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Old April 30th, 2009, 07:04 AM
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CarolynInPEI CarolynInPEI is offline
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Post Cat With Bladder Stones......

Hi,

My friend's cat, Earl, just spent the weekend at the vet due to a blockage from bladder crystals. The vet told her that she had to feed him the Hill's Science Diet food from the vets office in order for him to prevent this from happening again. So she bought the food.

I know that there are better quality food out there for Earl's problem and would like to get some opinions on what she should feed him. She can't afford the $30 bag of hill's food and would like a cheaper option. (She has another cat, a budgie and a malamute).

She wants me to recommend a brand of food for her. I think she should switch to a wet food- could someone tell me what Earl should be eating....what brand would be best?

Thanks!
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Old April 30th, 2009, 07:15 AM
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Love4himies Love4himies is offline
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I am sure Sugarcatmom will be here to give some excellent advice soon.

First thing: NO DRY FOOD.

Cats should be eating canned food to flush out their kidneys and bladder as they have a very low thirst drive.

Second: Species appropriate food to ensure the urine ph is kept at an acceptable level which is 6-6.5. Cats are carnivores and should be eating meat, not grain or potatoes.

Raw would be the absolute best food, then my personal favourite, Natures Variety Instinct or Wellness, grain free flavours.

http://www.catinfo.org/

http://www.peteducation.com/article....+1402&aid=2729

Some info on cat nutrition. After reading this, you will be wondering why vets are not pushing raw diets as some of cats essential nutrients come from RAW meat, not cooked.:

http://maxshouse.com/feline_nutrition.htm
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Old April 30th, 2009, 07:31 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Love4himies View Post
First thing: NO DRY FOOD.
Nothing to add to what you've said already!

CarolynInPEI, dry food is an absolute no-no for any cat that has had a blockage. If Earl doesn't like wet food, there are tips in the catinfo link from Love4himies on transitioning a kibble addict.
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Old April 30th, 2009, 09:12 AM
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Thanks for the help. I will tell my friend right away.
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Old April 30th, 2009, 11:47 PM
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What kind of crystals are they? Struvite or calcium oxylate? With Struvite, you want to acidify the urine, or, in other words, lower the ph. With calcium oxylate, you want to make the urine more alkaline, or raise the ph. My dog just had struvite crystals so what I did was add Wysong's Biotic ph- supplement to her food to lower the ph or her urine (I feed raw) and also some broth to her food and water to encourage her to drink. They also have a Biotic ph+ which is for oxylate crystals and helps raise the ph of the urine. With struvite crystals, an infection usually accompanies it so when the infection goes, the crystals should go. With calcium oxylate, the treatment is more complicated.

Wysong carries an over the counter food called Ureta and it's for urinary health. I'm not sure how expensive it is but I'd rather pay for Wysong than for Hill's crap anyday. The Hill's stuff contains salt to encourage your cat to drink; something I don't agree with because it could create or exacerbate a kidney problem. Wysong also carries prescription food and have formulas for both Struvite crystals (Struvatrol) and oxylate (don't know the name of the food). The only thing is, you have to get a prescription from your vet and the number of refills required and call their 1-800 number to get it shipped. But your friend may want to look into the Ureta food. I saw it at Ren's depot recently.

Basically, you want to feed canned food with low magnesium (less than 0.1%) so preferably no fish. The Wellness canned (grain-free) contains 0.025 % magnesium. I think the Nature's Variety Instinct has the same percentage as well. I would look at the nutrient breakdown of the Hill;s food and see if you can find another better quality food with similar mineral levels.
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Old May 1st, 2009, 11:24 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by flipgirl4 View Post
Wysong carries an over the counter food called Ureta and it's for urinary health. I'm not sure how expensive it is but I'd rather pay for Wysong than for Hill's crap anyday. The Hill's stuff contains salt to encourage your cat to drink; something I don't agree with because it could create or exacerbate a kidney problem.
The Wysong Uretic contains salt as the 5th ingredient, and DL-methionine (an acidifier) as the 7th ingredient. It also contains grains and other inappropriate ingredients (plums???? seriously.) making it too high in carbs for an obligate carnivore. But the biggest problem of all is that it's DRY. Honestly, it's no better than Hill's. Again, I must emphasize that no cat with a history of urinary tract blockage should be eating kibble. Not Hill's, not Medi-cal, not Wellness, not Wysong.
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