Feeding Suggestions - Royal Canin S/O Dry

japau32

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Hey guys, 

this is my first post here.  We recently rescued a stray/abonded kitty and we had been feeding him fancy feast wet and some costco dry food up till 4 weeks ago.  He had a UTI, and the vet has prescribed him the Royal Canin S/O dry food.  We also supplement with the Purina Pro Plan Urinary Health wet food.  Up until two days ago Cola was devouring the dry food, but now he's very hesitant to eat it.  He'll still eat up the wet food, no problems there.  

I've tried topping the dry food with bonito flakes.  He loves the flakes, but picks at a the food still.  I've tried a broth made with the flakes too.  He'll drink all the broth, which is good in a way, but still avoid most of the food.  Does anyone have any suggestions on getting him to eat more?  

Ideally I'd want to feed him just the wet food, in either the RC brand or Purina Pro Plan, but budget is a big factor for us.  

Thanks in advance. 
 

LTS3

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For urinary issues, the last thing you want to feed is dry food. You want to feed only or at least mostly canned food with extra water added. Any commercial canned food is fine although you may want to limit seafood based ones as that cause cause urinary issues in some cats. You don't need a urinary specific formula, IMO.

Royal Canin may not be necessary. See this thread for alternatives:  http://www.thecatsite.com/t/254489/alternatives-to-expensive-urinary-so-food Discuss with your vet before changing the diet. Did the vet diagnose your cat with struvite crystals, an inflammation, or something else?
 

hellomisskitty

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Welcome to TCS!!
I agree with everything LTS3 LTS3 said above. My Kitty had an episode of struvite crystals 21/2 years ago. My vet said she would have to eat RC urinary SO for the rest of her life but after a few weeks, she refused to eat it...even the canned! Between her refusal to eat it and my concern over the ingredients (and expense!), I began researching alternatives. That search lead me to TCS where I learned so much!
My vet definitely pushed back against my desire to take Kitty off the SO but eventually agreed that a switch to a canned diet would likely be fine. She did want a follow up urinalysis about a month after the diet switch to make sure that no crystals were being formed as a result of the switch off the SO. Kitty has not had a reappearance of crystals (thank goodness!) in 2 1/2 years so it is possible to not feed the expensive prescription diets but definitely make sure your vet is a partner in whatever you do.
Here's a link to a great website (by a DVM) that is a great resource about feline nutrition. Dr. Pierson also has a section about nutrition and urinary issues:

http://catinfo.org/

I hope some of this helps you and Cola

This is probably in the link LTS3 LTS3 gave you but this is the food that I feed my Kitty and she absolutely LOVES it:

https://www.chewy.com/daves-pet-food-restricted-diet/dp/101618
 
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japau32

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Hey thank you for the reply.  

The vet dianogsed him with cystitis, and possibly FLUTD.  He also provided an antibiotic.  Switching him to the SO helped almost immediately.  Cola recovered in 2 days, and his urine volume is very normal now. 

One thing that I have read recently is that seafood can lead to crystals as well, and prior to us switching Cola was receiving Fancy Feast (I know, not the best stuff) chikcen entree, and ocean whitefish.  This most likely lead to his issue as well. 

I will read over the post that you linked, and get some ideas together to discuss with the vet.  We're seeing him again at the end of the week.  I'd like to get Cola to a healthier weight too.  He's currently at 6.97 KG (15 lbs 3 oz), so he's slightly overweight. 
 
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japau32

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Well I've spent a few hours reading through the cat info website, and the Cat Food spreadsheet.  

I'll be callin the vet on Monday to see their take on switching Cola to a good quality canned food, and taking him off the RX diet.  I know that the vet tech did recommend an all wet diet, but the RC SO Wet they are pushing was too much.  Cola would need 5 cans a day, and that would put our monthly feed bill up to $300 CAD.  

I've been looking at the GO, Natural Balance and Merrick brands.  They seem to be reviewed well too. 

Thank you both for all your input.  Much appreciated. 
 
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japau32

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Hi again,

Just an update:. Vet confirmed struvite crystals. They're still recommending the RC SO, but they're obviously pushing the wet. They even recommended the hills, and I have no plans on using that food.

I've been giving him the Purina pro plan UTH wet, and he likes it well enough. He still prefers Fancy Feast. The bowl will be left clean as opposed to the Purina.

Is the Fancy Feast that bad an option? I've also bought some Nutro Max Cat to try.
 

Faire

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All the foods, recommendations, advice along with the stress of worrying about our furkids when health issues come up can almost make us feel like we're going crazy. I know it did for me. I hope you find a food that both you and your cat will be happy with. If I try and study that big food chart that lists most of the foods along with the ingredients for too long I start to feel cross eyed and overwhelmed.

I recently had the crystal issue with my cat too and he had to have a urethral stent placed inside his urethra. They sent him home with 5 5oz cans of Hills c/d wet and a bag of Hills dry c/d. Once he was home he wouldn't eat the Hills wet at all. He originally came from the shelter last year with a bag of Hills dry which he despised.

