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Old February 10th, 2007, 12:03 PM
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Sass_829 Sass_829 is offline
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Need advice on healthier food for cat!

Hi,

I have a 4.5 year old female cat, I got her from the SPCA when she was 2. Not knowing at the time, I fed her Whiskas (yeah I know horrible food!) until last year, when she got crystals in her urine. She was put on disollution (medi-cal) and then on preventive medi-cal. She's been fine ever since, back to herself, though she has gained a bit of weight. The problem is I have been reading up on healthy foods, and am not satisfied with the contents of Medi-cal. I would like to switch her to a healthier brand...but am worried that she will get more crystals...Are there healthier alternative foods more holistic that anyone knows of that will also help minimize reocurrance? Should I just take a chance and see if she does fine or....? She is healthy, and likes both the dry and canned medi-cal, I don't think she's too picky, though she prefers dry. Also just another quick question...I'll be getting a male siamese soon, and this is one reason for the change...I want to find a healthy food for both of them, specially for him to start him off on a good diet. In your opinion which brands (canadian preferbly) are the highest and healthiest quality?? I've read solid gold was good? Anyone use Natural balance?? Thanks!
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Old February 10th, 2007, 12:32 PM
barkley21 barkley21 is offline
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What about Felidae? Three out of the first five ingredients are meat meals which is a really good thing. We switched our cat onto it and she's doing great. Here is a list of the ingredients.

Chicken Meal, Turkey Meal, Brown Rice, Lamb Meal, Chicken Fat, (Preserved with mixed Tocopherols), Herring Meal, Eggs, Flax Seed Meal, Sun Cured Alfalfa Meal, Sunflower Oil, Chicken, Lecithin, Linoleic Acid, Amaranth, DL Methionine, Taurine, Kelp, Cranberries, Apples, Monocalcium Phosphate, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Rosemary Extract, Sage Extract, Dried Enterococcus Faecium, Dried Lactobacillus Acidophilus Fermentation Product, Dried Aspergillus Oryzae Fermentation Extract, Dried Bacillus Subtilis Fermentation Extract, Inulin (from Chicory Root), Dried Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Fermentation Solubles, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Mixed Tocopherols (source of Vitamin E), Zinc Amino Acid Chelate, Manganese Amino Acid Chelate, Iron Amino Acid Chelate, Copper Amino Acid Chelate, Cobalt Amino Acid Chelate, Vitamin A supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Ascorbic Acid (source of Vitamin C), Niacin, Thiamin Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Riboflavin (source of B2), Beta Carotene, Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Calcium Iodate, Folic Acid, D-Biotin, Sodium Selenite, Papaya, Vitamin B12 Supplement.
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Old February 10th, 2007, 02:31 PM
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crystals and food

I am assuming that your cat has struvite crystals and not oxylate as struvite is most common. Struvite crystals prefer NOT to grow in an acidic urine, and a high meat based diets creates acidity (as in the example of a raw diet) You need to found out the acidity of the urine produced of ANY cat food you choose ( except raw) . Something around 6.6 is good, the NRC also states that the level of magnesium is not as important these days as long as you are producing an acidity of 6.4-6.6.
Some good Canadian brands are Go Natural, Holistic Blend, Acana, but please ensure you check with the manufacturer regarding PH levels produced.
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Old February 10th, 2007, 07:20 PM
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OntarioGreys OntarioGreys is offline
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Hi Sass_829, you need to look for foods with high meat protein contents,

Alkaline urine can cause minerals binds

One thing people rarely think of looking at is drinking water, if your city drinking water is hard(leaving white deposits on tap fixtures) that means the ph of the water is greater that 8.5 which is alkaline , that white deposit is minerals the same mineral that is found in bladder stones, like calcium and magnesium , so if you have hard water you may want to buy bottle demineralized water for the cat to drink, as it will have a lower PH and minerals removed.
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Old February 10th, 2007, 09:25 PM
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I have my little guy on Nutro Natural choice and it seems to be great. i dont have a bag to check the ph levels but its worth a look.
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Old February 10th, 2007, 09:31 PM
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Innova Evo or Felidae get my vote
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Old February 10th, 2007, 09:49 PM
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what scott said...I use felidae and my cat is doing wonderful on it...he used to be on whiskas also and he was very overweight...he still has a belly but has lost a lot of weight ..innova is outstanding also...
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Old February 11th, 2007, 01:15 AM
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I recommend Go! Natural, it's made by Petcurean, a Canadian company. My male cat had struvite crystals and after the antibiotics and prescription food, I put both my cats on Go! Natural. I compared the ingredients and mineral contents of all the leading holistic brands and in my opinion it is the food that will be least likely to create more problems. I also supplement my male's food with at UTI paste which I bought at the pet supply store. So far so good for my furry guy.
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