The Els, my 6 y.o., 10.5 lb, Hurricane Katrina-rescued female tabby, was recently diagnosed as having a plethora of struvite crystals in her urine (7.5 pH).
During the two years that I've entertained her presence, she's eaten nothing but Innova reduced fat dry, topped with a spoonful of Evo wet. Gourmet vittles, for sure! After her diagnosis, the vet put her on Hills s/d for two weeks, to be followed by Hills c/d for the remainder of her kitty nine lives.
I've read on this site that better quality diet options exist to address urinary/struvite issues that include:
*low magnesium
*low calcium
*no seafood
*preferably wet
My questions:
1. What foods should I further research that are UTI friendly/certified? (I've heard Nutro Max cat roasted chicken, as well as Purina Pro Plan, mentioned previously)
2. Should I base my decision primarily on low magnesium levels? (considering other quality ingredients, of course)
3. My cat also has a tarter issue. Although I've read that wet food is preferable for urinary health, would dry be a good compromise to provide some tarter-scraping benefits?
Thanks for your insight!
During the two years that I've entertained her presence, she's eaten nothing but Innova reduced fat dry, topped with a spoonful of Evo wet. Gourmet vittles, for sure! After her diagnosis, the vet put her on Hills s/d for two weeks, to be followed by Hills c/d for the remainder of her kitty nine lives.
I've read on this site that better quality diet options exist to address urinary/struvite issues that include:
*low magnesium
*low calcium
*no seafood
*preferably wet
My questions:
1. What foods should I further research that are UTI friendly/certified? (I've heard Nutro Max cat roasted chicken, as well as Purina Pro Plan, mentioned previously)
2. Should I base my decision primarily on low magnesium levels? (considering other quality ingredients, of course)
3. My cat also has a tarter issue. Although I've read that wet food is preferable for urinary health, would dry be a good compromise to provide some tarter-scraping benefits?
Thanks for your insight!