Prescription Diet XD

[merestar97]

Hello
My cat was recently given Prescription Diet XD and now she is eating a lot more & drinking a lot more water. Does anyone have any info if that is a side effect of the food?

Thank you

[davet]

oi am not6 sure what the XD is cause it came out after i retired but it never hurts cats to drink water, they are notoriou for not doing so, but give your vet a call it may not be normal

[Traci]

Assuming your vet found oxalate crystals upon urinalysis? If so, and/or if she were catheterized or suffered dehydration, this could be why she is drinking more water. Also, if you previously had her on canned food and now on the dry food, this will increase her water consumption to some degree, but it shouldn't be excessive. Increased water consumption can also indicate diabetes or renal impairment, but in your case is most likely due to dehydration. Notify your vet about it immediately, and get a recheck on a urinalysis soon to ensure the crystals are dissolving and/or to ensure the diet is working.

[Guest]

How excessive does the drinking need to be for diabetes?

[Traci]

That depends on the cat's health, age, any other notable signs and symptoms of illness, any unusual behavior changes occuring suddenly...

Normal water consumption (baseline for normal healthy adult cats) is no more than 100-200 ml per day. Or, should not exceed 45 ml/kg/day...so for example, if your kitty weighs 4.5 kg (10 lbs), she should not be drinking more than 203 ml per day. Again, this depends on weight, age, general health condition of the cat, degree of dehydration, etc. Bottom line, if you're concerned and noticing obvious changes in her drinking habits, contact your vet about it immediately, he may want to recheck bloodwork and/or get another urinalysis done. Since (I am assuming) she has crystals, you want to alert your vet to any sudden changes, no matter how slight they may seem to you, he needs to know so he can decide to alter treatment or not.

[Guest]

Thank you..I have called the vet but they are not in the office today. So, I hope to hear from them tomorrow.