Feline Urinary Syndrome

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fritzmom

Member Since 2013
Hello Everyone

My name is Barb, and my boy's name is Sam. Sam is about 12 yrs now going on 13 this Spring.

I've had Sam since he was just a few months old, getting him from the local Humane Society. For most of his life I have fed him dry food, with the exception of the first few months after getting him when I fed both dry and canned.

Last Summer I started feeding one of our dogs canned food so he could get his heart meds. Of course our other dog and Sam both wanted canned food too - shouldn't play favorites! So I bought canned cat food and would feed Sam about a teaspoon twice a day; morning and evening when it was the dog's med time. Well, Sam developed diarrhea. I assumed because of the addition of canned food to his diet. He was also urinating more, but I wasn't worried because I figured if he had diarrhea then he needed more water, hence more urinating. But by late October he was losing weight. Great appetite, but loosing the weight. So off to the vets. Diagnosis: Diabetes. His Blood Sugar was over 25 mmol (we're in Canada btw). Put him on Caninsulin 8.5 i.u in a 100 iu syringe twice a day. I also started reading up on feline diabetes and discovered that dry kibble was a culprit. So, I decided to change his diet; took him off kibble and gave nothing but canned Friskies. By the beginning of December his Blood Sugar levels were becoming so low that the vet and I stopped his insulin treatment. Just by changing his diet his diabetes went into remission and he no longer (at least so far) needs insulin. I've been checking his Blood Sugar levels weekly (I have a Bayer glucometer) and they are well within a normal range for a non-diabetic cat.

This is great, however my husband and I have been fighting over Sam's diet. My husband is of the FIRM belief that Sam will develop Feline Urinary Syndrome if ONLY fed canned food. I laugh at him; but could he have a point? I've never heard of a cat developing FUS when only on a canned diet, but I'd sure appreciate any feedback from other feline owners on this matter.

Thanks so much.
 
Funny that you just posted this. I had a cat that just passed away from FLUTD. I'm almost positive it is because I was feeding him dry food. We had 4 cats and I was only feeding the diabetic the wet food because of the expense of the wet food. $3800 and one less cat later, I've learned my lesson. I think that the one thing you need not do with wet food is feed seafood formulations more than twice a week. Good luck.
 
Hi Hillary & Maui and MayBTheresHope

Thanks for the link Hillary, showed it to the hubby and all I got from him was: "I know cats". But it is an excellent site and has removed any anxiety I had over feeding Sam wet food only. Have bookmarked that site for future use.

Another question: I know not to feed cats People Fish food. But is Cat Fish food just as bad? I've been trying to find info on that since my Sam really really likes the seafood flavors and I don't want to go from the frying pan into the fire.

And MayBTheresHope, please accept my condolences on your loss. The dog on heart meds I mentioned in my original post, we lost him on January 4 so the pain and the tears are still fresh for us.

Barb
 
fritzmom said:
Another question: I know not to feed cats People Fish food. But is Cat Fish food just as bad? I've been trying to find info on that since my Sam really really likes the seafood flavors and I don't want to go from the frying pan into the fire.
Click to expand...

Yes, seafood based canned cat foods should be limited to once in awhile meals. Some cats get addicted to eating seafood and will refuse to eat anything else, seafood tends to have a low protein content and a high phosphorus content. Many dry foods contain some amount of fish (usually as meal or something), even ones that are supposedly "chicken based" or something, so it's harder to avoid. But you shouldn't feed dry food to a daibetic anyways.
 
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