My family had two diabetic cats in the past, they grew up in different households that merged and just happened to both become diabetic, and they were under the care of two different vets. When one died as a result of an insulin OD, (had a mouth infection he'd just been to vet for, vet did not advise stopping insulin until it was under control - it was awful) so I found this board and website, and learned about testing and diet and etc, and got the other cat back to decent control and happiness for a fairly short time before her kidneys failed and she too succumbed. Both of those kitties were age 14-15 or so. That was 15 years ago. This is a helpful site and I thank you all and recommend the site and board to anyone with diabetic kitties.
So, I learned that a dry only diet is bad for even non-diabetic cats. Current 8yo male cat gets 1/2 can of fancy feast per day plus dry. Initially fed him a very low carb high protein dry, but it gave him crystals in his urine and urinary tract infections, causing him to urinate inappropriately which was very tough to get under control. Since then, he gets a "urinary tract health" dry food in addition to his canned. He has gotten quite fat in the past couple of years and eats it kind of compulsively. We have added another 8 year old male cat to the household this week (they have not met yet, he's contained in another space temporarily.) He is larger in frame but very thin. Since we are going to be feeding two cats now we need to get a healthy routine for each of them. One needs to gain a little weight and the other to lose weight so I know it should make sense to have mealtimes and for nobody to get to free feed as the only cat had (Up on a table to be away from dogs.)
I do think that a wet food/ dry food combo will be necessary. Do you all recommend any lower carb food that has a decent balance for non-diabetics but will not be anything hard to find and expensive, and won't give them UTIs? Is there a general amount you feed for cats that are between 10-15 lbs? The shelter where the second (large frame and skinny) cat came from said they were feeding 1/4 cup dry Hills twice daily, that doesn't seem enough to me!
So, I learned that a dry only diet is bad for even non-diabetic cats. Current 8yo male cat gets 1/2 can of fancy feast per day plus dry. Initially fed him a very low carb high protein dry, but it gave him crystals in his urine and urinary tract infections, causing him to urinate inappropriately which was very tough to get under control. Since then, he gets a "urinary tract health" dry food in addition to his canned. He has gotten quite fat in the past couple of years and eats it kind of compulsively. We have added another 8 year old male cat to the household this week (they have not met yet, he's contained in another space temporarily.) He is larger in frame but very thin. Since we are going to be feeding two cats now we need to get a healthy routine for each of them. One needs to gain a little weight and the other to lose weight so I know it should make sense to have mealtimes and for nobody to get to free feed as the only cat had (Up on a table to be away from dogs.)
I do think that a wet food/ dry food combo will be necessary. Do you all recommend any lower carb food that has a decent balance for non-diabetics but will not be anything hard to find and expensive, and won't give them UTIs? Is there a general amount you feed for cats that are between 10-15 lbs? The shelter where the second (large frame and skinny) cat came from said they were feeding 1/4 cup dry Hills twice daily, that doesn't seem enough to me!
