Advice on best food

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1964catmom

1964catmom

Member Since 2023
Hi,
I’m new to the community and am looking for help with food for my diabetic cat.
My girl is 16 years old and has been on Tiki Cat and Hounds and Gatos for some time but I am still not able to control her sugar. She is on 3 units of Prozinc per meal. The added problem is she is allergic to fish and has now been susceptible to bladder infections. She has had 2 in just over a month. We were told her last one was E.coli but this one she was just given a load of antibiotics with no real answer, I question whether her first infection was totally knocked out.
The vet said if this doesn’t work we will be looking at crystals but she doesn’t show symptoms for that.
Is there a canned food that is good for sugar cats that have urinary issues?
I was told that apple cider vinegar helps, any input on that would be appreciated as well.

Thanks in advance
 
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1964catmom said:
Hi,
I’m new to the community and am looking for help with food for my diabetic cat.
My girl is 16 years old and has been on Tiki Cat and Hounds and Gatos for some time but I am still not able to control her sugar. She is on 3 units of Prozinc per meal. The added problem is she is allergic to fish and has now been susceptible to bladder infections. She has had 2 in just over a month. We were told her last one was E.coli but this one she was just given a load of antibiotics with no real answer, I question whether her first infection was totally knocked out.
The vet said if this doesn’t work we will be looking at crystals but she doesn’t show symptoms for that.
Is there a canned food that is good for sugar cats that have urinary issues?
I was told that apple cider vinegar helps, any input on that would be appreciated as well.

Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Hi and welcome to the forum. I’m sorry no one got to you sooner.
Diabetic cats are more prone to UTIs than other cats because of the sugar in their urine.
Giving extra fluids in the food can help if you’d kitty will tolerate you doing that.even a teaspoon per snack helps.

Are you home testing your girl’s blood glucose? That is the best and fastest way to be able to get your kitty into better numbers as you can see what is happening every day and can adjust the insulin accordingly. And it is the best way to keep your little girl safe.
So I would recommend you look at home testing. you can buy a human glucose meter from Walmart for $9 (a ReliOn Premier meter) and 100test strips for $17.88
You will also need a box of 100 lancets size 26 or 28 gauge and some cotton rounds to hold behind the ear when testing.
Here is a link to HOMETESTING HINTS AND LINKS
And a link to HELP US HELP YOU which will tell you how to set up a spreadsheet and do you signature as well as the hypo kit which I would encourage you to set up if you don’t have one. If you have trouble setting up the spreadsheet we can help you.

Here is a link to a FOOD CHART. Look for foods that are 10% or under carbs. Also looks for some higher carb foods for the hypo kit.

Re the Urine….did the vet get a culture and sensitivity the second time to see that the infection had gone?
I have never used Apple cider vinegar with a cat but I believe you can give 1/2 teaspoon a day in food. It lowers the ph of the urine.
I will ask @Suzanne & Darcy if she has ever used it.
 
1964catmom said:
Hi,
I’m new to the community and am looking for help with food for my diabetic cat.
My girl is 16 years old and has been on Tiki Cat and Hounds and Gatos for some time but I am still not able to control her sugar. She is on 3 units of Prozinc per meal. The added problem is she is allergic to fish and has now been susceptible to bladder infections. She has had 2 in just over a month. We were told her last one was E.coli but this one she was just given a load of antibiotics with no real answer, I question whether her first infection was totally knocked out.
The vet said if this doesn’t work we will be looking at crystals but she doesn’t show symptoms for that.
Is there a canned food that is good for sugar cats that have urinary issues?
I was told that apple cider vinegar helps, any input on that would be appreciated as well.

Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Giving D-Mannose for UTIs that are caused by E. coli is very beneficial. You are right to question whether the infection was eradicated.
 
As Bron mentioned, adding water to her wet food is a very good idea.

What kind of antibiotics was she prescribed? A second urinalysis should have been performed and possibly a second culture done at the lab if there were any questions about the urine.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
@Diane Tyler's Mom you have the food recommendation for the Purina Pro Plan Urinary food, right?
Click to expand...
@1964catmom
Hi Tyler was blocked once, had to take him to the ER ,

the mucus plug, didn't have bladder infections or any UTI'S but I needed to change his food.
He's been in remission since 1-24-21
The food that was suggested by the ER was too high in carbs so I found this and have been feeding this , never raised his BG and knock on wood hadn't been blocked since

Purina Pro Plan Urinary Tract Health Beef & Chicken Entree flavor Pate

Purina Pro Plan Urinary Tract Health Chicken Entree

They are both low carb and low in phosphorus


The Purina Pro Plan Urinary Tract Health is low carb and low phosphorus
Beef and Chicken Entree pate
Carbs are around 4.80
Phosphorus is 1.44 dry matter

They also have Chicken Entree in Gravy which isn't pate it like tiny pieces of chicken like the size of a chicklet piece of gum lol remember them, they are like tiny tiny chunks
Carbs are 4.5
Phosphorus 0.78 dry matter

So he doesn't get bored I give him some Tiki Cat Succulent Chicken in Chicken Consume , they are shreds of chicken
Carbs 0.338
Phosphorus 0.93

I put about a teaspoon full on top of the Pro Plan , I cut the chicken shreds up because Tyler likes it that way lol


The Chicken Entree
https://www.amazon.com/Purina-Pro-Plan-Urinary-Formula/dp/B003R0LM2U
I have a Pet Smart by me so I just run in there to pick them up
Petco has them too
At least you can buy a few cans and see if she likes it

Here's the Beef & Chicken Entree
https://www.amazon.com/Purina-Pro-Plan-Urinary-Formula/dp/B0170YQ822

My vet said this was a good food to feed Tyler
 
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Hi everyone,

Sorry for the late reply, the past few days have been given over to my cat and trying to manage her infection and sugar etc.

