I am no cat food expert but I would recommend finding a new vet. I would not go to any vet who is disrespectful to you and your questions and leaves you stressed.

[BIG sigh] I'm afraid that your vet has either not explained things to you properly (or at all), or you have not understood what you were told to feed Sam. C/D is formulated to manage urinary crystals. W/D, however, does NOTHING to manage urinary issues AT ALL. It is strictly a weight management food. Are you feeding the canned or kibble W/D? Either way, there's nothing to lose in terms of managing Sam's urinary crystals by switching to another food. In fact, if you are feeding dry W/D, it is such an extremely low quality food that it would be difficult to find anything worse to feed Sam. Its main ingredient is brewer's rice, a completely species-inappropriate ingredient (no big surprise that Bailey's body apparently reacts so badly to W/D).. The canned W/D isn't nearly as bad, though you could certainly do better.

Both of your cats would be better off eating an exclusively canned diet. Sam would also benefit by having plenty of water mixed into his canned food so that his fluid intake is increased. The more water he takes in daily, the more he urinates out. The more he urinates out, the more crystals he keeps flushed out of his system before they have a chance to clump together and cause blockages.

You also should be feeding scheduled, portioned meals instead of free-feeding. That will make it much easier to take excess weight off of Sam, and it's the only way you can accurately monitor how much each of your cats is eating.

Grain-free is only part of the solution. The most species-appropriate commercial cat food is a low-carb, canned diet. Many manufacturers have jumped on the "grain-free" bandwagon by replacing grains with high-carb fruits and vegetables that are every bit as inappropriate and useless for cats as are grains. So read the labels and choose canned foods that contain all or mostly meats and meat products, rather than a bunch of vegetable matter. Cats aren't herbivores or even omnivores; they're carnivores.

Laurie

I would recommend dropping the Science Diet products and start feeding a high quality dry along with a meat based wet. There are many choices out there; I recommend going to a local non-chain pet store and talk about the brands available. The chain stores will carry some of the high quality brands but the staff may not be as knowledgeable as the smaller shops. I know a lot about the different brands and this post would be longer than it already is.

I have two cats (almost 3 and almost 1) and have raised these two exclusively on Blue Bufallo Wilderness dry. When kittens, they had BB Wilderness kitten formula, both wet and dry. At 6 months of age, the wet food was changed to Primal Pet raw. The two of them eat one ounce of wet, fed twice daily, and two thirds of a cup of dry free-fed. Fresh water is readily available. They are both active cats and are at healthy weight. Both are larger cats but they are well muscled, their coats are shiny and their teeth are healthy.

I have had cats for over 40 years and these two are the first I've fed an exclusive high protein diet. I am very happy with the results and it is NOT cost prohibitive. The other cats I had lived to be 14, 21 and 18, even though their diets were not optimal.

Take a look at these websites for some info:

http://www.catinfo.org/?link=urinarytracthealth

http://www.felinenutrition.net

http://www.catnutriton.org

I feed my cats a home made raw meat diet. Our cats are 20 and 19 years old now and very healthy for their ages (kidneys are not 100% any more, but they are stable). We just adopted a 9 month old as well and she immediately transitioned to the raw meat diet.

Raw meat creates a slightly acidic urine and keeps your cat hydrated, the optimal conditions for urinary tract health. Raw meat (bones, organs and all) is what cats evolved to eat, not dry cereal products or processed meat paste with lots of inappropriate ingredients.

Good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: Dr. Pierson

I would suggest you to find a new vet that you can ask every time you have a problem with your cat and not the one that will yell at you.
Have you tried to feed your cat a raw meat diet? You can also try to feed your cat a cooked food.

My 14 year old Persian kitty was diagnosed with crf about a month ago. He was prescribed subq fluids ( which I do myself) and gd canned renal food, as he has a heart murmur. He has eaten a raw homemade food all his life that I make myself..but it has bone in it..which I understand is not good for crf kitties as it contains too much phrosphuros. He likes the gd..but has lost weight and I suspect he needs more high quality protein..I have searched the web for info for a recipe using raw chicken..but I can't find any...I am fearful he is losing muscle mass...I have started adding cooked egg white to his gd food...not sure how much to add..so probably a while egg white per day..as he eats fairly often.
It seems there are so many of us pet owners who are desperately looking for this info.
I have found that a private consult with someone who says they can help is just too expensive!
I was considering leaving out the bone on the recipe I normally use ...but not sure about adding bonemeal...
A cbc done after several weeks on gd brought the bun way down..but creatinine is still high at 3.0...
I even wonder how much a previous raw diet affected the original cbc levels...
I weigh him every day...and he is slowly losing ...
For now ...he is eating...but runs to the raw my others are eating every chance he gets..so I am a constant policeman.

He also was presscribed Azodyl...I have read you can buy human probiotic at Whole Foods...but not sure how much to give..that would be so much cheaper..if it even helps..everyone on it seems to think so..but I have read poor reviews about it..

Also have read good things.about Renafood by Standard Process..it's a human supplement...

B complex,omega 3 which I do put into my raw recipe...not sure what freezing does to the quality of it..

And what about Calcitriol???

The vet said he was in stage 3..but I guess that is where most cats are when not caught early...He sleeps non stop...does wake to eat fairly often..but doesn't stay awake for any length of time...when he does eat a fairly good amount..he is trying to paw into my plate...or finding his way into my one cats dry food..or the raw I am feeding the others...so does that say..what he is eating is not nutritious enough???

From what I am reading on the net the renal food is not sufficient enough for their carnavarl needs...canned food of any kind cannot be compared to a raw diet...I have feed this to my cats for 12 years...and they have always had excellent cbc's up until now...
He and all the others had cbc's last year..and all were great.,but if all this happened within a year..I am going to have them all tested again..

I did take all the meat off a whole chicken..added..chicken liver..all raw..and froze this mixture into very small patties and have added a small amount to his gd food..but not sure this is enough....as you can see..I am determined to feed him raw ..if only I knew I wasn't harming him.

I know there are canned foods that are not prescription..that can be low in phorphuros...right now his is 3.7.. down from 5.5 originally..

Would so appreciate your help.
thanks,
bev.

...

Bev,
since you are feeding raw already you might want to check out Feline Instinct Kidney Support. You mix it with your own meat and they have replaced the bone meal with calcium lactate in this formula. I have been feeding the reg. formula and my cats love it.
They are very helpful answering questions you might have.
Katharina

Here is a link that might be useful: Feline Instinct