Best Wet Food for cat with FLUTD

Bailey101

Morning all

One of my cats has been getting recurring bouts of cystitus (blood in his pee, crazy running around, the works ) and the vet has recommended he go on a completely wet diet. He also needs to lose a bit of weight - he's 6.5kg and he's to get down to 6kg.

Up until now, both cats have had a mix of wet and dry so I'm a bit unsure about the best wet food for them. The main criteria are -

1. High water content for Jasper's bladder problems
2. High nutritional value
3. Both cats really liked the dry food they got, so it has to be tasty enough to make up for missing out on the yummy biscuits
4. It has to substantial enough that they can eat a smaller amount to lose weight, but will still leave them feeling full up.

Any help and advice would be much appreciated :beer:

Bailey

xx

krlyr

I'm not really a cat person but Almo Nature is meant to be a good quality food. Not the cheapest but you tend to feed less of a better quality food.
Another option could perhaps be a raw diet - high water content, no fillers at all so it's all of nutritional value, often considered very tasty and bone acts as a natural filler to bulk out meals. Unfortunately it sounds like cats tend to have the final say in whether a diet is suitable or not with their fussy behaviour!

Fire_Fox

Once you go cereal-free many find any excess weight drops off without effort, and 0.5kg isn't so much you are going to have to really work at it. I found that very easy to get off my Noah - and he was greedy and indoor only so getting less exercise that an outdoor cat. Playtime is important in weight management, the long wand Da Bird and its attachments is probably the best for getting cats to run around without you have to exercise with them!

It's the nature of the beast that all wet foods have a high water content and you can add a splash more if the flavour is good. Some also lightly heat the food in the microwave to release the aroma, they don't feed right out of the refrigerator. Reasonably priced grain free wet diets include home-prepared raw, Bozita, Butchers Classic and Whiskas Supermeat. Of those raw is the most filling IME, especially if you feed chunks of meat on the bone rather than minced meat/ bone because eating is slowed down. Another option for increasing water intake is to make salt-free homemade meat stock, boil down to concentrate, freeze in ice cubes for convenience and add this to any food. Some cats also like the liquid from a can of tuna packed in spring water (not brine) added to their food - this has successfully been used to transition cats to raw.

Bailey101

Many thanks for your replys. I've heard good reviews of both Bozita and Almo Nature, so I'll try them on both and see which one they prefer. I did look at a raw diet, but I'm really not too sure where to start. Also Jasper has a sensitive stomach, so do you think a raw diet would help this or make it worse?

I love the idea of making home made stock, I hadn't thought of doing that but it would be a big help in getting him to drink more.

And as for getting exercise, he's an indoor cat but he seems to be plenty active. Usually at 3 in the morning. With plenty of gusto. On my bed. :undecided

krlyr

There are lots of articles, pages, etc. online to help you start with raw feeding. I'm a 'self taught' rawfeeder with my dogs and 3 years on they're in great health (not just from external looks either, one has just had a very thorough MOT including bloodtests), it is quite simple when you get the hang of it but it is important to do some research as you have to get the balance right.
In dogs, it's often great for those with a sensitive stomach as you know exactly what you're feeding, unlike commercial foods that often sneak in fillers or use vague ingredient descriptions (like "meat" or "cereals" rather than "chicken" or "maize") and can avoid ingredients that upset the pet's tummy.

Fire_Fox

Bailey101 wrote: »

Many thanks for your replys. I've heard good reviews of both Bozita and Almo Nature, so I'll try them on both and see which one they prefer. I did look at a raw diet, but I'm really not too sure where to start. Also Jasper has a sensitive stomach, so do you think a raw diet would help this or make it worse?

I love the idea of making home made stock, I hadn't thought of doing that but it would be a big help in getting him to drink more.

And as for getting exercise, he's an indoor cat but he seems to be plenty active. Usually at 3 in the morning. With plenty of gusto. On my bed. :undecided

A cat could walk miles if they go outdoors and scale various walls fences and trees, it's highly unlikely that is being replicated with any indoor cat. In any case for weight management you want to increase the amount of exercise and so increase the daily calorie burn. If I want my girl to work hard I flick Da Bird up onto a windowsill or back of the sofa then down to the floor, she can get pretty puffed after doing that for a few minutes!! :j

Raw can actually be better for sensitive stomachs because there are fewer ingredients and it's the way felines evolved to eat. However I would get settled on a commercial wet diet first, a sudden change from a cooked high carb diet to a high protein, high fat raw diet can cause tummy upsets whilst the enzymes in the gut adjust.

cazmcd2000

I buy a specialist food for urinary problems from Medic Animal. Isn't cheap. And he hated it at first. He's nearly 16 now so there is hope....

RosaBernicia

Hi OP

My mog has only been with me a couple of months, but he's lost the extra around the belly he arrived with despite being indoor-only for the first six weeks and having dry food always available. He's been on Bozita wet and Applaws dry, about 50:50. The shelter he came from also fed both wet and freely available dry, but obviously have to use the cheapest they can get, so I suspect it's the higher meat content that has made the difference. Am still educating myself on cat nutrition but scandalised at the carp that goes into some of it!

I've also just tried him on Butchers Classic, as I'm thinking of alternating that with the Bozita (lower cost for me, more variety for him) and he's cleared his plate straight off every time. At least he hasn't got expensive tastes :rotfl:


Rosa xx

antw23uk

Our 4 yr old suffers with UTD and we nearly lost him a couple of years ago.

We mixed his Purely wet food with water so it was like a soup and increased the amount of raw food he ate (chicken wings/ rabbit on the bone/ liver/ kidneys etc) and for a couple of weeks after he came out of the vets i was filling a syringe with water and squeezing it into his mouth. He wasnt drinking and we were pretty desperate so rightly or wrongly he got about 2-3 syringes of water a day (he didnt seem to care bless him, lol) to keep his fluid intake high to keep his little body flushed with water.
I mentioned it to the vet and she kind of looked at me like i was crazy (I felt it at the time with worry) but just said if it works for you and he isnt trying to kill you when you do it, go for it. :T

Hillbilly1

Have any crystals been diagnosed or has the vet discussed LUTD diets? There are prescription ones available.

They are pretty bland and as another poster has commented not that palatable. They can be eaten by all cats, even those with no LUTD. If you can have success without using a prescription diet it may be better.

I would advise checking http://www.fabcats.org for their advice on diets and urinary disease. Sensible advice backed up with research!