So I have been dubious that this is a new and separate infection and questioned whether it just wasn’t fully knocked out the first time. The first bout was terrible! I left a happy kitty for a few hours to grocery shop and came home to urine and blood clots everywhere! We rushed her to the vet and the urine sample came back as e-coli and at that point showed no signs of crystals. She was put on a course of meds ( sorry I can’t recall the name of that round of meds ) and it cleared up and we had a happy cat again. It has only been maybe 3-31/2 weeks since this one started from the last one ending, so I thought perhaps it wasn’t totally cleared up. My vet disagreed and started telling us she likely has crystals or a tumour or blockage ect. Just from how she acts normally and after the first round solving the problem (albeit temporarily) I am not convinced of that. She has had no symptoms of anything other than the one e-colu infection. Long story short, she is on 1.5 mg Doxycycline now and some Aventi Urinary tabs. She seems to be on the mend with that, fingers crossed.

I do test her ( she’s been diabetic for about 5 years ) and she sits high, usually at about 15-17 and I’ve STRUGGLED to regulate her. She’s on Tiki Cat now and I’m going to change out the Hounds and Gatos to see if that helps. Regarding dosing per BG levels according to her readings, I’ve never been told I can do that. She just gets 3 units 2 times a day no matter what. Thanks for letting me know this is an option.

Thank you all so much for your advice, it is incredibly helpful!
 
 
Please make sure that your vet actually did a sterile urine draw (cystocentesis) the first time and then a culture and sensitivity (C & S). It's the best way to determine what the bacteria is that's causing the UTI. One cautionary note -- once a cat is on an antibiotic, you need to give the antibiotic a chance to clear your cat's system if you need another C & S otherwise, you risk getting a false negative result.

The other issue is that what may seem to be a UTI could be a kidney infection. They present in a similar manner. The big difference is that your cat will need to be on an antibiotic for a longer period of time to treat the kidney infection.

This is some info you might find helpful.

Also, is there any possibility of our helping you get your kitty better regulated?
 
Sienne and Gabby (GA) said:
Please make sure that your vet actually did a sterile urine draw (cystocentesis) the first time and then a culture and sensitivity (C & S). It's the best way to determine what the bacteria is that's causing the UTI. One cautionary note -- once a cat is on an antibiotic, you need to give the antibiotic a chance to clear your cat's system if you need another C & S otherwise, you risk getting a false negative result.

The other issue is that what may seem to be a UTI could be a kidney infection. They present in a similar manner. The big difference is that your cat will need to be on an antibiotic for a longer period of time to treat the kidney infection.

This is some info you might find helpful.

Also, is there any possibility of our helping you get your kitty better regulated?
Click to expand...


Oh geez, I never even thought of a kidney infection. That may answer why she seemed to get “reinfected” almost right away. I have always thought it wasn’t totally cleared the first time.

I would love more help on regulating her blood sugar, thank you. I’ve had very little help from the vet on this so I’m kinda of just reading what I can and doing my best.
I am in the process of switching her from Hounds and Gatos (slowly) to Purina unitary as suggested here, I’m still offering Tiki Cat as well.
 
If you go back to Bron's post (#2 above), she gave you information on getting started here. We ask new members to set up their signature lines so we don't keep plaguing you by asking for the same information over and over again. We encourage home testing and the way we track the results is with a spreadsheet. All of us have a link to our cat's spreadsheet in our signature. The spreadsheet also let's us follow your cat's progress and we can offer suggestions about dosing and anything else that may be relevant.

I'm tagging one of our members who is a whiz at helping with spreadsheets in case you need a hand. @Bandit's Mom

Please let us know how we can help. We have volumes of information available in addition to very knowledgeable members who are very generous with their time and information.
 
Sienne and Gabby (GA) said:
If you go back to Bron's post (#2 above), she gave you information on getting started here. We ask new members to set up their signature lines so we don't keep plaguing you by asking for the same information over and over again. We encourage home testing and the way we track the results is with a spreadsheet. All of us have a link to our cat's spreadsheet in our signature. The spreadsheet also let's us follow your cat's progress and we can offer suggestions about dosing and anything else that may be relevant.

I'm tagging one of our members who is a whiz at helping with spreadsheets in case you need a hand. @Bandit's Mom

Please let us know how we can help. We have volumes of information available in addition to very knowledgeable members who are very generous with their time and information.
Click to expand...



Thanks so much for all your help.
I’ll definitely need help with the spreadsheet
 
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