Wet Food Only Diet

[shanghaikitty]

Hi there,
My little one Marzi started acting strange this past Saturday. She was in and out of the litter box, straining to go pee but only a little bit would be there, excessive licking of her private area, but no blood in her pee. She also ate fine and played...But i took her to the vet that morning and they couldn't do a urinalysis but they felt her bladder and it was empty. They prescribed Clavamox twice a day for a week just in case it was a UTI. I have given her the antibiotics along with only wet food...and the occasional treats for being good about taking the medicine.

She seems to be back to normal now (day 2 of the antibiotics). No more frequent litter box visits, no more straining, no more excessive licking. She's still eating good and playing hard. She only sleeps a little bit more but overall, she seems fine. I don't know if its the antibiotics helping or the only wet food diet or both. I plan to stick to an only wet food diet because she does not drink from the water bowl. I didn't know dehydration would cause this, so I'm hoping i can prevent any other instances with keeping her hydrated through wet food.

Does anyone have any tips for me? I really really want to make sure this doesn't happen again. I had a male cat who had issues with blockages and after a couple surgeries, we still had to put him down. I know female cats are less likely to have blockages but still...I just want to make double sure. The prescription food for urinary health is just so pricy but i'm still willing to pay for it if it will help.

I also have 2 other female cats. They are older, but they don't have an issue with drinking water. They drink a lot actually. lol But i am still going to convert to all wet food for all my babies. It just seems like the best thing for them.

I currently (or plan to do the following):

-Canned wet food ( Hills Science Diet Urinary Hairball Control) morning and night.
-Adding an extra spoonful of water to each serving for more water intake
-Water Fountain (just ordered on amazon...should be here in a couple days).
-There are also currently 3-4 water bowls around the house...refreshed daily.

Thanks!
I also attached a photo of my little one Marzi. <3

 

[Azazel]

Good choice to switch to all wet food. It’s the best choice for all cats, really. Cats aren’t supposed to drink from a water hole so what you’ll notice when you switch to all wet food is that your cats will start to drink much less water, maybe even none. This is good and normal. A properly hydrated cat on all wet food will not drink much water, so don’t be surprised if they don’t use the water bowls or fountain too much.

My other tip would be to rotate different brands and proteins of wet food. Start with one that you know they do well on and then over the course of weeks introduce different ones slowly. Once a new canned food is introduced and there are no GI issues then it can be added to the regular diet and alternated with other canned foods. Variety is good. It keeps them from being picky eaters and also ensures nutritional adequacy.

I don’t think you need to keep feeding the prescription food and would actually encourage you to not feed it if your cat is back to normal. Slowly transition to a mixture of different wet foods. Prescription foods shouldn’t be fed long term and usually don’t have the greatest ingredients (plus they are overpriced).

Good plan also to add extra water to the canned food to make sure they are hydrated.

 

[shanghaikitty]

That would explain why she's not been touching the water bowls at all since i started the only wet food......thank you. I was starting to get concerned.

 

[shanghaikitty]

Good choice to switch to all wet food. It’s the best choice for all cats, really. Cats aren’t supposed to drink from a water hole so what you’ll notice when you switch to all wet food is that your cats will start to drink much less water, maybe even none. This is good and normal. A properly hydrated cat on all wet food will not drink much water, so don’t be surprised if they don’t use the water bowls or fountain too much.

My other tip would be to rotate different brands and proteins of wet food. Start with one that you know they do well on and then over the course of weeks introduce different ones slowly. Once a new canned food is introduced and there are no GI issues then it can be added to the regular diet and alternated with other canned foods. Variety is good. It keeps them from being picky eaters and also ensures nutritional adequacy.

I don’t think you need to keep feeding the prescription food and would actually encourage you to not feed it if your cat is back to normal. Slowly transition to a mixture of different wet foods. Prescription foods shouldn’t be fed long term and usually don’t have the greatest ingredients (plus they are overpriced).

Good plan also to add extra water to the canned food to make sure they are hydrated.

Thanks for the info!
I used to feed them Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers only at night...but dry food in the morning. The one i got recently isn't the prescription version of the Hills Urinary Care. Its this one: Hill's Science Diet Adult Urinary & Hairball Control Canned Cat Food

My friend has a kitty that has issues with stress related Cystisis and recommended the Hills Urinary Care C/D but i went to petsmart and saw the prices and was pretty surprised. I still plan to talk to my vet about it but after research it doesn't seem necessary unless they have issues with blockages? Is that correct? Im not sure. I think that's why im stressed about what to do.

