Prevent Feline UTI With a Canned Cat Food Diet (Part II)

Feline UTI can be Fatal. If you suspect your cat has feline UTI seek proper medical advice. Visit http://www.any-uk-vet.co.uk/ to help locate a vet in your area.

Prevent Feline UTI With a Canned Cat Food Diet (Part II)
 by: Nancy E. Wigal

Last week I wrote about the benefits of transitioning your cat to a raw food diet to stop feline urinary tract infections. As I also noted, some cats just won't eat raw food. Part II gives you information about the more common diet alternative - canned cat food.

Many experts recommend you feed your kitty canned food almost exclusively to keep feline urinary tract infections from recurring. More moisture in kitty's diet means better flushing capability by urinating more often, in larger amounts. Crystals can be flushed out of the cat when they are too small to do damage. This is critical to prevent cat urinary tract infections from happening again.

Since cats don't lap up water like other animals, the moisture content in canned foods will offset this. Raw food (raw meat) diets also provide most of the moisture content cats need to stay healthy.

There are many different types of cat food you can purchase. It can be confusing. However, with a little bit of knowledge, you can easily determine what is best to feed kitty to keep cat urinary tract infections from happening again.

But don't go rushing out and purchase tuna in spring water for kitty! There are several key ingredients you need to look for in canned cat food to prevent a feline UTI. Not just any kind will keep your cat's urinary tract healthy.

Let's go over them in a little bit of detail.

Meat or meat by-products?

When assessing the best canned cat food for your kitty, the first ingredientshould always be meat. Not meat by-products, and not chicken meal, or similaringredients. Cats are pure carnivores, and they must have a very high proteindiet to stay healthy. By-products are junk for a cat.
Look for chicken, beef, lamb, turkey and duck. Many experts believe fishcontributes to feline urinary tract infections, so it's best to avoid theseafood choices you'll find.

Rice and wheat:

These are fine, as long as they are high quality brown rice and wheat. However,if one of these is listed first, I'd put that can back on the shelf and wouldcontinue my search.

DL-Methionine:

DL-Methionine is an ingredient in both dry and canned cat foods. It's an aminoacid that helps restore the urine pH balance back to 6.0 - 6.8. Read the fineprint to see if it's an ingredient. If you don't see DL-Methionine listed,don't worry. You can add it to your cat's food in powdered form.

Magnesium:

Magnesium is believed to contribute to crystal formation in a cat's urinarytract infection. Look for canned cat food that lists the level. The magnesiumlevel should not be higher than 0.1%, and no less than .025% in any cat foodyou purchase.

Cranberries and blueberries:

Although cats are carnivores, berries are a great ingredient to promote goodurinary tract health. High quality canned cat food should contain either one ofthese, or both.

Vegetables:

I know I stated cats are carnivores. If vegetables are listed, and they're fardown the list, that's fine. Typically you'll find carrots, peas, squash andcorn.

Armed with this knowledge, you're now able to hit the pet food stores and easily analyze the label information on different kinds of canned cat food. Remember, anytime you're thinking about changing your cat's diet, please consult with your vet on the best way to make this transition. Cats are not partial to changes, and a radical diet transformation done overnight is not good for your cat.

If you'd like to read Part I, please contact me at my website.

Good luck in your search for high quality canned cat food that will keep those pesky feline UTIs from happening again!

About The Author
Nancy E. Wigal stopped the cat urine odor problem at her home, and kept the kitty that caused it. "18 Ways to Stop Cat Urine Odor Problems" saves you money, time and frustration by solving your cat urine odor problem - permanently.
http://www.stopcaturineodor.com