Best Canned Food for cats prone to Urinary Blockage/Crystals

[charrrlottte]

Hello there! 

Just wanted to reach out and see if you folks had any suggestions for the best kind of wet cat food to give a cat with a (recent) history of crystals in his bladder and eventually obstruction because of it. Am currently feeding Royal Canin SO wet food right now (prescribed by the emergency vet), and will be for about another month or two, but am definitely on the look out for alternatives to this super expensive brand. Anyways, any and all suggestions are welcome and appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

 

[Columbine]

I think that if you go with high meat, low carb, grain free foods, and you avoid fish, then you should be ok. The important thing is to feed an all wet diet, possibly even with added water if your cat will accept it.

Having said that, Shadow had one major instance of struvite crystals 10 years ago. I didn't know then what I know now about cat nutrition. He's been on a predominantly wet diet (until recently, it's been mid-high end supermarket brands (mostly fish flavours) - all of which have grain :anon: Even now, those brands feature highly because he's a 13 year old junk food addict ), with a small amount of royal canin urinary s/o kibble (roughly 80%wet to 20%dry). We haven't had any more issues, so it clearly works for him.

Some useful links about crystals cats and feeding:-

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/feline-lower-urinary-tract-disease-flutd
http://www.thecatsite.com/a/tips-to-increase-your-cat-s-water-intake
http://www.thecatsite.com/a/what-makes-the-best-canned-cat-food
http://www.thecatsite.com/a/grain-free-cat-food-what-does-it-mean
http://www.thecatsite.com/a/can-i-feed-my-cat-a-fish-based-or-fish-flavored-diet
http://www.catinfo.org

 

[charrrlottte]

Thank you so much for all of the info and links! Was definitely thinking the high meat, low carb, grain free canned food was a pretty good alternative. Its reassuring to hear that your kitty is doing so well on that kind of food after a major instance of crystals!

 

[barb p 451]

I am struggling with this same problem - switched to Wellness in 2007 after the pet food recall and it was a miracle for one cat with food allergies who lived on to age 22.  Something has changed now here in 2015, and in the past couple of months we had two cats with blockages, the vet blames their diet of canned and dry Wellness - all original chicken flavor.

There seems to be more anecdotal evidence of Wellness causing blockages and UTIs.  pH tests on another cat showed a level of 7 instead of the 5 it should be - not acidic enough to prevent crystals.

The two blocked boys are on Royal Canin S/O and I would also like to feel that we can switch to something else eventually.

I am searching and searching through the options, convinced that canned food is the way to go.  Just when I find some brand that has a not-too-junky sounding ingredient list, there will be user ratings that say, "something has changed", their pet won't eat it, or got sick on it, has vomiting and diarrhea.   What is going on?

I am using Nutro Max Cat at the moment for my other cats, which is certainly less than Wellness or Blue Buffalo and seems to have mostly animal meat as the main ingredients, but someone on Amazon tore it down completely and claims it's full of junk. 

The vet's blog site with all the nutrition info is very confusing and (for me) impossible to draw a conclusion from.  We also have an issue with one cat who, for whatever reason, was doing fine as a rescued kitten at the vet's eating their nasty Science Diet, and when I got him home and put him on the Wellness developed red, itchy ears, indicators of a food allergy.  So he has to be on alternative ingredient food, which is currently Blue's Wilderness Duck formula canned.

What to do?

 

[charrrlottte]

Thanks for your response Barb, 

My vet also blamed the blockages on my cat's diet, but I did agree with them since before I was only feeding ONLY dry Acana kibble. Although, i found the vets to be EXTREMELY pushy about having Charlie on the Royal Canin SO for life, and they also seemed to be trying to scare me into it a little bit, threatening that he would be in here within a week if i "decided to switch to something cheaper"...I have heard MANY people going with an alternative high quality, high water content, wet food, have haven't had any problems since then, so I have been finding the vets a little hard to believe. I'm going to be consulting with a Holistic Vet in my area within the next few weeks, who I'm sure will have an entirely different opinion. I feel like some vet offices make a big chunk of their income on the "speciality" food that they sell, and would not be caught dead supporting any other brands other than the expensive ones that they have stocked. 

I recently contacted the pet supply store that I was originally getting my food from and asked them if they had any alternatives to the RCanin SO, and they recommended the brands Weruva, Wellness ,and Hound & Gatos. Will be doing some more research to see what one suits my price tag and fills out the requirements I'm looking for best (Grain free, 90-100% meat protein, low carb, etc.) Hound & Gatos (http://houndgatos.com/)is looking pretty promising with %100 animal protein and a little cheaper than the RCanin SO, but like iI said, more research is needed. 

 

[barb p 451]

The holistic vet my daughter consulted for her dog with chiropractic issues (and had wonderful results), likes Halo brand, but seemed to be okay with dry rather than emphasizing wet.  I've been suspicious for years of the Science Diet glut in the vet's offices.  It's widely believed that vets are not really nutrition experts, and one vet tried to tell me how wrong I was about Science Diet because, basically, you know, it has "science" in its name and it's all "science-y".

I buy the Royal Canin S/O at Petsmart so no pressure to buy at the vet's,  but have to have a prescription, get a special card giving me permission to buy it, and it will have to be renewed every two years.  I find this pretty ludicrous; I'm not trying to buy morphine.  The food does seem to be doing its job, though one boy had a recurrence 4 weeks after the first blockage.  He has dropped some of his overweight on the diet and they are eating it well.  And it sure does make them drink water, which is probably what is really keeping their urinary tracts happy.

I would have gone to the mat for Wellness after what it did for my old allergic kitty - we had started the rounds of cortisone shots and she had irritable bowel symptoms, vomiting, losing her hair, fat and greasy.  The first day on Wellness the vomiting stopped, then the bowels cleared up, her hair grew in and her weight normalized, and she became calmer.  But that was in 2007, and now here in 2015, suddenly we have cats with urinary blockages, which I've never had in 50 years of living with cats.  It has to be something in the diet, two at once like that.

So I'll look into Weruva and Hound & Gatos, which I haven't heard of.  But Wellness is what we believe gave us this problem, so I'd be careful there.  I can't believe I'm having to say that.  Blue Buffalo, the other go-to premium food, has been in the news for ingredient issues as well.  I do think that sticking with canned food is important, though we're having one cat who can't keep her weight up on it compared to dry.

Who would have dreamed that finding a healthy cat food would be so hard.

 

[nansiludie]

I am feeding my cat which blocked also due to crystals, canned Friskies Pate cat food, turkey and giblets mixed with extra water. I also feed raw sometimes, using Dr. Pierson's recipe. As long as the food you feed is not fishy-flavored, doesn't come in gravy and it a more higher protein, lower carb, diet, with possibly extra water mixed in, hopefully he'll do well. This July will be a year since mine blocked and no issues, very thankfully. I've noticed a lot of the cheaper canned food like Friskies, Fancy Feast original and even 9Lives are actually pretty high in protein, low in carbs even though they are by-product based, as its still meat and cats would eat it normally if they were feral/wild.

 

[nansiludie]

I find the best is pretty much anything canned/pouched/cupped as it has moisture which dry food, even urinary tract dry food is severely lacking.

 

[LTS3]

 
I find the best is pretty much anything canned/pouched/cupped as it has moisture which dry food, even urinary tract dry food is severely lacking.

They also tend to have little actual food so you're really just paying for the liquid

It's better to buy pate foods and add water yourself. But if a cat will only eat the gravy/sauce/pouched food then feed it.

 

[nansiludie]

Very true, I try to state that in my posts but some reason it never comes across. 

 

[raintyger]

 
There seems to be more anecdotal evidence of Wellness causing blockages and UTIs.  pH tests on another cat showed a level of 7 instead of the 5 it should be - not acidic enough to prevent crystals.

Urine pH should be about 6.5, not 5. 5 is way too low and would indicate tendency of calcium oxalate crystals, which cannot be dissolved and require surgery.

A good way to get feedback if you're heading the wet food route instead of prescription food is to measure the urine pH at home with test strips. You can get them in the aquarium section at the pet store or from Amazon. Urine pH fluctuates widely throughout the day, so you'll need to test several times to get an idea of the approximate range your kitty is in. The strips aren't a replacement for urine tests at the vet's, but they do provide some feedback so you can experiment with different food brands. Urine samples should be mid-stream.

 

[barb p 451]

I've not investigated the pH numbers, just recall the vet saying this cat was at 7, and they should be in the 5 something range, and I know the concern has been struvite rather than oxalate crystals.  It's good to know that some home testing can be done, though I have a vision of a cat jumping out of the box mid-stream if I try to reach under their behind with something - that could be interesting!

I was just so shocked that my kids would be getting sick on the premium food that I was so happy with, but then it seems that pet food production now involves selling of companies, changing of manufacturing facilities, changing of ingredients, lying about ingredients sometimes (I'm talking about you, BB****lo), and let the buyer beware.

And I suppose it could be said that what is good for one cat doesn't agree with another - a friend to whom I told the story of what a miracle Wellness was to one old cat said, "well, it worked for her".

 

[bonepicker]

The holistic vet my daughter consulted for her dog with chiropractic issues (and had wonderful results), likes Halo brand, but seemed to be okay with dry rather than emphasizing wet.  I've been suspicious for years of the Science Diet glut in the vet's offices.  It's widely believed that vets are not really nutrition experts, and one vet tried to tell me how wrong I was about Science Diet because, basically, you know, it has "science" in its name and it's all "science-y". It s more about the wet vs dry I think with crystals.

I buy the Royal Canin S/O at Petsmart so no pressure to buy at the vet's,  but have to have a prescription, get a special card giving me permission to buy it, and it will have to be renewed every two years.  I find this pretty ludicrous; I'm not trying to buy morphine.  The food does seem to be doing its job, though one boy had a recurrence 4 weeks after the first blockage.  He has dropped some of his overweight on the diet and they are eating it well.  And it sure does make them drink water, which is probably what is really keeping their urinary tracts happy.

I would have gone to the mat for Wellness after what it did for my old allergic kitty - we had started the rounds of cortisone shots and she had irritable bowel symptoms, vomiting, losing her hair, fat and greasy.  The first day on Wellness the vomiting stopped, then the bowels cleared up, her hair grew in and her weight normalized, and she became calmer.  But that was in 2007, and now here in 2015, suddenly we have cats with urinary blockages, which I've never had in 50 years of living with cats.  It has to be something in the diet, two at once like that.

So I'll look into Weruva and Hound & Gatos, which I haven't heard of.  But Wellness is what we believe gave us this problem, so I'd be careful there.  I can't believe I'm having to say that.  Blue Buffalo, the other go-to premium food, has been in the news for ingredient issues as well.  I do think that sticking with canned food is important, though we're having one cat who can't keep her weight up on it compared to dry.

Who would have dreamed that finding a healthy cat food would be so hard.

Wet is the way to go with crystals after they are stabilized.

 

[bonepicker]

The holistic vet my daughter consulted for her dog with chiropractic issues (and had wonderful results), likes Halo brand, but seemed to be okay with dry rather than emphasizing wet.  I've been suspicious for years of the Science Diet glut in the vet's offices.  It's widely believed that vets are not really nutrition experts, and one vet tried to tell me how wrong I was about Science Diet because, basically, you know, it has "science" in its name and it's all "science-y".

I buy the Royal Canin S/O at Petsmart so no pressure to buy at the vet's,  but have to have a prescription, get a special card giving me permission to buy it, and it will have to be renewed every two years.  I find this pretty ludicrous; I'm not trying to buy morphine.  The food does seem to be doing its job, though one boy had a recurrence 4 weeks after the first blockage.  He has dropped some of his overweight on the diet and they are eating it well.  And it sure does make them drink water, which is probably what is really keeping their urinary tracts happy.

I would have gone to the mat for Wellness after what it did for my old allergic kitty - we had started the rounds of cortisone shots and she had irritable bowel symptoms, vomiting, losing her hair, fat and greasy.  The first day on Wellness the vomiting stopped, then the bowels cleared up, her hair grew in and her weight normalized, and she became calmer.  But that was in 2007, and now here in 2015, suddenly we have cats with urinary blockages, which I've never had in 50 years of living with cats.  It has to be something in the diet, two at once like that.

So I'll look into Weruva and Hound & Gatos, which I haven't heard of.  But Wellness is what we believe gave us this problem, so I'd be careful there.  I can't believe I'm having to say that.  Blue Buffalo, the other go-to premium food, has been in the news for ingredient issues as well.  I do think that sticking with canned food is important, though we're having one cat who can't keep her weight up on it compared to dry.

Who would have dreamed that finding a healthy cat food would be so hard.

Waster down wet food with bottled spring water. Do you have a well? Sometimes that causes crystals.

 

[Emiandman]

Hello everyone!
I had my 2 cats on Wellness canned and dry combination. My poor male cat developed a really bad urinary obstruction that ended up in having his penis removed completely, it broke my heart. But that was the last resource because none of the other treatments worked, I totally blamed Wellness, as they said it helps with the crystals and UTI. Now my two cats, male and female as well are on Royal Cannin SO, they both loved it, and they're drinking more water than before. Some people say to switch them to something less expensive, but you we think, that going into a cheaper diet will cost them to get sick, that will be more expensive with all the VEt bills and having my cats feeling bad and sick. I don't care what the cost of the food is, I need my fur babies to be healthy and happy and for us to have peace of mind.

 

[sweetblackpaws]

I would try Purina Focus or Purina Urinary Tract Health formula, both non-prescription. This is if you abolutely must find an alternative, at least stick to one that is formulated for this issue.

I agree with Emiandman that you may end up paying more in vet bills in the long run by switching. I know it is crazy expensive, so ridiculous, but it does work.