Wellness Needs To Seriously Address Whether Their Foods Contribute To Flutd

[Azazel]

I have now heard way too many anecdotal stories about cats being on Wellness and developing urinary issues. One of my own kittens a long time ago also developed crystals while on Wellness canned food. They went away as soon as I switched the brand.

I know this is anectodal and it could just be a coincidental relationship between wellness and urinary infections but I seriously think there is something in their foods that upsets normal ph balance and contributes to urinary issues.

Thoughts?

 

[abyeb]

I couldn’t find a lot of info about this on TCS, post #32 on this thread says that Wellness isn’t recommended for cats with urinary issues, but again, this isn’t a result from an official study: Publix brand cat food..

 

[maggie101]

Proof? Articles I have read about it online are old

 

[white shadow]

A Azazel - I have to say that I found the thread title somewhat alarming.......

Now, I came to the online cat community in 2007 when we were literally traumatized by a seemingly never-ending daily rollout of announcements of food recalls.....cats were being poisoned by the thousands in a mysterious epidemic that no one could initially explain. People would awake every morning and immediately go to known authoritative sites (like TCS) to see if the food they used had appeared on a recall list overnight - it was a never-ending nightmare. And, this continued for months !

To this day, one of the first things I do every day is to scan for anything similar.......which is how I just found this thread and why I'm reacting as I am.

Now, as abyeb said, there is only one vague reference to this (urinary) issue here on TCS - ONE - and, if anyone reads that (plus the two subsequent posts, #33 & 34) the "issue" seems to disappear into thin air.....becomes a non-issue/concern.

It just happens that I have been using Wellness canned ("Complete") regularly and almost exclusively for six male cats since April 2007 - eleven years.......without seeing, nor hearing, nor experiencing any such issue, nor any other threatening issue. There was only one possible issue (with a potential thiamine deficiency) in one variety, I think, about 3 years ago - which Wellness announced 'loudly' and widely and dealt with immediately.

I don't mean nor want in any way to diminish the effect that your kitten's experience had on you - even though it was "a long time ago", I'm sure it still resonates with you - it would with me.
.

 

[maggie101]

I couldn’t find a lot of info about this on TCS, post #32 on this thread says that Wellness isn’t recommended for cats with urinary issues, but again, this isn’t a result from an official study: Publix brand cat food..

How do I get to the post? That is an old post

 

[Azazel]

Just to clarify - I'm not saying that I have proof or that Wellness food causes urinary issues. I'm just saying that I've heard of it being linked to crystals time and time again. You can see it on many review sites and there are other posts on this website discussing it.

Here are a few more that I found and I only looked through the first 2 of 10 pages that came up in my search.

Kitty had struvite crystals...diet help?!>

Wet food for cat after UTI/crystals

Best Canned Food for cats prone to Urinary Blockage/Crystals

Not trying to alarm anyone, but since there's been so much speculation I really do wonder if some Wellness varieties alter ph level to encourage crystal formation.

 

[catlover73]

I used to feed Wellness Core Original dry food. One of my cats got a Urinary Blockage and had to be hospitalized for 3 days in ICU. His blockage was actually caused by a UTI that got bad very quickly and not any type of crystals. He had an ultrasound to check for crystals. While he was in the hospital I did some research on dry cat foods. I came across too many reviews in too many different places mentioning urinary issues with the Wellness Core I was feeding. My adult cats will not eat enough wet food to make it their only food source long term. I did do a wet food diet while I was searching for a new dry food after Sonny came home from the vet. I switched my dry food from Wellness Core to Farmina Lamb and Blueberry Formula. I had been wanting to do a food change any way because one of my other cats was over grooming his belly to the point of fur loss. My vet did not find anything that resembled skin issues. There was no rash and no itching. He was acting normal other than over-grooming. I switched foods and the protein source. The over-grooming has stopped. His fur is growing back normally on his belly now. I have an independent pet food store in my area that I go to when i am doing food changes. The staff knows a lot about food and has done their own research. They also mentioned that their customers were mentioning more urinary issues with the Wellness Dry food. They were working with customers to transitions their cats to other dry foods. They were also thinking of stopping carrying the Wellness Core Dry food if it was going to become a health issue. I do now buy my cat food online because while this pet food place is great for getting help with food changes their prices are too high to buy my food there all the time for 4 cats.

 

[maggie101]

This is what Dr. Lisa,DVM wrote about it
Hi Guys,

Too tired to type much....plus my fingers are really done for the day....

I spent over an hour on VIN searching for posts on this issue....did not find anything significant. That said, I spoke with a colleague about a year ago who swears up and down that she sees more blocked cats on Wellness but I really don't know if she had pinned down canned or dry. She "thinks" some of the cats blocked even when on canned but not all vets are good at detailed history taking....so who knows.....

