New member needs help with food

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Angela with Chloe

Angela with Chloe

Member Since 2023
Chloe 13yr (small) Maine Coon is newly diagnosed with diabetes and pancreatitis. I have just sent glucose curve details to my vet after being advised to give her 1mg insulin 2 X daily and told to feed her either Royal Canin or Hills gastrointestinal food. Chloe has never taken to shop bought wet food except maybe Encore, rightly or wrongly I've always given her dry + cooked white fish or Turkey. My vet frowned at this and said if she doesn't eat the prescribed wet food to just give her dry, that consistency is important. Why is it wrong to give her the fish or Turkey? Can you suggest if and what home prepared wet food I could give her.
 
Hi @Angela with Chloe
I can't really help regarding homemade wet food as i have never been down that road although i cannot see any problem giving her cooked turkey or chicken as treats, however contrary to popular belief feeding fish regularly is not particularly good for cats.
@Bron and Sheba (GA) what about a raw diet as an alternative?
As Bron has already stated dry food is high in carbs and will almost certainly keep Chloe's blood glucose high and not only that dry food has zero moisture which can lead to dehydration and constipation if your cat is not drinking enough.
The two links posted above by Bron give fantastic information to UK members, the first link takes you to the UK information page and the second a UK food list which gives all relevant carbohydrate data.
My Duke also suffers from pancreatitis and we are in the process of trying to find out just what triggers it off. At first we thought it was the veg protein extract that's in a lot of cat foods because he always seemed to go downhill after eating it but not always so we came to the conclusion that maybe it was the foods that contained red meat and also the fish cat foods that affected him so we took him off those foods last October and fingers crossed he's done well since with no panc flares, only time will tell if that's what causes his flares.
All i can suggest is keep trying different foods on the list.
To honest most of us on this forum go through countless brands of cat food until we find the right one that they like, it's trial and error i'm afraid.
 
Diane Tyler's Mom said:
Bumping this up for you to get some attention :cat: In case anyone has food suggestions ,I see Angela and Chloe are from England
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Teetee (UK) said:
Hi @Angela with Chloe
I can't really help regarding homemade wet food as i have never been down that road although i cannot see any problem giving her cooked turkey or chicken as treats, however contrary to popular belief feeding fish regularly is not particularly good for cats.
@Bron and Sheba (GA) what about a raw diet as an alternative?
As Bron has already stated dry food is high in carbs and will almost certainly keep Chloe's blood glucose high and not only that dry food has zero moisture which can lead to dehydration and constipation if your cat is not drinking enough.
The two links posted above by Bron give fantastic information to UK members, the first link takes you to the UK information page and the second a UK food list which gives all relevant carbohydrate data.
My Duke also suffers from pancreatitis and we are in the process of trying to find out just what triggers it off. At first we thought it was the veg protein extract that's in a lot of cat foods because he always seemed to go downhill after eating it but not always so we came to the conclusion that maybe it was the foods that contained red meat and also the fish cat foods that affected him so we took him off those foods last October and fingers crossed he's done well since with no panc
Teetee (UK) said:
Hi @Angela with Chloe
I can't really help regarding homemade wet food as i have never been down that road although i cannot see any problem giving her cooked turkey or chicken as treats, however contrary to popular belief feeding fish regularly is not particularly good for cats.
@Bron and Sheba (GA) what about a raw diet as an alternative?
As Bron has already stated dry food is high in carbs and will almost certainly keep Chloe's blood glucose high and not only that dry food has zero moisture which can lead to dehydration and constipation if your cat is not drinking enough.
The two links posted above by Bron give fantastic information to UK members, the first link takes you to the UK information page and the second a UK food list which gives all relevant carbohydrate data.
My Duke also suffers from pancreatitis and we are in the process of trying to find out just what triggers it off. At first we thought it was the veg protein extract that's in a lot of cat foods because he always seemed to go downhill after eating it but not always so we came to the conclusion that maybe it was the foods that contained red meat and also the fish cat foods that affected him so we took him off those foods last October and fingers crossed he's done well since with no panc flares, only time will tell if that's what causes his flares.
All i can suggest is keep trying different foods on the list.
To honest most of us on this forum go through countless brands of cat food until we find the right one that they like, it's trial and error i'm afraid.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Teetee (UK) said:
Hi @Angela with Chloe
I can't really help regarding homemade wet food as i have never been down that road although i cannot see any problem giving her cooked turkey or chicken as treats, however contrary to popular belief feeding fish regularly is not particularly good for cats.
@Bron and Sheba (GA) what about a raw diet as an alternative?
As Bron has already stated dry food is high in carbs and will almost certainly keep Chloe's blood glucose high and not only that dry food has zero moisture which can lead to dehydration and constipation if your cat is not drinking enough.
The two links posted above by Bron give fantastic information to UK members, the first link takes you to the UK information page and the second a UK food list which gives all relevant carbohydrate data.
My Duke also suffers from pancreatitis and we are in the process of trying to find out just what triggers it off. At first we thought it was the veg protein extract that's in a lot of cat foods because he always seemed to go downhill after eating it but not always so we came to the conclusion that maybe it was the foods that contained red meat and also the fish cat foods that affected him so we took him off those foods last October and fingers crossed he's done well since with no panc flares, only time will tell if that's what causes his flares.
All i can suggest is keep trying different foods on the list.
To honest most of us on this forum go through countless brands of cat food until we find the right one that they like, it's trial and error i'm afraid.
Click to expand...
Thank you all for your help. I spoke to my vet today who reiterated that consistency is important, that I should keep Chloe on a diet without chopping and changing foods. I was told that as she doesn't like shop bought wet food it's ok to keep her on dry food if she eats that. I must say her glucose level readings are less erratic on the dry food, which incidentally is for gastrointestinal probs and pancreatitis. I found the list of foods with their carb amounts and the carb calculator useful and educated the shop assistant in 'Pets Corner.'
So I'll obey my vet for now, at least while I'm getting Chloes condition stabilised. Thank you anyway for you're help and wish you and Duke all the best.
 
