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Old April 21st, 2010, 11:32 AM
wanderer wanderer is offline
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Improving cat's coat

SO to start off, we have a 6 year old male short hair domestic (Larry) who we adopted from a wonderful rescue organization in Calgary when he was 18 months old. Over the years, we have been to the vet multiple times with him and know that he is a grower of struvite crystals and we haven't gone 6 months without having to get pills into him and putting him back on a diet of SD to get things under control. He has always been fed a canned diet since with us and there are always three, daily cleaned litter boxes available to him and his other buddy (Daryl) as well as a full stainless steel water bowl.

Now for more background info, we own our own independent retail pet food/supplies store and have access to the best canned foods available on the market. In the past, we have done the SD diet followed by CD and then mixed CD half and half with good quality canned foods from our shop (no fish ingredients and low as possible in ash and magnesium - brands included Wellness Core Chicken, Wellness Turkey, Wellness Chicken, Wellness Beef & Chicken, Instinct Chicken, Instinct Rabbit, Addiction Venison & Apples and Addiction Brushtail & Vegetables. Treats are minimal - usually freeze dried chicken hearts, freeze dried chicken breast, smoked bison liver and chicken flavoured Feline Greenies.

Now we have tried just going to a canned diet (listed above) after things were well under control, but within short order we're back at the vet - the last time before his bladder even became enlarged because we've become quite good at recognizing Larry's signs of distress. Thus, we've pretty much resigned ourselves to the fact that he'll live a life of canned SD or CD mixed with our foods listed above. Problem is that his fur looks like crap on the SD or CD foods - dull and generally just lack luster. We've considered adding some omega oils to his diet, but now that any plant/vegetable based oils won't cut it as research seems to indicate that a cat's body just won't convert plant/vegetable based oils into anything useful. That's leaves just animal and fish based oils and we're hesitant about this because of Larry's great ability to grow struvite crystals and the amount of materials available that would indicate that any fish based product is a no-no for someone like Larry.

So, we're asking for some ideas or thoughts - we want Larry to be with us for a long time and because of his situation, diet will always be a foremost concern and as such, what can be done to restore his coat back to it's normal sleek, shiny state?
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Old April 21st, 2010, 01:36 PM
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sugarcatmom sugarcatmom is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wanderer View Post
That's leaves just animal and fish based oils and we're hesitant about this because of Larry's great ability to grow struvite crystals and the amount of materials available that would indicate that any fish based product is a no-no for someone like Larry.
While you're right that fish-based food is not recommended for cats with urinary tract issues, using a quality fish oil shouldn't cause any problems. It's the high phosphorus and histamines in the flesh that you want to avoid, but pure oil, especially in the small amounts needed, aren't likely to be an issue.

Quote:
Originally Posted by wanderer View Post
So, we're asking for some ideas or thoughts - we want Larry to be with us for a long time and because of his situation, diet will always be a foremost concern and as such, what can be done to restore his coat back to it's normal sleek, shiny state?
Can you start checking Larry's urine ph at home? There are test strips available at health food stores that you can dip into a urine sample (slide a shallow jar lid under his butt after he starts peeing) that might provide some valuable info. While normally a good meat-based wet food diet keeps a cat's urine acidic enough to prevent struvite crystal formation, it could be that Larry isn't able to maintain a proper ph on his own. There is nothing magic about the prescription urinary tract formulas except for the addition of an acidifier and some extra salt in the dry foods to encourage drinking. You can add your own acidifier (L-methionine) to some much better quality wet foods and then you don't have to feed that vet crap. I wouldn't do it though unless you can test Larry's urine ph, because you want to make sure you aren't making his pee too acidic. Which would open the door for more serious calcium oxalate crystals.

Some other supplements worth trying are Cosequin (strengthens the lining of the bladder), and either corn silk or marshmallow root powder, which help sooth irritated or inflammed urinary tracts.

Here is some good info on the subject of FLUTD in cats:
http://www.holisticat.com/flutd.html
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