This is not the first time this has come up - it has been discussed on the internet for the past couple of years but I am thoroughly perplexed by it AND....there are just never enough details for me to come to any conclusions. Most of the time dry food is being fed, or they state "canned and dry" with no idea of of the proportion of each.

I have scrutinized the mineral data for all of the Wellness foods and, if anything, they are lower in struvite building blocks (magnesium and phosphorus) than a lot of other diets so I have no clue as to why cats would end up blocked when on canned Wellness.

Another very important issue that I stress on my Urinary Tract Health page is....how were the "crystals" diagnosed? Via a send-out test (worthless and inaccurate with a lot of false positives)....or....within ~20 minutes of the urine leaving the bladder?

Urine = 102 degrees when inside the cat. Urine = ~70 degrees in a vet hospital. Crystals form in cold urine.

Another issue....Wellness has been listed on my Commercial Canned Food page for 9 years yet I have not had a single person write to me about any issues with crystals. My website gets ~1.7 million visitors per year which generates ~20,000 emails per year.

Bottom line: I add a lot of water to my cats' food no matter what I feed.

 

[Barb1357268]

I have now heard way too many anecdotal stories about cats being on Wellness and developing urinary issues.

I have been feeding my cats exclusively Wellness Core. I just found out that my 2 year old boy was PACKED with urinary crystals. He mostly ate their wet food, but the dry food was out for free feeding. SO DISAPPOINTED in this supposedly healthy food.

 

[Flybynight]

B Barb1357268
I feed Wellness Core wet to my two male cats without any problems.

I would reconsider feeding any brand dry food freely to male cats. It tends to be dry foods that lead to blockages over time. Dry food is dehydrating and overtime is bad for health. Cats are meant to get their hydration from food as they naturally did with prey.

I feed only wet or raw.

 

[Lazy Orange House Cat]

Its not dry food that causes urinary problems, its lack of moisture. Some cats who drink very well can be on a dry only diet for a lifetime and be just fine...However most cats are not spectacular at the water dish and most humans are too dense to notice. Big, wide, deep water dishes placed away from the food area, or water fountains, are better than your traditional tiny kitty water bowl. Ice cubes can be a great way to entice a cat to drink. Keeping water and dishes clean and fresh are a must.

 

[Barb1357268]

B Barb1357268
I feed Wellness Core wet to my two male cats without any problems.

I would reconsider feeding any brand dry food freely to male cats. It tends to be dry foods that lead to blockages over time. Dry food is dehydrating and overtime is bad for health. Cats are meant to get their hydration from food as they naturally did with prey.

I feed only wet or raw.

I spoke to my vet, and she agrees with you. Grayson seemed to have been dealt the worst hand of genetics possible. I was just feeling so helpless and angry I guess.

 

[Flybynight]

B Barb1357268
Sorry about your fellow. I understand. Pet food can be a minefield and there is marketing of food that is not very good for pets as healthy. Cats are not dogs and do not have the same thirst reflex and tend to drink less even when dehydrated. Dry food is full of carbs as well that tends to lead to weight gain. Gravy foods tend to be more carbohydrate heavy than pates. But eve some pates have sugar added, as it is inexpensive and gives an energy boost.
I feed partially raw but not completely. I mix and match various wet foods.
One of my boys adopted from a shelter is a gravy lover, so I give him that as part of his rotation but thankfully he will eat pates as well (usually mashed with a fork). Luckily I was able to get him off of dry food after adopting him but when I first went into pet shops to buy food - I bought half and half wet and dry. Then later I learned to drop the dry.

 

[Barb1357268]

Thanks for all of that information. I stopped feeding my remaining cat any dry. He’s from a shelter so he’s used to dry, but I’m standing firm. The dry I was feeding was Core Wellness duck/chicken, so I felt okay about the contents. But I never want to feel so helpless about urinary crystals ever again, so he will have to do without the dry.

 

[GeoDjay]

I have come across anecdotal reports of this food causing crystals on Facebook.

 

[Flybynight]

GeoDjay
If people are also feeding dry, I would take the reports of crystals from FB with a grain of salt - as many things on FB.
i have two males who have been eating this food since I think about 2018/2019 and no crystals or other urinary issues.
It sounds like one of those random scare stories someone came up with and it spread they way things do on FB.
What ingredient do they claim is causing the issue?

 

[GeoDjay]

If people are also feeding dry, I would take the reports of crystals from FB with a grain of salt

I agree. The reports mentioned talked about canned food only. They were in a Facebook group in which people were discussing the issue as it is being discussed here. Certainly, without proper studies and statistics we fail to confirm any of this, but I was contributing to the topic based on what I have heard.