Conflicting Information on blockages/UTIs in male cats

[mibi27]

So years ago, I unfortunately dealt with having multiple male cats experience urinary blockages. Like many others, after being frustrated and upset, I came across Dr. Pierson's page on the importance of a wet food diet. I switched to an all wet food diet years back and haven't had any issues since. Meanwhile, I have friends and family who feed dry or a mix and seem to have frequent vet visits for things like UTIs.

I posted somewhere else about this and questioned why more vets weren't recommending wet food diets for male cats to reduce the chances of blockages or urinary tract issues. I was criticized harshly and told that wet food diets wouldn't prevent or even reduce the chances of blockages and that Dr. Pierson was a holistic vet. I understand that cats fed wet food diets can still block and that other issues can play a factor such as stress, but do wet food diets not reduce the chances of this in many cats? Again, I was told no.

I was also recently browsing a vet tech forum and came across this thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/VetTech/comments/1hh3k1e/tell_me_im_not_crazy/ and I was surprised to see that many were saying they feed their healthy male cats urinary diets as a preventative. "I will never own a male cat and NOT have it on a urinary diet."

 

[CORKY]

So years ago, I unfortunately dealt with having multiple male cats experience urinary blockages. Like many others, after being frustrated and upset, I came across Dr. Pierson's page on the importance of a wet food diet. I switched to an all wet food diet years back and haven't had any issues since. Meanwhile, I have friends and family who feed dry or a mix and seem to have frequent vet visits for things like UTIs.

I posted somewhere else about this and questioned why more vets weren't recommending wet food diets for male cats to reduce the chances of blockages or urinary tract issues. I was criticized harshly and told that wet food diets wouldn't prevent or even reduce the chances of blockages and that Dr. Pierson was a holistic vet. I understand that cats fed wet food diets can still block and that other issues can play a factor such as stress, but do wet food diets not reduce the chances of this in many cats? Again, I was told no.

I was also recently browsing a vet tech forum and came across this thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/VetTech/comments/1hh3k1e/tell_me_im_not_crazy/ and I was surprised to see that many were saying they feed their healthy cats urinary diets as a preventative. "I will never own a male cat and NOT have it on a urinary diet."

The food "prescribed" by vets have a great amount of carbs, cats cannot digest carbs, so complications arise, the prescribed food, is a commercially way for Vets to make a buck, and the kibbles have dyes to give color, they sit for months in a warehouse, to be packaged bugs, mice, get in the food, even before they are shelved, kibbles can cause UTI's, the purpose of wet can foods, low cabs between 0-10%, is that you are opening fresh food, most of us here in this Forum uses the Fancy Feast Pates, they are US made so they are regulated and no waste goes in the food;
clean litter ( I use Pretty Litter ) and swear by it; will keep your cat's pancreas healthy producing insulin and a good digestive track and bladder, and I never knew or have heard before that the color of a cat made a difference in an illness. hope this can help you

 

[mibi27]

The food "prescribed" by vets have a great amount of carbs, cats cannot digest carbs, so complications arise, the prescribed food, is a commercially way for Vets to make a buck, and the kibbles have dyes to give color, they sit for months in a warehouse, to be packaged bugs, mice, get in the food, even before they are shelved, kibbles can cause UTI's, the purpose of wet can foods, low cabs between 0-10%, is that you are opening fresh food, most of us here in this Forum uses the Fancy Feast Pates, they are US made so they are regulated and no waste goes in the food;
clean litter ( I use Pretty Litter ) and swear by it; will keep your cat's pancreas healthy producing insulin and a good digestive track and bladder, and I never knew or have heard before that the color of a cat made a difference in an illness. hope this can help you

Yep. I understand this, but there seems to be a lot of push back for pointing any of this out. You get accused of being a science denier and falling for misinformation.

 

[CORKY]

Yep. I understand this, but there seems to be a lot of push back for pointing any of this out. You get accused of being a science denier and falling for misinformation.

