Diabetic Cashew peeing outside litter box

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cashewsmomma

cashewsmomma

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Hi Everyone,

Cashew was recently diagnosed as diabetic (app. 5 weeks ago) and we are closely monitoring his blood sugar levels and still trying to figure out his proper insulin dose.

Recently I discovered he has been peeing on the sofa in the room my sister's dog has had a few accidents.

-I got him checked out for infections (all clear) so I am thinking it is a behaviour problem and the diabetes is definitely not helping.
-I use Cat Attract for his litter and he loves it. This morning he climbed in to use while I was still cleaning it!
-Last time he peed on sofa his sugar level was super high so I figured he was having an exceptionally crappy day.

I used Urine-erase to get rid of the urine and some urine odour organic-based spray. I also got some spray that has cat pheromones (ingredients say rosemary oil etc) to help him calm down and not mark anything.

What else? I got the plastic runner and laid it across one of the sofas so the tiny spikes point up. I have orange peels lying across the 2nd sofa. Is there ANYTHING else I can do to stop Cashew from going there??

I know he is not feeling well, can't help it now that he smells urine there and must be competing with the dog at the same but I don't feel comfortable locking him in a room until he learns not to. I feel like that he is already going through enough and will only feel more stressed out if I lock him up in the laundry.

I am thinking of getting a 2nd litter box but have no room to put it, so are there any other suggestions? Once I had locked him out of my room and shouted at him for spilling my tea, so the next day he had pooped on our leather sofa (on the spot I normally sit on). I used Vinegar and water to clean that mess and he never came back. I don't know if I should use vinegar on the sofa though.....

anyway, sorry about the long post but I feel like I am going nuts.
 
My Smokey did the same thing, it was my bathroom rugs though not a couch OUCH!. We had been blaming it on my civie Taz 'cause she'll do stuff like that when she's ticked, but figured out it was Smokey. I had tears in my eyes the first time I realized my rug hadn't been peed on for 5 days straight, it was the point I knew she was getting better!

I don't have any tips to get Cashew to stop. I eventually stopped having anything on the floors of the two bathrooms she'd do it in. Every now and then I'd put one down to see how long we'd make it without getting peed on. Keep plenty of clean boxes accessible. Can you try moving the couch to a different spot/room to see if a change breaks the habit? Hopefully as Cashew gets better the bad habit clears up.
 
Thanks Melanie.

As I clicked send on my last post I found Cashew had broken into a box of sweets my mum had turned away from for a second. His sugar level is at 20.8 mml/L right now and got his 3 u insulin shot. I just burst out crying because I am trying my best here but I can only do so much. Anyway I guess I would rather have his sugar level be too high than too low?

I can't move the couch :( It totally sucks because I live with my parents right now and him urinating over their stuff isn't helping.

I will keep you posted. xo Do you know how long it may take to figure out his dosage? I feel like just as it gets better it seems to get worse... or am I just scared?
 
When Tucker's BGs are high he will go outside the box. I think it comforts him. Like he's lashing out for not feeling well.

He was doing very well for a while with nice low numbers, but a recent episode caused us to have to put him on steroids. The steroids have increased his BGs, we are slowly raising his insulin dose to catch up with the steroids, but at this time Tucker is being Mr. Pissypants and showing us how much he displeases having his BGs run high.

We use Zero Odor, an enzyme cleaner to remove the smell, but I believe white vinegar works well too.

Another FD I adopted named Misty was given up for urinating outside the box, once here and her BGs were regulated she quickly went right back to the box all the time.

I'm no expert, but it's been our experience that if our kitty has higher BGs it can lead to inappropriate urination. We did have Tucker checked for a urinary tract infection and there is none. It's good that you did that first, UTI's are a main cause of improper elimination, but for Tucker, BGs being high is his main reason.
 
Thanks Jenn. I agree I think he was having a bad day and took it out on the sofa.

I recently changed his food to Halo Cat food, I love it, Cashew loves it but I wonder if the veggies/fruit in it is causing higher sugar levels. My vet said not to stress too much when there is a wierd number because it depends on a lot of other things and I should pay more attention to 'trends' in his sugar levels.

I hate to take him off of Halo already because he really loves it a lot. The food I get from the vet's is okay (and giving lower BG levels??) but it has pork by-products and I want none of anything I don't recognize on the label. The first time Cashew had Halo's he was making kissy eyes at me all night, he enjoyed it so much. His breath doesn't stink and I swear I saw him skipping after he first tried it....

