5/13 Jack: 86@amps, 80@+2.5, 91@+4 on reduced dose of 9.5u- Urinary formula ques

[Jack & Mopem'sMom]

The weekend wasn't bad, Saturday was a high day for Jack but that was sort of by design since he was alone most of the day and due to crazy traffic was actually an hour and 10 mins late for his insulin Sat. night. He had also earned a reduction to 9.5 units for Sat morning, so he was high most of the day yesterday as well, and then the bottom dropped out of our lives at dinner time last night. The entire household is in an uproar because William, one of the 'kittens' (he's actually 1yr, 7mos), was crying, licking himself, and popping in and out of the litterbox, so I rushed him to the ER, where he will stay for the next 48 hours. He wasn't totally blocked, but enough so they had to actually do the catheter procedure. Since he's so young, the vet is thinking that he has a genetic predisposition to blockages and I should switch him, his brothers, and the possible father (pretty much all the cats that live with Jack) to the urinary diet.

I am looking for advice from folks who have a diabetic that needs to be on the urinary diet- which in the US would be something like Hills c/d or the Royal Canin or Purina equivalent. The PDF from Dr Pierson shows crazy high carbs associated with these- what do you guys do? Aside from the astronomical cost of feeding 12 cats prescription food, it's not good for Jack's diabetes. Thoughts? Thanks in advance. Jack refuses to eat alone, btw, and hurls himself against the door of whatever room I put him in. This is why everyone currently eats the diabetic diet

Also, Jack didn't eat much last night at dinner and overnight paced the house almost relentlessly looking for his kitten and got himself into a green morning. I'm not sure if I should count today's greens towards the next potential reduction because of those factors, so any thoughts/advice on that also very much appreciated.

I skimmed the titles in the forum quickly, I hope everyone's kitties are doing ok. I'm not sure when I can catch up personally with each of you, but you and the kitties are in my thoughts and prayers.

Last post: https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/5-10-jack-417-amps-276-3.289825/#post-3178064

 

[Alicia & Kit cat (GA)]

Woah - that's a lot of kitties to have on a prescription diet. I can't help any with that, but I'm sending calming vibes to Jack as he misses his kitten (all cats are kittens and all dogs are puppies, and that is just how it is )

I hope you get some quiet moments soon where you can just relax.

 

[Mikanmama (Mikan GA)]

Hi Christine,
After my Yuz boy got UTI, I fed him Purina Pro Plan Urinary health cans. Carbs are 7% of metabolic energy (turkey) and 6% of metabolic energy (Beef chick). Unfortunately, it costs about twice as much as Fancy Feast Pate.
Plus, nobody really was excited about the flavor either. So once Yuz boy got stabilized, I stopped feeding it. Limited experience, but FYI.
You may want to post it in the General Health forum - I'm sure that a lot of people have experience with a long term UTI care.

Great cycle today for Jack!
Hope he surfs safely and you have a great day!

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Have you read this part of Dr. Pierson's website: https://catinfo.org/feline-urinary-tract-diseases/

One week after Neko's FD diagnosis, to the day, her buddy got his first cystitis episode and vet suggested C/D. Neko was "starving" and tried to dive into his food. I was going nuts policing the two of them. Can't imagine with 12. I asked the vet what was a food I could feed both, and she recommended raw food, so I switched the diet. After reading the link above, I realized it wasn't really anything magic with raw, but low carb, low phosphorus with plenty of water added. There were benefits to raw so I stuck to that, plus they both loved it.

ProPlan has some Urinary Health options that are also low carb.

As far the greens go, there aren't too low. But if you had to be away from the house for a bit, would you be comfy with him in those numbers?

 

[Deb and Tiger]

We had a kitty who was blocked and had that procedure. We tried keeping him on prescription food but he grew to hate it. At the time, years ago, it was thought that the problem grew from dry food, not wet. You may ask the vet if a wet diet would be good.
Our baby lived to 18, 13 years after his blockage, without further problems. But ECID so ask your vet about this before any change. This was just our solution..

