Do you feed a low-magnesium cat food?

14 years ago

My male cat, Pogo, was seen by the vet last week after peeing in various inappropriate places. She diagnosed a UTI and put him on antibiotics. She said I should switch to a low-magnesium food.

My cats get canned food occasionally, but I've increased that since the UTI diagnosis. It's a bit of a nuisance because my Annie can't eat any canned food without throwing up. The cats also eat dry food, and it's the dry I'm having the problem with.

I had been feeding them Purina Naturals. The first four ingredients go like this:

chicken meal (not by-products)

corn gluten meal

soybean meal

brewers rice

Magnesium wasn't listed on the bag, but I figured the level must be too high. So I went to the store and read cat food labels. The lowest magnesium content was Purina O.N.E. at 0.08%, but I wasn't crazy about the ingredients. Again, the first four:

corn gluten meal

ground yellow corn

chicken

brewers rice

Apparently my cats aren't crazy about them either. They barely touch this food. I need to find something else.

Browsing around Tractor Suppy yesterday, I found their 4Health brand. These ingredients looked good to me:

chicken

chicken meal

cracked pearled barley

egg product

The cats think so too. They love it! But the magnesium content is .1. Does that sound low enough? The price on the 4Health is much higher than what I've been paying, but not as high as some of the premium brands. I'm hoping to find a good food for them without going broke.

What's your opinion? Thanks!

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Comments (9)

azzalea
14 years ago
Have you considered the regular Purina Chow? I just looked at the label and can't find Magnesium listed at all.

My vet was fine with us feeding our cat that. And my cat is over 20 years old. Purina Cat Chow is the ONLY cat food she's ever eaten in all those years (she does enjoy sharing our fruit and vegetables when we're eating dinner, and she gets a nightly dollop of whipped cream). AND she's never been sick a day in her life. I sort of feel that you can't argue with success, and the price on the cat chow is certainly right. I do have another cat who came to me at age 9, who was on Purina ONE, so I have continued to buy that for her--it's far more expensive than the cat chow.
alisande
Original Author
14 years ago
I fed Purina Cat Chow for a long time in my 30+-year-relationship with cats. I have nothing against it, but it's not advertised as low magnesium. (The fact that magnesium isn't mentioned on the label is the opposite of encouraging to me.) Female cats would be fine with this; it's the males who are prone to cystitis and need something less likely to produce crystals in the urinary tract.

It's great that you have a 20-year-old healthy (and happy) cat!
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Tally
14 years ago
UTI's are sometimes caused by crystals. Did your vet mention if there were any crystals in the urine?
alisande
Original Author
14 years ago
She couldn't get a sample to see, Tally. He's been using the litter box since we started the med, so I'm assuming/hoping he's crystal-free.
Tally
14 years ago
I've never been worried about magnesium, but we have had cats that develop crystals and they get put on a special diet which dissolves them and keeps them in check. Duffy won't eat the c/d so we give him methionine tablets.

You might want to Google feline urinary tract disease and crystals. I think it's important that your vet explores this. Crystals act like sandpaper and can lead to irritation and inflammation, which can lead to infection. They can also be precursors to stones, which can potentially block the ureters or urethra, and that becomes life threatening really quickly. Duffy had blocked twice before we got him on methionine, and let me tell you - that is a scarey experience!

I'm glad the antibiotics are helping, but I would still want to explore the underlying cause. See if she can get a sample next time he's in, just to be sure.
Tally
14 years ago
And PS...cats are carnivores. Corn meal and other grains do nothing for them - they're just cheap fillers and high carbohydrates which lead to obesity.

We feed Evo dry food. The first 5 ingredients are:

Turkey, Chicken Meal, Chicken, Herring Meal, Chicken Fat.

It's more expensive than store brands, but it has a higher protein content, which means the cat eats less because it doesn't have to ingest a whole lot of grain to get a little meat.
alisande
Original Author
14 years ago
The vet gave me some crystal-dissolving canned food, but he won't eat it.

My son and DIL's male cat had the problem, and has been fine for a couple of years on daily canned food and IAMS.

I'll have to look up Methionine. Thanks!
SunnyDJ
14 years ago
I don't know about the magnesium but was always told to make sure the ash content was low....Is that the same thing? You'd think after having cats for over 50 years, I'd know what's what.....Thank goodness we've had no problems.....
lisa_fla
14 years ago
I have a dog that once had a UTI and was put on RX food for crystals. I wasn't happy about the ingredients (or the price!) and eventually snipped the tag off with the protein, moisture, fiber , etc percentages and checked EVERY food on the shelf in many stores. I eventually found one that was nearly identical and switched him (Biljac Reduced Fat). At his next vet visit I was asked-are you still feeding rx food? I replied no your food is cr@p, showed her both food labels and ingredients and she had no problem with me switching. Its been almost 4 years. The type of food he apparently needs ins lower in protein. His coat looked much shinier in just a couple of weeks, due to better food!

As for the cat-I recently fired my vet after researching his kidney condition. I found some things questionable. I figured since he was doing well, all was well. But know I think-he was doing well in spite of some of the things in his treatment plan! Anyway-enough about him, thats off topic. What I meant to say is-you should be able to call any manufacturer to find out the magnesium content of their food. People do it all the time on the kidney board for phosphorus. See what it is in the rx food, then try to get as close as possible to it, and the percentages on the side panel.

Do you feed a low-magnesium cat food?

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azzalea

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Do you feed a low-magnesium cat food?

Comments (9)

azzalea

alisandeOriginal Author

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