My cat Lionel is ten years old and still active. However he has had reoccurring urinary tract problems. I recently took him to the vet and they gave me a cat food (Prescription Diet C/D) which Lionel is supposed to eat for the rest of his life. (It has low magnesium).
My problem is that the food is very expensive and I have to go to the vet everytime to get it.
Is there another kind of dry cat food that is available? I heard that Nutro is a good brand. Also, I would like suggestions on any alternatives beside the dry food.
I can ask my vet these questions but I would like to have a 2nd (and 3rd, 4th etc) opinions from Yahoo answers.
Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!
Welcome to the world of urinary problems in cats. My cat just had a stone the size of a nickel removed so I know what you are going through....I hope. Anyway my doctor also gave me c/d for him but she also said that since it is sooooo expensive that I could give him purina urinary tract health for it and that would be ok. I hope this answers your question but I do know that for sure. As for other kinds I hope to read your answer and see what you are going to do.
you can buy a special food at wallmart for a cat with urinary tract infection, alot cheaper, but good ,your cats need a lot of water, you can also give your cat oceanspray cranberry juice, if he dont like it ,put in in a baby surringe and put it in his mouth, also put a little chicken broth over his cat food,you can alsp but cran actin at walmart to help your friend. I hope this helps
what country are you in?? if in Canada - NUTRAM is the best - having the lowest amount of Magnesium...
Hills Precription diet is a scam - over priced - low quality..
go to pet food supply store and compare lables..
Nutro ISNT much better.. only slightly less costly -
Hills PAID for vet endorsement..
also feed him 1 teaspoon canned food twice a day mixed with water to make soup to increase his water intake which will help too... (not fish canned - fish is bad for cats with UTI's)
Yes indeedy!
Scrap the overpriced, low quality prescription food. Technically it may work but it is not good quality food and I would never feed it and never feed it long-term.
Probably all you will need to do is feed him canned food. Good canned food, not the stuff you buy at the grocery store. Although some of the premium foods may be more expensive than the grocery store brands, that's not a hard and fast rule. Plus if you choose one sold at a chain store, you may be able to get a little discount thingy. And if you buy in bulk that can help too.
They WILL be less expensive than your SD.
Check out the What to feed link. You can go to their site and find where they're sold in your area.
Below is from my blog:
This is not my area of expertise, but this has been my experience: As a kitten, Poppy developed both a weight problem and a UTI. My vet told me to start feeding her special food which he happily sold me *gulp*. Poppy refused to eat it. Back then I was less aware of how to get cats to eat new foods, so I just said the hell with it and bought Purina's urinary health food, mixed with weight management. She ate that from then until she was 2 years old. She never had another UTI, so that tells me that the overpriced CRAP the vets sell you are typically unnecessary. The grocery store crap is just as good.
For various reasons, I soon thereafter began researching cat nutrition. I learned about the benefits of wet food, and found that in many cases, that's all that's required to prevent future UTI's. Even the crappy brands like Friskies would be better than dry food!
I don't claim to be a vet, vet tech, vet student or anything like that. But I know how to research and examine results. I've read a bit on this topic which is how I've reached the conclusions I have.
At the very least, were I to have another cat with urinary problems, I'd sooner try them on a GOOD QUALITY canned food before shelling out the dough for a "prescription" dry food (or even their canned varieties). That's because I believe that good nutrition and species appropriate food is much more likely to keep a cat healthy than something designed to change their chemical composition.
It is my opinion, based upon experience and research, that dry food is the WORST food you can feed a cat with a propensity towards developing urinary tract problems.
The best food for your cat is moist, canned food.
I am presently fostering 3 cats, all siblings. When Bobby, the gray tuxedo cat, was brought to me, I was told that he would form crystals in his urine, and therefore was to eat only Hills c/d kibble.
Bobby developed horrible diarrhea and gas as a result. He wouldn't eat the moist, canned c/d, so after doing a lot of research on the web, I decided to take him off the dry kibble, and to feed him only moist, canned food.
In two days, he had no gas and no diarrhea after I changed his diet.
We all have such trust and faith in our vets, however, they do NOT know everything! And sometimes their advice is wrong!
When I was feeding all 3 of my cats dry kibble, they all developed crystals in their urine. Once I removed the dry kibble from their diets, the crystals went away. So I have been feeding them wet food ever since, and the kitties have not had any urinary tract problems since.
I also have to give my cat the same prescription food you do. I know it's a little expensive and a pain to get it from the vet every time. What I wanted to tell you was that I switched from cat litter to shredded newspaper in his litter box. The dust from the cat litter was contributing to his urinary problems. You will have to change the litter at least every other day but there will be no more dust or cat litter all over the floor.
