If this is in the wrong thread maybe one of the mods can move it. But I want to thank everyone on this site. It’s great to have a site with cat owners who can give great advice as they have experienced the same you have. It’s great to see people say what worked for their cats without saying this is how you have to do. As I have seen people on different sites no it has to be this way or else! Glad this site doesn’t do that at all.
As everyone knows I have 2 cats Scooter(5 years old) & Casper(1 years old)both boys both neutered. In Sept Scooter developed an emergency when I noticed him peeing blood and was rushed to the ER vet. He was not blocked but bladder was full of blood. It scared me cause if I had not caught it when I did he would have blocked & I would have lost him. So after a 24 hour stay with medications he was sent home. Even though the ER vet suspected a stone but couldn’t tell cause of the blood I don’t think he had any. I don’t think he had crystals either cause only thing mentioned by the ER vet & regular vet was Bacteria that there was bacteria in his bladder/urine.
Of course the ER vet and regular vet said he had to be on a special diet to keep his urinary tract healthy and to prevent reoccurrence. Of course they said prescription food and only recommended Royal Canin or Hill’s. Royal Canin he would not touch neither would Casper who was not picky about food. Hill’s he did ok on but when the bag was about empty he started throwing up a lot. I think the Hill’s was starting to disagree with him. Plus the prescription food was too expensive $32 for a 4lb bag & $2 or $6 per canned is expensive as hell.
Plus with 2 cats to feed as it’s easier to feed them the same thing it wouldn’t last long. So I decided to find a non prescription urinary food to feed them. With that googled best urinary food for cats and read every single article, read reviews for any of the choices I saw in the articles that I was considering, I joined here in Sept when the problem happened so I looked through threads, asked some vets online and even a lovely member here who lived near my area who asked their vet for me helped out. After all of that I went with Purina Pro Plan urinary tract health food. Scooter does very well on this food so does Casper(even though he didn’t have the UTI). Since I do give them both wet & dry I did have the Purina Pro Plan dry but that didn’t agree with either Casper or Scooter at all. Casper got diarrhea and Scooter threw up like he did on Hill’s. So for dry I went to Purina One+ Urinary Tract Health.
The boys get 2 wet feedings a day 3 if it’s a special occasion. I do add extra water to the wet food each time I give it to them. I only put enough to make it a little soupy I don’t add a lot as if I do they won’t eat til I remove some of the water. They get a small amount of dry to graze on when I am gone or asleep. If I give them dry when awake I add a little water to it. Even though the Purina Pro Plan Urinary food has a Salmon & Ocean Whitefish flavor I don’t give them those flavors. I want to keep them away from fish as much as possible. So they get Beef & Chicken, Chicken, & Turkey & Giblets flavor. Now I have given them a small amount of tuna juice on an occasion but it’s not every day thing. I do give them chicken flavored treats their favorite is the lickable treats that I call kitty crack. Water wise I have not replaced their gravity water bowl yet. I do plan on doing it and plan on getting a stainless steel one. I did test out a fountain but all they wanted to do was play in it. So I still have the regular gravity water bowl.
I did have an extra stainless bowl that was Nera’s(my dog) for food but she got a different bowl. Anyway I use stainless steel bowl for water. I will put that down when they get food and it gets both to get water. So in the kitchen there is 2 places for water. The food bowls & the stainless steel water bowl is cleaned daily. The gravity water jug/bowl gets cleaned weekly. Litter box is scooped multiple times a day and deep cleaned weekly. I do keep a record of when Scooter uses the litter box. I look at anything he leaves to be sure. I know this is weird but it helps me feel better and I will keep doing it til I feel comfortable in not having to worry so much which is an ocd thing for me. Scooter has been doing great with Purina urinary food. He doesn’t throw up constantly like he did Hill’s. He did last week but that was a hairball. He seems to be more energetic as he lost some weight. He & Casper play every day after dinner and late at night. They play til they wear themselves out. They even play with Nera. Both of their furs has become so soft since being on Purina urinary food. Scooter has become more cuddly too. It’s been almost 3 months since it happened and my boy is doing great. After Christmas I am going to take him for a check up just to see how he is doing. I just want a peace of mind that giving him the Purina urinary food instead of the expensive as hell prescription food was the right choice. But I am glad so far he is doing great(knock on wood).
