Hi, it has been a long time since I posted last.

[hjpurvis]

My gizmo died back in March 24, 2004 after 1 year of getting shots everyday. He lived to 18 years old and was my life long bud. In 2008 a new little Calico came into my life as a little baby by pure luck. I named her Harley because she is colored like my Harley Davidson rugs. Well today I have noticed for the first time her drinking lots of water which she normally does not do. For most of her life has been inside and meals have been wet food of chicken. Rare to have dried. I gave her dried today for the first time and she has started drinking lots of water. At one time a vet told me cats really should be fed meats and rarely dried food. So I did that for a long long time. At this point I am terrified at the moment that she is now Diabetic and it is driving me nuts. I removed the dry food and will not give her anymore. Normal meal is Meow mix chicken in gravy one in morning, one in eve and one at night. These are the little small tubs. Any suggestion at this point? I will carry her to a vet very soon.. Am I overreacting at this point? Thanks, James and Harley. BTW the photo is from ~2010

 

[Squeaky and KT (GA)]

Oh what a beauty Harley is!

Dry food will cause them to drink a lot more water so hopefully that's all it is. Do you still have a test kit? You can always test her bg for a bit and see what you discover. Vet could do blood panel and see what all her levels are....

Welcome back even tho' I don't like the reason....

 

[Robin&BB]

Hi, there - Harley is adorable! You were very smart to remove the dry food!

Low-carb canned is best for our kitties (less than 10% carbs, and the lower the better, unless there are other medical problems that have special dietary restrictions). A lot of folks here feed Fancy Feast Classic pates or Friskies pates (both are good, inexpensive low-carb choices). Any wet foods with gravy are usually too high in carbs, so I'd recommend you avoid those entirely.

Do you have a meter to test her blood glucose?

 

[hjpurvis]

Thank you both very much for the quick reply. As soon as I removed the dry stuff she slowed down and stop drinking so much. In fact usually the water bowl being a small one, water would take about a week to evaporate from about a 2 cup amount. I rarely saw her drink until I did the dry stuff. BTW she has been on the small chicken meat cans since 2010 and thought it might be good to give a little crunchy. Bad idea. Thank you about my pretty lady.. Yes adorable, rotten, but very loving. I wonder why. Once again thank you. James and Harley!
BTW, yes I have a testing kit. I will carry her to the vet next week.

 

[Robin&BB]

Hi again, James! One more question: Is Harley an "only" cat?

If she is: Measuring how much water she drinks every 24 hours is a super-easy way to see if she may be "going off the rails" as relates to diabetes. (I just fill Bat-Bat's little water dish with 6 oz. every morning, then measure what's left the next, write down the difference - & refill!)

When Bat-Bat came out of diabetic remission last February, she was drinking as much as 3 oz. water/day; now that she's well-regulated, she generally drinks 0.5 oz. or less, some days barely a trace.

Most cats have a very low thirst drive, so seeing a sudden spike the the amount of water she drinks - over a few days in a row - may be a warning bell of sorts. (Of course, there may be times that a cat drinks more in one day for another reason - say, after a bout of vomiting or diarrhea.)

If Harley's not an only, and measuring water she drinks isn't possible, you might want to pick up an inexpensive human meter, like a ReliOn Confirm or Prime @ Walmart, and check her blood glucose right before her first meal of the morning (or evening). It's really not hard to do, and it might give you a better idea as to whether the extra water-drinking was just a blip or whether she needs to see the vet about diabetes.

I would definitely get her on the lower-carb canned ASAP. Here's a handy chart of cat foods and their carb contents: food chart
As sometimes the switch to low-carb canned exclusively can actually lower blood glucose enough that a kitty doesn't end up needing insulin;
but that said: Every cat is different, so that change in diet alone doesn't always do the trick. But it's a good first step for sure!

 

[BJM]

There several Secondary Monitoring Tools in my signature link which you may find helpful to evaluate her health.