 

[Azazel]

Thanks for the info!
I used to feed them Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers only at night...but dry food in the morning. The one i got recently isn't the prescription version of the Hills Urinary Care. Its this one: Hill's Science Diet Adult Urinary & Hairball Control Canned Cat Food

My friend has a kitty that has issues with stress related Cystisis and recommended the Hills Urinary Care C/D but i went to petsmart and saw the prices and was pretty surprised. I still plan to talk to my vet about it but after research it doesn't seem necessary unless they have issues with blockages? Is that correct? Im not sure. I think that's why im stressed about what to do.

To be frank about it... in my opinion, Hills is very poor quality food. Take a look at the ingredients list. Cats are obligate carnivores. They have no dietary need for grains or veggies. I personally would not feed Hills food. The "urinary care" label is just a marketing ploy. Cats will do well on a high animal protein and high moisture diet. The Fancy Feast Classics are honestly better than any Hills food. Look for canned foods with meat ingredients at the top of the list and little to no veggie or grain fillers.

Here's a good website to read with lots of great info: Cat Urinary Tract Diseases: Cystitis, Urethral Obstruction, Urinary Tract Infection

To sum it up: prescription food is rarely, if ever, needed. And unfortunately many vets are clueless about feline nutrition.

 

[shanghaikitty]

To be frank about it... in my opinion, Hills is very poor quality food. Take a look at the ingredients list. Cats are obligate carnivores. They have no dietary need for grains or veggies. I personally would not feed Hills food. The "urinary care" label is just a marketing ploy. Cats will do well on a high animal protein and high moisture diet. The Fancy Feast Classics are honestly better than any Hills food. Look for canned foods with meat ingredients at the top of the list and little to no veggie or grain fillers.

Here's a good website to read with lots of great info: Cat Urinary Tract Diseases: Cystitis, Urethral Obstruction, Urinary Tract Infection

To sum it up: prescription food is rarely, if ever, needed. And unfortunately many vets are clueless about feline nutrition.

Oh no! I just got a whole case of the Hills.

Well, I will look into the ingredients more. I was always told that the Fancy Feast was "Junk food" so i felt bad feeding it to them but they seemed to enjoy it the most. I spent so much money trying to find a grain free food that they would eat but out of the 3, one of them would turn their nose to it. lol So the fancy feast, and currently the Hills are the only ones that all 3 of them will eat. I will get some more of the classic and see if I can exchange it for the hills.

I really want to try to get them to eat more RAW. Ive tried boiling chicken and using chicken broth but they all just looked at me like "Whats this, mom?" and walked away. lol

 

[Azazel]

Oh no! I just got a whole case of the Hills.

Well, I will look into the ingredients more. I was always told that the Fancy Feast was "Junk food" so i felt bad feeding it to them but they seemed to enjoy it the most. I spent so much money trying to find a grain free food that they would eat but out of the 3, one of them would turn their nose to it. lol So the fancy feast, and currently the Hills are the only ones that all 3 of them will eat. I will get some more of the classic and see if I can exchange it for the hills.

I really want to try to get them to eat more RAW. Ive tried boiling chicken and using chicken broth but they all just looked at me like "Whats this, mom?" and walked away. lol

You could return it (most places will take back canned food). or just feed it in conjunction with some other canned foods. I don't think its going to harm your cats to feed them some Hills canned food temporarily but I personally wouldn't choose it as a staple in the diet. If it's the only thing they will eat then it's definitely better than them eating nothing! And the important thing is that it's high in moisture so it's definitely better than any dry food. If you have an independent pet shop close by you might want to check it out. They usually carry better quality foods than big box stores and also usually have lots of different canned foods to choose from.

Raw food is also great. I personally do a completely homemade raw diet and there's many of us on these forums (specifically the raw and homemade sub forum) who choose to do this - mainly because we became fed up with the pet food industry and decided to take our cats' foods into our own hands. If you want to do homemade food (whether raw or cooked) you'll have to follow an established recipe (the website I linked to you above has one on there and another popular website with a good recipe is feline-nutrition.org). If you just want to give some raw or cooked chicken as a treat then it's fine to do so on a daily basis as long as it doesn't make up more than 10% of their daily diet. Try mixing the cooked chicken with the canned food that they really love to see if they will eat it. Or, you can try putting a little fortiflora (animal digest) on top of the chicken if you have some. It's a good appetite stimulant. Or, maybe they prefer their meat raw? Next time you're making some chicken breast or thigh for yourself see if they want to try a small piece.

There are also lots of commercial raw foods on the market such as Primal, Northwest Naturals, etc. These are complete meals just like canned food so you don't need to add any supplements to them. The problem with lots of the commercial raw foods though is that they are high in bone content. I wouldn't recommend them for a cat that had urinary problems because high phosphorus amounts (which result from high bone content) can aggravate urinary issues.

