? Best Diabetic Cat Food?

[SilverSap]

Hi everyone! My cat (6 years old, normal weight) was diagnosed in May of this year with diabetes. Prior to diagnosis he ate both wet and dry food. Since the diagnosis he has been on an all wet food diet. He eats Wellness CORE grain-free chicken. That said, we have had great trouble regulating him, trying different insulins, different dosages, different timings etc but he just doesn't seem to want to give us any pattern in his readings! The vet suggested switching to a diabetic cat food, i believe she referred to DM by Purina. Has anyone had any luck with this cat food? Alternately, can anyone provide any suggestion or advice on the best cat foods out there for a diabetic cat? (We have 2 other cats that also only eat this wet food so ideally we would like to continue feeding all 3 cats the same food).

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

DM isn't any better than any other low carb canned food....it's just more expensive.....Check the ingredients:

Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diets DM Dietetic Management Formula Canned Cat Food Liver, poultry by-products, meat by-products, water sufficient for processing, chicken, salmon, oat fiber, salmon meal, artificial and natural flavors, guar gum, calcium phosphate, potassium chloride, carrageenan, salt, Vitamin E supplement, taurine, thiamine mononitrate, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, niacin, calcium pantothenate, copper sulfate, Vitamin A supplement, manganese sulfate, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin supplement, Vitamin B-12 supplement, biotin, folic acid, Vitamin D-3 supplement, potassium iodide.

Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diets DM Dietetic Management Savory Selects Formula Canned Cat Food
Water sufficient for processing, chicken, liver, wheat gluten, meat by-products, corn starch-modified, soy flour, artificial and natural flavors, calcium phosphate, potassium chloride, L-Lysine monohydrochloride, taurine, salt, choline chloride, added color, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, thiamine mononitrate, Vitamin E supplement, niacin, copper sulfate, manganese sulfate, calcium pantothenate, Vitamin A supplement, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin supplement, Vitamin B-12 supplement, biotin, folic acid, Vitamin D-3 supplement, potassium iodide.

Wellness Core Chicken, Turkey and Chicken Liver:
Chicken, Turkey, Chicken Broth, Chicken Liver, Chicken Meal, Turkey Liver, Dried Ground Potatoes, Natural Chicken Flavor, Guar Gum, Carrageenan, Cranberries, Ground Flaxseed, Salmon Oil, Taurine, Dried Kelp, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Chicory Root Extract, Iron Proteinate, Zinc Proteinate, Vitamin E Supplement, Choline Chloride, Cobalt Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Folic Acid, Niacin, Sodium Selenite, d-Calcium Panthothenate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin A Supplement, Potassium Iodide, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Biotin.

As you can see, the Wellness ingredients are a lot better. Most of us feed plain Fancy Feast Classics or Friskies pates...they're low carb and affordable

What insulin are you using?

 

[SilverSap]

Thanks for the info! He was on Lantus from May - September but it didnt seem to be responding. So the vet switched up to ProZinc, its almost been a full 2 months on the ProZinc, still no regulation

 

[BJM]

Did you know that ProZinc allows you to develop a sliding scale for dosing?
Come over to the ProZinc section to read the stickies and get more focused support.

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

He was on Lantus from May - September but it didnt seem to be responding

Were you home testing during this time? Lantus craves consistency, so if you were changing dose often in response to high Pre-shot numbers, that's probably why you weren't seeing very good results. Besides needing a consistent dose, the dose amount is based on how LOW it takes them, not Pre-shot values. It's a "depot" insulin too, where one dose builds on the last one which makes it last longer

Now with ProZinc, it's a little different....There are two different ways to use ProZinc....One is with consistent dosing and the other is using a sliding scale (where if the PS is X, you give Y)

There's lots of information on using ProZinc in the Sticky's at the top of the ProZinc forum....Before you get discouraged, I highly suggest you start posting over there and get the benefit of the experience of the people who also use ProZinc!

 

[Melanie and Smokey]

There really is no "best" diabetic cat food out there, all cats respond differently and what works for one may not work as well for another. I think CORE is a little higher in carb content that other low carb foods and it is pretty high fat content so the calories are high IIRC. We fed Cecil CORE at first as that is what the shelter had him on. The higher calorie wasn't a big deal 'cause he needed to gain weight, but he was gaining at a crazy rate once we got him onto Lantus and got his numbers under control and he switched off of it fairly quickly. He eats mainly Fancy Feast along with the rest of our cats now.

I do have one foster I feed DM to. We got some donated to the shelter and I decided to use it on him since he will eat anything. His dosage needs dropped enough while eating it that I decided it did benefit him enough to kept him on it. The biggest problem with DM is that most cats tire of it after a short time and won't eat it anymore.