Do cats get "Atkins flu"?

[SandyS]

I am trying to transition two kitties from kibble to wet food.

I am personally on a low carb diet and I recall getting what they call the Atkins flu way back when I first started after about a week of really low carb eating. So I wonder--do cats get this, too?

I remember that I felt pretty lousy for a few days when it hit me, achy and exhausted and sick to my stomach. Hope that the cats aren't going to go through this.

 

[Erica & Carter]

I switched Carter cold turkey from dry food to canned as I know if I made the switch gradual he would have clung to the dry still and he had never had any gastrointestinal issues in the past so it was a risk I took personally.

He didn't experience any negative side affects to the switch, if anything I saw an improvement in his overall health pretty instantly. Higher energy, nicer coat, etc.

However I've done the Atkins diet before so I do know what you're referring to. It sucks.

 

[jayla-n-Drevon]

Me too!! I was on Ideal protein and being vegetarian I really felt terrible--
But I don't recall Dre feeling bad.... I think because they are carnivores by nature??
I can see some cats getting very annoyed tho

 

[Julia & Bandit (GA)]

I didn't see any ill effects in any of my three cats taking away the high carb dry food. Orpheus was the most recent, and he just went full on canned food the moment I brought him home from the SPCA and never looked back! I agree with Jayla, because they are obligate carnivores and we are omnivores, I think their bodies handle the switch much better than humans!

 

[SandyS]

Thanks, everybody! Macy [diabetic] is adapting pretty well to the wet food after a slightly rocky start. My IBD kitty, Pixie, is not. We've been trying to get her on wet food for a couple of years but she is insanely resistant. I fear that in our zeal to get Macy transitioned we may have set Pixie on a little downward spiral. She hasn't been wanting to eat much of anything yesterday and today, although her appetite picked up a little bit today. I'm just letting her have kibble for now [Pixie, not Macy]. It's been difficult figuring out what to do for Pixie since she does better as a free feeding grazer type kitty, because obviously we can't leave food out for Pixie all the time bc Macy would get into it. I am thinking about getting one of those feeders for Pixie that reads the cat's microchip and only opens for that cat. They are crazy expensive, though-and Pixie is much more skittish than Macy so I kind of fear that she'd completely reject it and then I'd be left with a $175 paperweight. lol

Do any of y'all use one of these feeders?

 

[jayla-n-Drevon]

Wow that's pretty cool tho !!
I sneak Rico food when Dre is sleeping