Hills Science Diet Adult Urinary Hairball Control Dry Food
Again, with this dry variation of the Hills Science Diet Urinary & Hairball cat food, you get much of the same benefits as with the Royal Canin.
You get more for your money, a longer lasting product, and the same nutritional value. Its down to you to ensure your cat has a constant supply of fresh water and that theyre drinking it, something which some owners find hard to accomplish.
With Hills dry cat food, you get a considerable amount more for your money than you do with the Royal Canin, but the reasons are much the same as they are for the wet foods reviewed above.
You still get the same increase in fiber content that the wet food offers, and an optimal level of magnesium to help correct any imbalance in your cats urine pH levels.
As with all Hills products, there are no artificial colors or preservatives, just healthy natural ingredients with added vitamins, minerals and amino acids .
Its one of the best dry cat foods out there, and the added benefits of dissolving urinary crystals and hairball reduction make it a food worth trying for any loving owner.
How Much Does Hills Cat Food Cost
Of course, this is one of the most important questions about the Hills Cat Food brand. This pet food brands cost ranges from moderately priced to expensive. The total costs you would incur to feed your pet daily will also depend on their weight. For instance, if your feline weighs 10lbs, it will cost roughly $3.00 to feed them per day using the Hills Prescription Diet c/d canned food.
It will cost more if it is the Hills Ideal Balance canned food as the bill will rise to $3.63 daily. However, as with most cat food brands, dry food products from Hills are less expensive. For instance, feeding your cat with a prescription food kibble will cost around $0.50 per day.
What Causes Urinary Tract Disease
FLUTD is a multifactor disease. There is no single cause of feline urinary tract disease. Veterinarians do recognize that there are components that may contribute to the prevalence of the disease. For more detailed information, always contact your veterinarian. Risk factors include the following:
- Cats more than 1 year of age are most susceptible.
- Overweight cats, lack of exercise.
- History of chronic kidney disease or urinary tract procedures.
- Both male and females cats get the disease with equal frequency, but neutered male cats have a greater risk of life-threatening urethral obstruction from the crystals or stones.
Nutritional Risks: You already know that the food you feed your cat is extremely important to her overall health. But feeding the wrong food can contribute to the development of a urinary tract disease . With FLUTD, crystals or stones form within the urinary tract and cause irritation, pain and possibly blockage. In severe cases, this can lead to kidney damage or may even be fatal if not properly treated.
- An abundance of certain minerals such as calcium, phosphorus and magnesium — often found in grocery store brand cat food — can cause crystals to form in the urine, which sometimes leads to urinary stones.
- Food influences the pH, or acidity, of urine. Urine should be moderately acidic for a healthy urinary tract because its harder for struvite crystals to grow in an acidic environment
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Best Custom Cat Food For Urinary Health
Best custom cat food for urinary health: Just Food for Cats.
Why?
- Formulated for your cats specific needs
- Veterinarians and formulators on staff
- Premade and shipped to you or DIY option
Just Food for Cats will work with you and your cats doctor to come up with a food that works for your cats individual needs.
Consider the natural remedies below as well .
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X85g Ur Urinary Salmon Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diets Wet Cat Food
Dietetic wet food with salmon for adult cats that helps to prevent and dissolve urinary stones. High in fibre and an adjusted calorie content to keep your cat healthy.further information
- Product description
Dietetic wet food with salmon for adult cats that helps to prevent and dissolve urinary stones. High in fibre and an adjusted calorie content to keep your cat healthy.
Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diets Feline UR ST/OX Urinary Purina Veterinary Diets Feline UR Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diets Feline UR Urinary Salmon at a glance:
- Dietetic wet food for adults cat
- Helps to prevent urinary tract diseases and and dissolve urinary stones.
- Low magnesium content: can help aid the dissolution of struvite stones and prevent the formation of new struvite stones and oxalate crystals
- Adapted calorie content: can help to maintain a healthy weight
- With tasty salmon: tender chunks in gravy for high acceptance
- Practical packaging: 10 x 85g pouches
Contraindications:
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Hills Prescription Diet Urinary Care Canned Cat Food
The Hills Prescription Diet Urinary Care Canned Cat Food is a decent option for those cats with urinary tract problems. It does require a prescription, so it is only for felines that need serious help keeping their urinary tract in check. It promotes a healthy pH to prevent infections and stones. It also has reduced levels of multiple minerals, including magnesium, calcium, and phosphorus. It can even dissolve some stones in as little as 7 days and reduce the formation of other stones.
Enriched antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids are included. These may help support your felines immune system and prevent further problems from developing. Both these ingredients are thought to reduce inflammation, which does play a role in urinary tract problems. It can be fed for the long term, unlike other urinary medications.
