? 3/14 Uncle AMPS 143, +2 146, PMPS 150, +2 128, +6 80, +9 68

[Barbara & Uncle (GA)]

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/3-13-uncle-amps-145-2-5-169-pmps-276-2-5-211.174788/

Uncle is coming down from a bouncy yesterday. Hopefully it is short lived and he'll be getting back to business soon.

Seems to love RadCat, have only introduced Turkey and Chicken so far. Will try to slowly give him lamb and see how he does with that. I think it is a little lower in P than the turkey and chicken, but I'm not sure if the difference is enough to bother with. Maybe someone will let me know what they think...?
Also, I've been adding in a bit of Weruva Pumpkin Lickin' Chicken to get SOME carbs in him especially at PS's and +2's, then I decide from there whether or not to add carbs. As I understand it, the Chicken & Turkey are both zero carbs and the Lamb is a little over 1%. Can someone please tell me if this is a good food strategy?

I think his stools are much improved. Wish I switched him over from Darwin's a long time ago. Too much sodium, also I think all those bones contributed to his constipation issues

 

[Bobbie And Bubba]

My guys were eating Darwin's Duck and neither of them ate the bones .... so I now go to the butcher and get organic, steroid and AB free chicken and turkey and add the Foodfurlife supplements to it . I was under the impression that the chicken and turkey had about 3.1% carbs (Darwins) so I assumed that the butcher chic and turk I was giving was the same so, I just looked it up and there are no carbs !

It will be interesting to see what others thin if zero carbs is not necessarily better. They also get zero carb YA Mature dry (very limited)

 

[Barbara & Uncle (GA)]

Thanks for your reply Bobbie, how's Bubba doing, was he getting the hang of going outside again? I imagine you have to have everyone on lock down now because of the storm?

I am especially curious about the carb thing because early on Uncle would take gigantic swan dives between PS and +2's. It was suggested that I could try adding a little more carb content to the Darwin's (making it around 6% or so) in the hopes that it might mellow out the drops. I THINK it helped...so I am a little concerned about giving him the RadCat (or any other no carb option) straight up at PS's especially for that reason.
Great idea re. the butcher. I will look into it, the RadCat is costing me around $10 a lb. These animals cost more to feed than me!

 

[Bobbie And Bubba]

Thanks for your reply Bobbie, how's Bubba doing, is he getting the hang of going outside again?

I am especially curious about the carb thing because early on Uncle would take gigantic swan dives between PS and +2's. It was suggested that I could try adding a little more carb content to the Darwin's (making it around 6% or so) in the hopes that it might mellow out the drops. I THINK it helped...so I am a little concerned about giving him the RadCat (or any other no carb option) straight up at PS's especially for that reason.
Great idea re. the butcher. I will look into it, the RadCat is costing me around $10 a lb. These animals cost more to feed than me!

I am paying 3.99/ lb for the meats and I think I figured the supplements to run about .21 cents a serving. I am giving a 1/2 lb a day for two cats and they they get 2 meals of the YA ( a tbsp. each of those meals) so, it turns out the raw is more economical than the Nature's Variety can food , go figure!

It is a big savings to get the meat from the butcher and add the supplements. The Darwin's Duck and Turkey was killing me cost wise .

Just a thought about adding carbs to the raw when he dives, maybe just add a drop or so of honey ?

 

[Barbara & Uncle (GA)]

Just a thought about adding carbs to the raw when he dives, maybe just add a drop or so of honey ?

Yes, I can do that for sure. I think the original suggestion was to bump up the Darwin's to about 6% at his PS meal time to try to PREVENT a big drop. If I use honey in the food, I'm not sure how long that would last. Maybe I should just give him the zero carb without anything else and see what happens!

 

[carfurby (GA)]

I don't have any input on the carbs. Just wanted to stop by and see how Uncle is doing. He's looking pretty good. I hope you find a balance with the food.

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Some cats do better on slightly higher carbs. You have to experiement to see if Uncle is one of those cats. I've seen some cats do better on 8-9% carbs than they did on 2-3%, because it slowed the drops and resulting bounces. I didn't notice any difference with Neko if she was getting zero or 9% carbs, but with acromegaly she had a working pancreas that could have taken care of the difference.

Bones contribute to constipation, so that's why the Radcat with egg shell calcium may produce better stools. My civie picks out bones too.

it turns out the raw is more economical than the Nature's Variety can food

So true. My civie is on a protein restricted diet and rabbit, which is the most expensive product in the manufactured raw line I get, is cheaper than a can. I do a mix of premanufactured raw (cause I'm lazy and some of the proteins are harder to find) and home made with FoodFurLife. I tend to get the organic non medicated meats from the butcher, which are a little more expensive, but still cheaper than manufactured or canned. And then you know it doesn't have gross stuff in it (peas, carrageenan, gums, cranberries, clay, etc.).

