Dry food

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Chewy

Member Since 2014
My cat has just been diagnosed with diabetes, and the vet told me to feed him this special diabetic dry food. Everything I've read suggests wet food and definitely not dry. I'm so confused and frustrated, insulin is next. I don't know why I have to use the most expensive to start with. Any advice?
 
You're right. Definitely wet food. Never dry. Not all canned food is created equal though.
Check out this page: it has a link to a great list of tons of foods and their percentage of carbs. Look for really low ones.

Some Friskies and 9 lives pates are great. Some of their foods are super high though, so check the list.
Lots of people seem to use fancy feast, too. Not me, too pricey.

here's the links:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/diabetic-cat-diets.htm
http://binkyspage.tripod.com/canfood.html
 
One more thing. Going to the low carb diet can really make a difference in blood glucose levels.
From what folks have told me here - it can be up to 100 points! SO it's good to make that switch and see the effects before starting insulin (doing both at the same time can lead to too much of a drop in BG levels).
I'm new, but I've been doing tons of research. Like, obsessively :shock:
HOpefully folks with more experience will post tommorrow. They're just not all night owls like us ;-)
 
Thank you Skunky's mom, I'm just so overwhelmed with this. I want to work on his diet before buying the Lantus, but we're struggling to get him to eat. He's been put on an antibiotic for UTI, and that's probably messing up his appetite. We finally got him to eat a little boiled chicken. He's been such a healthy cat, and seems like all of a sudden, he's failing.
 
She just started Lantus last week. I just upped her dose from 0.5 to 0.75. I expect we'll eventually get up to 1.
She weighs just over 14 pounds. Which is down about a pound from last time she was at the vet (before her diagnosis, maybe January?)
She's a petite, small boned cat, so 14 pounds is really, really, really fat!
 
I tried fancy feast today, and he licked it a little. I'm thinking it's the antibiotic or UTI making his appetite poor. He's a maine coon and was probably close to 24 lbs, now he's down to 17, he's still big. Hoping tomorrow will be better, thanks for your time.
 
Low carb wet food like Fancy Feast will definitely make a difference! I switched Dusty to wet a few weeks before he was diagnosed and started insulin and he ended up being on insulin for a week before going into remission. I'm not saying your kitty will go into remission that quickly but wet low carb food is a large part of helping your kitty control his diabetes. Stay away from dry at all costs! :-D
 
I totally agree with Dusty Bones and Skunkys Mom! As soon as I get my notes in order and copied to a spread sheet, you will be able to see a big difference in Glucose values after my cat, Scooter, was switched from Iams indoor cat and hairball formula to canned. He was diagnosed on 8-4-2014 with a glucose of over 400 and put on Vetsulin 1unit every 12 hours. Unfortunately, Scooter had already quit eating due to dental/gum problems aggravating his diabetes symptoms. I had to force-feed him mixtures of Friskies canned pate with a little water and some pumpkin for 5 days. I truly think I would have gone nuts if it had not been for this message board and the support and information provided by its members. Most vets do not know as much as some of these members with their practical hands-on experience. As I type this now, he is sitting on my lap, heavy little bugger, (13.2 lbs), even after losing almost a pound during that week of force-feeding. He is eating on his own now and I have not had to give him any insulin for two days! I home-tested him so much, (including a 12hr curve), that his ear goes flat when he sees me reach for the relion tester. :) I am continuing to monitor him very carefully, but I can tell my old cat is back. So hang in there and keep in close touch with the message board. It all seems overwhelming at first but the more you learn the more confident you will feel. Oh, also, I went with Vetsulin because it is the cheapest and I did not have the money to upgrade. Vetsulin peaks, (hits lowest level), in 6 hrs and then glucose starts to rise again. I still plan on switching Scooter to a better insulin when I get paid next month if he appears to need it. The 100 pack of u-40 syringes cost me more at the vets than the insulin. Of course now I know I could have gotten a much better deal elsewhere, but thats the purpose of this message board to inform and support.
 
WOo hoo! Thanks Riahnoon and Shannon - that's the list I was looking for!

I forgot to add, for Chewy, that I blame one particular dry food for my cat's diabetes.

I bought a big bag of Iams Senior. . . we'd never used it before but I thought well, she's old, it should be good. About half way through I noticed her water bowl was always empty, she was peeing all the time. I don't know if one bag of food can cause diabetes or what but. . . we never had a problem before that stupid food!! :-x
 
Thanks for all the information, still struggling with eating, not much success today, no bowel movement, we've tried 5 different cat foods, pumpkin mixed with wet is next. He actually is acting better, I'm going to try to check his blood sugar with my meter, this should be interesting. Thanks again for advice!
 
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