10/7- kitty Isy / QUESTION RE LOWER CARB DRY FOODS/ Managing BG with Diet

Sherri & Isy

Sherri & Isy

Member Since 2020
Hi!
QUESTION RE LOWER CARB DRY FOOD:
I know feeding our kitties dry food is Not advised, so I believe the Food List from Dr Lisa doesn’t even include any lower carb dry food options.
HOWEVER, I’m facing some food issues with my kitty Isy - it’s critical that I keep her eating and she’s a very picky eater and only eats a small quantity of mostly dry food. But for now we want to try to control her BG levels etc by diet, if it’s possible, so need to find a lower carb dry food that she’ll eat.

(Ideally we would like to get Isy off any dry food and eating only low carb WET food, if it’s possible to find a food she’ll eat enough of - but it is likely challenging with her picky eating. Plus we know she will easily stop eating, so we can’t hope she’ll just get hungry in time and eat any food I try.

So in the interim my vet is recommending we at least transition to a lower carb dry food and get her off the Hills dry i/d.

(Reminder re Isy’s Background: Recently she had onset hepatic lipidosis a few wks ago from loss of appetite and not enough food intake, likely related to pancreatitis episode . At the same time her test results showed anemia and elevated BG. She prefers dry food and due to her IBD has been on RX Hills dry i/d for a few years. She will eat small amounts of Fancy Feast pate but not nearly enough qty/calories to rely on feeding only that.)

- My vet suggested trying Rx Royal Canin Glucobalance or Purina DM diet dry foods as lower carb options to replace the dry i/d (per recommendation by internal med vet), along with continuing to feed any FF pate that she’ll eat.

QUESTION:
**Does Anyone have experience or thoughts re those Rx dry foods for a diabetic cat (maybe borderline diabetic)?
Or any other dry food options to try that might have better ingredients, (knowing I must keep
Isy eating as first priority, and she only eats small amounts through the day so right now I can’t rely on finding just a wet food that she will eat enough of).

Thanks!!
Sherri
 
Dr. Elsey's has an excellent dry food line that is very low in carbs - like 0-1%.

Young Again is a brand that can be obtained in dry form - also 0% carbs - but can make stinky poo. Luci would get stinky poo from YA...so I only use it very rarely as a treat...she apparently likes it but I think it stinks. Keep it in the fridge or freezer. It's made from pork.

I wouldn't waste money on Royal Canin or Purina DM - both are too high in carbs. You can look on Chewy.com for the ingredients in both of those foods...

Here's a link to Dr. Elsey's on Amazon; https://www.amazon.com/Dr-ElseyS-Cl...mula/dp/B07FCPBMRT/?tag=felinediabetesfdmb-20
 
Royal Canin Glycobalance - 23.5% carbs

here's the list of ingredients...note the first few...your cat does not need barley, wheat gluten or corn meal...if the first few ingredients don't say meat, meat and more meat, don't bother...and that carb count will have you tearing your hair out.

Chicken By-Product Meal, Barley, Wheat Gluten, Corn Gluten Meal, Soy Protein Isolate, Tapioca, Powdered Cellulose, Chicken Fat, Natural Flavors, Dried Chicory Root, Fish Oil, Psyllium Seed Husk, Potassium Chloride, Sodium Pyrophosphate, Calcium Sulfate, Vegetable Oil, Fructooligosaccharides, Choline Chloride, Vitamins [Dl-Alpha Tocopherol Acetate (Source Of Vitamin E), L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (Source Of Vitamin C), Niacin Supplement, Biotin, Riboflavin Supplement, D-Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Vitamin A Acetate, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement], Potassium Citrate, L-Arginine, Taurine, Salt, Trace Minerals [Zinc Proteinate, Zinc Oxide, Manganese Proteinate, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite, Copper Proteinate], Marigold Extract (Tagetes Erecta L.), L-Carnitine, Rosemary Extract, Preserved With Mixed Tocopherols And Citric Acid.
 
Sue and Luci said:
Dr. Elsey's has an excellent dry food line that is very low in carbs - like 0-1%.

Young Again is a brand that can be obtained in dry form - also 0% carbs - but can make stinky poo. Luci would get stinky poo from YA...so I only use it very rarely as a treat...she apparently likes it but I think it stinks. Keep it in the fridge or freezer. It's made from pork.

I wouldn't waste money on Royal Canin or Purina DM - both are too high in carbs. You can look on Chewy.com for the ingredients in both of those foods...

