Cat question

[Ardie/WI]

Forgive me if I ramble. I'm not certain what I'm talking about.

One of our indoor cats namely Brat has to be on a special cat food cause of his urinary tract(?). I can't remember what the vet said ...was it crystals that form there if he eats certain food. All I remember is that he cried when he used the litterbox and we took him to the vet.

My question is what ingrediences(sp?) in cat food do we have to watch for?

The reason I am asking is when we took our other cat, Tippy, to the vet for throwing up, she recommended putting him on a canned cat food that had no wheat products (It worked BTW).

Problems is that Brat doesn't want to eat his ol' dry cat food when his brother is eating what he thinks is gourmet chow. I'd like to gave them both on cannned cat dood--not necessarily the same kind.

[OD]

I think it's magnesium that causes that. I'm pretty sure that you can find canned food that is safe for Brat.

[GoldenMom]

Absolutely there is a canned formula of Brat's food. There's also some evidence that a canned diet is better for cats with urinary tract problems. They get a lot more moisture that way. I think I remember reading a study where a cat typically only drinks a set amount of water each day regardless of diet. The more water passing through Brat's system the better. BTW mostly the special prescription urinary foods are aimed at producing a certain urinary pH depending on the food given. Most all dry foods now are "low ash"/magnesium.

If you wanted to stay with dry, I'll bet you that there is a dry food that would meet your other cat's needs also.

[Sparticle]

http://www.sniksnak.com/cathealth/fusfaqs.html

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body...tract_dis.html

[insocal]

CAT VET HERE: Just my 2 cents - I have found that the single two biggest dietary factors in lower urinary tract disease are FISH and TOO MUCH PLANT PROTEIN. Fish has a lot of magnesium, which will tend to precipitate out and form crystals in alkaline urine. Too much plant protein in food (esp cheaper dry foods) leads to alkaline urine. So the combination of food containing fish and cheaper dry food is bad.

Also, I have a theory that the fish contributes directly to bladder inflammation - that the bladder may be another "target organ" for dietary hypersensitivity, like the skin and GI tract are known to be.

I see very little lower urinary tract disease in my practice, probably in large part because I tell my clients how to feed their cats, and for the most part they actually listen. NO FISH of any kind at any time. Feed only a TOP QUALITY dry cat food and water (if you MUST feed canned food, NO FISH in it). No people food, table scraps, dairy, garlic/onions, and NO FISH!!!!!!!!!!!!

Higher quality dry cat foods have more animal protein and so produce a urine that is the proper acidic pH. In my experience this is a bigger factor than feeding canned cat food for the water content. Cats that are fed dry food compensate by drinking more water, so it evens out anyway.

Obesity is a risk factor. Males and females both get lower urinary tract disease, but only the males are at risk for life-threatening urethral obstruction. Never ignore urinary symptoms in any cat. Straining to urinate, frequent attempts to urinate with only a little produced, blood in the urine, going out of the box, especially if accompanied by depression, vomiting, or not eating, are all serious signs. I treat primarily with antibiotics, though bacteria are not often found in these cats' urine samples. Diet modification if the most important thing. Oh, and I have also observed a drastically increased risk of urinary problems in Persians and Himalayans.

[insocal]

My favorite dry cat foods are as follows:

Science Diet (not the seafood flavor, obviously)
Max Cat (ditto)

Other ok foods (last I checked the labels):

Costco's Kirkland Signature
Purina One Sensitive Systems
ProPlan

If your cat does not have any urinary problems, then Iams (not the seafood flavor) is ok.

I use Hill's Prescription Diet C/D in certain cats. I do NOT use urinary acidifiers. I do NOT recommend OTC "urinary" diets. Purina should not be a substitute for appropriate medical advice and vet care.........their food over-acidifies the urine anyway, and that gets us into the other problem of oxalate stones due to too acidic urine (I treat that with X/D).

[kesoaps]

Insocal, have you got clients who use the Kirkland brand? Does it actually work at keeping weight on their cats? I ask because years ago I tried it with my Goldens and they needed nearly double the food to keep a healthy weight.