 

[Ella & Rusty & Stu(GA)]

Sorry not to be of help with the fuds thing. You have gotten lots of good responses. For years I fed mostly Wellness Chicken or Turkey and FF T&Giblets. Then I thought Rusty might like some variety. But the other foods that he seemed to like at first he soon tired of. So now we are back to Wellness Chicken or Turkey and FF T&G. They are approximately 4%. I feed a small "treat" of Weruva Paw Lickin' Chicken as one of Rusty's nighttime foods. He often licks the liquid and leaves the chicken shards (even though I cut them up really small so that he can eat them with his 5 teeth). I might have fed the raw foods earlier if they had been as available as they are now, but I missed that boat and don't want to rock the present boat!

Good luck with your quest!

 

[Barbara & Uncle (GA)]

Ok, I know I can get antibiotic free, organic humanely raised meat at my co-op. BUT, I need help. I feel stupid. I have never bought meat before like that. I haven't had any since I was 15.
Maybe I will ask one of my friends to go with me. I don't know anything about cuts or what to ask for

 

[Barbara & Uncle (GA)]

Sorry not to be of help with the fuds thing. You have gotten lots of good responses. For years I fed mostly Wellness Chicken or Turkey and FF T&Giblets. Then I thought Rusty might like some variety. But the other foods that he seemed to like at first he soon tired of. So now we are back to Wellness Chicken or Turkey and FF T&G. They are approximately 4%. I feed a small "treat" of Weruva Paw Lickin' Chicken as one of Rusty's nighttime foods. He often licks the liquid and leaves the chicken shards (even though I cut them up really small so that he can eat them with his 5 teeth). I might have fed the raw foods earlier if they had been as available as they are now, but I missed that boat and don't want to rock the present boat!

Good luck with your quest!

Thanks Ella!
Yep, Uncle has a hard time with the chicken "shreds" too. Like you, I try to cut them small. He's got a dental coming up next week. Lord only knows how many teeth (if any) he'll come home with!

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Ok, I know I can get antibiotic free, organic humanely raised meat at my co-op. BUT, I need help. I feel stupid. I have never bought meat before like that. I haven't had any since I was 15.
Maybe I will ask one of my friends to go with me. I don't know anything about cuts or what to ask for

I just get the meat already ground. The butcher will do it for me if he doesn't have it ground already. For chicken, I get a mix of thighs and breast. Thighs are fattier, but tastier because of that. So I just get the amount of meat the EZComplete recipe calls for, add water and mix, and stir. I have a small kitchen scale that I use to measure a days worth of food (125 grams or 1/4 of a lb). Then it goes in a small container into the freezer. I'm a big fan of easy, peasy.

 

[Barbara & Uncle (GA)]

Wellness Chicken or Turkey

OMG, gotta tell you a story. Everytime I see "Wellness" I think of the amazing vet who did Uncle's radio-iodine treatment. She was a trip-and-a-half.
When I was meeting with her before hand, I brought some Wellness canned food for Uncle to eat while in the hospital getting zapped and waiting for the radiation level to dissapate (of course no raw is allowed).
She read the label and saw the vegetables (and maybe fruit, can't remember) and said exactly this with the best Texas accent ever (I've got family from East Texas so I've heard some good ones) "THAT REALLY CHAPS MY HIDE! Cats are obligate carnivores, they don't need all this extra stuff, it's just for people" and on and on... It still cracks me up to this day! I'm not that judgemental about it myself, but it was interesting to meet a vet that was so opionated about feline nutrition. Even though it seemed a bit militant at the time, it was a welcome relief from all the peddaling of the REALLY bad food (unlike Wellness) some vets are involved in. If I remember right, Wellness was one of the foods that was easy for Uncle to eat and he liked it!

 

[Barbara & Uncle (GA)]

I just get the meat already ground. The butcher will do it for me if he doesn't have it ground already. For chicken, I get a mix of thighs and breast. Thighs are fattier, but tastier because of that. So I just get the amount of meat the EZComplete recipe calls for, add water and mix, and stir. I have a small kitchen scale that I use to measure a days worth of food (125 grams or 1/4 of a lb). Then it goes in a small container into the freezer. I'm a big fan of easy, peasy.

Well, you've completely demystified the process for me! I think I can go the the butcher by myself now I'm gonna give it a try