Cat and Urinary Tract Infections and Prevention.

Absolutely.

Be sure that your cat has plenty of fresh water at all times. The most important thing is to ensure that kitty is urinating enough.

No more food or treats that are fish-based. These have high magnesium levels, which cause urinary crystals that block the urethra.

Switch to a low-magnesium foor for feline urinary health. Purina One makes such a food that you can buy in the store. Here's a link: http://www.purinaone.com/products/cat-food/smartblend-uri.... It's your cheapest option. They also sell a wet-food version.

Your other options are sold by your vet. When my old kitty started getting struvite crystals, our vet sold us a bag of Iams urinary health blend (can't remember exactly which one). The cats WOULD NOT eat it. They hated it. So I switched to Purina One. They liked it much better, but didn't seem to enjoy it. Finally, a friend of mine works for Royal Canin. He brought me a bag of Royal Canin Urinary SO. OMG...it's like cat crack. The cats love it, and they're getting the healthy, low magnesium food they need. So we've stuck with that.

Here is a link to foods for feline urinary health.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=sr_gnr_fkmr0?rh=i%3Ap...

Ask your vet! Your vet will not only know the products to look for, but also probably the ones that will be best for your kitty. Question about pet store products as well as prescription ones. Some prescription products are well worth it; in other situations they're not essential. Vets love to be asked questions like this!

There are prescription foods mainly for crystals, but help change the OH and can be good for cats with infections. Mine are on SO because one has sterile cyststis. Cosequin can help for sterile cyststis too, but not sure about infections. Give your vet a call and see what recommendations they have. Wet food is great too to for urinary concerns and there are prescriptions for that as well. I add water to our cats dry food also and if our girl has a flare up I add more to help flush her bladder some. Hope your vet has some answers and great that you are looking for preventives and treating as needed. Let us know what you end up doing.

Prescription CD is the only good food that will help UTI's... My cat had the same issues and can ONLY be on this food.. It's not cheap, but cheaper than bringing him to the vet every couple months because of UTI's... I give him 1/2 can of wet food, scoop of dry food 2x's per day (both are prescription CD).... You have to get a prescription for it.. WELL WORTH IT!!! I promise :)
Your cat needs more water in his/her food.. Not just drinking water, but water in the food... Wet food is better (but not the food store kind)... The crystals in your cats urinary track are probably all out of whack.

After my cat had a UTI (treated with medication) we switched his food to a Urinary Tract Health formula. Previously, he was primarily eating 'regular' inexpensive dry food.

We also increased the amount of canned food. Cats are not naturally big water drinkers, so an all-dry diet is not optimal. Now he has a little dry during the day and a 3 oz can of wet in the evening. No problems since then.

The change is not cheap. Instead of $8/mo in cat food, we spend more like $50/mo if we don't hit sales.

ETA: You don't need a prescription to buy the special food. Don't buy it from the vet at all, unless you don't care about the markup.

There are dry cat foods that advertise that they protect against UTIs. I've read and been told to predominantly feed dry food. We've found that better quality dry food makes for a healthier cat. We found the food we give our cat at a pet store after asking advice from a trained clerk. We look for a hi protein, low carbohydrate product.

Make sure you remove the clumps from the litter frequently. Add fresh litter every week or every other week. Completely change it over every month. Try to use a formula that doesn't have a lot of dust. If you have more than one cat, you should have a litter box for each cat.

Make sure that you're not giving only kibble. Fresh water daily plus wet food a minimum of once a week. If they get only kibble, then you risk them getting blockages in their intestines due to dehydration, and dehydration also increases the risk of UTI's.

My cats are really good about drinking water. They drink a lot, and if the water hasn't been changed often enough they'll complain about it and sit there at the bowl until you change it out. We use kibble that is high in protein, by the way. They shouldn't have a corn based kibble because they can't digest it. The more meat the better. The less of the other stuff, especially the ingredients you can't pronounce, the better. It does mean you'll spend more unless you hit sales and have coupons but it will save you money in vet bills in the long run.

Don't give them people food or milk. That can complicate health issues, especially since they're lactose intolerant.

EDIT: YES to what Christy said about the fish. No more fish ANYTHING once they're five years old. It increases their chance of kidney problems and UTI's. No fish treats, no fish kibble, no fish wet food, no home cooked fish.

My mom's kitty, who was my kitty b4 I got married (husband's allergic) has these issues. My mom gives him the special dry food for urinary tract health, I think it is science diet, but she predominantly gives him wet food now bc cats typically get most of their liquid from their food in he wild, like from the mice etc they would be eating. They will drink some water but often not as much as their body needs. Dry food from vegetable sources is very different than a cat's natural diet as they are carnivores. So she gives her kitty fancy feast twice a day and a little of the special dry food, you have to get it from a pet store but her cat had to have surgery and almost died twice, so it is worth it. Hope this helps!

Cosequin helped our cat immensely. I sprinkled a capsule over her wet food daily for about two weeks.