Chico - 2yr Male Cat recently diagnosed with diabetes :(

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Tizi_C

Tizi_C

Member Since 2015
Hi,

My 2 year old long haired cat Chico has recently been diagnosed with diabetes. He weighs 6.6kg, he's a big cat so isn't overweight.
On the 26th June 2015 he went through a major operation because he swallowed a foreign object which couldn't pass through his intestines and therefore underwent a gastro intestinal operation which luckily enough he recovered well from.
It was on this day that he had his first blood test and found his glucose level high + bad liver. Vet said it might be because of what he was going through being sick and that this had to be monitored in future.
Last Saturday 19th September 2015 I took Chico for his follow up blood test and results showed his liver is better but glucose is very high up to 20.1 mmol/L and range should be between 2.9-8.3 meaning his is more than double.
Vet recommended to start medicated food and gave me 2 types of canned food DM Purina and M/D Hills + dry food M/D Hills.
I started this food for him on Sunday but he doesn't seem to eat much of it and I am worried he will loose a lot of weight. Vet informed me he is to eat 2 cans and he is eating between half or 1 can or rarely a bit more. Today I gave him some dried food at least he eats something.
I need to take a sample of his urine in mid October so she can check glucose levels again but with this rate with him not eating medicated food I really doubt things will improve.
I can say he is stressed as we have another cat and they don't get along so we alternate them during the day to run around and I know stress won't help.
Any suggestions how i could move on as i am going crazy ?? Can I mix some chicken with his canned medicated food ?? or any suggestions I will appreciate.

Thanks
Tiziana
 
Hi Tiziana ~ glad you found this site as the people here are really experienced with feline diabetes and can help. Sorry about Chico. First, the prescription food the vet recommended are very high in carbs which is not good for our sugar cat. Also, they are very expensive and there are a lot of choices that are cheaper. A lot of us here feed our diabetic cats Fancy Feast and 9 lives. You want the carbs to be under 10% . Here's a link that you will find helpful when choosing foods.
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/dr-lisas-food-charts.88162/

Did your vet talk to you about putting Chico on insulin or just wants to try a diet change first?
 
Welcome Tiziana and Chico. I started my cat on the Purina DM & Hill MD too, and he wouldn't eat them either. I changed him to the Fancy Feast Classics and he gobbles that up. You can test his glucose levels at home with a cheap human blood glucose meter. It's easy to do, and if you decide to do that we can help you learn how. Just ask.
 
Hi, thank you for your reply. Vet wants to try with a diet change first as Chico is a bit hard to handle so not sure he'll let me give him insulin injections. Will need to see if i find these food brands locally here in Malta. So you all suggest i change his food to Fancy Feast Classics? Shall i inform vet before i do so?
 
Tizi_C said:
Hi, thank you for your reply. Vet wants to try with a diet change first as Chico is a bit hard to handle so not sure he'll let me give him insulin injections. Will need to see if i find these food brands locally here in Malta. So you all suggest i change his food to Fancy Feast Classics? Shall i inform vet before i do so?
Click to expand...
The vets push these prescription diets on our cats. They are terrible diets for them, just too high is carbs. If it were me, I would switch to a lower carb food. If you tell the vet that you are doing that, be prepared for he or she to try and talk you out of it. Unfortunately, the vets do not know enough about nutrition for the diabetic cats. They go by the propaganda that these RX food companies give them. Most people here are not using those vet prescribed foods.
 
Like Bobbie says, A lot of vets don't like the over the counter foods, but we have all found that they work better than the prescription foods. If they don't have Fancy Feast in Malta, any low carb, wet food-usually Pate type-will do. Since Chico is hard to handle, you can get urine test strips at the pharmacy to check his glucose yourself. Get the kind that also checks for ketones. That way you'll know how he's reacting to the food change. Not sure how quickly a blood glucose change is reflected in the urine
 
I want the best for my kitty so i will give him the best even if buying his food online is the only option. Any Fancy Feast food or does it have to be the classic type ?
50000-42994.png
 
The classic type only. The chicken you pictured is good also turkey and giblets. You can use some fish, but not too often because of mercury content. I give my cat some of the salmon about once a week.
 
