no pmps yet, but food question

[dd & savannah]

Hi all,

I seriously need to update my spreadsheet for Savannah, but in the meantime I am having a difficult time trying to figure out what to do about food.

Typically she eats only wet, until recently, we have been allowing her dry food because it is the only way to get her to eat anything. Long story short, she went to the vet a little over a week ago in which they gave her an antibiotic (we were not sure if she was on her way to getting a UTI). When the lab did further testing on her urine it did show some bacteria. The doctor felt happy that we gave her the meds and felt that it would be enough and she would not need more. In any case, she started to urinate in small amounts again later in the week, and in places other than her litter box. Her BUN numbers are up too, increased from last year. The vet felt that the numbers may have increased because of her diabetes. She mentioned that it may take 10 days for Lantus to work. I'm honestly not sure if we have ten days though. She was 6lbs last week and dropped to 5.9. She thinks something is up with her bladder and wants to do an ultrasound, but really don't have any money for that. They gave her a steroid today and prescribed an anti-inflammatory that we can pick up Wednesday.

So, what would you do? I can try and get her to eat wet food if I am persistent about getting her to do it, but then I worry about when I go back to work. Maybe I should allow her some dry food but mixed in with wet??

Thanks.

 

[Dyana]

You could try crumbling up some dry food and adding as a "topping" to the wet. Do you think she would eat that?

 

[dd & savannah]

I think so. Should I be super controlling in terms of when and how much I give to her?

Thanks!

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

Have you tried parmesan cheese, oregano, Forti Flora, bits of chicken or tuna juice to the wet food? If at all possible, we don't want to use the dry, and if you're also adding a steroid, Savannah's numbers are probably going to go up, so the less high carb food, the better IMHO

Of course it's much more important to treat the complication and just increase the insulin, but I'd think we wouldn't want to add high carb dry to the mix on top of it.

It'll be important to really get those tests in and up to date on your spreadsheet so we can help advise you as you go forward. Since she's been OTJ until just recently, it'll take 5-7 days to build the depot back up (not quite 10 days) and then see how she's doing.

I know when they've been OTJ and have come back out of remission, you have to be more aggressive with dosages, but since the steroid and the UTI are probably why she's high, hopefully once those are cleared up, she'll come back down.

Wish you the best of luck though!!

Would you please go ahead and take the 911 down? Change it to a ? instead so people know your condo includes a question, but isn't a medical emergency

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

Let's back up. How did the vet diagnose a UTI? Did the vet do a cystocentesis (i.e., use a needle to draw urine from Savannah's bladder)? If not, there's a good chance a urine sample is contaminated. If the lab found bacteria in Savannah's urine sample, was a culture and sensitivity done? This is the best way to know what antibiotic is needed. The issue may be sterile cystitis which does not respond to antibiotics. Cosequin, which you can buy online, will help with the bladder irritation that occurs with sterile cystitis.

What is the anti-inflammatory and is it for pain? Please make sure the vet is not prescribing meloxicam (Metacam). It has an FDA black box warning about causing renal failure in cats. Any non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory could be a potential problem in a cat that may be having kidney issues.

BUN is a test that tells you about kidney function. Diabetes can effect the way the kidneys are functioning but if Savannah has been OTJ, diabetes would not be effecting her kidneys. Did you get a creatinine value? It is possible that there is early stage kidney disease but you need to know more about both BUN and creatinine to know what's going on.

If you know that Savannah likes FortiFlora or freeze dried chicken, I'd sprinkle that on her wet food. If the only way to get her to eat is to use dry food, I'd pulverize it and sprinkle it on her food like Dyana suggested. Savannah needs to eat. (BTW, the steroid may increase her appetite.) Another option is an appetite stimulant such as mirtazepine or cyproheptadine.

 

[dd & savannah]

Hi,

Sorry I had the 911 up, I felt like it was a 911 b/c I feel like I have limited time left.

The vet didn't really diagnose a UTI, but b/c of her symptoms last week (freq. urination and small amounts) we felt as though she was on her way to getting one. We did not do the cystocentesis. Her symptoms seemed to get better with the antibiotics and she did do a sensitivity and stated her bladder was most likely inflamed based on the test ( I think she called it Stratus?). Later in the week her symptoms returned though. Savannah had an accident while at the vet, and that is what we used for a urine sample. The vet tried to see if there was any more urine left in her bladder and there was not any, so we used what we could gather.

I don't know her values b/c I don't have the lab reports, but I can ask tomorrow when she is open to find out about creatine.

They gave her some pain meds and the anti-inflammatory is for her bladder.

I can't really give her anything dairy, it's always had a negative effect on her, I'll try the Fortiflora though. I have been making her boiled chicken, but she eats such small amounts these days and there are times I have to prompt or remind her. She seems to always be up for a little dry food...