Royal Canin Urinary SO?

[lucyloo83]

Hi there

Im just after some advise.

My poor baby has really been through the mill the past couple of weeks. He had a bout of cystitis flare up so off we went to the vets who prescribed cystaid,dantrium and hypovase, however he did not respond to this so has been in the vets today and had xrays,scans, blood tests and urine taken directly from his bladder.

The blood tests came back normal apart from high blood glucose, which we are hoping was just the stress of being in the vets but the bloods and urine have been sent to the lab and will be checked for diabetes.

The urine sample showed alot of struvite crystals which is what is obviously causing his problems but luckily the scan showed no stones.

Anyway my reason for posting is that my vet has put him on the royal canin urinary so food, and wants him on this long term. Having looked through the ingrediants Im not sure Im happy feeding this and we have been given the dry food which kind of contradicts everything my vet has been telling me up till today.
We have been weaning him off dry food for a while now and were almost on a complete wet diet as my vet had said this would help with his cystitis, but now my vet is saying that he will be better off on this food, which would put him on a 100% dry diet.

Please could anybody offer some advise as Im really quite confused, after trying for months to get my baby onto a wet diet on the advise of my vet, Im now being told to put him on a totally dry diet

What are you thoughts on this?

Thanks in advance for your replies

 

[catsallaround]

the aim of this food is to prevent a life threatning situation from occuring again so ingredients were never the top concern.
I have had my cat on c/d(science diet) for years. hes also been ok since same time he started with on exception-stress may make the food useless at times. This is a cat who when he was very young started to have issues peeing.

My natural vet and I are on the same school of thought-no its not the greatest but the cat would have been long dead and I don't feel like playing around trying to put him on a more natural food as that may back fire and come up as one big vet bill! I am at vets often enough for the others thank you very much!

I STRONGLY recommend that if you decide to mess around with the food have a back up way to pay for any medical care if issues arise.

 

[lucyloo83]

Please dont get me wrong, Jerrys health is my main concern and of course I will be feeding him this food if it is what he needs and is going to help keep the cystitis and crystals under control.
Its just hard to try and ignore and forget EVERYTHING that has been told to me up too this point

 

[white cat lover]

Unfortunately, sometimes Rx diets are a necessary evil. Less than stellar ingredients, but oftentimes they are the only thing that prevents life-threatening problems.

I have a kitty who has severe UTI issues, and he has to eat the Science Diet C/D. He eats that dry food, and I also feed him regular canned I buy in the pet store. I make sure he gets plenty of wet food, but he just won't give up the dry!

 

[lucyloo83]

See I think I would be happier if I was still feeding him some wet food, but the Vet just wants him on the dry urinary food. Im going to have to have a good chat with him and see if he is thinking long term for the dry only diet or just the short term while we try and get the current flare up and crystals under control.

 

[catsallaround]

Can he have the s/d or cd canned from science diet. May be something to look into. I understand your point

At least until you figure out something thats more satisfactory to you and vet.
I lost a cat to this years ago. My current cats ph flares up every so often and I give him vit c when hes stressed. I can tell as the pee gets a very odd smell similar to un neutered boy. just overpowering. Then again thats my bottle baby who almost died so I am a bit over protective of him.

 

[catsallaround]

also according to the website royal canin does make so in canned.

 

[farleyv]

I echo everything said here. I look at dry c/d as a medicine. That is in effect what it is.

No, I don't fancy feeding dry. He is the only one of my cats that gets dry. But if it keeps him well that is all I want.

I can understand your feelings, but there are always exceptions to the rule. Any my cats health is that exception.

Hopefully, your cat will thrive and will not experience the life threatening crystal blockage again.

 

[chilly]

My Abe was diagnosed with crystals in his urine about four years ago. He ate the best food out there and I added warm water to his wet food every night so I don't think his quality of food is what caused it nor his hydration. Some cats just get these crystals for no apparent reason other than they are prone to it. When my vet prescribed SO formula we tried the canned and my cat wouldn't get near it but he loved the SO dry.

So...I asked my vet if it would be ok to feed my boy the SO dry formula in the morning and my regular beef and chicken Wellness canned formula with added water at night, which he absolutely loves. She said that would be fine and we haven't had any chrystal issues ever since.

For those folks who have cats with chrystals or have been blocked in the past, it is NO JOKE. Its a serious condition and your cat could die from it...

"Healthy" natural food is not always the answer.

But maybe a compromise like i did could work. But please run these things by your vet first!

 

[suelegal]

Royal Canin Urinary is available in a wet food too.  https://www.royalcanin.com/products...y-diet-feline-urinary-so-canned-cat-food/1299

 

[suelegal]

Does your vet offer the Royal Canin? 

 

[pisces7386]

One of my cats had a urinary blockage a few years ago. The vets automatically told me I needed to put him on a special urinary diet, but my little guy is allergic to chicken (all the special diets include chicken). We adjusted what we were feeding him and he has been fine for years without any prescription diet.  I don't know the specifics of your situation, but I might recommend asking the vet why they suggest the special diet and why it would help your cat. If they don't want to explain (or can't explain) I would get a second opinion. 

  I don't like thinking of these 'urinary diets' as medicine. If that were the case they would be 'urinary medicine' and you could continue feeding your cat a wholesome diet made of healthy/appropriate ingredients and sufficient water rather than dried chemical nuggets. 

Just to be clear, I'm not saying you should ignore your vet. I am saying you should question things and make sure you understand what you are doing.

 

[chilly]

It's my understanding that the SO formula is just a more adjusted PH/balanced diet. It should not have detrimental effects on your cat. I know more cats who have died from a urinary blockage than from eating a prescription diet.

 

[ReallySleepy]

 
Royal Canin Urinary is available in a wet food too.  https://www.royalcanin.com/products...y-diet-feline-urinary-so-canned-cat-food/1299

Just wanted to second those who say SO is available in wet food. I see you live in Scotland. Two varieties of Royal Canin wet food SO are available from zooplus:

http://www.zooplus.com/shop/cats/canned_cat_food_pouches/royal_canin_vet_diet/veterinary_diet/520195

http://www.zooplus.com/shop/cats/canned_cat_food_pouches/royal_canin_vet_diet/veterinary_diet/550266

 

[IndyJones]

Any cat who has urinary problems of any kind should have canned food only. At the minimum it should make up the majority of their daily intake 70% minimum

The water in canned foods encourages the cat to pee and flush out their systems.

If you have a male cat please don't try to replicate a prescription diet. Male cats can block very easily and die within 24 hours.