I am so sorry this is very very long if you read my ramble you are amazing! I just want to let you all know how things are going with my boys and how appreciative I am for finding this site!!
As everyone knows I have 2 cats Scooter(5 years old) & Casper(1 years old)both boys both neutered. In Sept Scooter developed an emergency when I noticed him peeing blood and was rushed to the ER vet. He was not blocked but bladder was full of blood. It scared me cause if I had not caught it when I did he would have blocked & I would have lost him. So after a 24 hour stay with medications he was sent home. Even though the ER vet suspected a stone but couldn’t tell cause of the blood I don’t think he had any. I don’t think he had crystals either cause only thing mentioned by the ER vet & regular vet was Bacteria that there was bacteria in his bladder/urine.
Of course the ER vet and regular vet said he had to be on a special diet to keep his urinary tract healthy and to prevent reoccurrence. Of course they said prescription food and only recommended Royal Canin or Hill’s. Royal Canin he would not touch neither would Casper who was not picky about food. Hill’s he did ok on but when the bag was about empty he started throwing up a lot. I think the Hill’s was starting to disagree with him. Plus the prescription food was too expensive $32 for a 4lb bag & $2 or $6 per canned is expensive as hell.
Plus with 2 cats to feed as it’s easier to feed them the same thing it wouldn’t last long. So I decided to find a non prescription urinary food to feed them. With that googled best urinary food for cats and read every single article, read reviews for any of the choices I saw in the articles that I was considering, I joined here in Sept when the problem happened so I looked through threads, asked some vets online and even a lovely member here who lived near my area who asked their vet for me helped out. After all of that I went with Purina Pro Plan urinary tract health food. Scooter does very well on this food so does Casper(even though he didn’t have the UTI). Since I do give them both wet & dry I did have the Purina Pro Plan dry but that didn’t agree with either Casper or Scooter at all. Casper got diarrhea and Scooter threw up like he did on Hill’s. So for dry I went to Purina One+ Urinary Tract Health.
The boys get 2 wet feedings a day 3 if it’s a special occasion. I do add extra water to the wet food each time I give it to them. I only put enough to make it a little soupy I don’t add a lot as if I do they won’t eat til I remove some of the water. They get a small amount of dry to graze on when I am gone or asleep. If I give them dry when awake I add a little water to it. Even though the Purina Pro Plan Urinary food has a Salmon & Ocean Whitefish flavor I don’t give them those flavors. I want to keep them away from fish as much as possible. So they get Beef & Chicken, Chicken, & Turkey & Giblets flavor. Now I have given them a small amount of tuna juice on an occasion but it’s not every day thing. I do give them chicken flavored treats their favorite is the lickable treats that I call kitty crack. Water wise I have not replaced their gravity water bowl yet. I do plan on doing it and plan on getting a stainless steel one. I did test out a fountain but all they wanted to do was play in it. So I still have the regular gravity water bowl.
I did have an extra stainless bowl that was Nera’s(my dog) for food but she got a different bowl. Anyway I use stainless steel bowl for water. I will put that down when they get food and it gets both to get water. So in the kitchen there is 2 places for water. The food bowls & the stainless steel water bowl is cleaned daily. The gravity water jug/bowl gets cleaned weekly. Litter box is scooped multiple times a day and deep cleaned weekly. I do keep a record of when Scooter uses the litter box. I look at anything he leaves to be sure. I know this is weird but it helps me feel better and I will keep doing it til I feel comfortable in not having to worry so much which is an ocd thing for me. Scooter has been doing great with Purina urinary food. He doesn’t throw up constantly like he did Hill’s. He did last week but that was a hairball. He seems to be more energetic as he lost some weight. He & Casper play every day after dinner and late at night. They play til they wear themselves out. They even play with Nera. Both of their furs has become so soft since being on Purina urinary food. Scooter has become more cuddly too. It’s been almost 3 months since it happened and my boy is doing great. After Christmas I am going to take him for a check up just to see how he is doing. I just want a peace of mind that giving him the Purina urinary food instead of the expensive as hell prescription food was the right choice. But I am glad so far he is doing great(knock on wood).
I am so sorry this is very very long if you read my ramble you are amazing! I just want to let you all know how things are going with my boys and how appreciative I am for finding this site!!
Last edited: