Advice on food

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Victoria & Buttons

Victoria & Buttons

Member Since 2012
I'm really frustrated with this and need advice please.
Buttons was on ff turkey and giblets but I took her off after seeing how many cats have developed pancreatitis and eat it. (Buttons also has pancreatitis).
I bought friskies pate and I thought it was okay as I'm reading it as under 10% carbs. Am I wrong? This girl on this other thing on facebook says it's too high but isn't explaining it so I understand.
What is a good food in Canada to feed my babe with diabetes, with low phosphorus? Thanks.
 
Hi Victoria,

Some folks here have found that their kitties with pancreatitis can be quite sensitive to different foods, and it can take a while to find what works best for the kitty. I can think of one who did better on a lower fat diet, and a couple who have done better when avoiding certain proteins.
(I'll try to find the food data chart and the info on Friskies for you...)

You mention needing low phosphorous food. Does Buttons also have kidney problems?

I'm tagging a couple of our Canadian members for further help with food suggestions, @Tuxedo Mom , @MrWorfMen's Mom

And one of our members has written a 'primer on pancreatitis' that has good general info on the condition.
A Primer On Pancreatitis

Eliz
 
Victoria, here's the link to the food chart compiled by vet, Dr Lisa Pierson (of catinfo.org).
The foods are listed alphabetically and the info on Friskies starts on page 20. The third column in shows the 'percentage of calories from carbs'. (The list also shows phosphorous content, on the right of the carb column).
http://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf

From a quick look at it the 'classic pates' seem to be sufficiently low carb, but the other Friskies are too high. (This is on the understanding that diabetic kitties do best with foods that have less than 10% calories from carbohydrates).

What, exactly, are you feeding Buttons at the moment?
.
 
Hello I am in Canada. One of my FD kitties had chronic pancreatitis. I use home made food, but would feed commercial when he was having an episode or if he was not eating well. He also had CKD early stages. I used various Friskies pate or Fancy Feast pate when I used commercial and the Friskies turkey and giblet was one of the main ones. I still use it for my other FD kitty when she is not eating well. I would occasionally use tuna to spice up the food, but it is suggested that kitties with kidney issues do not use too much fish. For my guy it did not make any difference with the fat content, although my home made was a quality fat...pasture raised beef prime cuts for making the food. If your kitty is on the slim side and needs to be maintaining or increasing her weight then a lower fat food will not provide as many calories. The phosporous content is higher in beef and lower in chicken. Since my boy's phosphorous readings were still in a good range I did not actively look for lower phosporous foods. If your kitty's phosphorous levels are higher you can ask your vet about a binder. The important thing is to make sure your kitty is eating and if she has a pancreatic attack then pain relief, anti-nausea meds and sometimes Sub Q fluids can be used. An appetite enhancer can also be used but only if they are not nauseous.


ETA If you get a moment could you update your spreadsheet. Thanks
 
I'm sorry I haven't updated her spreadsheet. I can't on my phone but I'll try do it asap. I did switch her to friskies pate but her number are high. Is it one of the foods that's okay right? Should I stick with it or try find something better? Thanks.
 
I have screen shots on my phone of Dr. Lisa's list of the Friskies foods so I know which flavors Fabby is allowed to have. The two you mentioned above are low carb, but I remember them being high in phosphorus. I couldn't find a low carb, low phosphorus food in any of the low cost foods. (I was trying to find a food to feed my diabetic cat and my crystals boys so they could all eat the same thing at the same time, but it was just too expensive at the moment for us.)
I will try (tomorrow) to screen shot in here the spreadsheet of the foods I found on the list that met my standards for low carb and low phosphorus so you can see if any of those are available in Canada.

But if you're just worried about carbs the Friskies Pate is the way to go. They really have helped Fabby regulate her glucose.

How old is Buttons and how much does she weigh now?
 
That would be awesome if you could do that for me!! Thanks!

She's 11 years old and sitting at like 5 pounds at the moment. Extremely tiny.
 
Kudos to you for taking care of you little kitteh.

I see one issue from the chart is real high numbers at AMPS and PMPS. If Buttons starts eating a little more, you could dose a bit more. Those high numbers will cause blood glucose toxicity and that takes its toll over time.
 
I agree with JeffJ's advice to increase your kitty's insulin dose carefully. She's had a bout of DKA and is more vulnerable to the effects of high BG. We can help you decide on how to go about this if you like. :)
 
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Good Morning Victoria!
I'm sorry my tomorrow didn't come as soon as I'd hoped. I'm including a screenshot of the spreadsheet I made for myself to have low carbs and low phosphorous foods. The cost shown was all looked up online by Amazon, Chewy.com or PetSmart, a lot of these foods appear to be specialty, so not everywhere carried them, but I was able to get prices, so they were available in the States.
The first two rows (in red) are what I used as a guide because that's the Crystal's boys prescription food - that would not be okay to feed to a diabetic. It's just there so I could compare prescription food to the food options to keep levels similar, as long as I could also get them low carb. The lowest Phosphorous is bright blue and any that came in under the prescription are in the lighter blue, the others are listed because I was willing to go up on the phosphorous a little if it brought the cost down and meant everyone could be on the same food. All listed are under 230 for phosphorous. All are under 6 carbs. The pricing is also color coded for my daily cost. The lowest is in bright blue and all under $3.00 per day are in lighter colors. This is cost based on one cat.
I hope it helps you!

5 pounds is really tiny for an 11 year old. But then I have some really large cats in my house. My biggest can stand on his back legs and reach up and his paws reach over the top of my hip bone. He's a giant! My Fabby has always been a big gal. When she got diabetes (before diagnosis) she went from 18 lbs to 12 lbs in 4 months. Has buttons also lost weight with her diabetes, or has she always been 5 lbs?

The advice above from JeffJ and Kris & Teasel is spot on. They are a couple of the experts here, of which I've read a bunch of their advice to know they are good ones to listen to.
Though to get a kitty to eat more than she feels like is a task. Fabby has lost another pound after diagnosis, and I'm trying to get her to eat more so she stops losing. I chase her around, spoon feed her after she's stopped eating on her own, add water to make a soup, sprinkled salmon on top of the wet food to get her enticed to eat more... lol... I haven't got it figured out just yet, but if your kitty will eat more, that sounds like it will be good according to the experts above! And maybe once you find a low carb, low phosphorous food, she may love it so much she eats more anyway!!!

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