commercial wet (can) cat food for diabetic cat?

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pedretti

Member Since 2014
My cat was just diagnosed with diabetes. I see the newest food list is from 2010. Is the information still current or is there a new list of wet (or dry) cat food that is low carb and moderate-high proteins? If not, where do I find this info?
 
Hello and welcome to FDMB,

If you're not in the US then you may also wish to see this thread:
viewtopic.php?f=28&t=64843

Has your kitty started on insulin yet?
If 'yes', then we only advise switching to a lower carb food if you are able to test your cat's blood glucose at home (much easier than it sounds!) That's because lowering the carb content of the diet can lower the blood glucose, which may mean the insulin dose also needs to be reduced.
If your kitty isn't on insulin yet then this interim period could be a perfect time to switch to lower carb.

What is your kitty's name?

Eliz
 
Thanks for the information. My cat's name is Peter. He was just diagnosed yesterday (he laos lost a significant amount of weight and has very high ALT) and the vet put him on MD and WD canned. He also started him at 2 units of PZI. I am purchasing a glucometer tonight to begin testing his blood glucose. The vet was very kind, but did not know about any info on foods other than the hills that he sent home with me. Since it has been less than 24 hours since his diagnosis and since his insulin was prescribed, I was wondring if I can get him a better food and start testing him to make sure he does not go too high or too low. (I'm in Wisconsin).
 
Hello and welcome to the message board to sugardude Peter!

Does you cat have any other health issues we should know about?

Is the information still current or is there a new list of wet (or dry) cat food that is low carb and moderate-high proteins? If not, where do I find this info?
Click to expand...

Not sure where you saw the 2010 date and what food list you are using.

The main food chart we use here in the US and Canada is the one put together by vet Dr. Lisa Pierson, and can be found on her catinfo.org site under the commercial food list link on the right hand side. The post Larry and Kitties gave you was to a shortcut version of that food list, only listing the foods that are 8% or less carb content. That shortcut list was created by one of our members.

The complete catinfo.org food chart is here. We look at the 3rd row of numbers, under calorie %. The information is current as of September 2012. I don't know of any more up-to-date food listing.

We recommend looking for foods that are 10% or less carb content, based on some of the scientific journal articles that make food recommendations. Some of those readily available and low cost choices include Fancy Feast classic pate style, Friskies pate, Wellness grain-free. There are many more selections on the full food chart. You just need to find one your cat likes consistently.

For my sugardude Wink, that food was the Fancy Feast Turkey & Giblets flavor. Now, he likes some of the other Fancy Feast flavors but the T&G is still is favorite.

Please let us know how else we may help you.
 
Most of us here use a human glucometer instead of the pet specific glucometer like the Alphatrak. The main cost is in the test strips, and at $1-2 each, the Alphatrak test strips are simply too expensive for many people's budgets.

I happily switched from the Alphatrak to the Relion Confirm, available at Wal-Mart. I also have a Relion Prime meter as a backup.
 
The W/d cat food is meant for diabetic cats that need to lose weight. Does your Peter still need to lose some weight, or was the vet happy with his current weight? Being overweight is one of the factors contributing to insulin resistance, so if your cat Peter is still overweight, getting his weight down will help immensely.

What food were you feeding to your cat before this diagnosis?
 
Peter is way too skinny. We think his high ALT is due to having lost lots of weight (3 lbs in the last 6 weeks). He was on a dry purina food until 2 days ago. He was given Hills WD on Wednesday on the first day we went to the vet and they were not sure what was wrong with him and then WD and DM on Thursday when they decided he was diabetic. They said to go ahead and feed him all the WD that was left and to continue on DM. Now my job is to get weight on him and to stabilize his insuline with 2 units PZI twice daily and to feed only 2 feedings that are 12 hours apart. they said that it is okay to give him 5.5 oz at each feeding until his weight improves. After that I am to cut down on his food. Snacks are no longer allowed at all (per the vet). Would there be a problem in doing a lower carb food if I am able to check his blood glucose to make sure he does not crash or get way too high? Or, should I keep on the DM and wait for a couple of weeks until he is stabilized?
 
I would return the WD as long as you start testing asap!. If your goal is remission or good regulation the WD won't help! I would just feed him DM .. as the sooner you can get his blood sugar down the better..

You can give low carb snacks - many of us feed freeze dried chicken that you get in most pet stores and even walmart. (just make are 100% pure chicken).

I would feed as much as he wants, but weigh him every couple of weeks and adjust food according to that!

Wendy
 
When I feed his as much as he wants, is that in each of the 2 meals he gets and the snacks in between? Or do you mean something different?
 
Just as human diabetics seem to do better on numerous, small meals throughout the day, our kitties also seem to do better and this has the added benefit of helping support the pancreas. Here's a great discussion on feeding kitty as much as he wants (within reason) that is worth a read-through and might give you some ideas as to how much to feed and how often. Usually, what it comes down to is what your kitty is used to: is he a grazer or does he like set mealtimes?
 
If the average adult cat eats a total of 5.5 to 6 oz of food per day, you might try feeding up to 50% more, spread out as mini meals so he doesn't get too full at any one time and possibly vomit. That would defeat the intent to help him gain, plus it could creat a food aversion.

You might feed 3 times per shot (at shot, +2, +4) with 1.5 oz each feeding and see how that goes.
 
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