Just went through table to check food my vet prescribed and found that Purina DM wet food is 3% carbs so should be good i guess?

Purina DM - Protein - 39 Fat - 58 Carbs - 3 Kcals - 263

the other food m/d is high so i'll try give him this less

Hill's m/d - Protein 46 Fat - 41 Carbs - 14 Kcals - 171

I will try find Fancy Feast Classic to have more variety.
 
I would cut out the high carb stuff altogether. You said he doesn't like it much anyway. From what I understand Hills food is guaranteed. They should refund your money, even after it's been opened.
 
I did not realize that the Purina DM was that low, I checked too and that is what the chart said. So, 3% is good. Since you all ready bought it, you might as well use it. And then purchase other low carbs that are cheaper for you later such as Fancy Feast or any other ones on the chart 10% or lower. The other one is too high in carbs and I personally would not give to my diabetic cat. Some of the more experienced people here will weigh in I am sure to guide you with other things too. :bighug:
 
ok i will try make him get to eat the Purina DM as i only just purchased 17 cans yesterday .... is it ok if i cook some chicken and cut a few pcs in his food to make him it ?
 
Absolutely. You are a good kittie mama to cook for your baby! If he won't eat the Purina DM, try buying some of the ones on the chart. Hopefully, you can find some of the lower carb in Malta. Keep us posted.
 
Just came home and did some homework re. Hills m/d canned food.

Chart says that Carbs is 14% so i came home to check values.

Notes say to get carbs value u need to - Add moisture + protein + fat + fiber + ash and subtract that total from 100% to give carbs value image.jpeg

So i found nutirional value for m/d food and these are

Moisture 75.2%, protein 13.1%, fat 4.8%, fiber 1.5% and ash 1.5% totaling to 96.1% which would make carbs 3.9% therefore should be good for diabetes as its low value am i right or am i doing wrong calculations??

image.jpeg
 
"While most canned foods are low in carbohydrates, the Hill's Science Diet line of canned foods are notable exceptions. Many of these foods (both the prescription and non-prescription foods) are very high in carbohydrates and are not diets that I would recommend feeding.

For the math-inclined, I have added a section below showing two methods to roughlycalculate the percentage of carbohydrates in food. You can skip this section if you plan to use the Cat Food Composition chart or plan to call the company for more accurate 'typical nutrient analysis' values.


dry matter

  • As a percentage of calories
When determining the carbohydrate content of a food, method 2 and 3 will yield roughly the same number.

Even though it is preferable to discuss nutrition in terms of the percentage of calories that a nutrient provides, most pet food manufacturers list their products' nutrients in the form of percentage of weight.

Nutrient information may be listed in two different formats on the manufacturers' websites. One is the guaranteed analysis (GA) figures (should be on all websites and on the side of the actual can of food). However, as discussed above, GA values are only minimums and maximums and can be very misleading.

The other format is the actual measurement of the ingredients in one (or more) sample of the food. These values more accurately reflect what is in the product.

Even though the GA values are not terribly accurate, they can provide a roughguesstimation of the contained nutrients.

To calculate the approximate weight of the carbohydrate in a food, add up the values for moisture, protein, fat, fiber, and ash and subtract this value from 100%. Here is an example from the PetGuard website for their Organic Chicken and Vegetable Entree:

GUARANTEED ANALYSIS:
Crude Protein 9.0% Min
Crude Fat 7.0% Min
Crude Fiber 1.0% Max
Moisture 78.0% Max
Ash 2.3% Max

If we add up the above figures, and then subtract this value from 100%, we come up with a rough idea of the carbohydrate content of this food:3%.

But we are not finished yet. The value of 3% needs to be converted to a 'dry matter basis' (DMB) for accuracy. This calculation takes the water component out of the equation and then allows values for canned and dry foods to be comparable.

