6 cats. 1 recently diagnosed with diabetes.

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danioconnell

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Hello,
I have 6 cats. My oldest, Mao Mao, is 15 and he was recently diagnosed with diabetes but after flushing the ketones out and antibiotics for pancreitis (sp?) he is no longer on insulin after a little over one week. He is doing well but very thin along the back bone. I'm not sure if that is muscle weight that he has lost or fat. His records show that he has lost approx. 3 lbs from last year. I would like to know the best course of action to deal with this thinness and best diet for him to be on. He doesn't really care for the Science Diet wet food but will eat the dry food. I have been feeding him separately with the Fancy Feast Classic which he enjoys. But with 5 other cats that are used to free feeding of dry food it is very confusing for them to not have food out and I don't know how often I should be putting food out for them. I am also feeding the other 5 cats canned food about once per day. One of the other 5 cats is borderline with kidney problems. He is about 13 years old and his name is Ming Ming. Another of the cats, Tang Tang, has been diagnosed with Herpes which was probably brought on by the passing of my husband last year. I give him L-Lysine cat chews that seem to have helped with his sneezing, coughing and throwing up.

As you can see, I have several situations that I would like to cover with one cat food but I do not think that is a possibility...throwing it out there for the possible miracle. :)

Thank you for the knowledge provided in this forum. It is an awesome resource.

Regards,
Danette
 
Hi Danette and welcome you and all 6 kities to the board!

One great thing about this place is although it is primarily about "diabetic kitties", most people have other cats too. Some are perfectly healthy, but lots of others have conditions or issues outside of diabetes. So, all of your questions can most likely be answered by somebody!

First thing I wanted to mention of course is your "sugarcat", Mao Mao. You mentioned that he likes Science Diet dry but not wet. What specific kind of SD food is that?
The problem with dry food in general is that is tends to be very high in "carb" content. There are two really important factors in dealing with feline diabetes. One, you know, is insulin, and it is very encouraging that he is no longer needing any. The other is diet, most importantly related to carbs. With a diabetic cat, it is important to understand that "once a diabetic, always a diabetic". Lots and lots of cats here are no longer needing any insulin. My cat, Bob, for instance, no longer gets shots. But he's still a diabetic. He's just a "diet controlled diabetic" now. As long as I am careful about what he eats, his BG remains in the "normal" range.
We all use low-carb food. And probably 99% of us use only canned food, because canned food has in general a lower carb value than dry food. Here are a couple of links for you to look at. They show the nutritional values of canned and dry food. Pay close attention to the column for "carbs". We normally stay away from any type of food that has a carb content of 10% or higher. Some canned foods do, so we don't use them. All but 2, I think, types of dry food are over 10%, and some are as high as in the 30%+ range. When you look at the dry food list, scroll down to the Hills Science section, and take a look at the number. You'll see they are high.
http://binkyspage.tripod.com/dryfood.html
http://binkyspage.tripod.com/CanFoodNew.html
http://binkyspage.tripod.com/CanFoodOld.html

The concern is that if he continues to eat dry food, he could one day relapse and have to be given insulin again. If you feed a low carb canned food, chances are that will not happen. The Fancy Feast canned foods you mentioned, as long as they are of the "classics" line, are great choices for diabetic cats.

There are all sorts of reasons beyond carb content that dry food is not a good choice, for any kitty. Here's a link where you can read all about that:
http://catinfo.org/

So, food wise, I think what we all can do is put our heads together and come up with a food that you can give to all six kitties that will address all of the health issues you have mentioned. That's my hope anyway!

Others will be by soon to welcome you too!
Carl
 
Hi Carl, Thanks for the welcome. I typed the wrong cat food. :( It is Hills MD that is the dry cat food he will eat.

carlinsc said:
Hi Danette and welcome you and all 6 kities to the board!

One great thing about this place is although it is primarily about "diabetic kitties", most people have other cats too. Some are perfectly healthy, but lots of others have conditions or issues outside of diabetes. So, all of your questions can most likely be answered by somebody!

First thing I wanted to mention of course is your "sugarcat", Mao Mao. You mentioned that he likes Science Diet dry but not wet. What specific kind of SD food is that?
The problem with dry food in general is that is tends to be very high in "carb" content. There are two really important factors in dealing with feline diabetes. One, you know, is insulin, and it is very encouraging that he is no longer needing any. The other is diet, most importantly related to carbs. With a diabetic cat, it is important to understand that "once a diabetic, always a diabetic". Lots and lots of cats here are no longer needing any insulin. My cat, Bob, for instance, no longer gets shots. But he's still a diabetic. He's just a "diet controlled diabetic" now. As long as I am careful about what he eats, his BG remains in the "normal" range.
We all use low-carb food. And probably 99% of us use only canned food, because canned food has in general a lower carb value than dry food. Here are a couple of links for you to look at. They show the nutritional values of canned and dry food. Pay close attention to the column for "carbs". We normally stay away from any type of food that has a carb content of 10% or higher. Some canned foods do, so we don't use them. All but 2, I think, types of dry food are over 10%, and some are as high as in the 30%+ range. When you look at the dry food list, scroll down to the Hills Science section, and take a look at the number. You'll see they are high.
http://binkyspage.tripod.com/dryfood.html
http://binkyspage.tripod.com/CanFoodNew.html
http://binkyspage.tripod.com/CanFoodOld.html

The concern is that if he continues to eat dry food, he could one day relapse and have to be given insulin again. If you feed a low carb canned food, chances are that will not happen. The Fancy Feast canned foods you mentioned, as long as they are of the "classics" line, are great choices for diabetic cats.

There are all sorts of reasons beyond carb content that dry food is not a good choice, for any kitty. Here's a link where you can read all about that:
http://catinfo.org/

So, food wise, I think what we all can do is put our heads together and come up with a food that you can give to all six kitties that will address all of the health issues you have mentioned. That's my hope anyway!

Others will be by soon to welcome you too!
Carl
Click to expand...
 
You can free feed all the cats the same Fancy Feast Classic canned food. Many of us leave it out so our cats can free feed. It will dry out, but it won't go bad.
 
rats....I had another reply typed, and it went away...

Danette,
The m/d dry is 13% and the wet is 14%. The vet sent me home with them on the first day too. Then I read those charts and found out how high the carbs were. Bob ate the wet for 2 or 3 days, then refused to touch it. I switched to FF classics then, and brought the m/d back and got a refund from the vet.

Many vets and pet owners think, because it is "prescription food" then it MUST be good, right? Not so much, unfortunately.

Carl
 
If you leave canned food out you can always mix a little water into it to keep it moist and fresher if they like to graze on it during the day.
Lori
 
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