Has your cat been diagnosed with urolithiasis? Prepare for frequent appointments with your veterinarian, monitoring your pet's lifestyle, and even surgery. The doctor will suggest the exact treatment algorithm, and you, on your part, can help the pet by properly organizing its diet.
Instructions
Step 1
Discuss the animal's diet with your doctor. Most veterinarians will recommend starting to feed your cat a balanced, ready-to-eat food. At home, you are unlikely to be able to prepare nutritious food, but not overloading your pet's already damaged urinary system.
Step 2
The choice of food for cats suffering from urolithiasis depends on the type of urolate formations (stones). The most common are struvite and oxalates. The nature of their occurrence is different, which means that prevention will be different. Check what types of stones your cat has.
Step 3
There is no universal “anti-urolithiasis diet” - choosing a good food aimed at preventing struvite formation will damage a cat with a predisposition to the formation of oxalates. If in doubt, check with your veterinarian.
Step 4
Ask your doctor to recommend a specific type of food. Buy it in a small package - it is possible that your cat will not like this particular brand. Get ready for the food you need to be quite expensive - only premium brands have medicinal lines. In addition, they will most likely have to be bought in veterinary pharmacies - ordinary pet stores and supermarkets do not sell medicinal feeds.
Step 5
It is better to start with wet food in bags and jars - cats like them better. However, it is worth choosing a suitable dry option in granules. When choosing food, be sure to read the annotations on the packages - it indicates for which type of urolithiasis a particular type of granules or canned food is intended.
Step 6
The feed intake is indicated on the package. Try not to overfeed the animal - in its condition it is harmful. Provide the cat with fresh water, change it daily. Do not give the cat food from the table, exclude purchased "goodies" for animals. Use the same medicated food to reward your pet.
Step 7
It is possible that eating without any problems, one day your cat will suddenly refuse to eat. Skipping food once is not a problem. Offer your pet a different type of food, replacing, for example, canned food with "drying". Or try to find a product from another manufacturer. Changing brands is safe for the animal. The main thing is to choose food, on the packaging of which the diagnosis of your animal is clearly indicated.
Step 8
Keep in mind that with urolithiasis, the diet is prescribed for life. Even if your cat's test results have improved, do not transfer him to a regular table or economy class food. The disease may return. According to veterinarians, more than 50% of recurrences of urolithiasis are caused precisely by non-compliance with the prescribed diet.