For the DMB value, we see that there is 78% water in this food. That leaves 22% as dry matter. If we take our 3% and divide it by 22% we come up with 14% carbohydrates (by weight) on a dry matter basis. With further calculations (see below) to compute the calories from carbohydrates, we come up with a value of 11%.

Calculating the percentage of calories from the carbohydrate part of the dietcan be done with a few equations (shown below).

Again, less than 10% of a carnivore's calories should be derived from a carbohydrate source.

When calculating the percentage of calories derived from the proteins, fats and carbohydrates we use the figures of 3.5 calories contributed by every gram of carbohydrate. For every gram of protein, 3.5 calories are provided and for every gram of fat, 8.5 calories are added.

For these calculations, you don't have to worry about converting the values to DMB since the water content does not matter when looking at the percent-of-calories issue. (You must stay consistent, however, by using all figures leaving the water in [as fed or "wet weight"], or using all figures taking the water out [DMB]) This is the nice thing about 'percent calories' values - you can compare canned and dry food and not worry about the vastly different moisture content of the two types of foods.

We will use the PetGuard example above - keeping in mind the limitations for accuracy when using GA numbers:

GUARANTEED ANALYSIS:
Crude Protein 9.0% Min
Crude Fat 7.0% Min
Crude Fiber 1.0% Max
Moisture 78.0% Max
Ash 2.3% Max

We see that 9% of this food is made up of protein (9 grams of protein per 100g of food) so 9 X 3.5 = 31.5 calories from protein. Repeating the calculation for the 7% fat, we get 7 X 8.5 = 59.5 calories and from our calculations above, we know that this food is 3% carbohydrates. 3 X 3.5 = 10.5 calories from carbohydrates.

31.5 + 59.5 + 10.5 = 101.5 total calories per 100 grams of food

To calculate the percentage of overall calories from each food source, divide each amount by the total calories:

Protein: 31.5 divided by 101.5 = 31%

Fat: 59.5 divided by 101.5 = 59%

Carbohydrate: 10.5 divided by 101.5 = 10%

To double-check your math, add up the percentages to make sure they equal 100%.

31% + 59% + 10% = 100%

Now.....go take some aspirin. :>)"

This is from Dr. Pierson's article, also. Click the highlighted link Commercial Canned Foods at www.catifo.org for the full article.
 
Squalliesmom said:
"While most canned foods are low in carbohydrates, the Hill's Science Diet line of canned foods are notable exceptions. Many of these foods (both the prescription and non-prescription foods) are very high in carbohydrates and are not diets that I would recommend feeding.

For the math-inclined, I have added a section below showing two methods to roughlycalculate the percentage of carbohydrates in food. You can skip this section if you plan to use the Cat Food Composition chart or plan to call the company for more accurate 'typical nutrient analysis' values.


dry matter

  • As a percentage of calories
When determining the carbohydrate content of a food, method 2 and 3 will yield roughly the same number.

Even though it is preferable to discuss nutrition in terms of the percentage of calories that a nutrient provides, most pet food manufacturers list their products' nutrients in the form of percentage of weight.

Nutrient information may be listed in two different formats on the manufacturers' websites. One is the guaranteed analysis (GA) figures (should be on all websites and on the side of the actual can of food). However, as discussed above, GA values are only minimums and maximums and can be very misleading.

The other format is the actual measurement of the ingredients in one (or more) sample of the food. These values more accurately reflect what is in the product.

Even though the GA values are not terribly accurate, they can provide a roughguesstimation of the contained nutrients.

To calculate the approximate weight of the carbohydrate in a food, add up the values for moisture, protein, fat, fiber, and ash and subtract this value from 100%. Here is an example from the PetGuard website for their Organic Chicken and Vegetable Entree:

GUARANTEED ANALYSIS:
Crude Protein 9.0% Min
Crude Fat 7.0% Min
Crude Fiber 1.0% Max
Moisture 78.0% Max
Ash 2.3% Max

If we add up the above figures, and then subtract this value from 100%, we come up with a rough idea of the carbohydrate content of this food:3%.