Here's a link to Dr. Elsey's on Amazon; https://www.amazon.com/Dr-ElseyS-Cleanprotein-Chicken-Formula/dp/B07FCPBMRT/ref=sr_1_2?crid=3QUL9ZMQ0TFE2&dchild=1&keywords=dr. elsey's cleanprotein chicken formula grain-free dry cat food&qid=1602113574&sprefix=Dr. Els,aps,181&sr=8-2
Click to expand...
Thanks Sue for this great info and dry food options! I just ordered a small bag of the Dr. Elsey’s Clean Protein Chicken on Amazon (just the 2 lb bag for now since it was only $12 with shipping so figure I can try it and see if Isy will eat it and then always order more with quick Prime delivery).

I had no idea that even the Royal Canon Glucobalance has such high carbs! I wonder what the Hills dry i/d has re carbs?! I’ll try to find that info online just so I have an idea how high carbs Isy must be eating now! Ugh!!

Thanks again for your post and sharing your advice and experience!! :):bighug:
 
Sherri & Isy said:
Thanks Sue for this great info and dry food options! I just ordered a small bag of the Dr. Elsey’s Clean Protein Chicken on Amazon (just the 2 lb bag for now since it was only $12 with shipping so figure I can try it and see if Isy will eat it and then always order more with quick Prime delivery).



I had no idea that even the Royal Canon Glucobalance has such high carbs! I wonder what the Hills dry i/d has re carbs?! I’ll try to find that info online just so I have an idea how high carbs Isy must be eating now! Ugh!!

Thanks again for your post and sharing your advice and experience!! :):bighug:
Click to expand...

Hill’s I/D has 34.4% carbs

You can find lots of info on chewy.com and on Dr.Lisa’s food chart...

It’s on my Info tab on Luci’s SS... I’m on my cell or I’d copy and paste for you.
 
Sue and Luci said:
Hill’s I/D has 34.4% carbs

You can find lots of info on chewy.com and on Dr.Lisa’s food chart...

It’s on my Info tab on Luci’s SS... I’m on my cell or I’d copy and paste for you.
Click to expand...
Hi Sue,
I was just looking up the foods on chewy.com and I see if I go to the page where it sells a particular food (like the I/d) I can click on Nutritional Information and get the list of ingredients and caloric content, but how do I find the %carbs for each food on Chewy? I don’t see that info - is there a different page to look at on Chewy to find carbs info?

Thanks!!
Sherri
 
Sherri & Isy said:
Hi Sue,
I was just looking up the foods on chewy.com and I see if I go to the page where it sells a particular food (like the I/d) I can click on Nutritional Information and get the list of ingredients and caloric content, but how do I find the %carbs for each food on Chewy? I don’t see that info - is there a different page to look at on Chewy to find carbs info?

Thanks!!
Sherri
Click to expand...

Check the Questions/Answers section: people have asked and Chewy has responded... both of the numbers I gave you were from that section...
 
Sherri -

A couple of other thoughts...

There are both freeze dried and air dried raw foods that might be appealing to Isy. Stella & Chewy's has a freeze dried raw. The on ly downside is that either your cat needs to drink a lot of water or you would need to add water so Icy is adequately hydrated.

ZiwiPeak makes an air dried raw. It's more like a jerky consistency. It also comes in novel proteins.

Both of these are very low in carbs. I suspect if you contact the the manufacturer they will send you a sample so. you're not having to spend money on a food that Isy may not eat.
 
Sienne and Gabby (GA) said:
Sherri -

A couple of other thoughts...

There are both freeze dried and air dried raw foods that might be appealing to Isy. Stella & Chewy's has a freeze dried raw. The on ly downside is that either your cat needs to drink a lot of water or you would need to add water so Icy is adequately hydrated.

ZiwiPeak makes an air dried raw. It's more like a jerky consistency. It also comes in novel proteins.

Both of these are very low in carbs. I suspect if you contact the the manufacturer they will send you a sample so. you're not having to spend money on a food that Isy may not eat.
Click to expand...
Hi Sienna,
Thanks for the suggestion re freeze dried raw foods. Actually I had already tried the KiwiPeak air dried food and neither Isy or my other kitty Finn would eat it. I don’t know if it was the “jerky type texture” they didn’t like, but after a small bite they wouldn’t eat it at all. I haven’t tried the Stella & Chewy’s freeze dried raw but I think our new local pet store might carry it- I’ll check into it too.

Thanks!
 
