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Deborah L Krajewski

Member Since 2023
I need help!

My 14yo female was just diagnosed with diabetes, requiring a shot 2x's a day.

She drinks so much, between her two fountains and the kitchen faucet.
She has eaten only dry food all her life, I noticed she wasn't eating and took her to the vet.

We changed her dry food a couple different brands, she still wasn't eating so we started wet food.
She did well of well food for a few weeks but now appears to be snubbing her nose.

Her 3 littler boxes are outside housed for privacy in her catio, husband and I have rescued dumped cats and dogs for 38yrs, he has built a fabulous catio for the cats to have safe outside time and our very small home cat box free.

But I am struggling with litter because of the amount of water she drinks, and the amount she urinates.

I had always used the clay clumping litter but that is no longer even feasible with the amount of urine creating the litter to become harden lumps of heavy mud. I am old with arthritis and shoulder issues, it is difficult for me to keep her 3 boxes clean.

I just purchased a week ago, the Pretty Little silica gel litter. It seems better but in only 4 days I've gone thru 2 bags, because of the amount of urine build up. It does clump.
I don't know if can reuse the litter which is still granulated it is very yellow, I'm fearful it's dirty and don't want to reuse it.

Does anyone have any suggestions?
 
You’re looking for not clumping litter? Sorry trying to understand if the issue is that is getting everywhere or that you’re going through too much of it. I used Okocat litter because it didn’t stick to her paws and it didn’t clump but it worked the best for us at the time. The best thing is to get her diabetes regulated and then she won’t be drinking or peeing as much anymore. Can you tells us what insulin she’s on and what dose? Going from dry to wet food can drop the bg significantly by as much as 100 points so you want to make sure the dose is not suddenly too high for her now.

A dry high carb diet is not good for any cat, especially a diabetic cat. That’s like feeding your diabetic child a diet of chips, ice cream and sweets. I’m glad she’s eating wet now. What brands?

With a diabetic cat you need
  • A low carb wet diet that is 10% carbs or under. Most of us use around 4-7% carbs
  • A suitable insulin such as Lantus or Prozinc which are long acting, more gentle insulins than the old insulins.
  • We recommend hometesting the blood glucose with a human meter…it is not necessary to use a pet meter which is expensive to run and is no better. It will keep your kitty safe and you will know how the dose is working for your kitty. Only testing every so often will not tell you what is happening in between those times and an awful lot can happen in even a day.
  • HELP US HELP YOU has information about the spreadsheet, signature and hypo box which you will need to be able to look after your beloved kitty properly
Can you tell us what insulin your kitty has been prescribed and the dose please?.

A word of warning though…don’t change the food you are feeding at the moment over to the low carb food until you are testing the blood glucose because a change over can drop the BGs by up to 100 points and we don’t want you to have a hypo on your hands.


We are happy to help you with setting up the spreadsheet, sorting out what food to buy, how to transition safely to a low carb diet, how to learn to home test and much more.

FOOD CHART have a look on this chart and choose foods that are under 10%.

This is an excellent site for diabetic cats…it has been around for more than 25 years and has very experienced people to help you.

Keep asking lots of questions.
 
I have been going through the same thing, my 13 year old male was diagnosed in April. I used World's Best for years, but I was buying a new bag every other week, and throwing out 40 pounds of used litter every week! I tried the Fresh Step crystals (similar to Pretty Kitty) this week and the litter box was a slushy mess by day 4. I wrote to them and they are sending me a refund check, but had no suggestions. I also wrote Pretty Kitty to ask if their litter would do any better. They wrote back, said that I would probably need to use more of the litter than recommended and would have to change out the box more often. Not much help, as it would get way too expensive for me. So after researching litters this morning, I decided to try pine pellets. You only need to put about an inch in the box, scoop the poops out and let the pee turn the pellets to saw dust. I'm guessing I'll have to dump it twice a week, but it will be much lighter weight as it is just peed in sawdust, and less of it in the box. Fingers crossed anyway! I'll let you know how it goes.
Edit to add: The pine pellets are also way cheaper, $11 for a 20 lb. bag!
 
The likelihood is that until your cat's blood glucose levels are better regulated, you'll be seeing symptoms of diabetes -- excessive thirst and excessive urination. As a cat's diabetes is better controlled, the symptoms improve.

We are happy to help you with your cat's diabetes management if you're looking for that help. If so, we'll need to know more about your kitty (e.g., what insulin you're using, what the dose is, what you're feeding your cat).
 
The catalyst litter is more expensive than the pine but I used both and since the pine pellets are big, I was spending a lot more of it than I do with the catalyst now. The 20 pound bag lasts me months.
 
Once you get the diabetes under control the amou t of urine will decrease. (I have a video in my signature showing how I tested my cat CC at home). I have 5 cats. I put a little feline pine first in the box. Then double up on a liner (miracle cat jumbo liners). Then either tity cat instant action or fresh step non clumping litter. The feline pine is just in case they rip the liner it will absorb the liquid instead of being gross under plastic. I scoop out the poop and once a week toss out the liter and put in fresh liners and litter.
 
Thank you everyone for all your support and suggestions.

My Pretty Kitty passed over the Rainbow Bridge this afternoon.

I noticed last Thursday she hadn't been eating well. We were at the vet on Friday, she had an abscess tooth. We were back Monday for a recheck, she had not eaten all weekend, after fluids she seemed to be a bit better. Tuesday morning we were back at the vet for more fluid and IV antibiotic. Wednesday she was hiding all day, I looked all over the house, she finally appeared about midnight. She hadn't drank all day, we were at the vet this morning, bloodwork shows renal failure.

The vet aided her in crossing over.

Its been a rough week. I am 70yrs old, she is my last kitty. My heart cannot hurt like this anymore.

Thank you again everyone, all y'all are great, just like our kitties are. Cat people are very kind, tender people.

Blessings over all of you.
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Deborah L Krajewski said:
Thank you everyone for all your support and suggestions.

My Pretty Kitty passed over the Rainbow Bridge this afternoon.

I noticed last Thursday she hadn't been eating well. We were at the vet on Friday, she had an abscess tooth. We were back Monday for a recheck, she had not eaten all weekend, after fluids she seemed to be a bit better. Tuesday morning we were back at the vet for more fluid and IV antibiotic. Wednesday she was hiding all day, I looked all over the house, she finally appeared about midnight. She hadn't drank all day, we were at the vet this morning, bloodwork shows renal failure.

The vet aided her in crossing over.

Its been a rough week. I am 70yrs old, she is my last kitty. My heart cannot hurt like this anymore.

Thank you again everyone, all y'all are great, just like our kitties are. Cat people are very kind, tender people.

Blessings over all of you.
e
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Oh no. :(. I'm so sorry.
 
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