Urinary Diet Options Fic Cat.

[MittenMeg]

So Raiden had a trip to the ER a month ago and had a complete urinary blockage. Stress and a dry food only diet is what we believe the cause was. He had no stones or crystals but had a UTI. The vet was unsure if it was from the catheter or before the blockage (couldn't get a sample till later). He's made a wonderful recovery and has switched to an all moist diet. Currently, he's on Royal Canine moderate calorie SO. He's doing really well and has even lost some weight. The vet said once he's lost about 2-3 pounds we can switch him back to the regular Royal Canine urinary SO. The vet said something about even putting him on the dry one and the moist. Anyone had experience with their FIC cat being on the dry Royal canine? Should I even consider making the switch or just keep him on the moist only? The only reason I'm contemplating it, is because of the money. The little cans add up and he gets 2 a day.

 

[molly92]

You don't have to stick with prescription or Royal Canin at all-any wet food will do! But I do think it's very important that he stays on wet, especially because he's now prone to blockages. As you know, vet visits can also get expensive. Friskies is probably the cheapest and easiest to find wet food, but Fancy Feast is going to have better ingredients while still being about half the price of the royal canin. The key is water, water, water! You can read more here if you're interested: www.catinfo.org.

 

[Azazel]

Another vote here for all wet. I also wouldn’t keep him on urinary food once he’s all better. Just some high animal protein wet food is what I would do.

 

[MittenMeg]

It's only about $1.45 a can for the Royal Canine. So it's not too bad but 2 cans a day seems like so much to me. And they are the extra small cans. Do you think it would be bad to mix between the vet diet and a store-bought moist food? He is so picky and only likes chicken but it can't be chunky.

 

[molly92]

Using a mixture of foods shouldn't be a problem, assuming he doesn't have a sensitive stomach. But there's no real reason to keep him on the prescription food anyway. I'd recommend Fancy Feast classic chicken-smooth pate, very similar ingredients to the royal canin except it doesn't have wheat or corn, and it's usually around $.60 for a 3 oz can. If you're willing to spend more, cans like wellness chicken are about $1.20 a 3 oz can (although they come in larger can sizes that are more cost effective if your cat will eat refrigerated food!), and that would be a huge increase in quality! But like I said, even fancy feast would be great. Plus, most cats really like Fancy Feast.

SO and other prescription urinary foods are designed to modify pH, but really just the extra water flushes everything out better than anything pH does, and higher meat content in food (like Fancy Feast or Wellness) makes the tract more acidic anyway without expensive formulations with unhealthy ingredients like corn, wheat, and added salt. There is a urinary food that changes pH so dramatically that you need to be careful when changing the food, but SO is not like that.

 

[LTS3]

There may be alternatives (aka commerical cat food that don't cost a lot) to using the Royal Canin SO long-term. See

Alternatives to Royal Canin SO
Alternatives to expensive Urinary SO food

 

[Daisy6]

In case you have not noticed already, vets sell prescription foods because they do not know much about feline nutrition. They know pH levels are important, but not that the other ingredients thrown into prescription foods are bad for cats. Water is so important to cats with urinary tract problems (espeicially tomcats) I like to say there is no such thing as dry urinary diets. Who cares about the pH level if the cat is dehydrated?