But we are not finished yet. The value of 3% needs to be converted to a 'dry matter basis' (DMB) for accuracy. This calculation takes the water component out of the equation and then allows values for canned and dry foods to be comparable.

For the DMB value, we see that there is 78% water in this food. That leaves 22% as dry matter. If we take our 3% and divide it by 22% we come up with 14% carbohydrates (by weight) on a dry matter basis. With further calculations (see below) to compute the calories from carbohydrates, we come up with a value of 11%.

Calculating the percentage of calories from the carbohydrate part of the dietcan be done with a few equations (shown below).

Again, less than 10% of a carnivore's calories should be derived from a carbohydrate source.

When calculating the percentage of calories derived from the proteins, fats and carbohydrates we use the figures of 3.5 calories contributed by every gram of carbohydrate. For every gram of protein, 3.5 calories are provided and for every gram of fat, 8.5 calories are added.

For these calculations, you don't have to worry about converting the values to DMB since the water content does not matter when looking at the percent-of-calories issue. (You must stay consistent, however, by using all figures leaving the water in [as fed or "wet weight"], or using all figures taking the water out [DMB]) This is the nice thing about 'percent calories' values - you can compare canned and dry food and not worry about the vastly different moisture content of the two types of foods.

We will use the PetGuard example above - keeping in mind the limitations for accuracy when using GA numbers:

GUARANTEED ANALYSIS:
Crude Protein 9.0% Min
Crude Fat 7.0% Min
Crude Fiber 1.0% Max
Moisture 78.0% Max
Ash 2.3% Max

We see that 9% of this food is made up of protein (9 grams of protein per 100g of food) so 9 X 3.5 = 31.5 calories from protein. Repeating the calculation for the 7% fat, we get 7 X 8.5 = 59.5 calories and from our calculations above, we know that this food is 3% carbohydrates. 3 X 3.5 = 10.5 calories from carbohydrates.

31.5 + 59.5 + 10.5 = 101.5 total calories per 100 grams of food

To calculate the percentage of overall calories from each food source, divide each amount by the total calories:

Protein: 31.5 divided by 101.5 = 31%

Fat: 59.5 divided by 101.5 = 59%

Carbohydrate: 10.5 divided by 101.5 = 10%

To double-check your math, add up the percentages to make sure they equal 100%.

31% + 59% + 10% = 100%

Now.....go take some aspirin. :>)"

This is from Dr. Pierson's article, also. Click the highlighted link Commercial Canned Foods at www.catifo.org for the full article.
Click to expand...

Wow, Lucy, good job!
 
Tizi_C said:
okay so Hills m/d would be 15.7% Carbs (Water 75.2% = dry matter 24.8% so carbs 3.9% divided by 24.8%)

wow that is actually high if it is best to go below 10%

what i cannot understand is how on the website http://www.hillspet.com/products/pd...w-carbohydrate-glucose-management-canned.html people actually found the product good and recommend it too ??
Click to expand...
It seems that very few people, vets included, really understand feline nutritional needs, especially those of diabetic cats. I knew nothing about them until my cat was diagnosed with diabetes, I just figured if it had good recommendations, or the vet suggested it, it must be good for them!
 
Squalliesmom said:
"While most canned foods are low in carbohydrates, the Hill's Science Diet line of canned foods are notable exceptions. Many of these foods (both the prescription and non-prescription foods) are very high in carbohydrates and are not diets that I would recommend feeding.

For the math-inclined, I have added a section below showing two methods to roughlycalculate the percentage of carbohydrates in food. You can skip this section if you plan to use the Cat Food Composition chart or plan to call the company for more accurate 'typical nutrient analysis' values.


dry matter

  • As a percentage of calories
When determining the carbohydrate content of a food, method 2 and 3 will yield roughly the same number.