HI!! Dry food is the very worst for your cat. Think if you have a UTI you are told to DRINK lots. Your cat should be drinking lots. Well cats don't have a high thrist signal. They can dehydrate sitting in front of a bowl of water So you give a cat dry that has 95% of it's water removed. It is like telling you with a UTI to drink a 1/4 glass of water a day. I am going to give you my food talk here. Please check the links I think, no I know in fact Lionel will be happier, healthier, you will be surprised how much younger a cat acts when on a species appropriate diet and how much better their fur will be and no dander!!! Good luck here is my diet talk for ALL cats.
Feeding a cat a healthy diet is of the utmost importance for the good health of every cat.
Many people feel that dry is the best way to go. Vets feel it is the way to go. Why? Vets are taught very little about nutrition and they are taught what they know by the Pet Food Companies. The companies push dry as it is the very cheapest food in the world to make as they use fillers, vegetable protein and things that cats do not eat in normal life like veggies and fruits. Of course the veggies and fruits are NOT good for human consumption and thus they get it free or for pennies so the big suppliers can get rid of it.
Dry does not keep teeth clean. A cats jaw is made to grab, tear and shred. They have no chewing action. When a cat barfs he throws up the chunks of food. Sometimes the dry shatters but that doesn't rub on the teeth either. A vet told me that she had an elderly cat around 20 who had had wet food her whole life and never had a problem with her teeth, but she had a 7 month old kitten who had to have every tooth pulled since they were so bad he was sick.
Dry food causes diabetes, UTI's, Kidney problems and the list is to long to continue.
The proper food is a diet for an obligate carnivore. Remember you have never seen a lion chasing a biscuit. Your cat needs wet food of good quality. It should be high in protein and under 10% carb. You should not feed your cat fish or seafood more than 1 or 2 meals a week if that much as they become addicted to it and it is high in phosphorous and low in nutritional value.
http://www.geocities.com/jmpeerson/canfood.html
Here is a chart of most wet foods. The good and the bad. Look for one that is high in protein and low in carbs. Fancy feast is a good middle of the road one, and the cheaper brands but, still following the rule are much better than any dry ever could be. If cost is a problem go with the Friskies etc that is what my girl eats here in Sweden. FF is over $1 a small cat. Wellness and Merrick are on the higher end with higher cost. But you have good food.
It is cheaper to feed a cat the wet as they are filled up faster. Think if you are hungry and eat a bag of potato chips you are soon hungry but if you have a nice piece of chicken you are filled up longer. The same for a cat. I began adding small amount of water and mixing it in good for the meals and now add 1/4 cup water to 1/3 cup wet food. It is now like soup. It keeps the food from drying out and Cessan eats when she wants. She is a grazer and I let her be happy. She gained the weight she needed and then the weight gain stopped. If your cat is over weight he will lose weight on a wet diet.
Here is a link explaining very clearly cat nutrition and care. It is excellent and I think every new cat owner should have to read it first.
http://catinfo.org/
Good luck and be good to your sweet kitty. Contact me if you have further questions.
My mom gives her cat dandelion tincter(sp?) and that is supposed to help. It doesn't just help cure, it helps prevent, so give to cat on a regular basis.
Try the Senior formula Iams , i used it for all my male cats and female because of urinary tract problems, it really works, I've also made sure i started giving more meat scraps, most cats love chicken livers or chicken, just boil it. We had one cat that lived to be 17yrs old and stayed in good health once her diet was changed , another who lived to be 19yrs old and they both suffered from the urinary problem when they were younger. I know its worse for the male cats but this works great. Good luck and give your cat a rub for me.
They have other brands of cat food that are low in Mag. I dont like using Iams anymore after I saw a video of how they treat their animals in the testing labs.. its cruel and just wrong. Nutro is a good brand, so is Eukanuba
Please be very careful with Lionel. Male cats can get blockages very easily and will die within 24 hours from a bad blockage. I am a cat rescuer, trust me, I've seen it.
I rescued one male cat from a house where they'd been told to keep him on Prescription Diet C/D and they didn't feed it to him. He blocked up, his bladder burst, the urine seeped into all the tissues in his lower body, and my job was to take him to the vet (in terrible pain) and have them euthanize him. I was horrified at his condition and it was all about his food.
Shop around, maybe different vets will give you a discount. Mine does. Also, maybe buy two bags at a time instead of one. It will keep a year. Your kitty will do much better on it.
There is ONE (and only one) type of canned cat food I could recommend for a male kitty with UTI, and that's the canned Instinctive Choice by HealthyPetNet. I had a cat with kidney cancer and he thrived on it. Use it IN ADDITION to the special Prescription Diet. It has ingredients that help acidify the cat's urine and it's also very liquid, which helps his kidneys function better.
And honey, honestly, save a dollar or two per week somehow and be prepared for another trip to the vet. This kitty will need future visits (hopefully, not many) and you just don't want this well-loved, beautiful 10-year-old guy to suffer. Any cat that has lived 10 years has great owners, God bless you!
