Feline Urologic Syndrome

A diet low in magnesium is a crucial component in long-term management of cats with most urinary tract disorders, and will be a major factor in preventing recurrence of your cat’s problem. The following foods have been shown to be low in magnesium. It is also extremely important that the diet, when fed free choice, will produce an acidic urine, since these struvite crystals form easily in basic urine. All of the foods below will reliably produce acidic urine, and will be low enough in magnesium to prevent this condition from recurring in almost every cat.
It is important to realize that the food in these cases is more important than any medicine we give you. The medicine is a secondary way for them to be relieved of the pain, and the bacterial infections that almost always accompany these crystals. Changing the food is a far more important thing to do to prevent this problem from recurring.
THE FOOD IS THE MEDICINE.

Hill’s Science and Prescription Diets: All Hill’s diets are low in magnesium and when free choice will
produce an acidic urine. (*With the exception of K/D, a diet for older cats
Which is lower in magnesium only*) There is no equivalent to Hill’s for safe effective diets.

S/D Diet: (*Canned or Dry. Only Available here*)
S/D is used most commonly in male cats during an episode.
Usually we give this diet for 4 - 8 weeks before switching to C/D diet for long term therapy S/D is so low in magnesium that it is deficient, but can be given safely for up to 18 months. S/D is the stone dissolving diet. It actually acts to slowly dissolve pre-existing
Crystals and small stones in the bladder and kidney areas. For it to work properly, no
other foods, or treats or milk should be given. Restricting your cat to just S/D and water is crucial.

C/D Diet: (*Canned or Dry. Only Available here*) C/D is a perfect long-term diet for the cat prone to FUS. It is very restricted in magnesium but is completely balanced. We use this
Diet for long-term maintenance of cats with this problem, and often we will put female cats on this diet
For the first 6-8 weeks after they have been diagnosed.
There are multiple flavors now of the canned C/D, making it easier to feed to your finicky cat.

Feline Maintenance Light, W/D and R/D Diets: (*Canned or Dry. Only Available here*) Since S/D and C/D are fattening. These are low calorie forms of these diets.

Iams & Eukanuba Cat Food: (*Canned or Dry*) All Iams/Eukanuba flavors are magnesium restricted,
And produce acidic urine.

Urinary Low pH formula: (*Canned or Dry: Only Available here*)
For cats that have struvite crystals, that don’t like C/D. This food has been proven
Effective in preventing crystals.

Multi-Stage Renal & Low Residue Feline: (*Only Available Here*)
Although these are for different disorders, they are safe for cats that have this problem.

Waltham Diets: (*Canned and Dry Medical Diets. Available Here*)

S/O Control pHormula for Cats: (*Canned & Dry available here*)
S/O is a special food designed to control the formation of Struvite crystals as well as the formation of a second type of crystal made of calcium. Its safe for either condition, and for cats that won’t eat C/D or S/D a good substitute. Some cats that are prone to both types of crystals will get this food first.

Purina Pro-Plan, Purina CNM: (*Canned or Dry*) Are very safe. CNM is an analog of C/D.
DO NOT confuse these foods with kitten chow or cat chow which are not considered
to be safe for cats with this problem.

How I evaluate other foods that are supposed to be safe for cats with this condition

There are thousands of other brands of cat foods, many of these advertise that they are safe for cats that are prone to these conditions. While Nutramax, Neura, and others may be safe, enough independent data has not been collected to assure you of this fact. Similarly, Purina Special Care and Alpo Urinary pH formula advertise that they are safe, and their data backs up a claim of low magnesium and acidic urine. Despite this, I have seen a number of cats come in sick again, after being put on these supposedly safe diets. Since a sick male cat can run up a $300 medical bill very quickly, the increased cost of the quality foods listed above more than pays for itself in lower vet bills.

I think that the major problem with the Purina and Alpo diets is quality control. Hill’s, Waltham, Eukanuba & Iams work very hard to maintain an exacting, precise and consistent formula. This is untrue of many of the others.

Foods that can be counted on to cause this condition, and which come up time and time again in cats that first show signs of this problem include, CRAVE, MEOW MIX, CHEF’S BLEND and all Generic cat foods. Second in frequency are foods like 9 Lives, Cat Chow and Friskies.

Additional steps which may be helpful in treating your pet

In addition to these dietary changes, some other changes can be made in your household to discourage another flare up of this condition. 1) Always allow access to clean fresh water.
Filtered or Distilled water is likely to have fewer minerals in it. Some brands of Spring water may still have unsafe levels of minerals in them. Cold water is more readily drank than warm water. Lightly salting food (with ordinary table salt) to increase water consumption.
2) Change the litter box often. Multiple litter boxes encourage increased urination.
3) Encourage exercise and prevent (or treat) obesity. Active cats drink more water. Thinner cats drink more water per pound that chubby cats do, the more water that cats drink the more dilute their urine will be and the more likely crystals are to dissolve.

What We Recommend for Your Cat

Diet: For the first 6-8 weeks it is very important that your cat eat _______________ only. If they refuse to eat this food,
Contact us and we may be able to suggest a substitute. All of these foods have a 100% money back guarantee, so if
You need to switch foods around. The company will offer you a full refund.

Diet (part II): After the initial 6-8 weeks we suggest you switch your cat to ____________________. Once again, if your cat refuses this food, we may be able to suggest other foods to you depending on your cat’s individual condition.

Water Source: Distilled or Filtered Water is best

Outdoor Cats: Controlling the diet is the most important thing to do to keep your cat safe. If your cat is an outdoor cat we suggest you change that. He may be eating unsafe foods outside without your knowledge. Lots of people feed outdoor cats, and “strays”.

Morris the cat had this condition and was unable to eat his own 9 Lives (He ate Hill’s C/D)