Even though it is preferable to discuss nutrition in terms of the percentage of calories that a nutrient provides, most pet food manufacturers list their products' nutrients in the form of percentage of weight.

Nutrient information may be listed in two different formats on the manufacturers' websites. One is the guaranteed analysis (GA) figures (should be on all websites and on the side of the actual can of food). However, as discussed above, GA values are only minimums and maximums and can be very misleading.

The other format is the actual measurement of the ingredients in one (or more) sample of the food. These values more accurately reflect what is in the product.

Even though the GA values are not terribly accurate, they can provide a roughguesstimation of the contained nutrients.

To calculate the approximate weight of the carbohydrate in a food, add up the values for moisture, protein, fat, fiber, and ash and subtract this value from 100%. Here is an example from the PetGuard website for their Organic Chicken and Vegetable Entree:

GUARANTEED ANALYSIS:
Crude Protein 9.0% Min
Crude Fat 7.0% Min
Crude Fiber 1.0% Max
Moisture 78.0% Max
Ash 2.3% Max

If we add up the above figures, and then subtract this value from 100%, we come up with a rough idea of the carbohydrate content of this food:3%.

But we are not finished yet. The value of 3% needs to be converted to a 'dry matter basis' (DMB) for accuracy. This calculation takes the water component out of the equation and then allows values for canned and dry foods to be comparable.

For the DMB value, we see that there is 78% water in this food. That leaves 22% as dry matter. If we take our 3% and divide it by 22% we come up with 14% carbohydrates (by weight) on a dry matter basis. With further calculations (see below) to compute the calories from carbohydrates, we come up with a value of 11%.

Calculating the percentage of calories from the carbohydrate part of the dietcan be done with a few equations (shown below).

Again, less than 10% of a carnivore's calories should be derived from a carbohydrate source.

When calculating the percentage of calories derived from the proteins, fats and carbohydrates we use the figures of 3.5 calories contributed by every gram of carbohydrate. For every gram of protein, 3.5 calories are provided and for every gram of fat, 8.5 calories are added.

For these calculations, you don't have to worry about converting the values to DMB since the water content does not matter when looking at the percent-of-calories issue. (You must stay consistent, however, by using all figures leaving the water in [as fed or "wet weight"], or using all figures taking the water out [DMB]) This is the nice thing about 'percent calories' values - you can compare canned and dry food and not worry about the vastly different moisture content of the two types of foods.

We will use the PetGuard example above - keeping in mind the limitations for accuracy when using GA numbers:

GUARANTEED ANALYSIS:
Crude Protein 9.0% Min
Crude Fat 7.0% Min
Crude Fiber 1.0% Max
Moisture 78.0% Max
Ash 2.3% Max

We see that 9% of this food is made up of protein (9 grams of protein per 100g of food) so 9 X 3.5 = 31.5 calories from protein. Repeating the calculation for the 7% fat, we get 7 X 8.5 = 59.5 calories and from our calculations above, we know that this food is 3% carbohydrates. 3 X 3.5 = 10.5 calories from carbohydrates.

31.5 + 59.5 + 10.5 = 101.5 total calories per 100 grams of food

To calculate the percentage of overall calories from each food source, divide each amount by the total calories:

Protein: 31.5 divided by 101.5 = 31%

Fat: 59.5 divided by 101.5 = 59%

Carbohydrate: 10.5 divided by 101.5 = 10%

To double-check your math, add up the percentages to make sure they equal 100%.

31% + 59% + 10% = 100%

Now.....go take some aspirin. :>)"

This is from Dr. Pierson's article, also. Click the highlighted link Commercial Canned Foods at www.catifo.org for the full article.
Click to expand...
I have been sitting here studying this ( and math is not my thing and I do need an aspirin. So, with all this above, what is the best to go with, dry or as fed for our sugar cats? I am so confused.....
 
Again from Dr. Pierson's site, following the link to Cat Food Composition:

"I recommend that the reader ignore the Dry Matter Basis data and just focus on the Calorie values – the frst 4 columns. Most nutritionists prefer to consider nutrients on an energy (calorie) basis but dry matter figures are included for those readers who prefer to evaluate foods on a DMB. Going forward in this document's dialog, I will be referring to calorie basis, not DMB."

