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FUS/FLUTD Holistic Struvite Diet
Yes, There Possibly IS a Holistic Feline Struvite Diet Out The
Innova Cat Lite Canned I am sharing a personal "success story" that I hope will help others with similar issues. Following bladder surgery for removal of sterile (non-infected) struvites last year, my then-almost 16-year-old cat was retested about a month later and found to still be producing a "heavy" quantity of crystals in her urine with an alkaline pH of 6.5 or 7. With the goal of decreasing her magnesium and phosphorus consumption (which she apparently can't metabolize properly) and increasing her acidity (to dissolve those unmetabolized mineral crystals/stones) to ultimately spare her from suffering a recurrence of painful, bloody urination and the risk of infection or blockage, as well as to prevent the necessity for any further surgery, a diet change was advised. If possible, however, I desperately didn't want to place her on the standard recommended, commercial, prescription veterinary diet (either Science Diet or Eukanuba) - only to worry we might have been saving her in some ways while killing her in others - if we could find a viable holistic alternative (and ideally, one that I didn't have the time, knowledge or confidence to have to prepare for her...although I would have if need be). After launching an intense, frustrating search over the phone, in stores and over the Internet for the next couple of weeks, I didn't find any reliable holistic feline struvite diet options - whether already prepared or to prepare. A couple of holistic vets I contacted told me that - unfortunately - they knew of no viable holistic diet currently available for cats with this medical condition, while I got the lame, vague advice from a couple of holistic pet suppliers to just "feed fresh" or "feed raw." It discouragingly looked like there was no alternative but to soon start my poor cat on a veterinary prescription diet. Finally, on a trial basis...thanks to the open-minded and compassionate suggestion of a nonholistic veterinary nutritionist at Cornell University ("this is uncharted territory...let me know how this works out") who my own nonholistic vet had open-mindedly and compassionately suggested I contact, my cat was ultimately tapered off her old diet (a rotation of some half dozen holistic canned brands of PetGuard, Wellness, and regular Innova Cat, all containing too much potassium and magnesium) and switched to a diet of exclusively Innova Cat Lite Canned Food. This product was not developed nor marketed as a feline struvite diet (and bear in mind many that are advertised as such, aren't adequate), but the veterinary nutritionist's trial recommendation was based on a simple comparison of each manufacturer's web site listings (for example, eukanuba.com and naturapet.com), which revealed that Innova Cat Lite promised to be a compellingly better choice in several key ways: (i) beside wholesome ingredients I felt my cat and I could comfortably live with, it does not have the meat byproducts nor carcinogenic pesticide/preservative ethoxyquin astonishingly contained in the veterinary prescription struvite diet everyone is typically told to feed their cats; (ii) its listed magnesium level is even lower (e.g., Eukanuba Veterinary Diet Low pH/S: 0.024% vs. Innova Cat Lite: only 0.013%); and (iii) its listed phosphorus level is also even lower (e.g., Eukanuba Veterinary Diet Low pH/S: 0.22% vs. Innova Cat Lite: only 0.14%). Innova Cat Lite's magnesium and phosphorus levels are also far lower than a host of other commercial and holistic brands that purport to be appropriate for FLUTD (feline lower urinary tract disease) (formerly called FUS (feline urologic syndrome)) patients. The calories between Eukanuba's veterinary prescription diet and Innova Cat Lite are about the same (Eukanuba Veterinary Diet: 33 kcal/oz. vs. Innova Cat Lite: 33.3 kcal/oz.). At the veterinary nutritionist's suggestion, I also stopped periodically giving her as a treat organic aduki beans (beans tend to be alkaline and high in magnesium), as well as stopped a daily vitamin/mineral supplement (not to take any chances). We continued with free access to fresh water, of course, and a daily fish oil supplement. No supplements such as urine acidifiers (whether medical or holistic) were ever used (which I've read can sometimes compromise health in other ways such as kidney damage), although I was aware that might have been an option my vet would recommend if a diet change alone did not work out for my cat. (Fortunately, it turned out we never needed to try them.) The diet change was made in stages over a couple of weeks. Still, by the time my cat was being fed nothing but Innova Cat Lite, for a while she missed the variety she was accustomed to. To create the illusion of variety, I started routinely using different presentations of the one brand: twice a day, when she was hungriest and least finicky (i.e., when I first woke up and again as soon as I came home from work), I offered her anything leftover from the fridge in her bowl...but when she requested second or third helpings, I opened a more tempting new, room-temperature can (sometimes letting her "select" the can to open when she walked over to the cabinet), and then hand-fed her by spoon. The little bit of extra time and attention was obviously good for her psychologically, as well. Within a couple of more weeks, she adjusted to being satisfied with eating just one brand. In subsequent months, as her sense of smell has apparently diminished with her aging, I now usually offer her just room-temperature, freshly opened cans (to