? Need help/advice

[sherrib]

Had to get my mom to rush skittles to the vet
for another FLUDT flare up. His Lindsey numbers are worst then they were in Jan
His BG has been up for a week or so ( see SS) I can not do any curves because its stressing him out which causes a FLUDT flare up.
I'm waiting for the vet to call me, but mom said something about changing his diet for his kidneys

What do y'all feed for any cats y'all have w diabetes and kidney failure? I'm already paying $53.00 A WEEK for Pro Plan Urinary Tract Turkey & Giblets pate. I literally had to get a job to be able to afford this food! And me not being home 24/7 like my pets are used to also causes stress
I need advice/ help on what to do. I'm not home w him right now because I drove back home to pack up some more, that's why my mom had to rush him in & why I'm waiting for the vet to call me
Drive is over a hour each way & causes to much stress, that's why he is not w me

 

[Veronica & Babu-chiri]

Sorry to hear about Skittles, do you know how advanced is his chronic kidney desease (CKD) otherwise named as kidney failure ( I think it sounds less catastrophic if you name it CKD) ? Did by any chance the vet mentioned what stage is he?

On a general basis what you need to feed a cat with CKD and diabetes is a low carb low phosphorus diet, most of the kidney and urinary tract prescription diets are way high in carbs so not appropriate for a diabetic, if you take a look at Dr. Lisa's list (http://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf) look for food that is 10% or less in carbs and under 250 in phosphorus( if you can find under 200 even better) that suits you (odds are it will be less expensive than the prescription diet), but it would be good to know how bad his CKD is

In my case none of those are available where I live so I'm home cooking which is a lot less expensive than comercial food but I do admit that also requires some time and effort

 

[sherrib]

Sorry to hear about Skittles, do you know how advanced is his chronic kidney desease (CKD) otherwise named as kidney failure ( I think it sounds less catastrophic if you name it CKD) ? Did by any chance the vet mentioned what stage is he?

On a general basis what you need to feed a cat with CKD and diabetes is a low carb low phosphorus diet, most of the kidney and urinary tract prescription diets are way high in carbs so not appropriate for a diabetic, if you take a look at Dr. Lisa's list (http://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf) look for food that is 10% or less in carbs and under 250 in phosphorus( if you can find under 200 even better) that suits you (odds are it will be less expensive than the prescription diet), but it would be good to know how bad his CKD is

In my case none of those are available where I live so I'm home cooking which is a lot less expensive than comercial food but I do admit that also requires some time and effort

I will post his numbers on Friday , they are closed tomorrow & when she called I was in my car so I didn’t right down his numbers. Vet said she had never had a cat that has had as many FLUTD flares up as skittles. She wants to do a kidney & bladder ultrasound.
I’ve very interested in making their food. I have 2 cats and 1 small dog. Paying $53.00 a WEEK just for cat food is killing me

 

[Veronica & Babu-chiri]

I will post his numbers on Friday , they are closed tomorrow & when she called I was in my car so I didn’t right down his numbers. Vet said she had never had a cat that has had as many FLUTD flares up as skittles. She wants to do a kidney & bladder ultrasound.
I’ve very interested in making their food. I have 2 cats and 1 small dog. Paying $53.00 a WEEK just for cat food is killing me

Has a culture been made to make sure he's getting the proper antibiotic? What virus or bacteria came out?

Usually on diabetic cats is harder to get rid of UTI they usually need more than one round of antibiotics, what is usually done is that 2 weeks after they finish the first round of antibiotics an other urinalysis with culture is done even if they aren't showing any signs if it comes clean you wait a month and again do another urinalysis with culture and after that you wait still one more month and do another urinalysis, if it is not clean you start a second round of antibiotics and repeat the whole process (I know is a lot)

Let me know when you get the test results and we can start looking at the food issue

 

[Darnell & Sprocket (GA)]

I had issues like this before except Sprocket had idiopathic cystitis which was stress related. He also had buprenex which helped the bladder to calm down.
Also a good info website is felinecrf.org.
Tanya site has a ton of info on CKD.

