Hello all, I have a 10 yo male ginger (Oscar) that is a food lover and recently diagnosed as diabetic and is on 3 units Prozinc and blood sugar in the 500s. Also have 2 other cats 5 yo fem Binks and 4 yo male Puff. We are having a very hard time adjusting to only feeding twice a day and no food in between. Before diagnosis all 3 cats were being fed 1 3 oz can each twice a day and had free range dry cat food. They are currently splitting 2 5.5 oz cans of Proplan complete essentials and 1 5.3 oz can of Tiki After Dark at each feeding. Cats use raised up/slow feeders at each feeding. Oscar will gorge himself and scarf his food down then act starved the rest of the day, to the point of trying to eat random non food items off the floor. Binks (who is a dry food lover) and puff will take a few bites and be done but will want to eat again a few hours later. I have been giving a little dry food in between feedings because it breaks my heart knowing how hungry they are. What is everyones advice on canned cat food (pref not pate). Any good options for in between meals snacks or dry food? Also need help transitioning my fem cat from dry food to wet food. Ive looked into the automatic sensor feeders but my cats refuse to wear collars. Honestly any and all help will be appreciated.
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? Feeding and Food advice.. desperately
- OP HaleyGail
- Start date
Hi there! Couple thoughts for you. Have you checked the carbohydrate percentage of that Proplan food? I'm not familiar with it personally. It is recommended here a lot to feed multiple small meals throughout the day. That's what I did (and still do) for my guy too, I took his total calories required for the day and split it up into the two bigger meals at AM and PM insulin shot time, and spread the rest out in the first half of the cycle (the first 6 hours after insulin).
Another comment about acting hungry, it's common when they're still in higher blood glucose numbers. They aren't processing their food as they should and acting starving but potentially losing weight.
This post has links to some good food charts. If you can avoid dry food altogether that would be ideal. There are automatic feeders that hold wet food, but I have yet to see a great solution for multi-cat households...
And this post has some information we look for from you, especially if you're going to stick around and integrate into the community. Just some basic information like setting up your signature and spreadsheet so we can help you better.
And lastly, here are some low carb treats that you could try. List of Low carb healthy treats
Good luck with your crew!
Another comment about acting hungry, it's common when they're still in higher blood glucose numbers. They aren't processing their food as they should and acting starving but potentially losing weight.
This post has links to some good food charts. If you can avoid dry food altogether that would be ideal. There are automatic feeders that hold wet food, but I have yet to see a great solution for multi-cat households...
And this post has some information we look for from you, especially if you're going to stick around and integrate into the community. Just some basic information like setting up your signature and spreadsheet so we can help you better.
And lastly, here are some low carb treats that you could try. List of Low carb healthy treats
Good luck with your crew!
Inky & Olivia
Member Since 2026
When I first started getting Inky onto a primarily wet food diet, I had to do a LOT of experimenting to figure out what she likes. Some cats can be picky with proteins and textures. For example: Inky likes fish whether it's in a pâté or "chunks in gravy," but she only eats poultry if it's in a pâté. For the first little bit I would give her 1-2 oz a day next to her kibble, each day a different flavour/texture, and I'd write down how much of it she ate. Through this I was able to get an idea of the foods she'll actually eat, so I bought more of the wet food she likes, and then I started slowly increasing the wet food while slowly decreasing the dry food, keeping the total calories the same. (This is a work in progress, but this has worked for me so far.)
Info - Dry Food - PLEASE consider more than just carbohydrate content
This post ^^^ has a link to a document called "Tips for Transitioning Dry Food Addicts to Canned Food" which has a lot of useful information. On page 5-7 it goes into detail about getting the cat on a meal schedule, then introducing wet food, and there are a variety of tips to entice your cat to eat it, like leaving out for a long time so the cat gets used to the smell, warming the food up, and adding a pinch of a topper like freeze-dried treats, water from a tuna can, or even parmesan cheese.
I'm not sure what your budget is, but one of the ideas my parents considered when they had a similar situation is to get large clear plastic storage bins, cut ventilation holes into the lids, and then cut a hole into the side of each one to fit a microchip-reading cat door. Then, put a regular auto-feeder inside each bin, so each cat would get a bin with a feeder in it, and the door of that cat's bin would only allow that cat get inside. My parents ultimately decided to use the auto-feeders that sense RFID tags on the cats' collars, but if your cats won't wear collars, then the "private dinner suite" idea me and my dad came up with might work!
squeem3
Member Since 2009
Your diabetic needs a few small meals spread throughout the day in addition to breakfast and dinner. All the meals can be the same low carb canned food. Frequent meals help keep blood glucose levels stable, much like it does for Human diabetics who often eat healthy snacks in between meals.
The non-diabetic cats can eat the same food as the diabetic. If your cat(s) have an implanted microchip already, there are some feeders that work with that. Many cats like to have snack or two in between meals.
The suggested dry foods to feed that might not affect a diabetic cat too much are Young Again and Dr Elsey's. Air dried and freeze dried raw are also options.
This thread has some similar suggestions: 6/19 Mister AMPS 154 +1 159 +2 146 +3 138 +6 152 +9 149 PMPS 170 +2 145 +5 153
The non-diabetic cats can eat the same food as the diabetic. If your cat(s) have an implanted microchip already, there are some feeders that work with that. Many cats like to have snack or two in between meals.
The suggested dry foods to feed that might not affect a diabetic cat too much are Young Again and Dr Elsey's. Air dried and freeze dried raw are also options.
This thread has some similar suggestions: 6/19 Mister AMPS 154 +1 159 +2 146 +3 138 +6 152 +9 149 PMPS 170 +2 145 +5 153
Inky & Olivia
Member Since 2026
Oh wow! Sara's idea in that thread is exactly what we had planned out as well! Great minds think alike
Liz & Crowley
Member Since 2026
I definitely recommend a wet food autofeeder! It lets them get food at the same time daily, and then you can also set it up so they can get food while you're asleep too. I split it up so they get food during both cycles.