Urinary Health

[Sarah R]

About 4 years ago, my at the time 6 years old Charlie developed a urinary infection. He was since then put on a veterinary diet for his urinary health. He was given Royal Canin's urinary so moderate calorie wet and dry food. He has not had any urinary issues since then.
Recently, (like 2-3 months ago) I decided to try different brands as veterinary diet food is pricey and we were financially struggling. I switched to Pro plan urinary health formula and discovered Charlie loves their chicken entree. He would lick his bowl clean!
Then I realized he has NEVER done that with Royal Canin. There was always left over that I had to clean out before giving his next meal. He managed to gain weight over time despite never finishing his food and just last week was diagnosed with diabetes. He now has to get insulin shots with his meals and get his bg checked regularly.
My heart aches for him and I can't help but wonder if switching his food was a bad idea. I looked up calorie content in each brand and Pro plan seemed to actually have less calories. I also haven't told his vet that I switched his food. Should I? I had actually asked about what brand cat food I should get him a few years ago and they told me to stay on the veterinary diet. I wish it wasn't so expensive! Should I switch back to it though?

Sorry for such a long rambling. I really love my Charlie and want nothing more than the best for him. I want him to stay healthy and strong the rest of his life.

Thank you for taking the time to read!

 

[zoes]

In my experience, talking to my vet about cat food and nutrition is a waste of time. All they do is push Royal Canin on me.

I would still probably tell your vet, just because he's on insulin, and I imagine that the nutritional profile of the food impacts how much insulin he needs.

You mention calories so I assume he is quite overweight, but I wouldn't necessarily worry about calories or specific brand of food so much as the carb content of the food and making sure he gets enough water.

Is he eating any dry food currently, and are you free-feeding him dry food? Or feeding him a large portion? If so, I'd probably blame the weight gain and possibly also the diabetes on that, since dry food is notorious for both.

I'm not a vet or expert, but if I were in your shoes, I'd probably look to switch to a 100% wet food diet, and look for foods that are less than 10% carbs, and mostly meat protein (as in, low in plant matter.) I would tell my vet I'm doing this so they could help me with insulin dosing.

 

[Sarah R]

He used to weigh almost 16 lbs but he went down to 13.5lbs just before getting diagnosed with diabetes. He's been eating only wet food and he gets them twice a day only. I don't let him graze all day lol.
I think I'll still call them though.

 

[zoes]

He used to weigh almost 16 lbs but he went down to 13.5lbs just before getting diagnosed with diabetes. He's been eating only wet food and he gets them twice a day only. I don't let him graze all day lol.
I think I'll still call them though.

That's great that he's on wet food and eats two meals a day. I would keep that up, though I might try to find a better quality wet food if you want to or can afford it. You don't have to feed the urinary stuff so long as he's on wet food and maintains good urinary health (do monitor closely at first, if you do his switch), so you might be able to find a higher quality food at the same price point, or even mix the two together. Look for food that's super dense and mix in extra water - more bang for your buck. But I'm not too bothered at all by him being on the pro plan wet.

If you find he's gaining weight or not losing weight, and if he's overweight, just cut back the portions a little bit as needed.

If your vet still thinks he's on RC Urinary kibble, I'd definitely tell them ASAP. Kibble has a lot more carbs so he may be getting more insulin than he needs.

 

[LTS3]

With the diabetes, you need to feed low carb canned food. If you haven't already found it, the FelineDiabetes.com message board is a wealth of info: Feline Diabetes Message Board - FDMB A few small meals daily works best for most diabetic cats because it keeps blood glucose levels from crashing too low. You can use a programmable timed feeder.

Canned food is helpful for most urinary issues and weight loss, too. Unregulated diabetic cats are always hungry so you'll need to feed more calories until the blood glucose levels are closer to normal. The general rule is roughly 20 to 25 calories per pound of ideal body weight daily for cats with no underlying health issue or concerns.

Don't expect much support from the vet on a diet change. Many insist on prescription food for everything. You don't need the vet's approval to feed what you want anyways.

 

[reba]

Funny this is in the featured as I came to post this advice. My cat had PU surgery about 14 months ago and we've had no complications until now. I wanted to share how I knew he was sick again and hopefully avoided blocking.

After his PU surgery I was using the paper pellets and the sifting litter box method. He hated those pellets and started peeing on the carpet in protest. So as a compromise I threw a puppy pad in a litter box and surprise! he used it just fine. He pees and then sets to work folding up the corners of the puppy pad. Then I just throw it out and replace it with another.

This has great benefits:
1. I know how much and how often he pees
2. I could see clearly there was blood in his urine two days ago

He has blocked both because of crystals and blood clots, so this has probably been happening all the time, but I never would have known about the UTI until much later it had it not been for the puppy pads. Took him to the vet and he's on Clavamox now.

Anyway, let's hope we're out of the woods and try the puppy pad/no litter method if you have a cat you have a cat you have to monitor. It's been a godsend !