Hello! This post has 2 parts:
1). How to switch my cats with different eating patterns to scheduled feedings?
2). Is urinary specific food really necessary for my cat who developed a bladder stone? (Bladder stone is gone now).
Part One:
I have 2 female cats that I need help developing a new feeding schedule for. The older cat (Mayo) was recently diagnosed with a bladder crystal, which we were luckily able to dissolve with a prescription diet. Since her diagnoses, I have decided to switch her to a wet food only diet to increase her moisture intake and prevent future stones. I would like to switch both cats to a wet food diet for convenience sake, and put them on an eating schedule of 2-3 times per day.
My struggle with this is that Mayo is a grazer. I struggle to even get her to finish 2 cans a day. She eats probably 8-10 times a day, in small quantities. Brian (yes, she is female
), on the other hand, loves wet food and would eat 5 cans at once if I let her. Brian is the more dominant cat, and will push Mayo out of the way to eat her food if I wasn't watching. I work from home, so I am around to watch the cats when they're being fed, and I also have the convenience of being able to feed them multiple times a day. Is there a way I can train Mayo to be on a eating schedule instead of just allowing her to eat throughout the day?
Part Two:
Mayo's vet recommended I put her on a prescription diet for the remainder of her life. It's too expensive, and I simply cannot afford it, even if I wanted to. I expressed this concern to her vet, who told me the most important thing to prevent future stones was to make sure she is getting enough water because the minerals cannot over-develop with antiquate moisture intake. When I was treating her stone, I was mixing water into her wet food 2-3 times a day to increase her water intake, which I plan on continuing. I know there are over-the-counter urinary diets for cats, but they are still pretty pricey, especially considering I want to keep both cats on the same diet. Both cats really like Fancy Feast, which her vet has recommended in the past as a good and affordable wet food option. If possible, I'd like to switch both cats to Fancy Feast, and mix water in to up the moisture content. Has anyone had any positive/negative experiences switching their cats back to a regular food after a urinary crystal? I believe switching from a dry diet to a wet diet, as well as adding water to the food, is a good compromise to the expensive food, but I want to see if anyone has had experience with this.
Thanks!
1). How to switch my cats with different eating patterns to scheduled feedings?
2). Is urinary specific food really necessary for my cat who developed a bladder stone? (Bladder stone is gone now).
Part One:
I have 2 female cats that I need help developing a new feeding schedule for. The older cat (Mayo) was recently diagnosed with a bladder crystal, which we were luckily able to dissolve with a prescription diet. Since her diagnoses, I have decided to switch her to a wet food only diet to increase her moisture intake and prevent future stones. I would like to switch both cats to a wet food diet for convenience sake, and put them on an eating schedule of 2-3 times per day.
My struggle with this is that Mayo is a grazer. I struggle to even get her to finish 2 cans a day. She eats probably 8-10 times a day, in small quantities. Brian (yes, she is female
), on the other hand, loves wet food and would eat 5 cans at once if I let her. Brian is the more dominant cat, and will push Mayo out of the way to eat her food if I wasn't watching. I work from home, so I am around to watch the cats when they're being fed, and I also have the convenience of being able to feed them multiple times a day. Is there a way I can train Mayo to be on a eating schedule instead of just allowing her to eat throughout the day?Part Two:
Mayo's vet recommended I put her on a prescription diet for the remainder of her life. It's too expensive, and I simply cannot afford it, even if I wanted to. I expressed this concern to her vet, who told me the most important thing to prevent future stones was to make sure she is getting enough water because the minerals cannot over-develop with antiquate moisture intake. When I was treating her stone, I was mixing water into her wet food 2-3 times a day to increase her water intake, which I plan on continuing. I know there are over-the-counter urinary diets for cats, but they are still pretty pricey, especially considering I want to keep both cats on the same diet. Both cats really like Fancy Feast, which her vet has recommended in the past as a good and affordable wet food option. If possible, I'd like to switch both cats to Fancy Feast, and mix water in to up the moisture content. Has anyone had any positive/negative experiences switching their cats back to a regular food after a urinary crystal? I believe switching from a dry diet to a wet diet, as well as adding water to the food, is a good compromise to the expensive food, but I want to see if anyone has had experience with this.
Thanks!
