Dry/wet Food Advice For Cats Prone To Crystals

[Saber_Wing]

Hello, everyone! Joined the website for a bit of advice.

One of my boys was diagnosed with bladder stones a couple of months back. I had them surgically removed, and he was put on a perscription diet. Trouble is, I had been feeding them grain free: a combination wet/dry diet. I read the ingredients of the Science Diet he is being perscribed, and they're garbage.

If that is my trade-off as opposed to him constantly having painful, life threatening stones, then I'll do it without question. I have been feeding it to him, without fail. I've read mixed reviews: some say a raw diet is fine if you balance it right. Even that switching to wet food solved the problem for their cats prone to crystals.

I'm hesitant to take him off the proven perscription food, because I don't know anything about actual cat nutrition. I'm not willing to risk the health of my boys over guess work. The Science Diet, however, upsets his stomach a bit. He's been puking a couple of times a week. It doesn't seem to have done anything to his appetite, but he never had problems before. I know there are two other types of perscriprion food to choose from: Purina and Royal Canin. For those of you who have experience with those others, have you found either one is better quality, or that they work just as well as Science Diet, if not better?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Tobermory]

If you'd like to learn more about feline nutrition, I'd encourage you to go to www.catinfo.org. Dr. Lynn Pierson is a veterinarian specializing in feline nutrition--and nutrition as it relates to health. Although she's an ardent proponent of raw feeding, she believes that any canned food is better than kibble. If you enter 'stones' in the search field on her page, you can zero in on a lot of valuable information related to diet and bladder stones, all of which might help you in your decision making! It will also give you some substantive things to discuss with your own vet. I agree that you shouldn't take your guy off of his prescription food without learning more and consulting with your vet about what you've learned.

 

[Wile]

What were you feeding when your cat had the crystals? Science diet does make canned versions of their prescription diets. Usually the canned versions are slightly better than the dry ingredients-wise.

 

[Saber_Wing]

I was feeding them Wellness Core: Grain Free. Combination of wet and dry food. Right now, they still get wet and dry, just of the Science diet.

 

[Wile]

I was feeding them Wellness Core: Grain Free. Combination of wet and dry food. Right now, they still get wet and dry, just of the Science diet.

If they are getting wet food as a large percentage of their diet then it doesn't seem to be just a dry food issue.

You don't really need to be told this, but my opinion is that you don't want to mess too much with the diet of a crystal prone cat. If you do wind up changing his food keep your vet in the loop so that they can help you test his urine to keep an eye on things. Of the prescription diets, I personally like Science Diet more than Royal Canin ingredients-wise. I haven't looked too much at Purina because the vets I go to don't seem to carry it that often.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. Feeby (now 14+) had bladder stones that resulted in surgery about 8 years ago. She has since been eating both Hill's C/D & Royal Canin SO - wet and dry, and she has been stone free since. I have also read about Purina Pro products that are also for urinary tract health, but since the two I am using are working for her, I haven't tried them.

 

[Jem]

We had a cat who was prone to crystals. He ate the Hills (Science Diet) CD wet and dry. Any time we tried to get him off the food, and onto a food that should have been good for crystals, ie: acidic urine, moisture content, low carb, and so on... It failed miserably. Not only that, but every time his crystals came back, it took longer for his litter avoidance to get better.
I personally like the way Hills gets to the problem of crystals over how the Royal Canine works. Basically, the way Royal Canine supposedly works (didn't for mine) is by increasing their water intake, meaning, it has a higher salt content to make them thirsty. Which is supposed to dilute their pee more, and keep them flushed. I have not tried the Purina food so I can't comment on that.
I know of others who have been successful in preventing their cats crystals from returning by feeding a raw or wet food ONLY (no dry), but we even tried that too and it didn't work for ours.
I hope you find what works.