Fish kibble cause UTI???

ORIGINAL: Bobsk8

I asked my vet about this yesterday, and she said she had never heard of UTI's being caused by a fish diet. 

Are these the same types of vets you say know nothing of nutrition?

I have heard that fish is suspected in causing UTI's in cats.  I'll try to find facts on this.

ORIGINAL: darci

I dont do distilled just a jug of spring water from the grocery store.
I think if you have a filter for your drinking water that would work the same.

We have regular tap water and I tested it the ph was 8

A Filter on your water does not work the same. It can't filter out all of the minerals and if you don't clean out your filter as often as you should it can leave even more minerals and bacteria in your water than if you didn't even have a filter.

I have a cat with UTI problems.  the water in my area has alot of magnesium in it.  We put a whole house water filter in for us and the animals.  I started giving the "filtered" water to my animals and within a month my cat had another UTI.  Our vet recommended testing our water.  It still contained alot of magnesium.  So our vet recommend giving distilled or spring water without added minerals.

Sorry to post for the 3rd time in a row, but I have a food recommendation.

I know that Willow is not a Senior, but Innova Senior is about as low in ash as a dog food gets.  Plus it contains cranberry and glucosamine, both of which prevent urinary tract infections.xsl=//product%5B@id='33'%5D>http://www.naturapet.com/display.php?d=nutrition-facts&xsl=//product%5B@id='33'%5D

I would feed this along with Innova Senior Canned food or Halo canned dog food.

If Willow can't have Chicken, California Natural Lamb and Rice is pretty low as well, I'd add some water to it though, to increase Willows water intake.  I can't find a low in ash canned diet that isn't chicken.  I know you said that Willow has irritable bowel.

Thank you everyone for responding. 
Willow is feeling much better. 

Thank you for the food suggestions.  Willow actually gets kibble only once per day and I'm going to cut that back now to only a few times per week.  The rest will be canned. 

I've done some e-mailing and calling and I've decided to add Solid Gold Berry Balance to her food.  I've looked into human cranberry supplements but they all say you should take so many ounces of water with them when you take them and I'm never going to be able to force her to drink like that all at once.  I've also tried pure unsweetened cranberry juice straight and in her water and she's completely upset about it. 

I've decided to stick with the Natural Balance fish for now.  If with the addition of Berry Balance and also cutting the kibble feedings back doesn't help then I will have to re think things again.  I've got plan B--I've spoken the Eagle Pack and could possibly try their fish formula.  And, I've looked into other non fish foods too.  Or, I might just feed completely canned.  The only reason I even add in kibble is for variety for her.  She eats better with variety--limited variety that is.
 
As far as kibble or fish causing the UTI's--I'm not sure.  All I know is that both times since I've had her that she's eaten a good amount of kibble for any good length of time--six months or so or more--she's gotten a UTI.  I thought it was the Wellness brand--now I don't know if it's the fish--she was on Wellness fish too--or just the mineral make up of kibble in general.  I don't know all the science of it but I do believe that urine Ph and also the ash/mineral content of the dry foods can contribute to UTI.  I don't think they necessarily cause it but IMO I think they can bring it on if the dog is otherwise prone.  But, there are other factors that contribute too.

Unfortunately, she is completely intolerant of chicken so I can't put  her back on Innova Senior--she's been on it in the past before we figured out chicken was an issue for her.  I'll keep the California Natural in the back of my mind as another option if Eagle and a couple of others I could try don't work out. 

Our water is filtered with a filter that you completely change after so many months and it's industrial strength--DH works for a coffee company.  So, I really don't think our water is the issue.  And, I don't think her water intake is an issue either.  She gets at least half canned food for her diet. 

As for hygiene--I try to wipe the sanitary area and keep her dry.  If I see her licking I stop her and she's got ointments from the vet if she's itchy.  So, is there something else I could be doing for that?  Does anyone know if there are special wipes for this?  I've just been using the regular doggie wipes.   

Anyway, thanks for all the help.
Lori

PS---She is between six and nine this year so possibly starting to get to the senior age range.  When I got her spayed when I got her four years ago they told me she was between 2 and 5. 

I've looked into human cranberry supplements but they all say you should take so many ounces of water with them when you take them and I'm never going to be able to force her to drink like that all at once.

FWIW, this isn't hard to do. You don't have to shove it down her throat, or anything. Willow eats almost all canned food. You can just let her drink 'doggy soup'. That's what mine get, a good bit of the time, anyways. It keeps plenty of water in the diet, to prevent a problem.

My vet said to use alcohol wipes on Emma, a couple of years ago, for the sanitation thing, I never did, because I was afraid of irritating her skin. I just keep her well-shaven, and wipe her with plain, hypoallergenic baby wipes (they're cheaper than equivalent doggy wipes). That doesn't seem to bother her, at all. She has a leaky problem, so it's especially important to keep her dry. I've been tempted to powder her, but I don't know that I want her eating powder..... I don't know of much else to do. It's a struggle, here, too, to keep the UTIs away for Emma. We're doing *really* well, at this point. She hasn't had one in months. All I'm doing is staying on top of the cranberry and the water intake, and she's getting a little extra stimulation (I've been taking her with me more, to play with other dogs.... She seems to 'feel better' in a general sort of way, I dunno if that helps or not).

I hope the Berry Balance helps Willow, some. I'm glad she's feeling better, today[]