Inexpensive urinary diet food?

[tfpizza]

I have 5 cats in my household. 4 are males. Ages ranging from 2 - 7. 4 are males. The youngest being two and a half. It just cost me $850 with a urinary blockage and crystals. He is on medication currently and vet recommended science diet cd & royal canine so. Both are extremely expensive to feed five cats. Once this particular male cats ailment clears from the meds, can anyone recommend other cat foods. Only one male really eats can food the rest like dry. Dissolving his capsule in tuna fish juice and he is eating. Having read so many comments it seems trying to get them all on can food would be the way to go? I believe it would be less expensive to feed them real tuna than the 3 ounce expensive urinary diet food! I cannot afford the recommended dry foods nor the 3 ounce can foods for 5 cats. I guess I need to discuss cost alternative foods with the vet. I wonder if once my cat's meds are completed and see if just trying to get them all to eat can food would make a difference. I have the filtered water fountain which they all love but a couple just drink the water directly from my purified/ionized swimming pool. Any suggestions until I speak with the vet next week?

 

[missmimz]

I have 5 cats in my household. 4 are males. Ages ranging from 2 - 7. 4 are males. The youngest being two and a half. It just cost me $850 with a urinary blockage and crystals. He is on medication currently and vet recommended science diet cd & royal canine so. Both are extremely expensive to feed five cats. Once this particular male cats ailment clears from the meds, can anyone recommend other cat foods. Only one male really eats can food the rest like dry. Dissolving his capsule in tuna fish juice and he is eating. Having read so many comments it seems trying to get them all on can food would be the way to go? I believe it would be less expensive to feed them real tuna than the 3 ounce expensive urinary diet food! I cannot afford the recommended dry foods nor the 3 ounce can foods for 5 cats. I guess I need to discuss cost alternative foods with the vet. I wonder if once my cat's meds are completed and see if just trying to get them all to eat can food would make a difference. I have the filtered water fountain which they all love but a couple just drink the water directly from my purified/ionized swimming pool. Any suggestions until I speak with the vet next week?

I have 7 male cats, 6 are around 2 years old. I feed a diet that is exclusively raw and wet food only NO kibble. Hydration is the #1 most important thing with urinary issues. I personally don't like RX foods of any kind, especially RX urinary foods. You can obtain the same results by switching all your cats to wet or raw food. You really need to get rid of the kibble or you risk having this happen again. If additional support is needed, you can look at giving d-mannose as well. 

NO tuna. Tuna is an ok treat but fish is not good for cats, and really not good for cats with urinary issues as it's been linked to causing urinary issues. There are tons of threads here on decent quality wet food that's affordable. Additionally, you could look into making your own homecooked or raw food, which is very affordable. 

 

[red top rescue]

Friskies PATE, 13 oz cans (stay away from fish for the most part) - 93 cents each at Walmart; 5.5 oz. cans 43 cents at Walmart

No dry food, at least for the one who is sick, and later very little as a treat, but for the others add

Iams Healthy Adult(orange bag) - it is one of the best inexpensive options, and has added DL-methionine to improve urine acidity

22-lb bag is $29.90 from chewy.com, about the same at Walmart when they have that size

https://www.chewy.com/iams-proactive-health-healthy-adult/dp/121251

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/335987/...o-vets-email-follow-up-questions#post_4236994