The ingredients are good, though they could be better. It includes pork by-products as the first ingredient. This is decent quality, but it isnt the best option out there. By-products can include nutritious organ meats that people typically wouldnt consume or include nutrition-less feathers and similar parts.
Other ingredients are included, such as pork liver and chicken. Some grains and low-quality plants are added, such as brewers rice, corn starch, and soybean meal. Some of these add extra protein to the food, though it is lower-quality protein because it comes from plant sources.
- A bit expensive
Struvite Stones In Felines
These are microscopic urinary crystals found in a cats urine. They are a combination of ammonium, magnesium, and phosphate. At low levels, their presence can be regular. However, they form stones or grit in the bladder, kidney, or urethra, becoming a severe problem.
Sometimes these stones can be dissolved or flushed out.
They can cause inflammation and pain in the best of cases, but they can also cause a life-threatening urinary blockage in the worst.
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How Proper Nutrition Can Help Prevent And Treat Urinary Tract Disease In Your Cat
While it is often hard to imagine, our modern housecats are the descendants of desert felines, who lived in places where water was scarce. As a result, they evolved to get most of their hydration from their prey and did not rely on a separate water source. These felines ate small prey like mice, which are high in protein and moisture, and low in carbohydrates. The only carbohydrates that a cat ate in the wild is whatever was in their preys stomach.
Cats evolved like this for tens of thousands of years until the last 50-100 years or so, when we started keeping cats indoors and feeding them commercial pet foods. While the lifestyles of cats changed drastically in a short period of time, however, their biology has not.
When you take a look at modern cat food, it is often dry kibbles that are high in carbohydrates, low to moderate in protein, and void of any moisture, the exact opposite of cats natural diets. Not only do these foods fail to add any hydration to your pets bodies, but they require water from the body to process. This causes many housecats to live for years in a chronically dehydrated state.
There is a misnomer that cats with kidney issues need a low-protein food. This is only true when the proteins you are feeding are of inferior quality, such as by-products or plant-based proteins, which are hard for the kidneys to process. In reality, cats with kidney disease can often process moderate amounts of high quality proteins with ease.
Feeding Only Dry Food Makes Cats Prone To Urinary Issues
This was the most shocking revelation for me, as Ziggy had been eating a high-end dry food exclusively since he was a kitten with no problems. But ultimately, I was dehydrating Ziggy, which made his urine more concentrated and less likely to be able to flush out the crystals that caused his blockage. Our domestic kitties wild ancestors consumed most of their necessary water through eating meat. Mimicking that style of diet through feeding wet or even raw food will help ensure that your cat is well-hydrated enough to keep urinary problems at bay. I mention this first because I have learned that ensuring your cat is fed a healthy, species-appropriate diet is the most important preventative measure against FLUTD. Ziggy was prescribed a special wet food that keeps the pH of his urine acidic, which prevents harmful crystals from forming.
Of course, its also important to make sure the water youre giving your cat is appropriate as well. That means no unfiltered tap water, especially if you live in an area with hard water, like we do. Encouraging your cat to drink more water by introducing a water fountain, multiple sources of water, and adding a bit of extra water to their food are all good ways to ensure they are hydrated and their urine is dilute.
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Changing The Ph Of The Urinary Tract
Oxalate and struvite crystals form relatively quickly when the urine becomes either too acidic or too alkaline.
The optimal pH in your felines lower urinary tract should be between 6.2 and 6.6. Oxalate crystals can form if the pH strays below this because the urine is too acidic. Struvite crystals tend to appear when the pH is 6.8 or more.
Healthy feline nutrition, consisting of a high animal protein content, few carbs, and high moisture levels, can help maintain the cats urinary tract within the correct pH range.
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Top 6 Best Cat Foods For Hyperthyroidism
Because theyre typically lower in carbohydrates, usually contain higher-quality protein, and are more hydrating than dry foods, all but one of the products on the following list are wet cat foods Hills Prescription y/d dry cat food is the only dry cat food that made our list.
With the exception of the Hills prescription diet, these are not treatments for hyperthyroidism. Instead, they contain high levels of highly-digestible protein to maintain and restore lean muscle mass. These foods should accompany curative treatment.
If your cat has any concurrent diseases that demand a special diet, consider those needs first and talk to your veterinarian to find a food that encourages all-around good health.
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What To Consider In A Cat Food For Urinary Tract Health
Plan to carefully read labels when deciding which brand is right for your cat. First, pet parents should work with their veterinarian on what their cat specifically needs, says Dr. Bernal. A veterinarian will be able to provide the key attributes that the cat parent should look for to support their cats urinary tract health.
