Canned cat food (non-pate) recommendations

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sassycatlady

sassycatlady

Member Since 2017
Hi, all -

This is my first time posting, but I've been taking care of a newly diagnosed (since December) diabetic cat and trying to find a healthy middle ground when it comes to his food. Basically, Zander is really picky about the texture of the canned food - he is a gravy food junkie and will not touch the pate (or anything with big chunks in it), which I have seen in the food charts and read from other posts is probably the "gold standard" of canned food as far as low carb content. Since I have 3 other cats that are luckily NOT as picky as him, I've been trying out different Friskies brands and textures and have had success with the Prime Filets line, which is sort of a combo of gravy and smaller meaty bits. He likes it quite a bit, but it seems the carb level is still somewhat higher than I'd like it to be (between 14-15% carbs according to the Dr. Pierson chart). Anyone have any success with non-pate canned food with their diabetic kitties they can recommend? Zander loves dry food too and I have switched to a lower-carb (Nulo) brand but only give it sporadically or between meals as I am trying to move away from the dry and put all my cats on a canned diet. Of course the one cat who makes that difficult is my diabetic one! :). It seems like getting back into remission relies a great deal on the low-carb diet, but what if your cat won't eat a low-carb canned food? Thanks for any advice you have to share.

Stacey & Zander
 
Ff flaked or grilled are lower carb than the gravy food. Maybe combine the food she likes with pate and gradually increase the proportion of pate.
 
Instinct has a few varieties that are low carb and it's not pate and it doesn't have big chunks either, a bit on the expensive side though, my cats get the classic chicken or the turkey and they like it very much I don't know about other varieties since we don't get them where I live
 
Thanks for the suggestions! I will look into trying some of those. I'm familiar w/Soulistic since I fed it once in awhile to my CKD kitty, but they are kind of pricey so I may just try out the FF varieties first (what cat will turn down Fancy Feast?!?).
 
bff fish flavors not in aspic by Weruva. They are based on what looks like ground dark tuna with other stuff for flavor. It's juicy and wet but has no gravy. The numbers for this food are great. Chewy.com carries it for the same price as my local store. Just make sure it's not in a pouch or in aspic.
 
Veronica & Babu-chiri said:
Mine did I think he looks at the price before tasting the food
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Haha! Too true Veronica! My cats will not even touch anything organic, holistic, etc. which I should honestly be grateful for because that stuff is so ridiculously expensive! I think my cats have internal radar that tells them to to sniff and walk away from those pricey brands ...or maybe it's the peas/carrots/cranberries and those other ridiculous ingredients that turns them off! . :) That said, I'm pretty blessed that they like the cheaper (Friskies) varieties of canned food.

And yay! I tried a FF Flaked variety of food with my gravy-lover sugar cat and he ate the ENTIRE thing! Woohoo! Small victories: I'll take 'em where I can get 'em :)
 
sassycatlady said:
I think my cats have internal radar that tells them to to sniff and walk away from those pricey brands ...or maybe it's the peas/carrots/cranberries and those other ridiculous ingredients that turns them off! . :) That said, I'm pretty blessed that they like the cheaper (Friskies) varieties of canned food
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Lucky you mine do exactly the oposite the more expensive the more they like it seriously I think that they look at the price and if it is cheap they'll turn their head away, even with human food Babu will not even look at regular cheese but he goes crazy about a piece of brie or camambert
 
I am also pretty lucky that my Clara is not so picky, so when I have limited budget, I am looking for special offers in online shops and often I find some really good deals. i.e. I recently ordered 24 cans (82g) Hills Prescription Diet Feline Wet Metabolic + Urinary W/Tuna for about $ 50 from Stefmar Pet Care.

Of course, I don't mix all kinds of food only because of a good price, but with two different decent brands we can function very well. This one is with the taste of tuna and my kitty really likes it.
 
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Hi Samantha, we are also giving the same thing to our new cat Dixie, and she loves it! It looks like that's a perfect combination of price, quality, and apparently taste :cat:
 
When switching to a lower carb food, please remember to get extra tests in, as the insulin needs may change with the lower carbs.
Are you testing regularly for ketones?
 
Dyana said:
When switching to a lower carb food, please remember to get extra tests in, as the insulin needs may change with the lower carbs.
Are you testing regularly for ketones?
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Yes, we are checking via urine strips at home regularly, and we have regular vet checks too, thanks Good we've built quite close relationship with our vet so far, so I don't hesitate to 'be annoying' whenever I need his opinion :) Health comes first!
 
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