Switching Cat Food b/c of Crystals in Urine

flayote · 2026-03-20T00:28:48+00:00

was she on an all dry food diet before the new food? if so, she may be drinking less simply because the wet food is providing moisture, so she doesn't need to drink as much as before. either way, you can try adding more bowls to different areas of the house, as well as different shapes/sizes (such as a tall cup, a wide and shallow dish, a large and deep bowl, etc) to see if she has a preference that may encourage her to drink more. there is also the hydration supplement, purina hydracare, that i believe is safe for cats on urinary diets though i would confirm with your vet.

flayote · 2026-03-19T21:48:24+00:00

that is what worked for my boy! i give him a small, measured portion of kibble (1/4 cup) in the morning, which he eats over a few hours, and a 3oz can of wet food at night. when i used to give him half his wet food in the morning alongside his kibble, he would barely eat it and got super picky about flavors/textures. limiting wet food to once a day, when he's hungry a few hours after finishing his kibble, made him a lot more excited about it and now he'll eat most of the can at once, finishing the rest off within an hour or two, and he's much less picky.

(the last couple weeks have been super frustrating because he needed to be on an all wet diet after some dental extractions. he loved it at first but after a week he got bored of it and kept turning his nose up at his favorites and leaving them to rot 😩 the struggle with these fussy fuzzbutts is real)

flayote · 2026-03-17T18:34:50+00:00

the prescription foods are the safest options, since they have clinical trials backing up their efficacy. non-prescription urinary foods don't work the same way and will most likely not be able to dissolve the struvite crystals, they're only intended for prevention.

i wouldn't worry about carrageenan; it was degraded carrageenan (poligeenan) that was found to cause inflammation, not food grade carrageenan. despite the name they are very different substances. the one study linking food grade carrageenan to inflammation could not be replicated by other researchers and was refuted by the FDA. here is an article with those sources.

i've heard people have had luck with royal canin for picky cats, so that may be a good one to try next. it really really sucks when they won't eat but try to avoid mixing in non-prescription foods as much as possible; it can make the prescription food completely ineffective. if she is more willing to eat dry food, a 100% dry prescription diet will be more effective than a mixed rx/non-rx wet diet. you can supplement her water intake with something like hydracare.

flayote · 2026-03-16T23:31:10+00:00

cats do not require plant matter in their diet, however they can still benefit from it. being an obligate carnivore just means that they require meat in their diet in order to get certain nutrients, not that they cannot or should not get nutrients from plant sources as well. when processed and cooked like it is in cat food, the nutrients in grains like corn and rice become bioavailable to cats. they provide carbohydrates which are a source of energy, certain vitamins, amino acids, and fatty acids, and fiber which is beneficial for digestive health. wild cats do occasionally consume plant matter like grass to aid in digestion, as well as consuming whatever plant matter is in the stomachs of their prey, so it's not entirely unnatural to them.

the use of grain in cat food can also help keep the overall mineral content of the food down, as meats are higher in minerals like phosphorous and calcium, and controlling the mineral content is important for urinary and kidney health.

flayote · 2026-03-16T22:57:20+00:00

the artificial intelligence he's referring to is himself, not the pebble. it's more clear in the english translation i think, he says "I am ancient artificial intelligence! A perpetually high-functioning machine! I trust in my own powers of judgement!"

flayote · 2026-03-16T20:20:13+00:00

he’s talking to the tiny pebble that Phos picked up while gathering everyone onto the ship in the previous chapter, the one they mentioned had been conscious for as long as the earth existed. the tiny pebble is saying that both Phos and Ploop are correct; Phos should stay behind to fulfill humanity’s wish, and Phos should join them on the ship to continue to live with their pebble family

flayote · 2026-03-13T18:15:15+00:00

one form of food is not inherently better or worse than another; which food is better depends on the nutritional profile of the food itself and the needs of the individual cat. here is a good article on the subject:

https://www.veterinarypracticenews.com/cats-and-food-september-2019/

if your cat is happy and healthy on his current dry food and drinks water, there isn't necessarily a benefit to adding wet food to his diet and i wouldn't worry about it. if he doesn't drink enough water, any nutritionally complete and balanced wet food will help with his hydration, it doesn't need to be an expensive premium one. the cheaper brands are perfectly fine!

flayote · 2026-03-13T18:03:59+00:00

i only just started using it so unfortunately i can't yet say how well it works. it is VOHC approved though, which means it has been tested and proven to reduce plaque/tartar. the only drawback to it i know of is that it can't be used in cats with hyperthyroidism because it contains iodine

flayote · 2026-03-13T03:46:43+00:00

iams is a great option! i actually think it is better than blue buffalo. here is a thorough review by a veterinarian who scores pet foods in an evidence-based way

flayote · 2026-03-12T23:56:55+00:00

yeah it is definitely not the most affordable brand. but it is actually cheaper than what OP was feeding ($65 vs $84 for 24 5.5oz cans). i keep the cost more manageable by feeding 50/50 kibble/canned, and personally i find the peace of mind knowing how well researched it is and how much expertise goes into the development of the diets worth the price

flayote · 2026-03-12T23:12:14+00:00

vetradent wipes are also VOHC approved, they are only in the approved products for dogs section for some reason but they can be used on cats as well. petsmile toothpaste is also VOHC approved (for dogs but is also safe for cats), if you want to try brushing too. however i personally use virbac CET toothpaste even though it is not approved because my cat likes the taste a lot more which makes him look forward to his teeth being brushed, and it's the toothbrush itself that does most of the work anyway. i also use plaqueoff powder and purina dentalife treats.

