Paging catsmom - need alternative to c-d diet (feline, kidney, drinks)

[catfancier]

Hello to catsmom and anyone else who can chime in....

I saw this post from catsmom on an older thread:

"My struvite kitty was on the Hills c/d kibble for 6 1/2 years. While she liked other canned foods, they didn't like her, and she hated the c/d "prescription" canned. When it became obvious that the food was making her sicker in other ways, with constant regurgitation, constipation, dull heavily shedding coat, no energy, I knew I had to get her off it, for good."

I have a boy kitty, former stray, FIV-positive, who has been inside with me about a year and a half.
About 5 months ago one morning Boots appeared to be having trouble urinating -- he went from one litter box to the other, scratching and crying -- so I flew over to a new vet (the angels were with me even in getting him into the carrier!) and he spent the day there. They were thinking UTI and while he was not "obstructed" that it was good I brought him in. (Final invoice Report said in part: "bladder not enlarged....no uroliths seen in urinary bladder or urethra." In a phone chat with a vet student she did say he had "mucus and debris in his penis." The report also said "feed him a strict diet of hill's feline C-D canned and dry food for the rest of his life. This will acidify his urine and decrease the risk of UTI and struvite stone formation."
I have bought the C-D ever since. I feed him separately from my two girls, about 8 years old. My boycat is "between 3 and 5" according to the original vet who neutered him, fixed him up from the abscess on his leg and ear infection, pulled 3 teeth...he was a mess. Not that he was ever skinny -- he weighed over 16 pounds when I took him in and he's about 19 now. He's a big guy -- sort of built like a Maine Coon. I figure he had a girl in every port who he had charmed into feeding him.

Anyway, getting back on track here -- lately he really does not want to eat the C-D wet... he'll maybe take a bite then wolf down the dry. As far as I know there are only 2 canned flavors -- seafood and chicken -- and he has gotten less and less interested in it. He does seem to like the dry...but I'm getting a little freaked out reading all the indictments against dry food. (My other cats get Fancy Feast (not great I know -- but they walk away from all the "better" canned!) and right now, the girls also get Blue Buffalo "Freedom" dry. I have always tried to offer both wet and dry food to my cats. I once had a vet who said dry did help keep tartar off their teeth, so I know there can be disagreements on this. Per the opening quote I pasted from catsmom, he does NOT have regurgitation, or constipation... his coat is fairly shiny (he's a long hair and it does get in knots in places). He's not super active running around, but I think that's his normal.

So the short question is: what else can I try to feed him?? He will drink -- I have seen him taking good long drinks at the water bowl (also saw elsewhere I should be doing distilled water???) ... I will take a look at Dr. Pierson's site but I was looking to cut to the chase...and as mentioned above, if it matters, he has FIV. I believe they should get "high protein" ...

Many thanks for all input on behalf of my Bootsie. I see Petsmart has 15% off this weekend so am hoping to do some food-shopping Sunday. If something less expensive is decent enough (or more palatable for him than the C-D) that would be great!

[chiroptera]

I'm not as knowleagable as catsmom on feline nutrition but I thought I'd throw this out there because I have had similar issues in the past with dogs and this worked and I have fed raw to multiple cats and dogs since 1999 with zero issues and robust health...including a dog that a vet insisted was on death's door with failing kidneys and would die without SD k/d. I did some research, called SD and other companies, found another vet and she lived another three years and passed at age 16 or so of unrelated issues.

RAW.
You can use ground raw (what I do for cats; coarse-ground so they get plenty of chewing) from companies like this:

https://www.mypetcarnivore.com/index...art&Itemid=130

As far as kibble being good for dental health, that is complete BS. Kibble CAUSES poor dental health, despite formulations that gauge pellet shatter zones and contain additives (such as sawdust) to make kibble more abrasive.

If kibble (which the vast majority of people feed their pets) was actually good for dental health, this wouldn't be the case:

Periodontal disease is the most common clinical condition occurring in adult dogs and cats... By three years of age, most dogs and cats have some evidence of periodontal disease.

From the American Veterinary Dental College.

For more specific advice I will leave that to those better-versed in cat nutrition. But I just wanted to point out that your vet is not very knowledgeable about feline nutrition, to put it politely.

[Opsimathia]

My cat hated the canned versions too. He didn't get sick from it but I stopped buying the canned version because I ended up throwing most of it out. So now he gets a combo of the CD dry as a bedtime snack/morning meal with canned for other times. Then 9 lives canned (fish box combo) for the 2x a day feedings. (He is a huge cat..lol) I found someone else had success with that combo so I gave it a try and so far, so good. I do check his belly daily by tummy rubs. He would bite at me when he had the health problem.

Water bowls are changed 3x a day and are in various locations in the house to encourage frequent drinking.

I WANT to get him on castor pollux canned as it is a better food than 9 lives and he was fine on that dry and wet sans the CD but no local stores carry it. I have to order it off amazon. :/