I got this from Laura, who joined Tracie’s Club so she could have ready access to my advice and support through her pussycat’s problems:
I have enjoyed reading your book, The Cat Bible, and other information on your website, but I still am very uncertain on how to resolve a recurring situation with my dear male cat Leo (about 6 years).
He has had 4 episodes of urinary crystals in the last 6 months, two of which caused blockages, resulting in lengthy vet stays. He was on a catheter both times, which I’m sure was very uncomfortable. His last blockage with last Thursday, and he is still have difficulties passing urine. His PH is 7.5 and the crystals are Struvite.
I feed him wet food only — alternating Science Diet’s CD with Primal raw beef cube. He does not get kibble. With this high protein diet, I am baffled as to why he is getting sick so often. A high protein diet has not seemed to acidify his urine and he is still developing crystals.
I know CD has by-products (which I’m not crazy about), that’s why I was trying to feed him some raw food. Now I’m really confused. I feel like I need to make a change quickly, but I don’t want to choose a food that will aggravate his situation. I’m not sure if he is reacting to the CD or to the raw food, so I’ve eliminated the raw food. However, I’d like a better plan moving forward since CD isn’t the best canned food, and I’m unsure of raw food.
I’d love your advice so that I can get my Leo back on track.
Here’s what I wrote to Laura:
Your instincts are right on the mark — the Science Diet CD not only has by products, but plenty of carbohydrates, too. The Cat Bible tells you how to read a label and this one should set your hair on fire by that yardstick.
Pork By-Products, Water, Pork Liver, Chicken, Rice, Corn Starch, Oat Fiber, Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), Fish Meal, Corn Gluten Meal, Chicken Liver Flavor, etc
What most bothers me about products like this is that they call themselves a “chicken” cat food and in this case the predominant ingredient is pork by-products, so that seems misleading, to put it politely. And then there is the question of where in God’s name does pork — actually the discarded portion of pork processed for humans to eat — fit into a healthy diet for a cat? This food’s name is “Chicken” but chicken appears only as the 4th ingredient down on their list (meaning there are 3 other ingredients in a much greater proportion) and then some corn products like starch and corn gluten meal. “Chicken liver flavor” is something synthetic, obviously — because they are using pork liver, which is listed, instead, surely because it is much cheaper. In any case, pork is an unnatural ingredient for cat, when you think that commercial pigs can reach 500 lbs., that animal clearly could never be a cat’s natural prey!
So right now your kitty is not actually on a cat food with quality high protein — or one made of ingredients that are natural and healthy for a cat. You need to get Weruva or Halo Spot’s Stew or Newman’s Own that use only human grade meat — no by-products of any animal and no meal. Until you get the cat off this highly processed inappropriate protein source you cannot know how much it is negatively influencing his health.
As for raw, it is the gold standard for cat foods and the best choice you can make for your kitty. You’ll be doing him a great favor if you can go to all raw (but not beef, again because we want to avoid feeding our kitty cats a meat source with no logical connection to a feline, who can naturally catch mice or birds, to which chicken and turkey are the closest thing). Beef and organ meats can also make some kind of stones worse, too.
Another thing about crystals is that drinking lots of fluids can reduce the problem. However, it’s rare for a wet-fed cat to be thirsty and drink a lot so there’s a way you can give him fluids he’ll be motivated to drink. See if he’ll do well on a bit of milk (can upset the stomach) or try a nifty product from The Honest Kitchen called Ice Pups. It is a ground up chicken and greens powder that you dissolve in water and was developed to be frozen into cubes for dogs to enjoy in hot weather, but I find it is a great way to get pets to drink fluids they wouldn’t normally drink. It’s also high protein because of the finely ground chicken that is in there with some powdered herbs and greens. The more you can get him to drink, the better — the page for The Honest Kitchen is on my website and they give a discount to my listeners.
I’m hoping this will help, although it will take a few weeks to start to show results. I’m sorry for all you and he have been through.
Tracie
The Cat Bible
