Hill's Stress Urinary Care Alternative?

[Cupcakecrazy]

Hi everyone, my vet recommended Hill's Prescription Diet c/d Multicare Stress Urinary Care with Chicken Dry Cat Food for my male cat with stress related urinary problems. The Hill's hasn't been agreeing with him, does anyone know of a good stress + urinary alternative for him? He's refused to eat all of the wet and fresh foods I've offered him, he only likes kibble.

Does anyone know what ingredients in the Hills stress urinary care is supposed to help with stress and crystals? Thank you!

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. I don't think there is one (or more) specific ingredients that Hill's will offer to you as the key to stress relief. When stress is determined to be the main reason behind urinary issues, managing the stress is key. The primary goals of these type foods is to reduce the mineral content that can lead to the formation of crystals and to balance the urine PH level.

What is going on with your cat, and how was it determined that his issue is stress?

 

[Cupcakecrazy]

Hi. I don't think there is one (or more) specific ingredients that Hill's will offer to you as the key to stress relief. When stress is determined to be the main reason behind urinary issues, managing the stress is key. The primary goals of these type foods is to reduce the mineral content that can lead to the formation of crystals and to balance the urine PH level.

What is going on with your cat, and how was it determined that his issue is stress?

He's had trouble urinating for three and a half weeks now. He had a urinalysis with sedimentation and nothing was found so my vet thinks it's cystitis.

At first he was given gabapentin, an antibiotic just in case, and prednisolone. Now he's just on prednisolone and my vet suggested the Hills muticare urinary stress food.

He's only been eating it for two days and I introduced it slowly, between 5-10% into his normal food, and he's doing a lot of gulping like it's not agreeing with him.

 

[FeebysOwner]

I remember you (I think)! Didn't we already provide you with the basics on cystitis via our TCS articles? If not, there are links below for them. If this is a matter of idiopathic cystitis, the products offered by vets are not a cure, and helping your cat goes way beyond changing his food.

One of the primary things to do is find a way to slowly convert your cat to wet food - much more moisture content that helps flush out the bladder than dry food. You can do this by gradually adding a bit of wet food to the dry, increasing the wet and decreasing the dry over time to get him to adapt to wet food. Getting the d-mannose and cornsilk to help with bladder health, as was mentioned to you before, is another thing.
Feline Idiopathic Cystitis - How To Improve Your Cat's Quality Of Life - TheCatSite
Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease (flutd) - TheCatSite

 

[Cupcakecrazy]

I remember you (I think)! Didn't we already provide you with the basics on cystitis via our TCS articles? If not, there are links below for them. If this is a matter of idiopathic cystitis, the products offered by vets are not a cure, and helping your cat goes way beyond changing his food.

One of the primary things to do is find a way to slowly convert your cat to wet food - much more moisture content that helps flush out the bladder than dry food. You can do this by gradually adding a bit of wet food to the dry, increasing the wet and decreasing the dry over time to get him to adapt to wet food. Getting the d-mannose and cornsilk to help with bladder health, as was mentioned to you before, is another thing.
Feline Idiopathic Cystitis - How To Improve Your Cat's Quality Of Life - TheCatSite
Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease (flutd) - TheCatSite

Thank you, yes we've spoken before about this but I haven't found much of a way to help him yet. He refuses wet food of any kind and when I tried adding it to his dry food he refused to eat completely. I tried fresh pet food this week hoping he would like it more than wet food but he refused to touch it.

I got the pure d mannose and cornsilk but haven't seen an improvement yet. The vet recommended the Hills urinary stress kibble more for the stress benefit than the urinary, but it's upsetting his stomach.

I've searched for other ways to manage his stress but he honestly doesn't show many symptoms of being stressed. He spends most of the day asleep in his favorite room, has three personal litter boxes, four water stations, three of which are exclusive to him, and kibble in his own room.

We have a dog but they don't interact much and most of my kitty's day is peaceful. He doesn't like to be away from me but I work from home so most of his day is spent asleep in my lap. We play before bedtime every night when he's interested but he hasn't been into it lately. He stays up at night with the zoomies enjoying some quiet alone time.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Have you provided us with his test results for his urinalysis - just on the chance that might tell us something?