It is to the best interest for Vets not to mention any of this, a lot of the "Prescribed" foods advertised by Veterinarians, make money , commissions, a sales person sells the "prescribed" brand, Vet get commission salesperson makes commission, example, Fancy fests foods made in US regulated with no waste, or any brand like Friskies for instance low carb, is what a cat need to be healthy stay at good weight, and no illness, that does not me from saying that all cats are different and a pandoras box at times or already born with an illness, but UTI is treatable

 

[mibi27]

It is to the best interest for Vets not to mention any of this, a lot of the "Prescribed" foods advertised by Veterinarians, make money , commissions, a sales person sells the "prescribed" brand, Vet get commission salesperson makes commission, example, Fancy fests foods made in US regulated with no waste, or any brand like Friskies for instance low carb, is what a cat need to be healthy stay at good weight, and no illness, that does not me from saying that all cats are different and a pandoras box at times or already born with an illness, but UTI is treatable

Another thing I found funny was I mentioned that some vets (not all) do upsell and I was reprimanded, "I work at a vet, vets would never do that!" Meanwhile, I was doing some more browsing on the vet tech sub and I can find multiple posts complaining "I didn't get into this profession to be a salesperson!".

 

[CORKY]

Another thing I found funny was I mentioned that some vets (not all) do upsell and I was reprimanded, "I work at a vet, vets would never do that!" Meanwhile, I was doing some more browsing on the vet tech sub and I can find multiple posts complaining "I didn't get into this profession to be a salesperson!".

@Sienne and Gabby (GA)
@Bron and Sheba (GA)
I have tried to give some explanation in reference to this subject, perhaps I am not reaching reason or correct explanation, perhaps with your better knowledge, you might be able to understand her better to her concerns

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

I disagree with what Maria/Corky posted. A non-diabetic cat can eat anything. The carbs don't make a difference. It's no different from a non-diabetic human who can carb load to their heart's content. Kibble also doesn't cause UTIs. It's an issue of moisture content not the food itself. Given that I had my cats on a dry food diet before I learned the error of my ways (this was over a decade ago), I never opened a bag of kibble to find bugs, mice, or anything that suggested the food was contaminated. I don't believe that the generalization about the way food is stored is accurate.

I don't think that the issue is so much the urinary tract food as much as it is the difference between feeding a canned food vs a dry food diet to a diabetic cat. The challenge is finding a canned urinary tract food that is also low in carbs. In skimming over Dr. Lisa's food chart, it looks like most of the urinary tract foods are high in carbs. If I'm remembering correctly, her stance on UTIs involves one word -- water. Any canned food has an infinitely higher moisture content than a dry food. Due to the higher moisture content, canned food is better for a cat's kidneys as well as will help with not having stones develop since a higher fluid volume will aid in diluting the minerals that contribute to stones/crystals developing.

One other point. The amount of training is nutrition that vets receive is minimal. To be fair, it's not that different for MDs. They may be able to tell you about a limited number of things to avoid in your diet but will refer you to a nutritionist for a more comprehensive approach. I doubt that the education that vet techs get is much different especially since their training doesn't last as long as a vet's schooling. Once out of school, the only people who offer any "education" on nutrition are the food manufacturer's sales representatives who want to sell the vet prescription food. Their knowledge tends to be a bit slanted in order to get the vet to buy their product.

 

[CORKY]

I disagree with what Maria/Corky posted. A non-diabetic cat can eat anything. The carbs don't make a difference. It's no different from a non-diabetic human who can carb load to their heart's content. Kibble also doesn't cause UTIs. It's an issue of moisture content not the food itself. Given that I had my cats on a dry food diet before I learned the error of my ways (this was over a decade ago), I never opened a bag of kibble to find bugs, mice, or anything that suggested the food was contaminated. I don't believe that the generalization about the way food is stored is accurate.

