Urinary health – which cat food?
My 10 year old male cat had a urinary tract blockage long ago, like 8 years or so ago (crystals formed, he couldn’t pee, had to be rushed to the vet one halloween night and had a catheter stuck in him). Ever since, we’ve been feeding our cats (girl and boy) hill’s science diet prescription food that we buy from the vet. I believe it’s c/d.
I’ve noticed Purina and some other brands offer a urinary tract formula. Could we switch to this food? Is it good enough? He’s never had a recurrance of the UTD problem. It would be more convenient to be able to buy food from a pet store vs the vet, and a little cheaper too. Thanks in advance for the help.
Oh yeah, the male is neutered and always has been, if that matters 
(so is the girl)
No food that you can buy at a grocery store is of good quality. Science Diet isnt all that good either. The only reason the vet recommends it to you is because that is what is on sale on their shelves. In fact, vets get very little if any nutritional training.
UTIs come from high ash content in the food. So read the levels of ingredients and choose a food with low ash content.
I know many people that have had luck with wellness wet cat food.Dry food has to be low magnesium(sp).
I feed my boy Nutro dry and wellness wet.The more water they get the better to flush kidneys out.Wet food has about 78 % water.
Hill’s C/D is good and comes in both wet and dry.
Eukanuba Renal is also good (it’s prescription).
Royal Canin makes a urinary diet food, too.
Purina has a non-prescription urinary tract food.
The good news is that the Purina product is probably just as good as the Science Diet.
The bad news is that they’re both relatively crappy products.
The good news is that you have tons of alternatives to these two.
Here’s the thing – the best food for overall urinary health is wet. Any type of moist food – raw or commercially prepared canned food. The reason is because cats are designed to get water IN their food. As a result, they don’t drink as much water as they should. Which often leads to urinary issues. With canned food, which is around 78% moisture, they get plenty of water built in and as a result, their urine is somewhat diluted.
You’ll also find that cats eating moist food don’t drink as much water. If you don’t know that ahead of time it can seem scary but it’s quite normal.
If you get a good quality canned food, you don’t have to get one marketed for urinary health. There are many good ones to choose from. I personally am planning to switch to either By Nature Organics or Nature’s Variety Instincts.
Below are some articles on this subject, along with a link to several other good brands of food.