 

[JLS12]

Twelve cats! You have your own genuine clowder!

Glad to hear Jack's numbers are looking nice enough to earn a reduction.

Many years ago we adopted a 2 year old cat that had a few recurring urinary problems. After switching to raw, no more trouble. If switching to raw seems daunting trying to make sure they get the proper balance of nutrients and the necessary taurine, there are commercial additives that can be added to raw meat to make a complete diet, such as Total Cat. I keep some on hand just in case I have trouble sourcing heart or kidney. Doing it yourself is cheaper than buying a prepared raw cat food. We had 6 cats that were on raw, but now just have 3. When we first started raw in 2012, we did home ground food prepared about once a month according to Dr. Pierson's recipe and froze it in pint containers before gradually moving to a franken-prey model.

 

[Jack & Mopem'sMom]

We had a kitty who was blocked and had that procedure. We tried keeping him on prescription food but he grew to hate it. At the time, years ago, it was thought that the problem grew from dry food, not wet. You may ask the vet if a wet diet would be good.
Our baby lived to 18, 13 years after his blockage, without further problems. But ECID so ask your vet about this before any change. This was just our solution..

I appreciate your feedback. I think the overall quality of commercially available food is much worse now than years ago. Glad your baby was OK.

 

[Jack & Mopem'sMom]

Hi Christine,
After my Yuz boy got UTI, I fed him Purina Pro Plan Urinary health cans. Carbs are 7% of metabolic energy (turkey) and 6% of metabolic energy (Beef chick). Unfortunately, it costs about twice as much as Fancy Feast Pate.
Plus, nobody really was excited about the flavor either. So once Yuz boy got stabilized, I stopped feeding it. Limited experience, but FYI.
You may want to post it in the General Health forum - I'm sure that a lot of people have experience with a long term UTI care.

Great cycle today for Jack!
Hope he surfs safely and you have a great day!

Thanks for your input. Appreciate it

 

[Jack & Mopem'sMom]

Have you read this part of Dr. Pierson's website: https://catinfo.org/feline-urinary-tract-diseases/

One week after Neko's FD diagnosis, to the day, her buddy got his first cystitis episode and vet suggested C/D. Neko was "starving" and tried to dive into his food. I was going nuts policing the two of them. Can't imagine with 12. I asked the vet what was a food I could feed both, and she recommended raw food, so I switched the diet. After reading the link above, I realized it wasn't really anything magic with raw, but low carb, low phosphorus with plenty of water added. There were benefits to raw so I stuck to that, plus they both loved it.

ProPlan has some Urinary Health options that are also low carb.

As far the greens go, there aren't too low. But if you had to be away from the house for a bit, would you be comfy with him in those numbers?

Yeah, I prefer him to be in the 100s if I have to leave and overnight. It's just me because he tends to jump high and fall low, and not steady off so the 'unknown' factor stresses me - which way will he go? I appreciate your input on the diet, I realized I need a short-term immediate solution and a long term one as well. I will look at the link you posted as well- thank you so much!

 

[Jack & Mopem'sMom]

Twelve cats! You have your own genuine clowder!

Glad to hear Jack's numbers are looking nice enough to earn a reduction.

Many years ago we adopted a 2 year old cat that had a few recurring urinary problems. After switching to raw, no more trouble. If switching to raw seems daunting trying to make sure they get the proper balance of nutrients and the necessary taurine, there are commercial additives that can be added to raw meat to make a complete diet, such as Total Cat. I keep some on hand just in case I have trouble sourcing heart or kidney. Doing it yourself is cheaper than buying a prepared raw cat food. We had 6 cats that were on raw, but now just have 3. When we first started raw in 2012, we did home ground food prepared about once a month according to Dr. Pierson's recipe and froze it in pint containers before gradually moving to a franken-prey model.

This is interesting, thanks for your input. Raw may be the way to go long term, but requires preparation time- getting food, supplements, etc. Really appreciate your input. TY