Personally, I would not give Hill's m/d to my kitty, I consider it too high in carbs for my diabetic boy.
 
It's all very confusing. I called Wellness and they gave me AS FED values and DRY. They were different from Dr. Pierson's chart. If I subtracted the dry from the As Fed it was just about the values she had on her chart. I understand why they differentiate, to compare dry to wet, but gee whiz .....so confusing....
 
Bobbie And Bubba said:
It's all very confusing. I called Wellness and they gave me AS FED values and DRY. They were different from Dr. Pierson's chart. If I subtracted the dry from the As Fed it was just about the values she had on her chart. I understand why they differentiate, to compare dry to wet, but gee whiz .....so confusing....
Click to expand...
I could be wrong but her chart hasn't been updated in a while for some foods, and I think Wellness has changed their foods in the last 3 yrs.
 
@Bobbie And Bubba if you can give me the AS FED values I can calculate them for you. I'm on a project for Canadian pet parents trying to get values from manufacturers and have a spreadsheet I got from Eliz & Bertie so it's pretty quick for me to do.

I need moisture, protein, fat, ash and fibre.

The values can often be expressed as PERCENTAGE of CALORIES from Carbs, very different from the actual AMOUNT of carbs in, say, 100g of food. It's important to know what number you are getting.

For sure it's worth checking with the manufacturer from time to time. As SpecklesandMe said, they can change formulations and they don't even have to tell anyone.
 
Tizi_C said:
Moisture 75.2%, protein 13.1%, fat 4.8%, fiber 1.5% and ash 1.5% totaling to 96.1% which would make carbs 3.9% therefore should be good for diabetes as its low value am i right or am i doing wrong calculations??
Click to expand...

Tizi, here is what I got from the values you gave, but it's important to know, as others have already said, these are AS FED or "guaranteed analysis" If they are AS FED, then here is the calculation:

Screen Shot 2015-09-25 at 7.13.38 PM.png


So this food is actually a bit high at 13.6% calories from carbs.

All the 3.9 means is that for every 100g of food there are 3.9 grams of carbs in it.

Hope that helps!

P.S. you can drive yourself nuts using the food tables - lots of us download to a smartphone and shop with it. Personally I think your best bet is to look at the ingredient label. If it has peas or corn or wheat or lots of rice and/or veggies, pass on it.

Here is the ingredient list I found online:

Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diets DM Dietetic Management Formula Canned Cat Food
Liver, poultry by-products, meat by-products, water sufficient for processing, chicken, salmon, oat fiber, salmon meal, artificial and natural flavors, guar gum, calcium phosphate, potassium chloride, carrageenan, salt, Vitamin E supplement, taurine, thiamine mononitrate, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, niacin, calcium pantothenate, copper sulfate, Vitamin A supplement, manganese sulfate, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin supplement, Vitamin B-12 supplement, biotin, folic acid, Vitamin D-3 supplement, potassium iodide.

Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diets DM Dietetic Management Savory Selects Formula Canned Cat Food
Water sufficient for processing, chicken, liver, wheat gluten, meat by-products, corn starch-modified, soy flour, artificial and natural flavors, calcium phosphate, potassium chloride, L-Lysine monohydrochloride, taurine, salt, choline chloride, added color, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, thiamine mononitrate, Vitamin E supplement, niacin, copper sulfate, manganese sulfate, calcium pantothenate, Vitamin A supplement, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin supplement, Vitamin B-12 supplement, biotin, folic acid, Vitamin D-3 supplement, potassium iodide.
 
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Wow so none of the food vet gave me is good. I thought only the hills m/d had high carbs and the purina dm was okay but now you are saying it also has high carbs

I'm really going crazy now. Tried finding fancy feast/wellness/9lives here in malta but unfortunately till now didn't find any.