Best For Renal Support: Wet Cat Food Kidney Renal Actiwet With Lamb
Kidney problems and urinary problems often go hand in hand- and if that is the case for your pet, youll have to pay special attention to their diet. Wet Cat Food Kidney RENAL ACTIWET is formulated to suit low protein, phosphorous, and sodium diets such and it uses only natural and GMO-free ingredients. Made from salmon, chicken liver, and pasture-raised New Zealand lamb and enriched with healing herbs such as cranberries and dandelion root to help urinary issues and promote diuretic action, and dried clover for purification of the urinary system. As a result, this wet cat food supports the urinary, renal, and cardiac health of felines. Of course, it goes without saying- no food is enough of a medicine on its own, so please consult with a veterinarian to get tailored advice on your pets diet and therapy.
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Why Are Cats Recommended Hills Science Diet C/d Royal Canin Urinary So Or Other Urinary Prescription Diets
Cats suffering from FLUTD are commonly recommended Hills C/D but what makes things confusing is that FLUTD is a generic term that describes several different disorders. Some of these disorders are absolute emergencies and others cause discomfort over time but arent immediately life-threatening.
Many of these conditions are also closely related. For example, bladder stones are part of the FLUTD definition and while they may pass or even dissolve on their own they can also cause urethral blockages.
While FLUTD can certainly be confusing, the most common reason for a C/D recommendation are crystals in the urine. Because of a pH imbalance in a cats urines, crystals are able to accumulate and eventually form a stone. There are two commons types of crystals : struvite and calcium oxalate.
VCA Hospitals explains that both of these crystals are normal to find in cat urine but In some pets, however, these struvite crystals come together to form an actual stone within the urinary tract. These stones can irritate the urinary tract and have the potential to cause urinary obstruction.
While this may seem like too much detail, its critical to understand why cats are recommended Hills C/D before we can figure out how to find an appropriate urinary diet.
How To Care For Your Cat With A Bladder Problem
Urinary issues can be a common occurrence in cats over the course of their lifetime. For this reason, it is a good idea to pay special attention to your cats urinary health. Proactive measures to support urinary health can include nutrition and environmental modification to ensure that your cats basic physical and behavioral needs are met. If urinary issues arise, partnering with your veterinarian for diagnosis and management can help promote the best possible outcome for your cat.
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The 7 Best Cat Foods For Urinary Tract Health In 2022
Keep your cat’s urinary issues at bay with Evanger’s EVx Restricted
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The Spruce Pets / Peter Ardito
Many house cats struggle with a variety of conditions that affect their bladder and/or urethra, broadly known as urinary tract health. This can present as difficulty and pain when urinating, increased frequency of urination and/or blood in the urine. Cats may urinate outside the litter box, in corners, a sink, or a bathtub. While these issues can occur at any age, it is often seen in middle-aged, overweight cats that dont get enough exercise.
A cats diet can contribute to urinary pH imbalance or help improve it. Diets can vary in how they support urinary tract health, but its important to look for restricted amounts of minerals, such as magnesium and phosphorus, which can contribute to the development of urinary crystal and stone formation, explains Dr. Danielle Bernal, Global Veterinarian with Wellness Natural Pet Food. The crystals cause painful urination and the stones are painful to pass. They may cause urinary tract infections, blockages, or kidney problems.
Below are a few of the best urinary tract health cat foods available today.
How Do Cat Urinary System Work
The bladder is a triangle-shaped, hollow organ is located in the lower abdomen. It is held in place by ligaments that are attached to other organs and the pelvic bones. The bladders walls relax and expand to store urine and contract and flatten to empty urine through the urethra.
It gets rid of the waste products that are created when food is transformed into energy. It also maintains the correct balance of water and electrolytes needed for the bodys cells.
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My Cat Has A Bladder Problem What Do I Do
There are several signs that a cat may have a bladder or urinary problem.
They may be peeing outside the litter box, peeing more frequently, straining, or vocalizing in the litter box. Another sign of a urinary or bladder problem is blood in their urine. You may also notice behavioral changes like increased vocalization, hiding, avoidance, or aggression, which may be a sign that theyre in pain or feeling anxious.
If you recognize any of these signs, contact your vet immediately. Cat urinary problems can be serious, and if a cat has a blockage thats preventing it from urinating, it could be a medical emergency.
For more detailed information, visit our urinary signs and symptoms page.
Top 10 Best Non Prescription Wet Cat Food For Cats With Urinary Crystals In 2022
With an increasing number of options on the market, its becoming harder to sort through the noise and find the best Non Prescription Wet Cat Food For Cats With Urinary Crystals that suits your particular needs.
Thats why were here to assist you in picking the best Non Prescription Wet Cat Food For Cats With Urinary Crystals . We have gone through the difficult process of evaluating every product in detail to find the best one. Whether youre buying for the first time or looking for an upgrade. Brace yourself for everything you need to know about buying the best product available.
So Without further ado, lets jump right in!
Here is our Top 10 Recommendations!
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