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DebsW

Member Since 2013
Hello all, I've been lurking and reading for a while now but decided it was time to introduce myself and my diabetic cat Jemima. My name is Debbie and I live in the UK with hubby, 4 dogs, 1 hamster, 11 budgies, numerous fish and our beautiful 15 year old British Shorthair tabby Jemima.
A little background info then. We adopted Jemima as a 2.5 year old who was quite overweight and we then spent years trying to get her to lose the pounds, unfortunately I didn't know then what I know now and we were feeding her Hill's r/d and other kibble, needless to say it didn't work and the weight stayed! She has never been an active cat and was very scared when we first got her and would rarely venture outside, although she is now the most loving and laid back cat her fear of outside has continued so she gets little exercise, no matter how much we have tried over the years to get her to play!
I shall probably just ramble now to try to get all the info I think might be relevant down so apologies! Over the years Jemima has been an exceptionally healthy cat but about 2.5 - 3 months ago we were told she had diabetes. Both our cats (we lost Bonnie in Sept to cancer at 18 years old) used the same litter tray and we assumed the larger than normal urine was Bonnie's but when we lost her in Sept and it didn't improve we had Jemima tested and were told about the diabetes. Both cats had been fed a mixture of dry and wet food for a while but having done research into dog kibble we changed everybody over completely to wet a number of months ago. After Jemima's diagnosis I did more research and read about Hilife being a good food for diabetic cats so switched her to that. Now originally her reading of (I'm guessing blood glucose levels? Sorry, I'm still learning what's what!) was 18. something, when she was retested a few weeks later it was 11.2 and when tested a couple of weeks ago it had gone down to 6.5 which according to the vet puts her in the non-diabetic range! She has never had any insulin so we're guessing it's all down to the food which has also seen her lose weight which I guess has also helped get her levels down. I'm a little concerned with how much weight she has lost, though the vet has said it is ok for her to lose a little more but not much but the problem is she has become so fussy with her food and although she asks to be fed numerous times a day she hardly touches it, and if it's not straight out of the pouch, even if it's been covered, she won't touch it!! I think it's the texture she likes as the food they were on before was a smooth pate type and the Hilife is more bits, she still doesn't like it even if we mash it up. I have just ordered some Mac's to see if she likes that but I'm just concerned that if we swap her food around it will cause problems - but she needs to eat more!
So I think that's it. Any advice on the food front would be great and anything else that may be of use will be most welcome! I have read quite a bit of the info on the forum but as Jemima isn't on insulin I'm not sure what is relevant or not. We are taking a urine sample in to the vet later in the week and I guess we keep doing what we're doing unless things start to go downhill somehow.
Debbie :smile:
 
Good job catching it early and making food changes. The best information on wet low carb food is this website written by a vet:

www.catinfo.org

Most of us feed Fancy Feast, Friskies, Merrick or Wellness. That site has a link to a food chart that lists carb count; we try to stay in the 8% range.
 
It sounds like Jemima is doing very well :-D I'm in the UK, too, and it's not that long since I was doing a lot of research into food myself. I'll share with you what the wonderful Eliz (another user here, who goes by 'Elizabeth and Bertie') shared with me.

Elizabeth and Bertie said:
From Zooplus: Bozita canned food is popular and very economical. I think it's about 4% calories from carbs. (Bozita also do a chunks in jelly type food, slightly higher carb, in tetrapacks). The link is here:
http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/pet_food/ ... ita_canned
Bozita is also available from some independent pet stores and garden centres.

Also from Zooplus are Catz Finefoods and Grau 'grain-free'. Some of the Catz Finefoods are very low carb indeed. And Zooplus have mixed trial packs of it available at the moment, so it's a good chance to try out the different flavours.
The Grau 'grain-free' has about the same carb content as Butchers Classic, I think (about 8%), but it is a premium food with high meat content. It's pricey though, but can be quite economical in the huge 800g tins. There is a trial pack of Grau grain-free available at the moment too (but the yellow tin in the pack works out too high in carb for diabetics...)
http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/cats/cann ... z_finefood
http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/cats/cann ... uches/grau

Zooplus offer free delivery on orders of over £25. The parcel will need signing for. (Or I think there is the option of getting the parcel delivered to a post office to be collected from there).

