??Purina Cat Chow/ UTI??

Hi everyone!
I have a 4 y.o. neutered male kitty that in the past got recurrent urinary tract infections. Unfortunately, I was "young and dumb" and was feeding him Meow Mix. After the 2nd or 3rd UTI, I started talking seriously with my vet regarding the food that Bootsie was eating. He (of course) suggested Science Diet. I told him that at that point I didn't have the $$ to pay for that type of food. He told me to put him on Purina Cat Chow because it was low in ash?! Bootsie has been on that for about the past 2 years because he has not had any other UTI's since he has been on this food. I would like to know from you all if anybody has had this issue. I am afraid to switch his food because I don't want him to end up with another UTI. However, I know that Purina Cat Chow is not the best food on the market and I would like to get some suggestions. I want my kitty (and my dogs-who eat Nutro Natural Choice**LOVE IT!!**) to be healthy and I don't think that him eating this food is best for him....any suggestions would be GREAT!! Thanks!
:roll:

 

Hi. I'm not too familiar with the ingredients in Purina Cat Chow. What are the first five ingredients in it? Do you feed him both hard and soft food? When looking for a cat food you want the first ingredients to be some kind of meat (i.e. chicken), no meat byproducts or fillers like corn and a low ash content. Also since your kitty is prone to UTIs you want to stay away from foods that have fish in them. Is there a PetsMart in your area? If so the cost of cat food there is so much cheaper than other pet supply shops. I can't get my cat his food there, as they don't carry it (he eats Wellness cat food). Anyway, if you do have a PetsMart in your area, just take some time to look at all the labels and prices and see if you can find something that you think is quality food, as well as easy on the wallet. You may only want to get a few cans of soft and a small bag of hard, as your kitty may not like the food and you'll have to find another. Also, just be sure to slowly add the new food (if you decide to switch) to the old food for 1-2 weeks.

 

canned cat food is important for a cat's diet so you should really feed some canned food. If you cat isn't much of a water drinker the canned food also provides some moisture. A diet of only dried cat food can cause cavities...yes it keeps the tartar off but the dried food sticks to the teeth (like people with potato chips) and sits there causing cavities.

http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.php?a ... cannedfood

 

Thanks! I am just nervous about switching him because of the problems in the past.....I would hate to switch him to something else that is better and him end up with a UTI. I know that Purina Cat Chow is not a very good food because of the ingredients...just nervous about switching him. Where do you locate the ash content on the bag of cat food? The first few ingredients are: poultry by-product meal, corn meal, ground whole wheat, corn gluten meal and soy flour......not the greatest!
I didn't know that cats should have some canned food!!! I always heard bad stuff about feeding canned food (due to the teeth), but I will take that into consideration with him.
If anyone knows of a food that they have fed a UTI prone cat, please let me know! Also, where the ash content on the bag is! Thanks!!! :y_the_best:

 

Are you using the regular Purina Cat Chow or the Urinary Tract formula?

The ash content can usually be found in the guaranteed analysis with the Crude Protein, ect. The regular Purina Cat Chow has 7.21 % (max) ash which is actually higher than many other brands.

 

Thanks Nern....but it's wierd...there is no ash content listed on my box of cat chow...i had to buy one of the small little boxes at the grocery store to hold him over until I could go and get a bag...but it says nothing about it...sorry if I sounded dumb!!! Maybe they don't put it on the box...
So do you have any suggestions regarding a specific brand that may work well for him?
Thanks for all of your help!!!

 

Sorry, I didn't see that you had asked...I use the regular Cat Chow... I don't think I have seen a Urinary Tract Formula...not saying there isn't one...I just haven't seen it... :wink:

 

Unfortunately not every manufacturer puts the ash content on the packages. I got Purina's ash content when I emailed them a while back.

If your going to switch brands I definately recommend making canned food at least a part of his diet...this will increase his urine volume and frequency which should help prevent further problems.

Did your cat have crystals in his urine as well?

 

Nern...Thanks again! I wondered where to find that because I had even looked at their website....Nutro Natural Choice has an Ash content of 6.75%...Do you think that would be a good option? I feel my dogs Nutro Natural Choice and love it....
Yes, he did have crystals, but I believe they got everything cleared up!

 

Do you know what type of crystals they were?

If they were struvite Nutro would probably work fine. It has a target urine ph of 6.0 - 6.4 which is a good range for preventing struvite formation.

 

Hi. %6.75 is still too much ash (in my opinion). Handsome's Wellness soft food has %1.8 max ash content and that's for a 12.5 oz can. The first ingredients in Handsome's Wellness soft food is: Deboned chicken, chicken liver, deboned turkey, chicken broth, sweet potatoes. Just go to the pet supply and check out all the labels. You'll find something both you and your kitty will like. By the way, the ingredients you listed for Purina were just aweful. :shock: You were right, that is terrible food!

 

I don't know anything about what type of crystals they are! I didn't even know there were different types!!!
Like I said, I am just concerned with getting him on a food that won't cause the UTI's!! I would hate for my poor baby to go through that again! He was miserable! I don't know anything about the ash content...just know my vet recommended the Cat Chow and he has been on that since because we have had no problems.
Thanks for the help!!!

 

Chessmind: The 6.75% ash she listed is for the dry food....the ash content in canned food can't be compared to that in dry by just looking at the guaranteed analysis. The ash content in dry food always appears to be much higher than canned because of the moisture difference. On a dry matter basis the ash contents are similar.

 

Best of luck ZenasMom. Be sure and keep us posted on his progress. :wink:

 

Sorry. I thought she was talking about soft food (that's why I was talking about soft food). LOL So, I'll talk about hard food now. Handsome's Wellness hard food has a max ash content of %6.00 (they label it as not more than %6.00). I wish they would be a bit more specific on their labels. Meaning telling us the exact amount.

 

Thanks Nern!!! I am going to go out looking for kitty food tomorrow.... I don't want him to continue to eat the Cat Chow, although he does fine on it, because of the ingredients...I figure he could always be healthier. I just hope he doesn't get a stupid UTI from another food! :? I will post when I figure out what to feed him!!! If anyone has any other suggestions, that would be great!
Thanks everyone for all of the help!! I love auspet.com!!! I would have never found out about it had it not been for pitsrpals on yahoo groups!!!!

 

Exactly! I wish they would start labeling in g/mg per 100 kcal.