Food Diet

A feline Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) often causes cats to stop using their litter boxes. This is a very painful condition for kitty. Using her logic, she thinks that because it hurts to use the litter box, maybe she should urinate someplace else. It might not hurt to urinate in another part of the house. And so the problems begin…

Feline UTIs are quite preventable and treatable. Your vet will prescribe antibiotics to clear up the infection. But the deeper cause is most often the food your cat eats.

Most commercial pet foods contain only meat by products and carbohydrates. Cats are pure carnivores - they must eat meat to stay healthy. Cats don’t need carbohydrates, but unfortunately from their youngest days, they’re fed commercial pet foods that are chock full of everything but meat. Many experts believe
carbohydrates contribute to feline UTIs.

Along with the antibiotics, your vet will often prescribe special cat food to prevent UTIs.

But, cats being the creatures they are sometimes reject what’s good for them. This doesn’t mean you have to despair and give up, because many pet food manufacturers sell high quality cat food that doesn’t promote feline UTI episodes.

One diet option that is very successful in stopping feline UTIs is a raw meat diet for your cat.

Raw meat! Why?

Because feral cats exist on whatever they can hunt down. Wild kitties subsist on protein - mice, moles, rats, and any other creature they can kill and eat. Because ferals eat pure protein, they usually don’t end up with feline UTIs.

I like the idea of a raw food diet, but there are special considerations you must know.

First, raw food is very prone to spoiling quickly, so whatever amount you put out for your cat must be eaten in one session. This will take some guessing on your part to determine a consistent amount to thaw out for each meal.

Next, you need to be sure the quality of the raw food you buy for kitty is pure and safe, and not already spoiled. Check around your neighborhood for merchants who specialize in raw pet diets. They purchase extremely high quality raw rabbit, turkey, chicken, duck, and mutton.

But the real joker in the deck regarding a raw food diet is kitty herself. Will she even eat raw food? Soon after diagnosing my cat Scout with a feline UTI, I did the research on raw food and decided to try to switch her over. I found a local pet food store that sold raw meat. I picked up a small amount of rabbit and chicken for her.

Well, I got home all excited and put the raw chicken down for Scout. I crossed my fingers, hoping this would relieve me of trying to do more research on cat food that wouldn’t infect her urinary tract.

Scout crouched over the chicken, sniffed it and gagged! Then she gave me a look of pure misery and slunk away.

Her step brother JJ wolfed it down and asked for more. Sheesh!

OK…back to the drawing board! I then fell back on Plan B for getting Scout to eat better and prevent future feline UTI problems. I’ll share that with you next week.

If you think you’d like to try a raw food diet for your kitty, please consult with your vet before doing so. Follow her advice and instructions on how to transition your cat safely. And don’t forget - the biggest veto resides with your kitty!

Nancy has successfully eliminated cat urine odor from her home, and kept the kitty who caused it. Learn how you can save money and time by applying any one, or a combination of 18 proven solutions to get rid of cat urine odor in your home. Read “18 Ways to Stop Cat Urine Odor Problems” to discover your solution.

http://www.stopcaturineodor.com

advice@stopcaturineodor.com

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Last week I wrote about the benefits of transitioning your cat to a raw food diet to stop feline urinary tract infections. As I also noted, some cats just won’t eat raw food. Part II gives you information about the more common diet alternative - canned cat food.

Many experts recommend you feed your kitty canned food almost exclusively to keep feline urinary tract infections from recurring. More moisture in kitty’s diet means better flushing capability by urinating more often, in larger amounts. Crystals can be flushed out of the cat when they are too small to do damage. This is critical to prevent cat urinary tract infections from happening again.

Since cats don’t lap up water like other animals, the moisture content in canned foods will offset this. Raw food (raw meat) diets also provide most of the moisture content cats need to stay healthy.

There are many different types of cat food you can purchase. It can be confusing. However, with a little bit of knowledge, you can easily determine what is best to feed kitty to keep cat urinary tract infections from happening again.

But don’t go rushing out and purchase tuna in spring water for kitty! There are several key ingredients you need to look for in canned cat food to prevent a feline UTI. Not just any kind will keep your cat’s urinary tract healthy.

Let’s go over them in a little bit of detail.

Meat or meat by-products?

When assessing the best canned cat food for your kitty, the first ingredient should always be meat. Not meat by-products, and not chicken meal, or similar ingredients. Cats are pure carnivores, and they must have a very high protein diet to stay healthy. By-products are junk for a cat.

Look for chicken, beef, lamb, turkey and duck. Many experts believe fish contributes to feline urinary tract infections, so it’s best to avoid the seafood choices you’ll find.

Rice and wheat:

These are fine, as long as they are high quality brown rice and wheat. However, if one of these is listed first, I’d put that can back on the shelf and would continue my search.

DL-Methionine:

DL-Methionine is an ingredient in both dry and canned cat foods. It’s an amino acid that helps restore the urine pH balance back to 6.0 - 6.8. Read the fine print to see if it’s an ingredient. If you don’t see DL-Methionine listed, don’t worry. You can add it to your cat’s food in powdered form.

Magnesium:

Magnesium is believed to contribute to crystal formation in a cat’s urinary tract infection. Look for canned cat food that lists the level. The magnesium level should not be higher than 0.1%, and no less than .025% in any cat food you purchase.

Cranberries and blueberries:

Although cats are carnivores, berries are a great ingredient to promote good urinary tract health. High quality canned cat food should contain either one of these, or both.

Vegetables:

I know I stated cats are carnivores. If vegetables are listed, and they’re far down the list, that’s fine. Typically you’ll find carrots, peas, squash and corn.

Armed with this knowledge, you’re now able to hit the pet food stores and easily analyze the label information on different kinds of canned cat food. Remember, anytime you’re thinking about changing your cat’s diet, please consult with your vet on the best way to make this transition. Cats are not partial to changes, and a radical diet transformation done overnight is not good for your cat.

If you’d like to read Part I, please contact me at my website.

Good luck in your search for high quality canned cat food that will keep those pesky feline UTIs from happening again!

Nancy stopped the cat urine odor problem at her home, and kept the kitty that caused it. “18 Ways to Stop Cat Urine Odor Problems” saves you money, time and frustration by solving your cat urine odor problem - permanently.

http://www.stopcaturineodor.com

advice@stopcaturineodor.com

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