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My cat has been sick and I have a few questions...
Hello, My name is Michelle. My cat Ceenee was sick with crystals in her urine and she was sick for a long time. The vet put her on a special perscription diet food to break up the crystals and Ceenee is now eating special wet and dry food to prevent crystals from forming again. My question is: How long do i have to keep her on this special food? the vet said the rest of her life but for a small 10lb bag of dry food is $50! and a small can of wet food is $3. Now i would do anything for my cat, but money is tight and i want to switch the food to somthing that isn't so expensive but i'm not sure what brands are healthy and will not cause the crystals again. i've asked my vet but she said that Ceenee HAS to stay on the vet food. Does anyone know what i should do?
~Michelle |
#2
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Hmm, I don't really know what to tell you, but have you tried her on Evo, or Orijen? If you really wanted to get creatvie, you could try going Raw.... Just make sure you do PLENTY of research on it.
Whats the brand of food your Vet has her on? I did some searching, I found this on another forum: http://www.petpeoplesplace.com/resou...ce/cats/34.htm And also this: http://www.peteducation.com/article....+2142&aid=1188
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#3
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Michelle & Cenee welcome to the site.
Can I take a guess that the vet told you they MUST stay on Hills CD Diet right? Well food is an education in itself and you have come to the right place to start. We have some really knowledgeable cat people here that can help you with this. How long has she had the crystals? What is the brand of food your feeding? Cindy
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Tabitha April 10, 1995 - August 23, 2013 Bomber April 10, 1995 - July 12, 2010 Winston Nov 15, 1999 - September 15, 2011 Sophie Aug 30, 2011 "UNTIL ONE HAS LOVED AN ANIMAL, PART OF THEIR SOUL REMAINS UNAWAKENED" He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion. -Unknown |
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Your vet is wrong. However, your cat should be eating only wet food, no dry. But it can be any wet food, doesn't have to be the prescription ones. Here's a link for you on feline nutrition in general that you might want to read: http://www.catinfo.com
I gotta run, but I'll come back with more info for you later.
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"To close your eyes will not ease another's pain." ~ Chinese Proverb “We must not refuse to see with our eyes what they must endure with their bodies.” ~ Gretchen Wyler |
#5
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Your in good hands now!
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Tabitha April 10, 1995 - August 23, 2013 Bomber April 10, 1995 - July 12, 2010 Winston Nov 15, 1999 - September 15, 2011 Sophie Aug 30, 2011 "UNTIL ONE HAS LOVED AN ANIMAL, PART OF THEIR SOUL REMAINS UNAWAKENED" He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion. -Unknown |
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Right now, Ceenee is on Hill's perscription diet C/d cat food. She eats wet and dry. She's not a picky eater and she loves her wet food. the only thing i've never been able to get her to eat is anything to do with fish (she sniffs it and walks away), but she loves chicken. lol. basicaly, i give her about 1/2 cup of dry food and a tablespoon of wet once per day in the morning. Thats what my vet told me to give her once she lost weight to keep the weight off. i also give her a bit of milk probably once per week, if my dad hasn't already spoiled her. (is the milk we drink ok for cats too?). i have no problem giving her just wet food (she loves it anyway) and changing her diet.
We found out Ceenee had crystals sometime in september 2007 and started treatment right away. once the crystals were gone, she's been on the C/d food ever since. I don't know how long she had crystals but there were a ton of them (the vet showed me the slide under the microscope) so it was probably a while. she hasn't had crystals since then. but like i said, vet food is really expensive, and i'm going to be in university soon were i wont have $50 for cat food. ~Michelle |
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Hi Michelle,
First let me explain a bit about urinary crystals. There are a few different kinds that cats get, the two main ones being struvite and calcium oxalate. Struvite crystals (more common) form in consistently alkaline urine (ph >7.0). Calcium oxalate crystals form in overly acidic urine (ph <6.0). Here is where diet plays a role: when cats are fed dry foods, all of which contain far too much plant matter for an obligate carnivore, their urine becomes alkaline. Add to that the fact that a cat eating only dry food is going to have highly concentrated urine and is going to urinate less frequently, and you have a perfect environment for crystals to form and clump together. When a cat eats wet food, it's much closer to what they would eat in nature, which is nice juicy meat (mice, birds, etc with 60-80% moisture content) and hardly any plant matter. So in most cases, simply switching food from dry to wet takes care of the crystal problem. If, for some reason, your cat can't maintain a normal urinary ph (6-6.5) on her own even when eating canned, then there are other options besides feeding crappy prescription food. As long as you're monitoring her urine ph at home (you can get test strips from a health food store), you can add your own acidifier (L-methionine) to her food. The reason it's important to keep an eye on the ph is because if it should become too acidic, she would be at risk for developing calcium oxalate crystals, and these are much harder to deal with. Interestingly, calcium oxalate crystals used to be quite rare in cats, until dry food diets with added acidifiers became de regueur. Quote:
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Excellent! Then you're way ahead of the game, because you'd be shocked at how many cats get so addicted to dry food that it can be a major endeavor to get them to eat anything else. Quote:
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As for what kind of canned food would be best, some good ones to look for are Wellness, Innova Evo 95% meat, Nature's Variety Instinct, By Nature Organics, Precise, Natural Balance, Merrick..... Some of these may still be fairly expensive, but it's entirely likely that your vet bills will go down due to the higher quality nutrition. There are also ways to economize, such as buying by the case and/or getting the largest sized cans (Wellness is good for that). Augmenting her diet with some fresh meat (raw is best, but even lightly cooked is okay) would also be excellent, as long as it doesn't make up more than 10-20% of her food intake, since it's not nutritionally balanced. Here's a page on choosing a commercial canned food: http://www.catinfo.org/commercialcannedfoods.htm Quote:
And just in case you don't have enough to read already , here are some more links for ya: http://holisticat.com/flutd.html http://www.celestialpets.com/fus_article.shtml
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"To close your eyes will not ease another's pain." ~ Chinese Proverb “We must not refuse to see with our eyes what they must endure with their bodies.” ~ Gretchen Wyler |
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I can't add anymore to what sugarcatmom has stated. She is right on with both the weight loss and crystal prevention.