I'm sorry your vet has told you this as she is completely wrong in saying that the dry food is best. Dry food is very high carb and you will never get Chloe stabilised (regulated) in good numbers unless you are giving high doses of insulin to combat the high carb food, which will continue to stress the pancreas. Its like having a child with diabetes and feeding her a diet of sweets and pies and MacDonalds and giving her insulin and thinking she will get better.
Vets get very little education about nutrition and the little they get is from the big cat food manufacturers who of course say their food is best. There has been a court case recently which challenged the use of the term "prescription' foods and the big manufacturers lost the case. I will tag @Sienne and Gabby (GA) as she know more about that than I.
I'm not sure why your vet doesn't like shop bought cat food. It has more meat...which cats need than the prescription food does. If you look at the ingredients of the prescription dry food, the first few ingredients are usually corn meal and some other grain which is high carb and which raises the blood glucose. There is usually very little meat and cats are obligate carnivores and their diet should be meat.
I can only tell you what is well known to knowledgeable vets. Chloe is your cat and you must decide what is best for her.
 
Sigh......
Unfortunately, most of the training that vets receive about nutrition is not in vet school! They get a limited amount of information during their training and then get "educated" by the sales representatives from the pet food companies. The lack of training in nutrition is true for MDs, as well. This is a link to a site authored by a vet who has made it her mission to study feline nutrition. There is information on the site I linked on what you need to prepare a raw/homemade diet. I don't know if you have pre-mixes that are available in the UK. (A premix is a powder that contains all of the supplements to make a raw diet nutritionally complete for your pet.)

What Bron was referring to is a class action suit that was filed here in the US against the pet food manufacturers and several large pet stores and veterinary chains. The claim that was found to be valid is that there is nothing in what were labeled "prescription" food that were actually prescriptive -- there were no drugs, medications, etc. It was a marketing ploy and an abuse of the consumer. If you look at any diabetic food ingredients, for example, there's nothing insulin-like in the ingredients. In fact, given the amount of carbohydrates in the dry foods and even some of the diabetic canned foods, they would not be indicated for a diabetic animal. This is true for almost all of the food products that are labeled to treat particular conditions. You are best advised to read the label and do some comparisons before paying the inflated cost for those foods. In addition, the term "prescription" cannot be advertised as none of these foods had an approval from the Food & Drug Administration.
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
I'm sorry your vet has told you this as she is completely wrong in saying that the dry food is best. Dry food is very high carb and you will never get Chloe stabilised (regulated) in good numbers unless you are giving high doses of insulin to combat the high carb food, which will continue to stress the pancreas. Its like having a child with diabetes and feeding her a diet of sweets and pies and MacDonalds and giving her insulin and thinking she will get better.
Vets get very little education about nutrition and the little they get is from the big cat food manufacturers who of course say their food is best. There has been a court case recently which challenged the use of the term "prescription' foods and the big manufacturers lost the case. I will tag @Sienne and Gabby (GA) as she know more about that than I.
I'm not sure why your vet doesn't like shop bought cat food. It has more meat...which cats need than the prescription food does. If you look at the ingredients of the prescription dry food, the first few ingredients are usually corn meal and some other grain which is high carb and which raises the blood glucose. There is usually very little meat and cats are obligate carnivores and their diet should be meat.
I can only tell you what is well known to knowledgeable vets. Chloe is your cat and you must decide what is best for her.
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Just re read my message and what I meant to say is that Chloe NOT the vet doesn't like shop bought food. There are only a few shop bought wet foods that she will eat, they luckily are the ones with proper meat in them. But being fussy and not a big eater she'll eat it one day and not the next, so I have always cooked her food that I know she likes and will eat.
My vet wants her to stick to the same food, saying consistency is important. So advised two makes that do wet and dry food that were specifically for gastrointestinal problems which mentioned pancreatitis on the packet. Unfortunately the wet food consists of brown lumps in gravy which I knew she wouldn't eat.
Under normal circumstances I would be feeding her wet food usually turkey or chicken, maybe a little offal or fish, plus the shop food that she likes on the occasion when I haven't had time to cook her food, also dry food to graze on throughout the day and always tried to buy the better ones.
I understand what you are saying about manufacturers pushing their food and I have been trying to find a pet nutritionist to get their input but there is not one near me.
I have come to the conclusion that my vet (can't speak for them all) will use a textbook approach to treatment and don't tend to think outside the box, plus they all seem to be young girls at my surgery. Well-intentioned probably well-trained but don't have the experience and wisdom that age brings.
It's a shock when you find your cat is diabetic and I'm still finding my feet when it comes to looking after her. Yes of course I want to do the best for her and have always tried to give her food with the best ingredients. But at the moment I feel obliged to follow my vets instructions, has she is keeping her beady eye on Chloe's curve results. When I have stabilised her and am confident treating her I will probably go back to the home produced wet food. As her main food.
What do you feed your cats on?
 
I feed my cats a home made raw diet.
This is a very good site for home made food and can be raw or cooked. Dr Pierson is a vet who has written the suitable food lists for us here on FDMB and is world renowned in the world of feline diabetes and nutrition. Have a look through this, I’m sure you will find it useful and is completely suitable for a diabetic cat. Sheba used to get pancreatic flares and I fed her a home made diet and she did well on it.
DR Pierson’s catInfo.org

Are you interested in setting up our spreadsheet and adding data into it?
 
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