You can contact Hill's and ask what makes that food help with stress, but I am pretty sure they will tell you it is 'proprietary'. You can also call your vet, who recommended this food, and ask for alternatives. I'll be interested in seeing what they say.

 

[Cupcakecrazy]

Have you provided us with his test results for his urinalysis - just on the chance that might tell us something?

You can contact Hill's and ask what makes that food help with stress, but I am pretty sure they will tell you it is 'proprietary'. You can also call your vet, who recommended this food, and ask for alternatives. I'll be interested in seeing what they say.

Thank you for the ideas! I wasn't given any paperwork after his urinalysis, I was just told that everything looked good. He had an abdominal ultrasound a few months previously that they looked back on and said everything looked good then, too.

Sadly it seems like nearly everything upsets his stomach. Every antibiotic, medication, and change in food upsets his stomach and causes nausea and diarrhea so finding things to help him has been difficult.

 

[FeebysOwner]

That goes beyond just cystitis, IMO. Have you gotten a second opinion? Whatever records the vet has are yours and can be shared with any other vet upon your request, and could be a starting point for another vet.

Something is being missed somewhere, if it is not truly FIC, and without any test results for anyone here to look at, there is not much to go on. Anti-inflammatory and/or anti-spasmodic meds could help, but that is hard to tell with what is known now.

 

[Cupcakecrazy]

That goes beyond just cystitis, IMO. Have you gotten a second opinion? Whatever records the vet has are yours and can be shared with any other vet upon your request, and could be a starting point for another vet.

Something is being missed somewhere, if it is not truly FIC, and without any test results for anyone here to look at, there is not much to go on. Anti-inflammatory and/or anti-spasmodic meds could help, but that is hard to tell with what is known now.

We haven't gotten a second option, but we've spoken to two vets at the practice. He's been on prednisolone for two weeks now. I want to take him back for further testing but I worry that if this is stress related he'll get worse.

I made his first appointment as soon as I noticed him going to the litterbox and peeing off and on. After three days of peeing off and on he had two days where he went fine, but I took him to the vet anyway to see what was going on. After being told everything seemed fine and getting home he immediately had difficulty urinating again. I called the vet back which was when they started to suspect cystitis.

 

[FeebysOwner]

All I can tell you is that some prescription food (dry nonetheless) isn't going to resolve the problem. These vets need to delve deeper into the problem, especially when you say he has gastrointestinal issues with the food that was recommended. Btw, two vets at the same practice will typically back up each other.

 

[Cupcakecrazy]

All I can tell you is that some prescription food (dry nonetheless) isn't going to resolve the problem. These vets need to delve deeper into the problem, especially when you say he has gastrointestinal issues with the food that was recommended. Btw, two vets at the same practice will typically back up each other.

Thank you, I appreciate you taking the time to talk with me this evening!

 

[marz]

I have a 13 year old female cat with UTI issues. She was on Royal Canin SO Urinary care both wet and dry food for years. I liked it better than Hills. If needed, I prefer the Hills c/d oceanfish over their chicken. My cat started having food allergies with chicken.

The urinary foods are lower in calcium, magnesium and phosphorus than standard foods.

Hi everyone, my vet recommended Hill's Prescription Diet c/d Multicare Stress Urinary Care with Chicken Dry Cat Food for my male cat with stress related urinary problems. The Hill's hasn't been agreeing with him, does anyone know of a good stress + urinary alternative for him? He's refused to eat all of the wet and fresh foods I've offered him, he only likes kibble.

Does anyone know what ingredients in the Hills stress urinary care is supposed to help with stress and crystals? Thank you!

 

[Cupcakecrazy]

I have a 13 year old female cat with UTI issues. She was on Royal Canin SO Urinary care both wet and dry food for years. I liked it better than Hills. If needed, I prefer the Hills c/d oceanfish over their chicken. My cat started having food allergies with chicken.

