Urinary tract nutrition for males

[pianoguy]

Hi all!

I adopted a young male cat a few months ago. I fully understand the risks of the male UTI and blockage issues. I do know that wet food (high moisture) is the most important in preventing urinary issues and he eats it daily.

Now I do leave dry kibble down during the day as I work. I know dry food isn’t the best for cats, so I try to limit it as much as possible. However, I’ve been looking into the dry urinary kibble they have available. Is this worth purchasing as an extra preventative measure? I do understand that all dry food is minimal for health purposes, but I do want to try and prevent any future troubles.

Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated! Thanks.

 

[maggie101]

I have food timers for canned food though I wouldn't leave it out no more than 7 hrs

 

[DreamerRose]

I use that kind of dry food for my cats too, one of which has already had crystals once. For a long time, I also added a tablespoonful or two water to his wet food and mixed it in to keep him from getting dehydrated. He's now learned to drink water from watching Lily, so I don't. But that's the best thing to do - mix a little water in his wet food.

 

[maggie101]

I hope you like tuna! Another suggestion is tuna juice in ice cubes. Lots of work. Or a stainless sreal fountain

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. The urinary care dry food (and the canned ones too) are typically given to help with urine PH balance and reduce chances of crystal formation and/or dissolve existing crystals. If your cat's urine PH is within normal range, and there has been no evidence of any sediment in his urine, the urinary care dry food may not do much for him. Regular check ups with a urinalysis will enable you to keep on top of any potential issues that might begin to brew.

Until such time a check up shows some indication of a possible problem, looking into timed feeders or motion activated ones to allow you to leave canned food out while you are gone is your best bet. There are even timers that have icepacks to help keep the food cooler. The feeders also help to keep the canned food from drying out as fast, but if that is not an issue with your cat, you can leave most canned foods out with or with out a feeder - as mentioned above - 7 hours. I actually have left Feeby's out for 8-9 hours with no issue. Leaving a bit of dry food out on the side during the day isn't likely going to be a big issue, especially if he likes to drink water. You could even consider getting him a water fountain to see if that might entice him to drink more.

 

[pianoguy]

Thank you all for the tips! He actually does drink a lot and loves wet food, so I’m not too worried in that department.

However, I did some research and I found out that “sodium bisulfate” and “DL-Methonine” are two ingredients to look for in dry cat food that acidity urine. I found that both “Cat Chow Naturals Indoor formula” and “Iams Adult Chicken” both have them. Would anyone recommend one brand over the other?

 

[tyleete]

I use Diamond urinary care dry kibble for several of mine. It helps one with kidney stones, one that used to get UTI's regularly, and another that without specialty food gets crystals in his urinary tract.