I don't think that the issue is so much the urinary tract food as much as it is the difference between feeding a canned food vs a dry food diet to a diabetic cat. The challenge is finding a canned urinary tract food that is also low in carbs. In skimming over Dr. Lisa's food chart, it looks like most of the urinary tract foods are high in carbs. If I'm remembering correctly, her stance on UTIs involves one word -- water. Any canned food has an infinitely higher moisture content than a dry food. Due to the higher moisture content, canned food is better for a cat's kidneys as well as will help with not having stones develop since a higher fluid volume will aid in diluting the minerals that contribute to stones/crystals developing.

One other point. The amount of training is nutrition that vets receive is minimal. To be fair, it's not that different for MDs. They may be able to tell you about a limited number of things to avoid in your diet but will refer you to a nutritionist for a more comprehensive approach. I doubt that the education that vet techs get is much different especially since their training doesn't last as long as a vet's schooling. Once out of school, the only people who offer any "education" on nutrition are the food manufacturer's sales representatives who want to sell the vet prescription food. Their knowledge tends to be a bit slanted in order to get the vet to buy their product.

Thank you for explaining what I could not, thiscIS why I tagged you, and it seems you always disagree with what I say so you arec Here to correct ME

 

[mibi27]

I disagree with what Maria/Corky posted. A non-diabetic cat can eat anything. The carbs don't make a difference. It's no different from a non-diabetic human who can carb load to their heart's content. Kibble also doesn't cause UTIs. It's an issue of moisture content not the food itself. Given that I had my cats on a dry food diet before I learned the error of my ways (this was over a decade ago), I never opened a bag of kibble to find bugs, mice, or anything that suggested the food was contaminated. I don't believe that the generalization about the way food is stored is accurate.

I don't think that the issue is so much the urinary tract food as much as it is the difference between feeding a canned food vs a dry food diet to a diabetic cat. The challenge is finding a canned urinary tract food that is also low in carbs. In skimming over Dr. Lisa's food chart, it looks like most of the urinary tract foods are high in carbs. If I'm remembering correctly, her stance on UTIs involves one word -- water. Any canned food has an infinitely higher moisture content than a dry food. Due to the higher moisture content, canned food is better for a cat's kidneys as well as will help with not having stones develop since a higher fluid volume will aid in diluting the minerals that contribute to stones/crystals developing.

One other point. The amount of training is nutrition that vets receive is minimal. To be fair, it's not that different for MDs. They may be able to tell you about a limited number of things to avoid in your diet but will refer you to a nutritionist for a more comprehensive approach. I doubt that the education that vet techs get is much different especially since their training doesn't last as long as a vet's schooling. Once out of school, the only people who offer any "education" on nutrition are the food manufacturer's sales representatives who want to sell the vet prescription food. Their knowledge tends to be a bit slanted in order to get the vet to buy their product.

Thanks for the explanation. That is what I took from Dr. Pierson's site as well (moisture/water content is very important in a cat's diet). My initial post was sort of a vent post as well. There are some out there who are not fond of Dr. Pierson's site and claim she spreads misinformation. As a cat owner, who had two cats experience urinary blockages, if feeding wet food even slightly reduces the chances of urinary blockages, I'm going to do it, and from what I gathered from Dr. Pierson's site, cats feed all wet food diets are less likely to block (not that they won't block because other factors obviously play a role, but that it reduces the chances). If you say any of this in other places, people claim you are spreading misinformation.

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Just my personal experience, my non diabetic cat was diagnosed with idiopathic cystitis, with crystals, one week after Neko's FD diagnosis. His vet recommended the urinary foods. I tried those, but Neko kept on stealing them and they were way too high in carbs for her. I asked his vet what food would work for both, and she suggested a raw food diet. Yes, I was surprised on the suggestion! But made the switch. Later, after reading Dr. Lisa's page I found that it was low carb wet or raw, ideally low phosphorus, and lots of water. Getting the water ratio right is what made the difference for my kitty and he stopped having episodes after that. Along with support for his bladder walls and Feliways - he was a skitty kitty, semi-feral.

You probably wouldn't be surprised at the number of male cats we get here on the high carb urinary dry foods, and newly diabetic. Not saying the food caused the diabetes, but could have been the tipping point.