Also check on your water. Alot of tap water or well water has too many minerals that causes issues for cats.
I used Spring water- Poland Spring and just got a case of 24 bottles while on sale...usually $3-$4.
I mixed water in every wet food meal. As much as they like.
Tuna juice with added water also helps with hydration.

 

[sherrib]

Has a culture been made to make sure he's getting the proper antibiotic? What virus or bacteria came out?

Usually on diabetic cats is harder to get rid of UTI they usually need more than one round of antibiotics, what is usually done is that 2 weeks after they finish the first round of antibiotics an other urinalysis with culture is done even if they aren't showing any signs if it comes clean you wait a month and again do another urinalysis with culture and after that you wait still one more month and do another urinalysis, if it is not clean you start a second round of antibiotics and repeat the whole process (I know is a lot)

Let me know when you get the test results and we can start looking at the food issue

No culture, but I will suggest everything you said. Vet wants to send him to a specialist because she said she has never had a patient with some many flare ups.

On top of his flare up, One of his anal glands are so swollen she can’t get anything out of it. I noticed a few days before that when I picked him up he would yelp in pain, looked him over and found the area red,swollen & very painful. The area is where the anal gland is. Vet went in and couldn’t get anything out of it. He is on amoxicillin and pain meds for it. Today the swelling and redness is gone but the skin is very hard & flaky looking. This happened a year ago but on the other side. It wasn’t caught in time and it busted open, but back then a vet used a laser type machine to bring blood up to the surface and he was constantly looking at the area so I think that is why it ended up opening up but it didn’t smell like how anal gland fluid smells so I don’t know if it was an actual anal gland or what especially since it’s very rare for cats to get impacted glands .

 

[sherrib]

I had issues like this before except Sprocket had idiopathic cystitis which was stress related. He also had buprenex which helped the bladder to calm down.
Also a good info website is felinecrf.org.
Tanya site has a ton of info on CKD.

Also check on your water. Alot of tap water or well water has too many minerals that causes issues for cats.
I used Spring water- Poland Spring and just got a case of 24 bottles while on sale...usually $3-$4.
I mixed water in every wet food meal. As much as they like.
Tuna juice with added water also helps with hydration.

I used filtered water, it’s a water pitcher that has a filter on it , can’t remember the name right now and his water fountain has a filter to. I also add water to their food, not sure if everyone in the house does since I just got a part time job . I’m literally working just to pay for the cat food! I’m paying $53 a WEEK for Pro Plan urinary health turkey and giblerts pate . It’s the only food I can find that’s low in carbs, phos and pate style . ( will only eat pate )

 

[Darnell & Sprocket (GA)]

I used filtered water, it’s a water pitcher that has a filter on it , can’t remember the name right now and his water fountain has a filter to. I also add water to their food, not sure if everyone in the house does since I just got a part time job . I’m literally working just to pay for the cat food! I’m paying $53 a WEEK for Pro Plan urinary health turkey and giblerts pate . It’s the only food I can find that’s low in carbs, phos and pate style . ( will only eat pate )

I would test the water with a water test kit you can find at a hardware store or amazon.
And as for food. I have found that buying by the case from amazon or chewy is so much cheaper than even sale prices now.
What you can also do is ask vet about kitties phosphorus level because there is also a binder you can add to food to help with that.
Then you can buy some other foods to make it a little cheaper.
With the food chart on catinfo.org you can use the sortable chart by the column.
There is also a chart on felinecrf.org that is low phosphorus too.
Also, I give my ckd cat fish oil and it has helped her kidneys. I use Nordic Naturals fish oil for cats & dogs.
hope that helps

 

[sherrib]

I would test the water with a water test kit you can find at a hardware store or amazon.
And as for food. I have found that buying by the case from amazon or chewy is so much cheaper than even sale prices now.
What you can also do is ask vet about kitties phosphorus level because there is also a binder you can add to food to help with that.
Then you can buy some other foods to make it a little cheaper.
With the food chart on catinfo.org you can use the sortable chart by the column.
There is also a chart on felinecrf.org that is low phosphorus too.
Also, I give my ckd cat fish oil and it has helped her kidneys. I use Nordic Naturals fish oil for cats & dogs.
hope that helps