The Happy Kitty Company also have some good foods that may be worth a try.
Some of the Mac's grain-free varieties are very low carb. It's a good quality economical food too. Ropocat is also available from the Happy Kitty Company, as is (going up in price range and quality) Granatapet. Granapet is popular with many cats, and most varieties are very low carb.
Delivery costs for orders over 5kg (equivalent of around 13 x 400g tins) is £3.95. But The Happy Kitty have some special trial offers going on too (including postage costs) which may be worth considering.
http://www.happykittycompany.co.uk/pages/special-offers

There are lots of other good foods out there too. For specific varieties and carb values do have a look at Juliet's (AKA 'Dr Schrodinger' here at FDMB) 'Useful Food Chart For Brits'.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc ... mWmc#gid=1

Eliz
Click to expand...

My Toby eats mainly Bozita now, it really has made a difference, and - what's more - he really enjoys it.

Good luck with Jemima :-D
 
Thank you all for the welcomes and links, though I have read some of them but didn't recognise most of the brands as being available in the UK and hadn't thought to look at Zooplus, who I have used in the past, so thank you for the reminder Becky, I shall have a look! I should have said I was going to order the Mac's, not had, but the delivery was £10 and we're reluctant to pay that for a couple of tins to see if Jemima likes it so have for now ordered some more Hilife as we're running low. I did use the blender on a pouch earlier and she seemed to enjoy it more so either she is being her usual fussy self or there's the possibility she has a mouth problem so we will ask the vet to have a good look when we next take her in. She still didn't really eat much so again we will weigh her and see if she is still losing. She seems absolutely fine in herself otherwise. :smile:

This may seem like a silly question but I'm assuming even though Jemima's readings are in the normal range she still has diabetes but it has stabilised and we still have to keep a close eye on her to make sure she doesn't get worse again? I know I still have so much to learn and a lot seems like double dutch so I'm glad that we don't have to worry about insulin too! It's difficult to know what info applies to her as she doesn't need insulin but for now my main target is finding her a decent food she will eat so she doesn't keep losing weight, and we don't have to keep throwing it away!

With regards to feeding Jemima, I'm guessing as she is not on insulin we can feed her when and as often as we want - or as often as she wants which is about 10 mins after she's been fed sometimes! I can't think of any more questions at the moment but it's late and my brain has given up, but at least I know I have somewhere to come if I do have questions! Thanks again. :-D
 
DebsW said:
Thank you all for the welcomes and links, though I have read some of them but didn't recognise most of the brands as being available in the UK and hadn't thought to look at Zooplus, who I have used in the past, so thank you for the reminder Becky, I shall have a look! I should have said I was going to order the Mac's, not had, but the delivery was £10 and we're reluctant to pay that for a couple of tins to see if Jemima likes it so have for now ordered some more Hilife as we're running low. I did use the blender on a pouch earlier and she seemed to enjoy it more so either she is being her usual fussy self or there's the possibility she has a mouth problem so we will ask the vet to have a good look when we next take her in. She still didn't really eat much so again we will weigh her and see if she is still losing. She seems absolutely fine in herself otherwise. :smile:

This may seem like a silly question but I'm assuming even though Jemima's readings are in the normal range she still has diabetes but it has stabilised and we still have to keep a close eye on her to make sure she doesn't get worse again? I know I still have so much to learn and a lot seems like double dutch so I'm glad that we don't have to worry about insulin too! It's difficult to know what info applies to her as she doesn't need insulin but for now my main target is finding her a decent food she will eat so she doesn't keep losing weight, and we don't have to keep throwing it away!

With regards to feeding Jemima, I'm guessing as she is not on insulin we can feed her when and as often as we want - or as often as she wants which is about 10 mins after she's been fed sometimes! I can't think of any more questions at the moment but it's late and my brain has given up, but at least I know I have somewhere to come if I do have questions! Thanks again. :-D
Click to expand...

It's definitely a good idea to keep an eye out for mouth issues, but sometimes my Toby - who isn't generally a fussy eater - also thinks he doesn't want to eat that shade of food until I mush it up for him :roll: I add a little water to his and then mush it all up, because the more water you can get into a diabetic cat, the better (within reason! :lol: ), and he's had bladder issues in the past, too.