He had previously been in love with Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers. The Hills is too expensive for me to purchase anyway so when I saw the Purina One Focus Urinary wet food had a chicken with gravy flavor I purchased it hoping he'd like it. He actually loves it so much so that he screams at me until the food hits the bowl and it seems to be working for him so far. I give him 2 3oz cans a day with a small bit of the dry in-between to tide him over till the 2nd can. He's been drinking a lot more water since I add a little bit of cold water to the fresh a couple times a day too.
 

christinab

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My boyfriends cat has always struggled with urinary problems, and also has an issue with some canned foods(friskies, fancy feast, etc), not sure if its because of food coloring or grains. She didn't have urinary problems while eating the Purina urinary tract formula foods, however she was constantly throwing up.

Switched her to Wellness grain free canned food, they have bits in gravy, sliced, minced, cubed/morsel, and classic pate so lots of options if your kitty is picky about that(his prefers the cubed/morsel variety). She gets the chicken and the turkey flavors with the tuna as an occasional treat(since seafood is known to cause urinary issues in some cats). She also gets a little bit of the Wellness complete health grain free chicken dry food(maybe 1/8 cup a day for snacking). The feeding instructions recommend that she gets about a can and a half a day, but when we tried to give her that much she was leaving some of it to dry out in her bowl, so she gets about 2/3 of a can a day now. I set him up to get the food autoshipped from Chewy and total cost is about $80 every 6 weeks for the cans. Since the switch she has zero problems with urinary issues or throwing up other than an occasional hairball.
 
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japau32

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All the foods, recommendations, advice along with the stress of worrying about our furkids when health issues come up can almost make us feel like we're going crazy. I know it did for me. I hope you find a food that both you and your cat will be happy with. If I try and study that big food chart that lists most of the foods along with the ingredients for too long I start to feel cross eyed and overwhelmed.

I recently had the crystal issue with my cat too and he had to have a urethral stent placed inside his urethra. They sent him home with 5 5oz cans of Hills c/d wet and a bag of Hills dry c/d. Once he was home he wouldn't eat the Hills wet at all. He originally came from the shelter last year with a bag of Hills dry which he despised.

He had previously been in love with Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers. The Hills is too expensive for me to purchase anyway so when I saw the Purina One Focus Urinary wet food had a chicken with gravy flavor I purchased it hoping he'd like it. He actually loves it so much so that he screams at me until the food hits the bowl and it seems to be working for him so far. I give him 2 3oz cans a day with a small bit of the dry in-between to tide him over till the 2nd can. He's been drinking a lot more water since I add a little bit of cold water to the fresh a couple times a day too.

Cola has been doing well on the Purina UTH wet food mixed with water. I've actually been mixing warm water with all his wet meals, and he drinks it up before getting to the meat. I think what caused the issue initially was that he was getting way too much fish (I didn't know that fish could cause crystals). He's also a big boy (15 lbs, only slightly overweight) so feeding him just wet would cost be a small fortune: $150-$300 depending on the brands.

I'll keep up with the Purina and find some other options that are low carb and ash, and also feed some of the RC SO dry.
 
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japau32

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My boyfriends cat has always struggled with urinary problems, and also has an issue with some canned foods(friskies, fancy feast, etc), not sure if its because of food coloring or grains. She didn't have urinary problems while eating the Purina urinary tract formula foods, however she was constantly throwing up.

Switched her to Wellness grain free canned food, they have bits in gravy, sliced, minced, cubed/morsel, and classic pate so lots of options if your kitty is picky about that(his prefers the cubed/morsel variety). She gets the chicken and the turkey flavors with the tuna as an occasional treat(since seafood is known to cause urinary issues in some cats). She also gets a little bit of the Wellness complete health grain free chicken dry food(maybe 1/8 cup a day for snacking). The feeding instructions recommend that she gets about a can and a half a day, but when we tried to give her that much she was leaving some of it to dry out in her bowl, so she gets about 2/3 of a can a day now. I set him up to get the food autoshipped from Chewy and total cost is about $80 every 6 weeks for the cans. Since the switch she has zero problems with urinary issues or throwing up other than an occasional hairball.

Thankfully Cola hasn't been throwing anything up. He's okay with either pate or chunks and seems to enjoy having the textures alternated. It's when he gets the same food all the time that he gets picky. Also, he does hunt and has caught his own meals (found a decapitated bird in the living room). He was a stray, so he's still used to being out, but thankfully he only spends a little bit of time outdoors now.

How are the Wellness brands? I've seen some contradicting views on the forums here (which seems to be case with most foods), but it's kept me away from their products.
 

christinab

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Thankfully Cola hasn't been throwing anything up. He's okay with either pate or chunks and seems to enjoy having the textures alternated. It's when he gets the same food all the time that he gets picky. Also, he does hunt and has caught his own meals (found a decapitated bird in the living room). He was a stray, so he's still used to being out, but thankfully he only spends a little bit of time outdoors now.

How are the Wellness brands? I've seen some contradicting views on the forums here (which seems to be case with most foods), but it's kept me away from their products.
I've never had any issues with them and have used both their dog and cat foods. My friend exclusively uses their senior dog food for her dog with sodium restrictions as it has very low sodium compared to all the other dog foods(vet put him on hills low sodium prescription food and he was basically starving because there was almost no protein in it so we contacted every dog food company to request sodium levels of all their foods and Wellness had the lowest).
I've never had a cat turn up a nose at Wellness cat foods either, and IMO, its got better ingredients than friskies, etc while maybe not as good as some of the high end brands, its also not as hard on the wallet as the high end brands, especially for people with multiple pets to feed.
 
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