What are some good cat foods for cats with urinary tract problems?
Tim D asked:
We’ve been using the Hills Science Diet s/d for cats with urinary tract issues. It seems to work very well for that, but they also seem to not tolerate it well in their stomachs, because they puke it back up frequently. We’ve also tried Purina ONE Urinary Tract Health Formula…it had about the same problems. Are there any other good cat foods that specifically target urinary tract issues?
Dogs Health and Training
We’ve been using the Hills Science Diet s/d for cats with urinary tract issues. It seems to work very well for that, but they also seem to not tolerate it well in their stomachs, because they puke it back up frequently. We’ve also tried Purina ONE Urinary Tract Health Formula…it had about the same problems. Are there any other good cat foods that specifically target urinary tract issues?
Dogs Health and Training
March 7th, 2010 9:40 am
I have this problem too. One of my cats seems to be prone to UTI’s, but the day I pulled all dry food from their diet I haven’t had a single problem since. Dry food tends to dehydrate cats, wet will help their digestive system and keep them hydrated, causing fewer blockages and infections. Good wet foods will have no fillers (corn wheat soy) no by products and no random meat (ie “animal” meat). Try switching to a purely wet or a wet combined with raw diet (or all raw if you wish) and you will see wonderful results.
March 8th, 2010 4:39 pm
Proper hydration is the key, more than the type of food. If you have a cat that loves to drink water, and if needed, lots of it, then dry food should never be a problem.
The problem though is with cats, as most don’t have a thirst drive, so with a most or mostly dry food diet, they are not getting enough water to keep themselves properly hydrated. Also, not all can food has enough water content to keep a cat that don’t drink water properly hydrated.
The key is to find a diet that works for both your cat’s sensitive stomach and also works to keep your cat properly hydrated to keep it’s urinary tract working properly.
Your vet can offer solutions, but if your cat don’t eat it or can tolerate it, then it’s a waste of time and money.
Start with a good wet food that is at least 75 percent moisture (water) as this mostly mimics raw meat (muscle which is about 75 percent water) that it would get naturally in the wild.
Dry food, for the most part is just dehydrated wet food, so with proper water intake usually works for most cats.. that is if you have a cat that drinks lots of water…. hence the problem…
Without rambling even more, I hope this helps a bit.
March 11th, 2010 7:28 pm
It depends on the diagnosis, really. If you’re talking about brands that are available to help prevent stones and crystal formation in cats after a blockage or surgery by altering the pH of the urine, Royal Canin Urinary S/O is another prescription option. It is sold by most vets as a maintainence ‘medication diet’ similar to Science Diet but gentler on the system. The canned works for us but it also comes in dry or moist (packets).
For simple interstitial cystitis or idiopathic cystitis (bladder inflammation/infection), I agree with the previous poster on the importance of a holistic, all natural wet food diet.
March 13th, 2010 5:46 pm
I had a problem with most of the urinary foods..what i wound up doing is buying royal canin 27 for senior cats which caters to the problems of older cats. I have a cat in kidney failure that just refused to eat any of the kidney diets..i gave up and gave him this figuring it was made for a senior cat and it was a decent brand of food..my cat gained 2 pnds and his kidney values improved so i am VERY happy with this.