decrease waste and expense, I mainly use the tiny 3 oz. size cans these days, but continue the "varied presentations" (first offering part of a can in her bowl, then hand-feeding by spoon). This overall approach seems to be working for her...and I just read that recent studies suggest several smaller meals (rather than a couple of larger meals) tend to promote desirably higher acidity in cats (and therefore also promote a lower risk of developing struvites). She most relishes the shinier/moister outer edges of a freshly-opened can (again, I suspect related to her diminished sense of smell). But sometimes, she'll also enjoy the novelty of the 13 oz. size cans - beside her knowing the food comes from a different type of can, the larger cans seem to have more chunks of potato than the 3 oz. size. Perhaps I should also try the 5.5 oz. cans to further increase the "variety" she's offered. While I suspect she's on to my tricks, my dear furball indulgently humors me, and - while I wish I had another holistic brand or two available to offer her now that she's on a restricted diet - I'm grateful we have at least this one. Also, mercifully and thankfully, she likes this brand. IMPORTANT NOTE: After almost 6 weeks exclusively on Innova Cat Lite Canned, my cat returned to the vet as instructed to be retested (just as she would have if she'd been on one of the prescription diets)...this time with DRAMATICALLY gratifying results: her urine pH dropped from a more alkaline 6.5 or 7 to a healthy, acidic pH of 6.0, and her urine crystal production had changed from "heavy" to virtually "clear/none." Even both of our vets were impressed. All from a simple change in diet - and my cat was able to remain on a holistic diet (simply an alternative with sufficiently low levels of phosphorus and magnesium) without having to switch to a prescription veterinary diet - to get where she needs to be medically. Over a year later, now at age 17, she's continued on this diet and regular veterinary monitoring shows no recurrence of struvite cystitis...and I'm pleased to have finally undertaken to share our success story here for anyone else seeking a possibly effective, holistic feline struvite diet. While this brand wasn't specifically developed nor marketed for use as a feline struvite diet - and while this is merely one anecdotal story - it seems to be working at least for us...and our experience is herein offered for whatever it's worth. Of course, whatever is tried to address a medical condition (a new commercial/prescription/holistic diet, supplement, medication type/dose/combination, anything) should be regularly monitored by your veterinarian. Best of luck to you and yours, too. (posted October 2005) |
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FUS/FLUTD Holistic Struvite Diet
"dove2wings" wrote in message ups.com... Innova Cat Lite: only 0.013%); and (iii) its listed phosphorus level is also even lower (e.g., Eukanuba Veterinary Diet Low pH/S: 0.22% vs. Innova Cat Lite: only 0.14%). I think you might want to recheck your data- it might be a tad outdated. Innova Lite's phosphorus content currently weighs in at a glowing 1.61% (DMB). |
#3
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FUS/FLUTD Holistic Struvite Diet
dove2wings wrote: Cat Lite promised to be a compellingly better choice in several key ways: (i) beside wholesome ingredients I felt my cat and I could comfortably live with, it does not have the meat byproducts nor carcinogenic pesticide/preservative ethoxyquin astonishingly contained in the veterinary prescription struvite diet everyone is typically told to feed their cats; Not to start a war, but it's important to have a few facts once in awhile. Would you recommend swallowing 660 aspirin at one time, even if you normally take a couple aspirin now and then for headache? would you recommend someone ingest 660,000 IU's of vitamin E at one time? Probably not I would guess. You comments about ethoxyquin are simply nonsense. Not a single cat or dog anywhere in the world has ever been harmed by the levels of artifical antioxidants in pet foods. What you need to understand is that the vast majority of toxicity studies done on BHA, BHT and ethoxyquin were done at 1.0% of the diet. That works out to 10,000 parts per million. Most pet foods run ethoxyquin levels at 20-30 ppm. You cannot equate what happens at 10,000 parts per million and expect the same results at 20 parts per million. It's simply nonsense. Natural preservatives in pet foods are not as good at preserving fats as artifical antioxidants. They simply cannot do as good a job as the artificial ones. When it come to a therapeutic diet you must consider that you are dealing with a medically compromised animal - one which cannot take the risk of exposure to ANY levels of rancidity. Creating a therapeutic diet requires dispensing with internet nonsense and Madison Ave marketing hype that in favor of hard science. The hard science is very clear - no animal anywhere in the medical literature has ever been affected in a negative way by an artifical antioxidant. |
#4
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FUS/FLUTD Holistic Struvite Diet
dove2wings wrote: diets)...this time with DRAMATICALLY gratifying results: her urine pH dropped from a more alkaline 6.5 or 7 to a healthy, acidic pH of 6.0, For the age of this cat a urine pH of 6.0 is NOT healthy but rather dangerous. Older cats are much more prone to developing Calcium Oxalate stones - which happen to love a urine pH this acidic. Unfortunately there is no way to dissolve a CaOx stone and surgery is the only alternative. |
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