Fancy Feast to raw: what should i expect?

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ocat

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Hi,
Ocat's moved from Fancy Feast (Kitten Ocean Whitefish Feast) to raw (ground up chicken meat, chicken bones, chicken skin & chicken organs). Should i be expecting a decrease in insulin requirements or an increase? I didn't expect to see much happen from this diet change and missed some important testing times, and BG is now higher. There was no obvious source of carbs in the Fancy Feast-- it's almost entirely meat and it uses water, not broth (which to me is always a hidden source of carbs).

Is there any possibility of more carbs in his raw diet?
-Craig
 
The raw diet probably has less carbs. More than likely, ocat's body recognizes that there are less carbs coming in with the same amount of insulin and might be trying to protect itself. It took my Oscar a few days to settle into the new diet. Just keep testing for when these numbers clear just in case he goes too low.

I also want to make sure that you are adding supplements to the chicken/bones/organ meat. Just the raw ground meat doesn't give all the vitamins and minerals needed.
 
Hi,
Thanks. It's definitely full of supplements. I've been through two other diet changes with Ocat in the short time he's been on insulin, but this time his response is so different (or rather, uh, well i wasn't paying close enough attention)...
-Craig
 
Hi Craig

Quote from Dr Pierson's website (catinfo.org): "In the wild, your cat would be eating a high protein, high-moisture, meat-based diet, with a moderate level of fat and with only approximately 3-5 percent of her diet consisting of carbohydrates."

So, as long as you follow the recipe Dr Pierson supplies on her website, you will be doing things right in terms of carbs, protein, fat etc.

It's also nice to offeer your cat(s) a bit of variety when it come to their food - have you tried making chicken-based raw food that includes other meats? We have combined the chicken with duck, rabbit and ostrich (paying close attention to making sure the meat-to-bone ratio and the fat content stay the same), and the cats love that. Just a thought.

Jane
 
Hi Jane,
Thanks. Yes we followed the link off Dr. Pierson's website to catnutrition.org. We've just started feeding Ocat on the first batch, so haven't ventured into new meats yet, but that's next on the list.

He was attacking inanimate objects last night -- first time he's done that in a long time. I've giving credit to the food :-)

There were certainly were lower carbs in the raw food than the Fancy Feast.
-Craig
 
For some cats, the transition is seemless. Gabby has a couple of days of diarrhea with the switch to raw. You will also find that over time, there will be less bulk and/or smaller or fewer bowel movements since the majority of what your cat is eating is metabolized so there is less waste. The color of the stool may also be lighter. Just make sure you are following Dr. Lisa's instructions regarding which supplements to add or use a pre-mix.
 
Well, I'm coming in a bit late, but liver is a source of carbohydrate in the raw diet. Some of us, including Dr. Lisa, have discussed this publicly and decided we don't have a problem with it, since a cat would eat its prey's liver in the wild.

Dr. Lisa's diet may also have a higher fat content than the fish -- also not a problem, since she has designed it to mimic the composition of natural prey, but you might inadvertently be feeding more calories. Again, not necessarily a problem, depending on the cat. Increased playfulness is a good sign!

-- Janet
 
I have noticed with mine over the first month on raw that they have all gained weight - I am making my second batch this coming weekend and plan on taking the skin off of a few more pieces before I grind them to help cut down on the fat content. Other than behavior, the biggest difference is in their coats. Everyone's fur in this house is as soft as a rabbit now!
 
Hi,
Thanks. Ocat's very carbohydrate sensitive -- i'm quite certain i can accurately ascertain even 1/2 of 1 percent carbohydrate difference in his diet from his insulin requirements. When he changed from the Fancy Feast to the raw his insulin requirements dropped from 1.75 BID to about 0.5 BID. But it certainly wasn't clear that carbohydrates were lower in the raw diet (because of the liver and maybe skin) -- the list of ingredients in the FF Kitten Ocean Whitefish feast looked like it could possibly contain fewer carbohydrates.

Ocat was getting 8.0 units BID on the 1st of this month -- now he's on 0.5 units BID -- 3 diet changes got him there. Wish i knew this at the beginning, we would have just stuck him on raw first thing... I know some of the decreasing need for insulin was due to keeping him as normoglycemic as possible (not easy when we changed his diet every week), but there were precipitous drops at every diet change...

When Ocat's weight is were we want it will definitely start cutting back on the skin content!

raw, raw, raw :-)
-Craig
 
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