% fat and 30% protein.
2. Expense! I've got over $2700 of vet bills to pay off. The expense for prescription food is...intense.
3. By product >.< The Hill's has meat by-product in it and I don't like to feed my cats anything with by-product. Also, since I've started feeding them this, Galen has started scratching again.
(When offering the Hill's and the Natural Balance, Galen blatantly ignores the NB despite the fact that he's been eating it for the past two months. He also ignores the NB wet food. Marcus, on the other hand, eats anything)
So, ladies and gentlefolk...any tips on what I can do about this? Is there a diet that doesn't have by-product that can help with struvite crystals that won't make Galen scratch? I need your help, feline nutrition experts.
(my vet insists on putting him on the Hill's)