Sherri & Isy said:
how do I find the %carbs for each food on Chewy? I don’t see that info - is there a different page to look at on Chewy to find carbs info?
Click to expand...
Sherri & Isy said:
Dr. Elsey’s Clean Protein Chicken
Click to expand...

From chewy.com:

What is the protein, phosphorous, carbohydrate, fat, sodium and fiber % on DRY MATTER basis?
This variety contains approximately 59% Protein content on an as fed basis (62.6% on a dry matter basis), 0.95% Phosphorus content on an as fed basis (1.08% on a dry matter basis), 4.12% Carbohydrate content on an as fed basis (4.69% on a dry matter basis), 18% Fat content on an as fed basis (19.46% on a dry matter basis), 0.51% Sodium content on an as fed basis (0.58% on a dry matter basis) and 4% Fiber content on an as fed basis (4.5% on a dry matter basis).

Source: https://www.chewy.com/app/product-questions/146270?questionSort=MOST_HELPFUL&pageNumber=1

Do you have "as fed" info on ash, magnesium, and phosphorus percentages? (Instead of dry matter basis)
The ash content for this formula is 6.77% on an as fed basis. The magnesium content for this formula is 0.07% on an as fed basis. The phosphorus content for this formula is 0.99% on an as fed basis.

Source: https://www.chewy.com/app/product-questions/146270?questionSort=MOST_HELPFUL&pageNumber=1

[Emphasis mine]

Using the highlighted 'as fed' values above it is possible to calculate the moisture content of this food at 8.11%.

Again using the highlighted values, the % kilocalories from carbs for Dr. Elsey’s Clean Protein Chicken is calculated as: 3.9%.


Mogs
.
 
Last edited:
Critter Mom said:
From chewy.com:

What is the protein, phosphorous, carbohydrate, fat, sodium and fiber % on DRY MATTER basis?
This variety contains approximately 59% Protein content on an as fed basis (62.6% on a dry matter basis), 0.95% Phosphorus content on an as fed basis (1.08% on a dry matter basis), 4.12% Carbohydrate content on an as fed basis (4.69% on a dry matter basis), 18% Fat content on an as fed basis (19.46% on a dry matter basis), 0.51% Sodium content on an as fed basis (0.58% on a dry matter basis) and 4% Fiber content on an as fed basis (4.5% on a dry matter basis).

Source: https://www.chewy.com/app/product-questions/146270?questionSort=MOST_HELPFUL&pageNumber=1

Do you have "as fed" info on ash, magnesium, and phosphorus percentages? (Instead of dry matter basis)
The ash content for this formula is 6.77% on an as fed basis. The magnesium content for this formula is 0.07% on an as fed basis. The phosphorus content for this formula is 0.99% on an as fed basis.

Source: https://www.chewy.com/app/product-questions/146270?questionSort=MOST_HELPFUL&pageNumber=1

[Emphasis mine]

Using the highlighted 'as fed' values above it is possible to calculate that the moisture content of this food is 8.11%.

Again using the highlighted values, the % kilocalories from carbs for Dr. Elsey’s Clean Protein Chicken is calculated as: 3.9%.


Mogs
.
Click to expand...
Thanks so much for taking the time to post and provide this helpful info re foods and carb content.
I should receive a bag of Dr. Elsey’s Clean Protein Chicken by Sunday. Meanwhile today I bought a small bag of the Stella & Chewy freeze dried raw chicken flavor at Pet Food Ecpress, and also some Purina DM dry and wet (at least it’s lower carbs than the Hills i/d).
So far I’ve tried mixing in a bit of those 2 new dry foods in with the i/d and give some of the wet DM.
Isy is eating the DM dry, will eat a little of the Stella’s (but doesnt seem too interested in it - maybe the texture?) and only nibbles a bit of the DM wet pate. She is pretty picky and seems to mostly just want to eat dry food that is small pieces of kibble:(. Will see how she does with the Dr. Elsey’s once that arrives.
 
Sherri, could you please start a new post/condo thread today?

This one is getting very long and it's quite old...

Thank you!! Just make sure to post per the recommendations: DATE / KITTY NAME / AMPS ### (you can say 'continuing conversation about food') if you like... :)
 
Sue and Luci said:
Sherri, could you please start a new post/condo thread today?

This one is getting very long and it's quite old...

Thank you!! Just make sure to post per the recommendations: DATE / KITTY NAME / AMPS ### (you can say 'continuing conversation about food') if you like... :)
Click to expand...
Sure! Sorry...
 
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