I have a 9 year old female lynx mix cat named Violet, that we adopted from a pet store event when she was 2-1/2. She's been a really very sweet and loveable cat and personality-wise, couldn't ask for more. Anyways, she's had some UTIs over the years, averaging about 1 per year, but last 2 years, she's had about 4 in the past 2 years. Anyways, on to the diabetes. She was diagnosed with diabetes last summer, so we have been managing it for almost a year and a half. The vet is pleases with the numbers when we do the blood tests. I came to this board to see if anyone has experienced a cat with increased UTIs (which means it starts by urinating and defecating outside of her litter boxes and that's my clues that it's time to go back to the vet and get that managed). Last year, the vet prescribed the prescription food to help control the diabetes, and initially she prescribed Hill's Science Diet, but due to supply chain issues, we were not able to get it so the vet just had us on the Purina prescription version for diabetes. I feel like since she's been on the Purina, she has really very foul smelling diarrhea. I requested recently to try and switch to the Hill's prescription, and we did recently get through one bag, and I notifiied the office to re-order that, and they must not have paid attention and ordered the Purina. We were completely out by that point and it takes a good week or so to get the food, so I went ahead and kept it. Anyways, it seems like her diarrhea is starting up again. So I guess my question is, is anyone else experiencing diarrhea with the Purina presciption vs the Hill's prescription? Definitely going to make sure they order the correct stuff next time. I didn't want to make a fuss because like many places, our vet clinic has been constantly short staffed since the pandemic times. Also, anyone else's kitty have increased other illnesses like UTIs possibly due to the diabetes causing a body ruckus? TIA for taking the time to read and possibly offer anything helpful. Happy "Cat"urday!
New member, just discovered this site
- Thread starter Violet14
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Hello and welcome to you and sweet Violet. It's not unusual for diabetics to be more prone to UTI's. If you can get your kitty better regulated, with less sugar in the blood, that can help. Some people supplement with d-mannose to help with the UTI's.
What type of insulin are you giving? Are you home testing her blood sugars? Home testing can help you get to a better insulin dose. Testing the blood sugar at the vet clinic can cause elevated numbers due to stress.
Sounds like there might be something in the Purina that isn't agreeing with your kitty. You don't need to feed the "vet prescription" food to a diabetic. Ideally the cat should be eating lower carb food. Just like humans who shouldn't be eating cake and ice cream. The "vet prescription" dry food doesn't have great ingredients and are generally higher in carbs than what a diabetic should eat. Have you ever tried wet food with Violet? There are lots of commercially available foods that are low carb and suitable or diabetics.
What type of insulin are you giving? Are you home testing her blood sugars? Home testing can help you get to a better insulin dose. Testing the blood sugar at the vet clinic can cause elevated numbers due to stress.
Sounds like there might be something in the Purina that isn't agreeing with your kitty. You don't need to feed the "vet prescription" food to a diabetic. Ideally the cat should be eating lower carb food. Just like humans who shouldn't be eating cake and ice cream. The "vet prescription" dry food doesn't have great ingredients and are generally higher in carbs than what a diabetic should eat. Have you ever tried wet food with Violet? There are lots of commercially available foods that are low carb and suitable or diabetics.
Just to tag on to the information that Wendy provided, there was a class action suit that the pet food manufacturers lost. They were sued for calling pet foods "prescription" since there is nothing that requires a prescription in the food. In fact, if you look at the label for the "diabetic" food closely, it's actually called "dietetic." The Purina canned food is in an acceptable carbohydrate range. The Hill's canned and dry and the Purina dry are all high in carbs.
If you need to get the diarrhea. under control, S. boulardii is a very good probiotic that can help.
If you need to get the diarrhea. under control, S. boulardii is a very good probiotic that can help.
Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA)
Member Since 2019
As Sienne said, nothing especial about prescription foods other than the price. Most of us feed low carb wet foods ranging from low end priced ones like Friskies and FF to Weruva, tiki and ZiwiPeak.
FOOD CHART have a look on this chart and choose foods that are under 10%.
I also second S Boulardii for GI tract maintenance. It takes a few weeks to start to work since it’s a probiotic but it does wonders.
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.
FOOD CHART have a look on this chart and choose foods that are under 10%.
I also second S Boulardii for GI tract maintenance. It takes a few weeks to start to work since it’s a probiotic but it does wonders.
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.
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