The urinary foods are lower in calcium, magnesium and phosphorus than standard foods.

Thank you, I'll ask my vet about it!

 

[my_money_pit]

Thank you, yes we've spoken before about this but I haven't found much of a way to help him yet. He refuses wet food of any kind and when I tried adding it to his dry food he refused to eat completely. I tried fresh pet food this week hoping he would like it more than wet food but he refused to touch it.

I got the pure d mannose and cornsilk but haven't seen an improvement yet. The vet recommended the Hills urinary stress kibble more for the stress benefit than the urinary, but it's upsetting his stomach.

I've searched for other ways to manage his stress but he honestly doesn't show many symptoms of being stressed. He spends most of the day asleep in his favorite room, has three personal litter boxes, four water stations, three of which are exclusive to him, and kibble in his own room.

We have a dog but they don't interact much and most of my kitty's day is peaceful. He doesn't like to be away from me but I work from home so most of his day is spent asleep in my lap. We play before bedtime every night when he's interested but he hasn't been into it lately. He stays up at night with the zoomies enjoying some quiet alone time.

My cat went through the same thing. We wasted our time and money at the vet. If it’s stress related, you need to give him pain killers. I give my cat Gabapentin. If your vet didn’t prescribe you pain killers, call them and ask for it. I was prescribed one pill every 12 hours which didn’t do the job so i started giving him a pill at 10 hours. Within 24 hours, he improved. I am keeping him on pain killers for 14 days then gradually decreasing the dose.
The thing is your cat is in pain which will cause stress and inflammation. You need to stop the pain for him to recover. Otherwise you are stuck in a viscous circle. Keep giving d mannose and cornsilk. D mannose 1/4 per day and cornsilk 7 drops 4 times a day. When he improves drop it to twice a day for the same dose.

 

[my_money_pit]

We haven't gotten a second option, but we've spoken to two vets at the practice. He's been on prednisolone for two weeks now. I want to take him back for further testing but I worry that if this is stress related he'll get worse.

I made his first appointment as soon as I noticed him going to the litterbox and peeing off and on. After three days of peeing off and on he had two days where he went fine, but I took him to the vet anyway to see what was going on. After being told everything seemed fine and getting home he immediately had difficulty urinating again. I called the vet back which was when they started to suspect cystitis.

UTI don’t just disappear in two days. They will take some time to really clear out. Keep him on wet food and remove that dry food option. You need to keep him hydrated as much as possible. Boil him some chicken or meat and add it as a topper. Just a tiny bit to help him eat his new food.

 

[Alldara]

Hi C Cupcakecrazy ! I can't recall if we've chatted before.

My Nobel, was very sensitive to medications. He also had FLUTD. He wasn't sensitive to foods though. That does sound to me like a whole other issue. We did Purina urinary wet and dry.

I'd recommend that you ask for copies of the labs from your vet. There may be a small fee. If you get a second opinion, you'll need the labs or have to redo testing. If you have the labs, you can even do a virtual appointment with some clinics by sending the labs in advance.

Nobel was usually given some metacam for the issue. It takes a few days to clear up. He did take some anxiety medication for awhile. I can't remember which one. The emergency vet gave him a full dose for his weight but said if it made him ill to try a half dose and the half dose is what we ended up using. You can ask your vet if this is a suitable course of action for any non-antibiotic medication.

What litter are you using? We had to move away from both clay and pine litters to stop flare ups. I always changed to a new litter by adding a new box and filling that box full of the new litter and continuing to use the old litter in the regular boxes. Once the cat uses the new litter regularly, I slowly change over my other boxes until there's none of the old litter left.

For stress, the cure is enrichment. Using puzzles for the dry food is a great start. I know he likely already has some enrichment, but remember how people went to stir crazy and had increased mental health issue during lockdown? Well a cat's life is permanent lockdown. Some cats thrive (like I did!) and some need a lot of enrichment.
However, and I say this with a big note...if there's something else going on with his bowels, that's the cause of the stress. And it will need a diagnosis and treatment.