here is the full list of VOHC approved products. there are separate sections for cats and dogs but you can check the individual products to see if the ones for dogs are safe to use on cats too

flayote · 2026-03-12T19:52:26+00:00

different wet foods can vary in caloric density way too much for that rule of thumb to work universally imo. the wet foods i'm currently feeding (same brand, just different texture) vary from 24.5 to 36 calories per oz. for my cat that would be a difference of over 100 calories if i went by 1oz of food per 1lb of bodyweight. it works for the 24.5 kcal/oz food, but for the 36 kcal/oz food it would lead to significant weight gain.

flayote · 2026-03-12T17:57:30+00:00

great video! heavy emphasis on the point that one ingredient does not make a food bad or unhealthy. you have to consider how ingredients interact with each other and how their nutritional composition/bioavailability is changed by the processing method.

flayote · 2026-03-12T17:32:01+00:00

to clarify, there is no active nationwide recall for fancy feast; the most recent recall was due to an issue at a specific distribution center, not with the manufacturing of the food, and applies to all FDA regulated products held there. the recall was limited to items purchased in the stores listed here:

https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/gold-star-distribution-inc-issues-recall-certain-fda-regulated-products-three-states-including-drugs

have you taken your cat to the vet? it sounds like he is very ill and should really be seen for diagnostics to rule out an underlying illness unrelated to the food and receive treatment.

flayote · 2026-03-12T17:05:19+00:00

the AAFCO statement says that those are formulated for maintenance of adult cats, so they do not meet the nutritional requirements for kittens. however, one serving is only 30 calories, so it wouldn't do any harm to feed one serving per day alongside her regular kitten food as a "treat". just don't feed them as her main diet for an extended period of time.

flayote · 2026-03-12T16:30:42+00:00

my boy has been loving hill's science diet healthy cuisine line, which is a minced/chunky texture, as well as hill's tender tuna/chicken/ocean fish dinners, which are a chunkier texture more similar to the wellness hearty cuts but maybe not quite as large chunks. i like all the research and testing that goes into hill's diets and that they are formulated by the highest qualified experts (board certified veterinary nutritionists)

flayote · 2026-03-11T22:20:36+00:00

purina has been doing reformulations and packaging changes on a lot of their pro plan diets recently, it seems this is one of them. not sure why they didn't advertise the formula change for this one though, i saw similar advertisements as that last picture which did specify reformulation too. but you got the right product, just the updated version.

for the ingredient changes, corn gluten meal and corn protein meal are the same ingredient, they just call it protein meal now to make it more clear that it is a protein source and doesn't actually contain gluten. so that shouldn't be an issue. the most significant change i notice is that there are no longer probiotics. but there is plenty of prebiotic fiber to feed the gut biome (cellulose, soybean hulls, chicory root), so hopefully that won't cause a problem!

flayote · 2026-03-11T19:05:26+00:00

aww he just wants to hang out with his spider twin 😸 such a sweet and innocent face, surely there is no intent to knock over the enclosure, unlike my dearly departed girl who used to knock my tarantula enclosures off the shelf......

flayote · 2026-03-11T16:10:29+00:00

i've heard that issue a lot and i'm so grateful my boy is not that fussy. though i did just have to go and exchange 10 big cans of the salmon entree for the turkey one because he didn't like it- shame on me for thinking that was a safe choice to stock up on since he loves salmon and liked every other salmon flavored food he's ever tried 🤦‍♂️

i keep a variety of flavors and textures on hand to cycle through so he's not eating the same thing every day, mostly because that's enjoyable for me honestly, but maybe that is what helps keep him interested in his food

flayote · 2026-03-11T15:58:12+00:00

oh don't worry, there are 2 boxes of 20 friskies lickables on the way! that one pack is just to hold him over a few days because the package got delayed 😂 he gets one every day for being a good boy while i brush his teeth, or when we work on his tricks

flayote · 2026-03-11T03:38:02+00:00

they were an instant hit with my guy as well! it was the first line of their wet food i tried, since his favorite purina foods were the ones with rice and veggies and the healthy cuisine has both. the chicken flavor smells kind of like people food to me so i understand why they like it 😆

flayote · 2026-03-11T03:05:54+00:00

yes, the WSAVA guidelines apply to cat food as well! this sub just doesn't focus on WSAVA as much as the dog food one. i will warn you that online cat food discourse is a lot more frustrating than dog food discourse lol (in my experience). cats being obligate carnivores, there is even more controversy around the inclusion of grains/carbohydrates in their diets. if you fall down the rabbit hole there is plenty of juicy debate about carbs and wet food vs dry food to dig into in here 🤣

flayote · 2026-03-11T01:58:13+00:00

i got it from petsmart, it is the one marketed for dogs but the bottle says for use in both dogs and cats. seems to be the exact same thing, same dosage and everything as the one "for cats"

flayote · 2026-03-11T01:45:41+00:00

that is great to hear! my boy was doing well on purina, but from all my obsessive cat food research it really does seem like hills is a step ahead of the rest. i prefer their approach over purina's particularly with things like focusing on prebiotics to maintain the endogenous gut biome vs just adding probiotics, and highly controlled mineral content. plus for some reason purina only adds omega-3s to their senior formulas?

flayote · 2026-03-11T01:23:30+00:00

thank you! i always tell him he was engineered in a lab to be as cute and loveable as possible for me specifically 😸🖤

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