? Food advice

[Sabs]

Cocoa has never really liked canned food. I'm doing my best to transition her onto as much as possible, but realistically, I can't get enough calories into her that way.

I've been feeding her Wellness chicken paté, and smallish amounts of Purina DM dry. And her numbers have been trending in the right direction (see chart!). I ordered a bag of Young Again, which appears to be the only approved diabetic dry food that I can get in Canada. At first she hated it, then yesterday, miracle of miracles, after a mirtazapine, she ate tons! At last, I thought! A workable solution!

Alas, this morning I woke up to the stinkiest diarrhea I have ever smelled in my life. I can still smell it despite having scooped over 12 hours ago. I think I will smell it in my dreams. I'm sure this isn't healthy for her and it's definitely not healthy for me.

I want to do my best for her and the vet thinks remission is in sight (knock wood) but this is an anorexic cat and I've struggled to get food into her for years. And especially if I can get her into remission, I want her to stay there!

Do I go back to trying as much canned as I can + DM, even though DM is bad?
Should I keep trying Young Again in the hopes that 1) she'll keep eating it, and 2) her system will adjust?
Do I mix them?
Is there some way to make a cat who doesn't like human food eat pumpkin or cauliflower?

Other suggestions that I haven't considered?

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Alas, this morning I woke up to the stinkiest diarrhea I have ever smelled in my life.

Well known side effect of YA - it's very rich. Have you tried Dr. Elsey's Clean Protein chicken? I think I've heard it's supposed to be low carb, and available at Petsmart. Or you could try freeze dried raw or air dried (Ziwipeak) for crunch.

Why would you want to feed a cat cauliflower? I mixed a bit of pumpkin in with wet/raw food. Baby food squash is an alternative.

 

[Sabs]

Alas, I've tried freeze dried raw and she's having none of it. And I called Petsmart but they have never heard of Dr. Elsey's, though they carry the litter.

Is pumpkin and squash okay? I was talking to a friend (who had diabetic cats before) and she was concerned about the sugar content, and thought cauliflower might work because that's what they use in keto. I am pretty sure that Cocoa won't eat a vegetable of any sort, though. She's never been interested in people food, or really any food other than chicken and sometimes turkey.

 

[Christie & Maverick]

Depending on where you are in Canada, I suspect it is just a matter of time before Dr. Elsey's' cat food is available at your local Petsmart. If memory serves, I think it started showing up here in Alberta maybe 6-8 months ago. Have you tried going online at Petsmart to see if they may deliver?

Orijen has Fit and Trim, but it's not under 10%, I recall perhaps somewhere around 16-18%.

 

[Sabs]

I've tried—no luck. I'm hoping that it starts showing up because apparently it's also tastier to cats. I also asked my preferred indie pet store whether they can get it, and they can't yet.

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Here is the link on the Canadian Petsmart site. And it lists as out of stock at all the Petsmarts near me.

Pumpkin and squash are fine. You aren't giving a lot either. And I presume you are using it for fibre/stools?

 

[Sabs]

Nothing near me.

Yes, for fibre/stools. Though I like both pumpkin and squash so unlike most things, if she doesn't like it, I can eat it.