What am I testing the water for? One of my hobbies are keeping tropical fish, so I already have test kits but don’t know exactly what to test for? Hope I have the test kits already

I didn’t know about binder for phosphorus from my vet! That would help so much !! What’s the name of that it? I already put corn silk extract & D-Mannose in in his food. It’s for humans that suffer from with FLUTD , it’s not called that for humans, but it’s the same disease ( painful inflamed urinary track, bladder sheds when swollen & urines high PH burns the walls of the bladder)

If I can get the phos binder for his food, I can go back to his old food. I do get 24 at a time ( $53 ) but mostly get 48 at a time. Sucks because no company sell by the case, only break is getting 24 at a time for 99 or pay 1.09 each .
I got lucky and it was on sale for .80 a can just only on presidents day only . I didn’t know if the sale, and was only able to 24 cans BTW cans are only 3 oz and I'm feeding 2 cats! Something has to change, so excited to find out the name of the stuff you’re talking about and hope that my vet will have it or get it for me

 

[sherrib]

I had issues like this before except Sprocket had idiopathic cystitis which was stress related. .

That's what it's called in humans, its NOW called FLUTD in cats. This is what I was talking about in my above post

 

[sherrib]

Has a culture been made to make sure he's getting the proper antibiotic? What virus or bacteria came out?

Usually on diabetic cats is harder to get rid of UTI they usually need more than one round of antibiotics, what is usually done is that 2 weeks after they finish the first round of antibiotics an other urinalysis with culture is done even if they aren't showing any signs if it comes clean you wait a month and again do another urinalysis with culture and after that you wait still one more month and do another urinalysis, if it is not clean you start a second round of antibiotics and repeat the whole process (I know is a lot)

Let me know when you get the test results and we can start looking at the food issue

No culture was done or at least I don’t think so... had to get my mom to take him for me that day. Yesterday I called and left a message explaining that he needs to be on meds longer . But FLUTD usually is not bacterial infection, it comes from stress . It’s the same thing that humans get but it’s called idiopathic cystitis, and FLUTD is the name it’s called now before it was call Pandora or FIB n felines

 

[sherrib]

I’m have a Brain Fart.... how do I post pictures again? I want to post his bloodwork results for y’all

 

[Veronica & Babu-chiri]

No culture was done or at least I don’t think so... had to get my mom to take him for me that day. Yesterday I called and left a message explaining that he needs to be on meds longer . But FLUTD usually is not bacterial infection, it comes from stress . It’s the same thing that humans get but it’s called idiopathic cystitis, and FLUTD is the name it’s called now before it was call Pandora or FIB n felines

If no culture was made there is no way they are sure is idiopathic (or FLUTD) he could have some sort of virus or bacteria that is not really been targeted with the meds he's getting

I already put corn silk extract & D-Mannose in in his food

D-mannose is very good for UTIs but I would suggest you use the one that is only D-mannose with out any other stuff

What am I testing the water for?

Mainly PH you want it to be really neutral a lot of tap water tends to be a bit high in PH and that can cause problems in the urinary tract

I didn’t know about binder for phosphorus from my vet!

What most people use is aluminum hydroxide (here's a link in Tanya's web page that has a lot of information on phosphorus binders http://www.felinecrf.org/phosphorus_binders.htm) is always better to try and find a food that is low in phosphorus but if you can't find one that suits you and that he would eat , the binder is always an option, the one I use (not on Babu but with one of my cyvies ) is Renvela because I can't get aluminium hydroxide where I live

I’m have a Brain Fart.... how do I post pictures again? I want to post his bloodwork results for y’all

Click on the botton that says upload a file at the bottom of the post

 

[Darnell & Sprocket (GA)]

Only give a phosphorus binder if the level is high. Check the bloodwork. Should be on there.
Epitath is the binder I had before. I might have spelled it wrong.
Look at that food chart I mentioned and look through the list. Its very helpful