What do you think about the brand Applaws?

Thanks
 
I order Fancy Feast online (because I go through such large quantities if it), I don't know if ordering pet foods online is an option for you? Just thinking you might have access to a wider range of products that way?
 
Here is an online calculator which can estimate the calories from each of protein, fat, and carbohydrate.
Plug the package numbers in to get the calories.
Divide the calories from carbohydrate by the total calories
Multiply by 100 to get an estimate of the percent of calories from carbohydrate.

You may use this to check what you have available in Malta.

You might be interested in the raw food recipe at Cat Info.
 
Tizi_C said:
What do you think about the brand Applaws?
Click to expand...
It is very important to note that Applaws is NOT considered a complete cat food and is recommended only for supplemental feeding in the U.S. (does not meet AAFCO requirements). To my knowledge, Applaws does not have any added essential vitamins or taurine. I would not feed it by itself long term. The Applaws cans I've bought in the past are literally just chicken and broth (like you would make at home) or chicken and rice with nothing else in it.
Does anyone else have any thoughts on this? I don't know if it's marketed as complete food in the U.K.
 
so what do you think about Nature's variety, Purina One Pate and Perle Gourmet Gold Pate' ??
 
I know some people on here do use Nature's Variety. Maybe they can advise.
Which flavor of Purina One Pate? I'll try to look up the carb counts for you. I haven't heard of Perle.
 
Purina One Pate Chicken, Turkey, Beef flavours

Gourmet Gold is this below:

IDShot_540x540.jpg

re. Nature's Variety was planning to try buy the Instict - Grain Free type - flavours chicken, beef, lamb, duck

thanks,
 
Tizi_C said:
Purina One Pate Chicken, Turkey, Beef flavours

Gourmet Gold is this below:

View attachment 16720

re. Nature's Variety was planning to try buy the Instict - Grain Free type - flavours chicken, beef, lamb, duck

thanks,
Click to expand...
I use NV Instinct Raw, the chicken bites, and my cats all seem to do well with it. I mix it with a little Fancy Feast -I never thought my cats would eat raw- and they chow down! I only use the chicken because of my IBD kitty, so I can't speak about the other flavors.
 
i am finding soooo difficult to find food for my poor baby here in Malta....all these brands you are mentioning here FF, Wellness, 9Lives etc. are all brands made for US and are not imported here in Malta unfortunately. Before choosing the option of buying these online i would like an opinion on below.

I found a pet shop that sell's Nature's Menu brand food - has anyone ever used this product ? i want to know if it's okay to give him this ? I am attaching picture of chicken flavour pouch and the calculations for carbs.

description of food: Made with 96% free range chicken, this delicious complete food for cats is gently steamed in it's packaging to lock in goodness. With added superfoods including cranberry and spirulina, and totally grain and gluten free. Perfect for allergy sensitive cats.

Nature's menu - Chicken.jpg

appreciate your advice and help anyone.

thanksss
 
Here are the ingredients from their website...

Composition: Chicken (75%), Chicken Heart (21%), Raspberry (1%), Cranberry (1%), Spirulina (0.5%), Catnip (0.01%), Yucca Extract, Green Tea Extract, Grape Seed Extract, Rosemary Extract.

Analytical Constituents:
Protein 10.7%, crude fibre 0.3%, crude oils and fats 6.2%, crude ash 2.5%, moisture 79%

Additives (per kg):
Vitamin A 3000iu, Vitamin D3 200iu, Vitamin E 30mg. Trace Elements: Zinc sulphate monohydrate 15mg, Manganese sulphate monohydrate 3mg, Calcium iodate 0.75mg, Sodium selenite 0.03mg.
 