Yes, a cat in Jemima's situation is considered a diet-controlled diabetic, and it's always recommended to keep them on low-carb food to avoid any rises in numbers, and it's generally a good idea to check their blood glucose periodically, to catch any rises before they get to the point of actually presenting themselves as issues.

As long as our cats are on low-carb food (oops, I do sound like a bit of a broken record), even those of us with insulin-dependent cats tend to feed them pretty much whenever they want. Smaller, more frequent meals are actually better for the pancrease, and we all want that :-D
 
It sounds like she might be in remission - However, please keep in mind that once a diabetic always a diabetic.

1. Never feed dry - not even treats. If you change wet food types, be 100% sure the new food is also low carb and same low carb % as your current food. Some cats are very carb sensitive and an increase from 3-6% to 8-10% can spike the BG’s. Don’t feed if you aren’t sure!
2. Weigh every 2 weeks to 1 month to watch for weight changes. Too much of a weight gain can cause loss of remission.
3. No steroids or oral meds with sugar - remind your vet whenever giving you any medication. Always double check.
4. Monitor food intake, peeing and drinking. If increasing, a sign of losing remission.
5. Regular vet checks for infection such as dental , ear or UTI. And get them treated quick!

If hse does fall out of remission you need to be more aggressive and resolve issues/ back on insulin as soon as possible as the window for a second remission is tight if any.

Wendy
 
Thank you Wendy and Becky for all the info. :smile:
We took Jemima back yesterday to have her mouth checked and all is fine so she is just being fussy! On top of that we had to buy some of the Hilife 'Tempt Me!' range as the delivery of the Essentials was delayed and she polished off over half a pouch in one sitting, we are usually lucky if she eats a pouch a day!! We have found a different variety of the Essentials that Jemima had at lunch and it seems to fall in the middle somewhere, she ate more than usual but not as much as with the other range! People must wonder why I look so closely at the cat food when I'm in the shops!
We also took in a urine sample and the vet joked about taking her off the diabetic cats list as according to the sample she is just a normal healthy cat without diabetes!! We will take her regularly for tests and weigh-ins - especially as she is still losing - and will be keeping her on the low-carb food though I'm going to order some Bozita.
I think both the vets who have seen Jemima are utterly amazed by the fact that not only has she avoided needing to go on insulin but her numbers are so good she is in the non-diabetic range and all because of diet, one even said he had heard about it but Jemima is the first cat he's seen who has actually done it! Hopefully he will do some more research into this and be able to help other cats in future. For now we are just thrilled that Jemima is doing so well and I'm over the moon I don't need to start sticking needles in her - I have a bit of a needle phobia! :roll:
 
Once a diabetic kitty, always a diabetic kitty.

You've done an absolutely amazing job of getting Jemima diet controlled and into remission. Give your self a big pat on the back.

My foster cat Wink has been diet controlled for 9 months now. WOW! Hard to believe it's been that long. I still test him once a week, just to try to catch any rise in numbers really quickly and get him any needed treatment.

Here's hoping that Jemima has a prolonged stay at the falls and enjoys playing with all the other kitties there.
 
Having JUST went through weeks of food rejection by my newly diagnosed cat myself... I would encourage you to print out the handy low-carb list, and grab ONE can of anything you can find that fits the low-carb and any other requirement you have. I must have tried at least 20 different canned foods before I found one my cat will eat more than once. Some he'd eat well the first time, then try to bury the next! Others he would just sniff, give me "the look" and walk away. Part of it was that he wanted his kibble - he'd never been a canned food guy. But, it just took a lot of patience and finding the right food for him. Doesn't matter how great it is if they wont eat it. For my finicky guy, Wellness is what he picked - and I alternate between several flavors so he doesn't get tired of it (different flavors have different carbs, so be sure to check). He'll also eat Weruva Paw Lickin' Chicken' - but he didn't like any of their other flavors and started getting bored after a few days. But the main thing is... I'd have been out a whole lot of money had I bought any of those foods in large quantity. One or two cans at a time, figure out what is liked... then what is liked day after day. Then find the cheapest way to GET whatever it is that works for your kitty. I order mine online. It's a bit cheaper than buying it at the store, and it ships right to my door so I dont have to get to the store in the first place!
 
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