High Protein Diets for one Cat with FLUTD & another with Obesity

Cat with Different Needs Should have Individual Diets to Manage their Individual Health

Question:

I live with 3 cats: a 7-year old spayed female with a tendency to UTIs, a 5-year old spayed female who is, at 18.5 lbs, grossly obese, and a relatively normal 2-year old neutered male. The most pressing question is how to help Calypso, my obese cat, lose weight. I’m hearing great things about canned kitten food, but isn’t the protein content too high for Jubilee, the cat with urinary tract problems?

Dr. Nichol:

You’re right to be concerned. Jubilee’s bladder pain is miserable and Calypso’s obesity puts her at risk of diabetes, liver disease, and degenerative arthritis. Feed your cats the right diets and they will live long and prosper.

Those bladder problems, known as feline lower urinary tract disease (FLUTD), cause blood in the urine and straining. A diagnostic evaluation is the only way to choose the correct treatment and prescription diet for Jubilee. That kitty needs a urinalysis and x-rays to rule out crystals and stones. A blood profile is also important to reveal possible kidney damage, which could make a high protein diet dangerous. It’s important for you to get this under control soon. Cats with recurrent FLUTD can get permanent changes in the bladder wall or even urinary blockage (quite dangerous and possibly fatal).

Calypso, your chunky monkey, needs a high protein, low fat, low carbohydrate diet just like most normal cats. Most diets miss the mark. High quality (translation: not low price) canned kitten food is just about perfect for most healthy cats of any age. Or your veterinarian can provide you with Hill’s prescription diet m/d to help reduce Calypso’s weight and keep your male cat in good health. Dry or canned, m/d may be the best thing for cats since sliced bread-except that bread is high in carbs and we don’t feed that to our cats now, do we?