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My two male 7 year old Siberian cats have been almost 100% on raw food for their entire lives - and never are fed dry food except as treats. They eat a combination of Natures Variety raw chicken medallions, and food from Hare Today (rabbit and turkey mostly). A couple weeks ago, I saw bloody urine in the litter box, and saw that one of the cats (Chai) looked uncomfortable. Turned out he had large bladder stones. These were removed surgically about 1.5 weeks ago.
Due to COVID delays, the stone analysis will not come back for about a month. I just got the urine culture & sensitivies results which showed a mild UTI (E coli), which is now being treated with amoxicillin. The vet surgeon suggested feeding Royal Canin Urinary SO food in the meantime, but didn't make it a must-do. He's eating about half that and half raw (mainly because he's not too enthusiastic about the canned). I was up front to the surgeon about the raw diet, and the surgeon said she didn't think that had anything to do with the UTI, that it was more likely acquired from the litter box or from cross-contamination while grooming his nether regions. She also didn't think the UTI caused the stones.
I've been thinking to wait until the stone analysis comes back and then maybe get a vet nutritionist consult. In the meantime though...any opinions on what would make the raw diet safe to keep feeding him? The two variables I suspect are most important are water content and bone percentage (in case it's calcium oxalate stones). I've been adding extra water to the raw food and also bought a Cat-it fountain which neither cat is interested in yet. I have also started aiming for smaller bone percentage (7% instead of 10%). The Hare Today grinds are supposed to be 15% bone for rabbit and 10% bone for turkey; I had been feeding them the turkey straight up and diluting the rabbit with 3/4 lb plain meat per 1 lb rabbit.
Hoping for some suggestions, thanks!
Due to COVID delays, the stone analysis will not come back for about a month. I just got the urine culture & sensitivies results which showed a mild UTI (E coli), which is now being treated with amoxicillin. The vet surgeon suggested feeding Royal Canin Urinary SO food in the meantime, but didn't make it a must-do. He's eating about half that and half raw (mainly because he's not too enthusiastic about the canned). I was up front to the surgeon about the raw diet, and the surgeon said she didn't think that had anything to do with the UTI, that it was more likely acquired from the litter box or from cross-contamination while grooming his nether regions. She also didn't think the UTI caused the stones.
I've been thinking to wait until the stone analysis comes back and then maybe get a vet nutritionist consult. In the meantime though...any opinions on what would make the raw diet safe to keep feeding him? The two variables I suspect are most important are water content and bone percentage (in case it's calcium oxalate stones). I've been adding extra water to the raw food and also bought a Cat-it fountain which neither cat is interested in yet. I have also started aiming for smaller bone percentage (7% instead of 10%). The Hare Today grinds are supposed to be 15% bone for rabbit and 10% bone for turkey; I had been feeding them the turkey straight up and diluting the rabbit with 3/4 lb plain meat per 1 lb rabbit.
Hoping for some suggestions, thanks!