Can anyone answer a few questions?

[Kathy Ambrose]

Navajo is a 13 year old cat. Very healthy and happy. Never goes outdoors. Last week, he started drinking an excessive amount of water, had very increased urination and was having difficulty walking on his back legs. We took him to the vet and he was diagnosed with diabetes. His blood work showed a very high sugar content with a number between 500-600. The vet placed him on insulin and that has been increased twice in the past week. We have now made 3 trips to the vet. They also put him on Hills Science Diet M/D for canned food and W/D for dry. I have been researching and found this is not the correct food for him and want to change it. I will have a monitor and test strips for home testing by Friday, Dec. 15, when we return to the vet, but I want to do the first test in the office so the vet can be there to supervise. I have watched several videos on how to test, but feel more comfortable with an expert the first time. I feel I have to be able to home test prior to changing his diet as I have been warned that with the reduced carb diet, an insulin over dose could be immediate. Can anyone tell me a good low carb food that I can purchase? I have a list from CatInfo.org, but they give the information, not a specific recommendation. I am also looking into preparing his food at home, but I don't understand how to grind bone. I have a grinder that would work well with the meat and nutrient part of the recipe, but the encourage you to grind the bones and add to the recipe instead of bone meal. I am afraid of the size shown. He could get it stuck in his mouth, throat or perhaps cause injury to his stomach. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your help.

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

A lot of us feed Fancy Feast Classics, Friskies pate's or 9-Lives ground.....they're affordable and below 10% carbs (which is what we want!)

As far as the bone goes, cats eat RAW bone all the time in the wild....it's cooked bone you have to avoid! ....but here's another idea for you.....EZ Complete is an additive that you add to your own ground meat to make it a complete meal.....and their recipe doesn't include grinding bone. A lot of people here who feed raw use it

 

[Olive & Paula]

As @Chris & China said you don't need to add bone if using EZcomplete. I did not add it because I didn't have a grinder. I cooked the meat sometimes with bone for nutrients in a slow cooker, but never used the bone. I used a mini processor to make food the consistency Smokey liked which was pretty much pureed. His teeth were pretty bad and I worried they would break. And one did even with pureed.

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Good plan getting into testing. You'll find it's much less stressful knowing you are safely giving insulin, and much less stress for the cat than going to the vet. And cheaper too. I did the same as you and waited for an "expert" or knowledgeable vet to show me how to test. Turns out he got me to poke the vein in the ear, not the capilliaries! Thankfully the web has lots of wonderful videos. And the vet did send me here, so kudos for that.

What insulin is Navajo on now? And what food was he eating before hand? That might help with food recommendations.

The Catinfo web site also has a page on making your own cat food, including a section on recommended grinders. http://catinfo.org/making-cat-food/

 

[JeffJ]

I feed our 3 cats Fancy Feast. It is good commercial food, low in carbs. Occasionally they get cooked chicken breast or tenders.

Home testing is important. The first times are challenging. I rub Leo's head then his ear before the test. Longterm, if you want help with dosing advice here it is best to start a spreadsheet. Do NOT copy Leo's dosing, he has Acromegaly and is a high-dose cat.