If your kitty is not too picky, you may even want to try a raw diet. Nature's Variety is a popular one. It is frozen medallions ready to go, just thaw 24 hours in the fridge. I add a bit of hot water to mix with the meat to take the chill off. It has raw bones so you can't warm it in the microwave. My daughter's cats lost their weight naturally once they changed to Wellness Grainfree canned. Jasper lost his weight on Nature's Variety Instinct canned and raw. All kitties were previously eating mainly kibble. Good luck and would love to see pics of your kitty
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Cat maid to: Rose semi feral, a cpietra rescue, female tabby (approx 13 yrs) Jasper RIP (2001-2018) Sweet Pea RIP (2004?-2014) Puddles RIP (1996-2014) Snowball RIP (1991-2005) In a cat's eye, all things belong to cats.-English Proverb “While we are free to choose our actions, we are not free to choose the consequences of our actions.” Stephen R. Covey |
#9
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sugarmom, where would one buy (L-methionine? Willie had those s. crystals and he is also on special food to keep his ph low, but it is the Iams stuff, which I know is not good either.
I am feeding him mostly the Wellness canned and the core now and I do worry about the crystals coming back. Debbie
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~Friendship is like a bank account. You can't continue to draw on it without making deposits~ ~Tegan 9 year old yellow lab~ ~Wilbur 9 year old LH cat~ ~Mirabelle 18 mos dsh~ ~O'Shawnnessey 18 mos dsh~ ~Darby 1 year old dsh~ ~Mindy 7 yr old shih tzu~ ~Dexter 10yr old Salmon (large goldfish) |
#10
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Quote:
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Cat maid to: Rose semi feral, a cpietra rescue, female tabby (approx 13 yrs) Jasper RIP (2001-2018) Sweet Pea RIP (2004?-2014) Puddles RIP (1996-2014) Snowball RIP (1991-2005) In a cat's eye, all things belong to cats.-English Proverb “While we are free to choose our actions, we are not free to choose the consequences of our actions.” Stephen R. Covey |
#11
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I'd strongly suggest picking up some of the ph test strips before getting any L-methionine. That way you'll know if you even need it. And because urine ph fluctuates throughout the day, you'll want to get several readings at different times. One reading above 7 doesn't mean Willie has a problem, but if all the readings are, that's when an acidifier might be a good idea. Here's an example of what to look for in a test strip: http://www.ph-ion.com/index.asp?Page...S&Category=205 You want a fairly broad testing range (like from ph 5-9), with at least half unit increments. You should be able to find them in a pharmacy, or you could always order them off eBay.
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"To close your eyes will not ease another's pain." ~ Chinese Proverb “We must not refuse to see with our eyes what they must endure with their bodies.” ~ Gretchen Wyler |
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Quote:
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Debbie
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~Friendship is like a bank account. You can't continue to draw on it without making deposits~ ~Tegan 9 year old yellow lab~ ~Wilbur 9 year old LH cat~ ~Mirabelle 18 mos dsh~ ~O'Shawnnessey 18 mos dsh~ ~Darby 1 year old dsh~ ~Mindy 7 yr old shih tzu~ ~Dexter 10yr old Salmon (large goldfish) |
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Now, if Willie tends to be secretive about his elimination habits, you can try a few other tricks. You could put a sheet of Saran Wrap on top of the litter. Cat walks in, makes a few ineffective digs, pees anyway, and it pools in the various folds. You still have to be fairly in tune with when Willie goes to the bathroom because you want to test it fairly quickly, and you also want to be sure it's his pee and not from one of the other kitties. Another method is using a non-absorbent litter substrate. Vets sell an outrageously priced product called NoSorb for exactly this purpose, but you can use clean aquarium gravel instead. Unpopped popcorn, packing peanuts, and sunflower seeds are other options.
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"To close your eyes will not ease another's pain." ~ Chinese Proverb “We must not refuse to see with our eyes what they must endure with their bodies.” ~ Gretchen Wyler |
#14
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Uh Oh...this sounds very complicated. What the heck is a shadow jar?
Hmmm maybe I'd better ask my vet for one of those longggggg rubber gloves they use to deliver calves? This might get messy sliding jars under peeing butts..... Debbie
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~Friendship is like a bank account. You can't continue to draw on it without making deposits~ ~Tegan 9 year old yellow lab~ ~Wilbur 9 year old LH cat~ ~Mirabelle 18 mos dsh~ ~O'Shawnnessey 18 mos dsh~ ~Darby 1 year old dsh~ ~Mindy 7 yr old shih tzu~ ~Dexter 10yr old Salmon (large goldfish) |
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