I'm going to be presenting these findings to my vet... I noticed that my cat Watson was struggling to urinate, so I brought him to the vet and he was diagnosed with crystals in his urine (he was spending 5+ minutes peeing, no visible distress). The vet recommended Science Diet c/d or Purina UR. I went with canned Purina UR. Unfortunately, Watson doesn't like it. I don't blame him. It's mostly ground-up meat-by-products, and it doesn't have much of a scent. I'm a little ticked off at having to spend so much money on crappy ingredients. So I did some research....
How Purina UR and Science Diet C/D claim to get rid of urinary crystals:
High protein, low phosphorus and magnesium, lower urine PH, raise water consumption. When urine PH gets too high (alkaline), struvite crystals made up of phosphorus and magnesium form. Meat lowers urine PH, starch raises PH. The 'prescription' foods contain slightly more sodium to increase water consumption, but this could theoretically be added to any food. Canned food increases water consumption compared to dry food because it contains water, so feeding dry food to cats with urinary issues doesn't make much sense.
Nutrition/Price Comparisons:
Purina Pro Vet UR $1.86 per 5.5 oz can (my vet)
Crude Protein (Min) 10.5%
Crude Fat (Min) 5.0%
Crude Fiber (Max) 1.5%
Moisture (Max) 78.0%
Magnesium (Mg) (Max) 0.03%
(this is all of the information listed on the can)
Purina Friskies Country Style Dinner $.45 per 5.5 oz can (Walmart)
Crude Protein (Min) 10.0 %
Crude Fat (Min) 5.0 %
Crude Fiber (Max) 1.00 %
Moisture (Max) 78.0 %
Ash (Max) 3.0 %
Taurine (Min) 0.05 %
Nature's Variety Instinct Grain-Free Beef $1.79-2.19 per 5.5 oz can (Chewy.com, Petco.com)
Crude Protein (Min) 11.0%
Crude Fat (Min) 5.5%
Crude Fiber (Mac) 3.0%
Moisture (Max) 78.0%
Magnesium (Max) 0.03 %
As you can see, the values in Purina UR and Nature's Variety are very close. The ingredients, on the other hand...
Ingredient Comparison:
Purina Pro Vet UR
Meat by-products, water sufficient for processing, liver, chicken, poultry by-products, rice, calcium gluconate, oat fiber, guar gum, sodium bisulfate, potassium chloride, caramel color, carrageenan, salt, taurine, Vitamin E supplement, calcium phosphate, zinc sulfate, thiamine mononitrate, ferrous sulfate, manganese sulfate, Vitamin A supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, copper sulfate, niacin, Vitamin B-12 supplement, riboflavin supplement, calcium pantothenate, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), Vitamin D-3 supplement, folic acid, potassium iodide, biotin.
Purina Friskies Country Style Dinner
Meat by-products, water sufficient for processing, chicken, poultry by-products, rice, artificial and natural flavors, calcium phosphate, guar gum, added color, potassium chloride, salt, carrageenan, magnesium sulfate, taurine, thiamine mononitrate, Vitamin E supplement, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, niacin, calcium pantothenate, Vitamin A supplement, copper sulfate, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), manganese sulfate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin supplement, Vitamin B-12 supplement, biotin, folic acid, Vitamin D-3 supplement, potassium iodide. B-6052
Nature's Variety Instinct Grain-Free Beef
Beef, Beef Liver, Beef Broth, Tricalcium Phosphate, Ground Flaxseed, Montmorillonite Clay, Eggs, Peas, Carrots, Lecithin, Dried Kelp, Potassium Chloride, Calcium Carbonate, Minerals (Zinc Proteinate, Iron Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Sodium Selenite, Cobalt Proteinate, Potassium Iodide), Vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Niacin Supplement, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin A Supplement, Biotin, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Folic Acid), Taurine, Salt, Choline Chloride, L-Abscorbyl-2-Polyphosphate, Artichokes, Cranberries, Pumpkin, Tomato, Blueberries, Broccoli, Cabbage, Kale, Parsley
As you can see, the ingredients in Purina UR and Friskies are very similar, but Purina UR costs 4x as much. Lots of meat-by-products and some rice. The Nature's Variety contains 95% actual meat.
Just for fun, here's Science Diet c/d:
Hill's Prescription Diet c/d Feline with Chicken canned:
Pork By-Products, Water, Pork Liver, Chicken, Rice, Corn Starch, Oat Fiber, Chicken Fat, Fish Meal, Corn Gluten Meal, Chicken Liver Flavor, Calcium Sulfate, Guar Gum, Fish Oil, Brewers Dried Yeast, Dextrose, DL-Methionine, Choline Chloride, vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Niacin Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Biotin, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement), Potassium Chloride, Taurine, Cysteine, Dried Egg Yolk, minerals (Zinc Oxide, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Iodate), Glycine, Iodized Salt, Potassium Citrate, Calcium Carbonate, Beta-Carotene.
Dry Matter Comparisons:
Hill's c/d with chicken canned dry matter analysis:
Protein 43.8%
Fat 20.9 %
Phosphorus .7%
Magnesium .052 %
Sodium .32%
Purina UR canned dry matter analysis (calculated by dividing given percentage by dry matter percentage)
Protein 47.7%
Fat 22.72%
Phosphorus ?
Magnesium .136%
Sodium ?
Nature's Variety grain-free beef dry matter analysis (calculated)
Protein 50%
Fat 25%
Phosphorus .9%
Magnesium .136%
Sodium .68%
Why I think that 'prescription foods' are a rip-off:
They contain large amounts of meat-by-products and corn for 4x the price of the brands' other products with similar ingredients. The relationship between vets and pet food companies is what supposedly justifies the extra cost. Instead of doing nutritional research, vets can just sell Science Diet, Royal Canin, or Purina 'prescription' foods.
If I'm paying $2 a can I should at least get real meat and no fillers. Also, these foods do not actually require a "prescription" as they do not contain actual medicine.
A healthy urine PH is between about 6 and 6.5. I think what vets should be encouraging is for owners to adjust food to get urine to the proper PH, which would mean giving us test strips... I wasn't told what type of stones my cat had or what the PH was, and was just told that my cat needed to be on Science Diet c/d or Purina UR for life. They should also do some basic research to provide owners with nutritional options including ones that they don't sell in their office.
What I'm going to do:
I'm going to show my vet these nutritional comparison and see what he says. I'm going to request information on Watson's urinary PH, the crystals, and re-testing. Hopefully Watson likes Nature's Variety grain-free. I haven't tried it yet, but he has 4 flavors to choose from.
Starch raises urinary PH. Since Watson's favorite food was Solid Gold kibble,
which contains potato, I think that may have been the culprit. As soon
as I took the kibble out of his diet he seems to have stopped having
issues urinating.
Sources:
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=1+2142&aid=2729
http://feline-nutrition.org/answers/answers-the-importance-of-urine-ph
http://www.hillspet.com/products/pd-feline-cd-multicare-feline-bladder-health-with-chicken-canned.html
http://www.instinctpetfood.com/product/instinct-grain-free-canned-cat-food-beef
https://www.purinaveterinarydiets.com/pet-food-nutrition/feline/products/ur-urinary-stox/
http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2013/09/09/struvite-stones.aspx
Booklets that my vet gave me for Purina UR and Science Diet c/d foods.
