Cat urine infections

[shelleyhart]

Hello, my cat has just come home from the vet with an obstruction in his uretha.

Can anyone recommend a cat food that will reduce risk of this happening again? Vets have. Suggested one, but want to see what others suggest!

Also, my other cat will be eating it too although he isn't affected by urine crystals etc.

Thanks!!

Does he eat wet or dry or both?

Sorry should have said! He does prefer dry, i have tried giving him more wet food but will just refuse it.

What does he eat just now? Mine like encore dry which is grain free and 80% meat. Don't know if it can help prevent uti though.

You can buy food that is designed to reduce the risk of bladder infections and obstructions. This is available in dry as well as wet food.

Making sure he has plenty of water is also important.

Royal canine urinary. Both mine had recurrent crystals, urine infections and blockages.
I have used the wet and dry for years

All the royal canin foods are full of crap and hardly any meat. I'd rather give a high meat grain free food tbh. This is from the Encore FAQs:

I AM WORRIED ABOUT URINARY TRACT PROBLEMS. MY VET HAS INFORMED ME THAT THIS CAN BE PREVENTED BY THE USE OF AN APPROPRIATE DIET. IS ENCORE COMPLETE SUITABLE?

Problems can occur in a pet with the formation of stones in the urinary tract. One cause is the high level of magnesium in a pet’s diet. EncoreComplete has been formulated to contain restricted levels of magnesium. Sufficient magnesium is present to meet the body’s requirement yet will aid in the prevention of urinary tract problems. However, there are many forms and causes of urinary tract disorders and if you have any concerns please consult your vet.

Our vet told us that cats typically don't drink very much because they expect to get their water from their food, therefore it can be good to include some sort of wet foods in their diet.

Another thing I've heard is that cats don't like to drink from water sources placed near their food source, which his an instinctive behaviour that protects them from water contaminated by carcasses. So you might have luck by placing their water bowl or fountain elsewhere.

If it's magnesium causing blockages in your case, a low magnesium food might be the best idea.

We buy cystease from Amazon for ours. We spilt the capsule and mix it in with the cats wet food. Cat had a run of repeated infections and fingers crossed we haven't had an episode in quite a while. Ours was apparently linked to stress so we also use feliway plug-ins.

We were recommended Hills special UTI formula when one of our cats had a recurrent bout of cystitis. However, she is already fed a high meat, grain free food and as her problem was stress related I decided not to switch until we'd tried some other solutions, as the food would have been a very expensive switch when their food isn't cheap already!

Things we have done that seemed to have solved the problem:

• increased the number of water bowls to 4, located in different parts of the house, all far from food.

• changed the type of water bowls we use, so they are larger and shallower.

• started using feliway plugins. I'm not sure how much this has actually helped tbh, but shes not had a bout since we've started using it so presumably it's doing good! I've not noticed an change in their behaviour though.

• We had one cat tower upstairs and one downstairs. They are now both upstairs as they were fighting over the one in the spare room. This seems to have resolved conflict, and she seems calmer.

• She had got into a habit of going to all three trays in a loop and would just go round in circles kicking litter and trying to pee in them all. These circuits could last 10 mins or so. I realised that she was doing a normal wee in one tray, and the rest of the pattern seemed to be habit if you see what I mean? Rather than an actual need to go (she'd been on medication and the vet was sure that physically her symptoms had gone, so it was more of a routine she was doing out of stress). After she'd done a normal wee, I started distracting her with toys to break the habit of revisiting trays and straining, which was very effective.

She now (touch wood!!) Seems fully back to normal and all her tray behaviours have returned to normal. Shes drinking more water and eating more of her usual wet food than before.

Ok thanks everyone! I have Cystophan capsules which i will put in his food everyday - I will also look into a food for him and add more water bowls. Thanks again!