Help - am I giving my cat cystitis?

[steamedtreaclesponge]

I have two cats which I got from a rescue place a couple of years ago. One of them has quite a sensitive digestion and was overweight when I got her, and the vet advised me to only feed dry food, as the pouches they were on were apparently full of crap and cholesterol, and were upsetting her stomach. Both cats have been on dry food ever since; they seem to be perfectly happy with this, my cat's digestion is now fine and she's no longer fat.

The problem is with my other cat, who is prone to urinary tract infections (two or three times a year, at a guess). I've just read that in the wild cats get most of their liquid through their food, and as a result don't drink much water. Therefore if you only feed dry food, apparently they won't be getting enough liquid and this can aggravate cystitis and the like. Is this true? And if so, what can I do about it? I would find it a pain to only feed one of them wet food although I could do it if necessary. I've also heard that getting a drinking fountain helps them to drink more water, would this be a good idea?

Apart from the cystitis issue both cats are normally very healthy and seem perfectly happy.

[Fluffycloudland77]

I have a water fountain but I rarely see him drink from it perhaps cos he has wet pouches and biscuits.

I feed mine applaws biscuits because their low carbohydrate. The majority of biscuits are mainly cereals which wouldn't be part of acts diet in the wild.

Everytime i see my vet they try and get him on biscuits exclusively and I just smile politely and then ask which brand and funnily enough they advise the ones they sell.

Tbh he only gets given biscuits to clean his teeth.

[Lizcat]

I am a vet and I have two cats. We have the cystitis cat who the wind only has to blow the wrong way and she gets it. So wet food is not great for teeth as it hangs around (dry food is not good for teeth, just wet bad), but is great for controlling cystitis by increasing fluid through put in th bladder. So my solution is dry food in the morning (I would advise steering clear of Go-cat) and wet food (waitrose own as this is the only one vomity cat doesn't bring back) in the evening. I have a water fountain that I had on all the time before mobile mop the dog arrived. Now I just use it when she is bad.

[steamedtreaclesponge]

Thanks for the advice. I mostly try and feed IAMS and Hills Science Plan - don't know whether they're actually much better than Whiskas though!

I'll have a think about the fountain, and in the meantime I'll start feeding a bit more wet food and see how that goes, I think. Would be easier to manage in the evenings, too.

[beautifulgirls]

Take a read here
Diet could well be playing a role in the cystitis affecting the pH (acidity or alkalinity) of the urine and leading to crystal formation in the urine. The same diet in another cat can be perfectly fine however. Your own vet really needs to be looking at urine samples from the affected cat and determining whether or not this is a factor and if so an appropriate diet sorted that can help to prevent these crystals.

[indeepestdevon]

Clearly she is getting cystitis but are you sure they are infections. More common in cats is idiopathic (no known cause) cystitis. Main trigger is stress. Commonest cause of stress in cats is other cats. Lots of good information about this on fabcats website (feline advisory bureau). Look in advice section under urinary problems.

[steamedtreaclesponge]

Thanks guys. It could just be stress from moving house - they've been with some friends for the past 8 months and I've only just taken them back (to a different house to previously) so they've had quite a lot of changes! They're very laid-back and haven't seemed stressed by it all but I expect that's been a factor.