What do you guys feed your kitties? Any suggestions? The vet said they can only back food that has been proven by research and at the end of the day any wet food would be better than dry food so the main goal is to first get him on wet food only which i have done...

okay this topic has gone from urination to food products.... :S
 
Dehydration and high glucose levels can lead to the cat not wanting to pee in the box because they associate the box with discomfort. My civie is a water snob and it took us 5 years to discover that she wasn't drinking enough and her urine was too concentrated, which is what made her pee outside the box. We switched to wet food and added water to it each time, and put a gazillion water bowls everywhere and the peeing in bad places stopped. We also found out that she prefers non-enclosed kitty boxes. I would try putting another litter box in that room. Also, the best stuff I have found for cleaning up kitty pee is "Nature's Miracle". It has enzymes in it that break down the proteins in the urine, so it not only gets rid of what we smell, but also what they smell. It is strong smelling stuff and will gradually neutralize as it dries over a few days. Hope this helps!
 
With regards to food, Mr. Darcy, who I adopted from this board was FD but now in remission, he eats raw food.

My other cats don't care for it, it's there if they want to try it, but they will only eat Fancy Feast wheat gluten free varieties I've tried Wellness, Evo and some other high end canned, but mine are ex dry food junkies and I guess they just prefer Fancy Feast, once in a while they will eat the other stuff, but it's rare.

For treats we use only freeze dried chicken, turkey or bonita flakes. Tucker has allergies to gluten so none of my cats get gluten, if it's in the house, Tucker will find it ;-)
 
It really is overwhelming at first, but it gets better. I did not find this site until we were already hitting low numbers on Smokey, they were showing too low for my comfort and needed a way to know what was going on so I wasn't so scared. Because of that, my dose went up higher than most here would want and we brought it back down fast to keep her safe and me sane so my early treatment dosing wasn't really a good model to follow. There is a lot of great people and information on this site to help get you working the dosing side of it.

The first thing is to get hometesting so you can see where the insulin takes you, what the food is doing. The testing is what helps determine the dosing.

Getting to all wet food will help tremendously and is a key to possibly getting into remission. I was the same way about animal by-products and would chew my husband out if he brought home a can with it listed in the top 10. What I've found it that that really isn't always a sign of bad food. Its preferable to not be first, that a muscle meat is before it, but think about what a kitty in wild eats - the animal by-products are a natural part of cats' diets and provide some valuable nutrients. Many people on here feed raw, either homemade or ordered online. My girls would be appauled if I put raw food in front of them and expected them to eat it. Now our main food is the old label Fancy Feast. We mix up flavors 'cause they get bored easy. Selecting from the Janet and Binky charts on this site to keep the carbs under 10 (usually aim for 7 or less), I mix in some Pro-Plan, Wellness, Sophisticat, 9-lives, Special Kitty and Purina DM. I think once the old label FF is gone, we will switch over to mainly Pro-Plan and Sophisticat and try to get them to accept some of the new label Chunky FF that have better Protein numbers.

I don't see what insulin you are on. For newly diagnosed kitties Lantus and Levemir are showing great trends and getting the kitties into remission. You can look at the support groups for the insulins and find a lot of great information on dosing protocol, testing, feeding. There are also members that have been at this a while with each particular insulin that can help.

Good Luck. As I said, it does get easier. I went from someone who would faint at the site of a needle or someone drawing blood to testing and giving shots without a problem. My girl was quite peeved about the testing at first, but now gives the meter a cheek rub and runs for her testing spot.
 
O man, thank you so much guys! It helps a lot to know you all are out there. ;-)

I have decided to wean Cashew off of Halo (despite him having it for a couple of days only). I think once he has gone in to remission it would be safer to feed him holistic wet stuff...he is already going through a lot and I want to keep things as regulated as possible. We just increased his PM dose so he gets 3 units in the AM and 3 in the PM and are due for a blood curve next weekend.

Good news is he is energetic, vocal and has an appetite! He is a rescue cat that loves loves LOVES being loved. I know it sounds like an exaggeration but there was once a time he would not eat his meal until he got a hug...so I just gotta stay calm and positive. nailbite_smile

I am going to try Nature's Miracle if the current stuff doesn't work (hopefully I won't have to)...and I will keep you posted if the orange peels work!

thanks everyone, kisses to your darling kitties. xo
nida
 
hey melanie!

Cashew is on Lantus now...I have tried a couple of times to join support groups for the insulin but haven't been able to get on board for whatever reason.
I give him a small treat when getting his blood and fortunately the loud cries and hissing has stopped! it's a lot quicker and definitely less nervwrecking!!

I saw the charts you mentioned and was glad to find my vet's brand on there so I can show it to her next time we discuss food brands...

thx again, i feel so much more positive now.

nida
 
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