 

[shanghaikitty]

You could return it (most places will take back canned food). or just feed it in conjunction with some other canned foods. I don't think its going to harm your cats to feed them some Hills canned food temporarily but I personally wouldn't choose it as a staple in the diet. If it's the only thing they will eat then it's definitely better than them eating nothing! And the important thing is that it's high in moisture so it's definitely better than any dry food. If you have an independent pet shop close by you might want to check it out. They usually carry better quality foods than big box stores and also usually have lots of different canned foods to choose from.

Raw food is also great. I personally do a completely homemade raw diet and there's many of us on these forums (specifically the raw and homemade sub forum) who choose to do this (mainly because we became fed up with the pet food industry and decided to take our cats' foods into our own hands. If you want to do homemade food (whether raw or cooked) you'll have to follow an established recipe (the website I linked to you above has one on there and another popular website with a good recipe is feline-nutrition.org). If you just want to give some raw or cooked chicken as a treat then it's fine to do so on a daily basis as long as it doesn't make up more than 10% of their daily diet. Try mixing the cooked chicken with the canned food that they really love to see if they will eat it. Or, you can try putting a little fortiflora (animal digest) on top of the chicken if you have some. It's a good appetite stimulant. Or, maybe they prefer their meat raw? Next time you're making some chicken breast or thigh for yourself see if they want to try a small piece.

There are also lots of commercial raw foods on the market such as Primal, Northwest Naturals, etc. These are complete meals just like canned food so you don't need to add any supplements to them. The problem with lots of the commercial raw foods though is that they are high in bone content. I wouldn't recommend them for a cat that had urinary problems because high phosphorus amounts (which result from high bone content) can aggravate urinary issues.

Oh wow! thank you! Yes, I want to try to get them to eat more raw as it seems its very hard to find a decent quality commercial food that won't harm them in the long run or even one that they will all eat. lol Thank you again, I will definitely look into this more.

 

[KarenKat]

Thought I would chime in and agree with what A Azazel said. And if you can’t return the food I’d definitely feed it - way better than dry food.

Our cats only ate kibble, and they are both on all wet now. We went on vacation recently and switched to kibble for a few days and they both started guzzling water more than normal. So a reduction in drinking water on wet food is normal. I also noticed increased urine and decreased solid waste after switching to all wet food. I took it as a good sign they are more hydrated and process the food better.

Our day Gohan hasn’t always been healthy, active and the perfect weight. When we switched him off kibble we saw a distinct improvement on his coat quality - which was already pretty good. Now, though, his coat is super shiny and soft. Another benefit.

 

[shanghaikitty]

Thought I would chime in and agree with what A Azazel said. And if you can’t return the food I’d definitely feed it - way better than dry food.

Our cats only ate kibble, and they are both on all wet now. We went on vacation recently and switched to kibble for a few days and they both started guzzling water more than normal. So a reduction in drinking water on wet food is normal. I also noticed increased urine and decreased solid waste after switching to all wet food. I took it as a good sign they are more hydrated and process the food better.

Our day Gohan hasn’t always been healthy, active and the perfect weight. When we switched him off kibble we saw a distinct improvement on his coat quality - which was already pretty good. Now, though, his coat is super shiny and soft. Another benefit.

Thank you!
Ive just been stressed about the little one having a UTI that I wanted to make sure she is more hydrated from now on. I have definitely noticed more urine in the little one. So I also took it as a good sign that she is flushing everything out. She still have a few more days of the antibiotics but i am hoping the all wet food diet helps. She has not been happy about eating the wet food in the morning. She is used to eating dry kibble. I still have to add a little dry with her breakfast or she just walks away.. ... Will she take to the wet food eventually?

 

[KarenKat]

I think it’s very likely she will - Gohan took a very long time getting used to timed meals. He was so used to eating a bite or two when he was hungry and walking away. He never had to finish the bowl since it was always available. Over time (months) he figured out that he was hungry and he should eat all the food. It took a lot of patience, and monitoring by us. But we can tell he’s really enjoying his food for the first time too, I think it must be much more satisfying.

 

[kittyneko1995]

Oh my goodness, she is beautiful!

 

[nwc]

Jesus. Even dried out canned food that has been left out hours results in giant urine clumps in the litterbox. Hydration isn't even an issue. Show up two or three times a day to leave out a can; it's like the easiest part of having a cat.

 

[shanghaikitty]

Jesus. Even dried out canned food that has been left out hours results in giant urine clumps in the litterbox. Hydration isn't even an issue. Show up two or three times a day to leave out a can; it's like the easiest part of having a cat.

oh no....
I don’t leave the food out. I have two other cats that will eat everything including the others food who don’t finish. Hydration is very important, since I didn’t feed wet food all the time and mostly dry food, I was only asking for tips and recommendations of brands or type of canned food...

 

[shanghaikitty]

Oh my goodness, she is beautiful!

Thank you! <3