Suddenly, without warning, jamina1 exclaimed (3/2/2010 6:51 PM):
Vet said pet fountain - both my cats drink copious amounts of water,
I'm not concerned about that by any means.

Wet food would be one hell of a slog - he won't touch the stuff.
Additionally I work all day and I hate leaving wet food down because
they won't eat it all and it dries out and its a waste. I work 9-5 and
I purchased an automatic feeder so I could feed them smaller portions
less often - can't do that with wet food. The boy with the urine
problems currently weighs 20 pounds. Needs to be closer to 10.

Royal Canin and Science diet are CRAP. I refuse to feed it to him. I
have to find a natural alternative - he needs meat, not chemically
processed stuff flavored to taste like meat. I know Wellness makes
urinary formula and I currently have him eating Wysong. I know the dry
isn't helping but he drinks plenty.

I'm going to try apple cider vinegar and cranberry supplement. I'll
try the glucosamine - I remember that I tried that with my girl cat
who had frequent problems, she just refused to eat the treats.

My parents had a cat that had a penilectomy, so I'm familiar with it.
I hope it doesn't get that far because I can't afford a surgery. And
it would be such a STUPID thing to lose a cat over something as
trivial as this, and not fair at all. Its almost a year to the day I
had to let Sylvanas go because of liver failure and I couldn't afford
to save her.

It was a hard slog going to wet for Meep as well, but necessary for her
continued health. Like I said it took close to four years to convince
her I wasn't going to give up. Adding a little water keeps the wet
stuff fresh for quite a while. I'm out of the house for 12 hours
(compressed sched) and I still manage to feed her wet. I was never able
to convince her to eat it when I set it down, so the added water keeps
it fresh enough for her to nibble throughout the day.

I have a two-meal feeder that has a tray for ice underneath, so if I
leave her overnight she can still get her wet food. It works well.
She's being fed a mix of brands, including Wellness, Max Cat and others.

It was not easy changing her diet, but for me and Meep, well worth the
effort. She's 14 now and very healthy for her age. Her coat went from
staring and flakey on the dry to shiny and soft.

The glucosamine I use for Meep is a liver-flavored powder, she loves it.

Good luck with your cat!

jmc