The goal is a food with <10% carbs- so I think that looks good, but I haven't used the online calc before. Maybe a more experienced opinion would be worth getting? I'll tag @BJM
 
hi people,

things with chico are not so good. yesterday he only ate half a can of food and prefers to starve himself than eat his medicated food although i mixed it with other normal food.
as i still have a few cans of his medicated DM food and knowing he is not eating it much i bought some nature's menu pouches chicken/turkey flavour and mixed but he still hates it and didn't eat it. I also cooked some chicken and cut some parts in his food....he ate it but not so happily poor him.

it shows that he is very hungry because he keeps coming to his bowl smells food and leaves so this morning when he came up near me i just got up and changed his food completely gave him a can of tuna/mackerel applaws brand (that is what i had available) and in less than 5 mins it was gone.

would really appreciate help as i am very worried he will loose lot of weight not eating. i think for now i will stop his DM food so he can eat something and get his apetite back. Is it right decision ?

Brands i am looking for carbs % are applaws (flavours - chicken breast/ chicken with cheese/ tuna and mackerel/ tuna with seaweed) and encore (flavours - chicken based or fish based) - what do you people suggest ? here in Malta most of the brands you mentioned FF, Wellness, 9Lives etc are not available

wait for any replies.

thanksss
 
Hi Tiziana,

My reply is a little late, but I just joined a few days ago. Are you still having problems finding diabetes-compatible food?

Does Zooplus deliver to Malta? Also, I have a list of suitable food available here in Germany, and I'll bet you can get many of the brands in Malta too. The list is in German, but the brand names should be universal, and I'd be happy to translate any flavors and other info you might need.

Here is the link (to download a pdf). You want to click on the blue link that says "Diabetergeeignete Katzennassfutter A-Z" - it's also available as an excel file.
http://www.katzendiabetes-shop.de/diabetes-informationen/futterlisten/

All Gourmet catfood has sugar in it, without exception. It's the ultimate kitty crack, let me tell you.

Animonda Carny is excellent, and my cats go crazy for the "Baby Pate" - it has only 3.7% carbs, so is a good choice. I'm linking to the Zooplus Spain site here, because I suspect you will be able to order from them. All foods on the page I've linked except the "Rafine" food at the bottom (which is a catfood with sauce) and the "Vom Feinsten" with pasta would be suitable for Chico, should he accept them: http://www.zooplus.es/shop/tienda_gatos/comida_humeda/animonda_rafine_carny
Scroll down a bit from the top of that page to the "Vom Feinsten" varieties - they are in small tins and you can get them in batches of six. My cats especially like the kitten varieties, and especially the Baby Pate, as I posted above.

I hope that helped!
 
Good Morning Tiziana,
I am sorry you are having trouble getting your kittie to eat. The brand you mentioned, applaws, I am not familiar with and did not seeing on the chart we use to see what the carb count is. Maybe you could call the company and ask what the carb count is keeping in mind that you want to keep the carbs 10% and under. I see above where Jeanette gave you a link of foods available in Germany and hopefully you can get the same in Malta. I hope that proves to be helpful to you. Also, fish is a flavor you want tot restrict to about once a week because of heavy metals. About the eating, yes, just get your cat to eat whatever you can right now until you find a suitable food that Chico likes. Keep us posted and Fingers and Paws crossed for you and Chico. :)
 
You can try Applaws, but remember that you might need to give him a supplement at some point to make up for the fact that he isn't getting a complete food. The Applaws flavors without rice have got to be under 10 carbs b/c there are ones that just water and chicken (I use them as a treat for my cat sometimes).
The most important thing right now is finding something the cat will eat. I'd worry about the other details later. Not to scare you, but if he doesn't eat enough, it could hurt his liver. The DM is not medicated; it's a prescription food. It doesn't actually have medicine in it- so I wouldn't worry so much about that being what the cat eats. Many of us refused to feed DM and ended up getting better results with other foods.

If the situation gets any worse and he's not getting enough food, please try chicken broth, tuna in water, bonito flakes, parmesan cheese, or Fortiflora sprinkled on the food to get him to eat. Otherwise, you should call the vet and see if you can get an appetite stimulant medication (cyproheptadine or mirtazapine are the most commonly used).

Do you have any of the Tiki Cat or Weruva foods over in Malta?
 
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