Confused about diet

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ObieAndMe

ObieAndMe

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Ok...Obie was first put on Hills M/D...read how bad it was for him here so put him on Purina DM instead. (only because when I went to return the Hills and said I'd grab another brand elsewhere..they were adamant that he stay on diet-control food for diabetic cats because he also needs to lose weight.) So 2 days on Purina DM and his number are same range.. maybe even a touch higher.

I bought Wellness chicken and Welleness turkey today..which I know is all-around better for him, BUT the calories are more and he needs to lose weight. What is my better option here? I also dont want to switch so fast and have his levels go all whack and mess up his insulin dosage.

Any advice?
 
Oliver had been on diet food all his life and was about 16 pounds when he became diabetic. We changed to wet lo carb (we used Fancy Feast). In 6 months, he had lost 2 pounds and looked great.

No reason to pay for "prescription" food. It is no better, probably worse and certainly more expensive than supermarket foods.

Your vet isn't around to see what you feed. Feed your cat what you think is best for him. Tell the vet he wouldn't eat the prescription stuff.
 
Sounds great, thanks.. Right now he's eating half a can in the AM, a very tiny amount of dry while I ween him off (he used to free-feed so dont want to starve him all day while Im at work) and half a can at night. Not sure Im doing that right.. once he's totally on wet he'll get a can in the AM and can at night I guess?

He's currently 17 lbs!
 
ObieAndMe said:
Sounds great, thanks.. Right now he's eating half a can in the AM, a very tiny amount of dry while I ween him off (he used to free-feed so dont want to starve him all day while Im at work) and half a can at night. Not sure Im doing that right.. once he's totally on wet he'll get a can in the AM and can at night I guess?

He's currently 17 lbs!
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You can free feed the canned food :smile: Unregulated diabetics are always hungry. Many people use a programmable timed feeder for their cats. The PetSafe 5 compartment feeder is a popular one.
 
I may have spoke too soon!

Just did PMPS +3 testing and he's 202! :o Lowest he's been... But now I'm scared.. will he drop even lower between now and his next shot at 8am??? Or pretty likely it won't be dramatic enough to go hypo with that number? I know nadir time on Lantus is about +7... it will be 3:30am here so not likely getting a test at that time. Should I be worried, or excited??

*still a lot to learn!* So paranoid about him going hypo when I'm not around to monitor.
 
My Thor was on Lantus and has been in remission for 110 days. Lantus peaks (nadir) around +6 and may stretch to +8. A test around nadir is always helpful. Remember that normal bg for a cat is 50-80. Thor acted fine in the 30's but ECID and he was protected by his wet low carb diet from a clinical hypo. If you get a low reading, feed 1 tsp of FF and continue to retest every 5 -10 minutes until bg is rising into normal range of 50-80, if not, keep giving 1 tsp of food and retesting until it is. I feed Thor 4x/day (breakfast,lunch, dinner, snack) 1/2 FF Classics (<6% carb variety since he's very carb sensitive) for each meal and the last evening feeding is a full 3oz can so that he has food available during the night). A timed feeder is very helpful especially if your kitty is overweight. FF Kitten has 0 carbs and 6% fat and I've found that Thor does very well with that mixed with another low carb FF Classic variety once a day. Every cats needs 6-8oz food/day and more if underweight. Also, Thor's bg dropped 150 points on diet alone! He loves the wet canned and doesn't miss the high carb diabetes-causing dry at all! He does like variety though in his wet low carb canned! ;-) Hang in there! You're doing great! Remember you want him in healing numbers below that renal threshold of 200-250. :smile:

Noticed your log comment about hairball/vomiting. Thor used to suffer from hairballs too and doesn't any longer since I added 6-8 drops of salmon oil from a 1000mg gelcap to last 3oz can FF for night feeding. Early in his journey, he would go off food at times acting sick and did so much better with the addition of 1/4 tab of a 10mg pepccid ac tab twice a day. Noticed a difference immediately and it doesn't hurt them to be on it for as long as they need it! Just a thought!
 
I agree with the timed feeder for while you're gone--that's what I do when I'm at work for Bandit's lunch. I freeze his portion of food, and then put it in a timer to be released 6 hours after his breakfast. Here's the timed feeder I use.

Wellness chicken and turkey are higher in calories than the Purina DM, so you will need to probably feed less. How much is Obie supposed to weigh and how much DM are you currently feeding? To give you a rough idea of the difference, Bandit is 13 lbs. In order to maintain his weight, I need to feed 7-7.5 oz of Fancy Feast a day (about the same calorie content as DM). However, if I'm feeding Wellness and EVO, then I need to feed about 5-6 oz of food a day.
 
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