[tltater]

I just wanted to add my 2 cents to the feeding of moist cat food all the time. It's nice for a treat but given all the time, there teeth will go bad much much quicker. The dry food helps cut down on the plaque build up on there teeth. Of course(even though most people don't) animals need to get there teeth cleaned at least once a year. Bad teeth contribute to many health problems including kidney and liver.

Tracy
Southwestern, NY

[Ardie/WI]

Originally Posted by tltater

I just wanted to add my 2 cents to the feeding of moist cat food all the time. It's nice for a treat but given all the time, there teeth will go bad much much quicker. The dry food helps cut down on the plaque build up on there teeth. Of course(even though most people don't) animals need to get there teeth cleaned at least once a year. Bad teeth contribute to many health problems including kidney and liver.

Tracy
Southwestern, NY

At this point, Tippy (the one we put on canned cat food cause of projectile vomiting) has lost some of his teeth. I suspect that his mother was not healthy during the gestation period and also he is ten-years-old.

We'd just like to put both cats on canned cat food-NOT necessarily the same kind.

[whodunit]

Why not use a BARF diet for your cats?

Mrs Whodunit

[Ardie/WI]

Originally Posted by whodunit

Why not use a BARF diet for your cats?

Mrs Whodunit

Because my stamina is limited and what time I spend in the kitchen is utilized cooking for myself and Roger.

[Sparticle]

Originally Posted by whodunit

Why not use a BARF diet for your cats?

Mrs Whodunit

I fed mine BARF, but it got to be quite labor intensive with all the animals I have, but I agree it is the best. I've switched all of mine over "Chicken Soup for the xxxx lover's soul". They have one for cats and one for dogs. The ingredients are incredible. Check it out.

[Ardie/WI]

Originally Posted by quntmphscs

I fed mine BARF, but it got to be quite labor intensive with all the animals I have, but I agree it is the best. I've switched all of mine over "Chicken Soup for the xxxx lover's soul". They have one for cats and one for dogs. The ingredients are incredible. Check it out.

Where would I find the "recipe"???? Could you post it, please,please, please!

I just have two cats to feed and am wondering just how much work it is. Got two crockpots and am wondering if I could cook up a bunch and freeze portions.

[Ravenlost]

Ardie,
I had a cat with FUS and did a great deal of reading of catfood labels, etc. I found that the best brand I could buy him at the store was the Whiskas in a pouch. I avoided seafood flavors and he did quite well on it. He would eat the dry food from the vet, but refused to eat the prescription canned food. So everyone was on Spanky's diet - dry prescription food and Whiska's in the pouch.

[insocal]

Originally Posted by kesoaps

Insocal, have you got clients who use the Kirkland brand? Does it actually work at keeping weight on their cats? I ask because years ago I tried it with my Goldens and they needed nearly double the food to keep a healthy weight.

kesoaps: I practice on cats, not dogs, so I don't have experience with Kirkland for dogs. You probably should go with your experience there. If it's not working for your dog, avoid it. I just know that my feline patients on it are not having any clearly identifiable nutrition-related health problems. My favorites are Science Diet and Max Cat.

[Ardie/WI]

Originally Posted by Ravenlost

Ardie,
I had a cat with FUS and did a great deal of reading of catfood labels, etc. I found that the best brand I could buy him at the store was the Whiskas in a pouch. I avoided seafood flavors and he did quite well on it. He would eat the dry food from the vet, but refused to eat the prescription canned food. So everyone was on Spanky's diet - dry prescription food and Whiska's in the pouch.

What exactly does FUS stand for?

[Ravenlost]

OOPS...sorry. It stands for Feline Urinary Syndrome.

My cat Spanky, a neutered male, had a terrible time with crystals in his urine. Being put on the prescription dry food and Whiskas in the pouch made a world of difference for him...plus increasing his water intake (to encourage him to drink water I would cup my hands under the running faucet and let him drink out of my hands).

[babetteq]

My cat had urininary tract crystals when he was younger. I stopped feeding him anything with fish (I heard that tuna was the worst) and I give him about 2 tablespoons of wet food made into soup with about 1/4 cup of water to keep him flushing out. 9 years later he hasn't had any other trouble. The vet said that sounded like a good plan... so i keep it up.

babs