Urinary Health

[Jennybean421]

My cat has been prone to struvite crystals. For the past 9 years he was in the animal hospital 2x a year. In 2019 he ended up having surgery to fix the issue. The vet said he needed to be on Hills CD food. I can not afford to take him to the vet for a few months. I can't afford the $600 for the visit and all the tests just to get a prescription. Any suggestions on what to feed him until I can take him in?

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!
Have you been feeding him canned food?

 

[Jennybean421]

Yes he gets a mixture of wet and dry. He gets dry when I am gone overnight.

 

[Furballsmom]

Can you add a little water to his canned food regularly?

 

[Jennybean421]

Yes. He doesn't drink a lot of water. I even trick him by giving him chicken water. He's a little grumpy old man.

 

[Furballsmom]

This might also help;
Tips To Increase Your Cat’s Water Intake – TheCatSite Articles

 

[fionasmom]

Can you tell your vet up front that you aren't able to come in for the time being and ask if the prescription food can be continued or if there are some safe commercial substitutes?

 

[LTS3]

Prescription food isn't always necessary for urinary issues. Here's some info: Cat Urinary Tract Diseases: Cystitis, Urethral Obstruction, Urinary Tract Infection

I would stop feeding all dry food. That can be a contributing factor to urinary issues in some cats. You can leave canned food out for snacking overnight. It's fine to do so and canned food is a cooked product so it won't go bad overnight.

D-mannose is supposed to help with urinary issues. It's a powdered supplement that you can mix into canned food.

I found a TCS thread that seems to be similar to your situation:

Struvite Crystals

Hello cat friends, I am desperate for help of any kind. My just turned 5yr old boy, gave me the scare of my life when he couldn't pee for days several months ago. He was taken for two nights and had his bladder flushed which was over 50% full of crystals. He has been on his prescribed urinary...

thecatsite.com

UTI and Blockage - Advice for how to prevent in the future

Hi, My male cat, Spartacus, age 5, had a blockage yesterday and is at the hospital until at least Saturday morning. It most likely was due to a UTI and swelling. They are going to analyze the bacteria in hopes we can figure out what caused it and where it came from. No crystals or stones. He...

thecatsite.com

Search Results for Query: d-mannose

 

[misty8723]

When we were looking to adopt Austin, he was at the rescue with a UTI and crystals. We talked to the vet before adopting him and she told us about a cat who was a patient of hers and nothing was working so they were going to do surgery. She suggested the people try him on Fancy Feast, and that worked so well he didn't need surgery. Not saying FF is any kind of miracle cure, but FF is one of the things I've been giving Austin, in addition to his SO food. So far, so good.