My 6 yr. old male, indoor, rescued cat Ginger recently had surgery where they removed several calcium oxalate stones from the bladder. Also, in analysis (at another Vet's Hospital) they found struvites. Complicated story as he was taken out of that hospital as my poor kitty was suffering for one month with blood in the urine... but now, all is well, he is recovered and doing great. This is my dilemma: He has been on holistic foods since a kitten. The Vet said that the formation of these large calcium oxalate stones could be "genetic disposition", and 35% chance it will reoccur. He has suggested the "Special Medical Formula " foods that they sell at their hospital and not available in stores: Purina ST/OX, MEDI-CAL Mature formula, Royal Canin etc. etc. Ginger has "eating disorders" i.e. he is also a very very finicky eater, and vomits very very easily. Over the years I have had to go through NUMEROUS brands of foods to get him to eat. The solution so far has been to feed him smaller meals, throughout the day, and cross my fingers! He also refuses canned foods, and will not eat just dry kibble, so I have experimented and experimented (with frustration over the years!) and finally have come to my own "recipe" of first soaking the kibble in very hot (filtered, non chlorine:(! ) water (as he does not chew and just swallowing dry kibble makes him vomit immediately!).. and cooling it down for a few minutes, and then feeding it to him... so thank goodness, this works, plus the benefit of him getting some more water is positive! Also, he refuses to eat these "special urinary special vet formula" foods, so I have had to place some of the old favourite holistic kibble into the food, to entice him. Right now I have him recovered, happy, and healthy, on a mixture of Purina ST/OX, Medi-Cal Mature Formula (both from, the Vet), and Fromm Chicken a La Veg - this one being the only "holistic" one. Does anyone know of any holistic foods that I can give him as I would like to get him off the Vet food asap. I do not feel that they are so healthy, i.e. the first ingredient in the Purina ST/OX is: CORN GLUTEN MEAL :( plus "animal digest, and animal fat preserved" (with what yikes! :(! ) I do not trust many of these pet food companies, ESPECIALLY WITH WHAT IS GOING ON NOW - OUR PETS ARE DYING FROM WHAT THEY ARE PUTTING IN THEIR FORMULAS:(!! ) I am much more comfortable with "alternative, holistic, organic-type, pet foods!
Any information, advice, suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!^.. ^ :confused:

Eagle Pack Pet Foods, Inc. (http://www.eaglepack.com)

Try these people for holistic cat food. Someone asked me the other day for this information.

It is difficult at times to train a cat to drink water. Most people put food down but don't think that the cat may need water, for some reason, odd. My cat drinks a lot of water because I know the benefits are absolutely no urinary tract infections, or bladder infections. Cats are prone to both, as well as kidney disease.

This is not really what I am asking in my question.
Eagle Pack is just another company that sells holistic type pet foods.
Also, my cat did not ever have any infections.

Thank you anyway.


Eagle Pack Pet Foods, Inc. (http://www.eaglepack.com)

Try these people for holistic cat food. Someone asked me the other day for this information.

It is difficult at times to train a cat to drink water. Most people put food down but dont think that the cat may need water, for some reason, odd. My cat drinks a lot of water because I know the benefits are absolutely no urinary tract infections, or bladder infections. Cats are prone to both, as well as kidney disease.

Go to thewholedogjournal.com they rate pet foods.. and why they choose the good ones... like using whole grains or no grain foods, human grade meats etc. Then they teach you how to read the back of food labels.
Try brands like Wellness, Innova, Natures Veriety- Instinct, Acanna, Solid Gold. Also find a holistic veternary, the most natural approch. Also there is a product called Enzymes pH. It restores the ph balance in your pet, because dry foods changes the ph balance in your pet. So the more moisture the better like adding water to the food, cans or going striaght to raw foods. Do not mix raw food and kibble! It takes 10 - 12 hours for kibble to digest and 3-5 for raw. So if you mix then the raw would be held in the stomach for a longer period creating more bacteria holding it in the system.
But you can add canned foods to kibble if you don't want to do the raw diet, to keep the moisture levels up. Look at the ingredients and look for the most simple ingredients, look online for the definitions of food ingredients. And a good book to read is Food Pets Die For and it talks about what really is in pet foods and it is very well documented where she gets her information.

Go to thewholedogjournal.com they rate pet foods.. and why they choose the good ones... like using whole grains or no grain foods, human grade meats etc. Then they teach you how to read the back of food labels.
Try brands like Wellness, Innova, Natures Veriety- Instinct, Acanna, Solid Gold. Also find a holistic veternary, the most natural approch. Also there is a product called Enzymes pH. It restores the ph balance in your pet, because dry foods changes the ph balance in your pet. So the more moisture the better like adding water to the food, cans or going striaght to raw foods. Do not mix raw food and kibble! It takes 10 - 12 hours for kibble to digest and 3-5 for raw. So if you mix then the raw would be held in the stomach for a longer period creating more bacteria holding it in the system.
But you can add canned foods to kibble if you don't want to do the raw diet, to keep the moisture levels up. Look at the ingredients and look for the most simple ingredients, look online for the definitions of food ingredients. And a good book to read is Food Pets Die For and it talks about what really is in pet foods and it is very well documented where she gets her information.

In a case like this I wouldn't fix what isn't broken and keep him what he is on now - those diets are very good at keeping stones away, and the mixture you have now should work.

HOWEVER, I'll try to find some information for you.
http://www.spiritessence.com/index.php?action=library&act=show&item=urinarytractdisordersincats is a good place to start.

This is an old thread from 2007, I doubt the OP will back to check.

Tick

Honestly... I can't figure out why people go back two years and post a reply to a thread. :mad:

Guess I should pay attention to dates. :P

It's easy to miss, though, when someone else drags the thread back up.

Though the original poster knew what she was talking about with the prescription foods being garbage.