food fatigue

[Sybil and Zoe]

One month in to the diabetes diagnosis and I am growing so tired of raking uneaten cat food into the trash. The pate is gross and the cats only eat it randomly. I have wasted so much money buying anything from high dollar Weruva, (people),canned chicken and tuna to FF classics. Friskies never worked. (They love real tuna but it is not a safe option every day.) I have been sprinkling the Pro Plan Fortiflora on ithe pate to boot which adds another layer of expense. I am averaging using(wasting) 2 cans per meal trying to find one they will eat on any given day. (not to mention the fortiflora wasted too). Feeding them separately is not an option because Bella is an adventurer and goes in and out. She sniffs the food and then goes outside. When she comes back in she is ready for something to eat, but alot of times just looks at me. By then Zoe has either eaten hers and Bella's, or eaten the fortiflora off the top of Bella's food. That is not helping control Zoe's intake. I am so missing the dry kibble self feeder days!!! The insulin and BG checks are a walk in the park next to this issue. I have spent so much energy worrying about getting the BG under control and adapting a skittish cat into a now semi compliant cat(yeah), that the food issue is draining me.... The old commercial "Calgon, take me away!" applies here. Sorry guys, I just had to vent.

 

[FurBabiesMama]

The food transition can be very rough.. and expensive. I remember going through so many different foods and having to jump through so many hoops to get my girls to eat. Be strong! You will get them there.

I found it helpful to make chicken bone broth and mix it into their food as well as a little water, and to microwave it all so that their food is warm. I still do those things every meal to this day. In the beginning, for months, I had to sprinkle a few kibbles (made sure I had no/low carb ones) on Mia's food before she would even think about touching it. I did it with whole kibbles and with crushed ones. I was finally able to stop doing that, but I still have to crumble up some PureBites freeze dried chicken and sprinkle it on her food to get her to eat (I think it's a texture thing). I was finally able to get them to eat Weruva Chicken Frick A Zee (not a pate.. it has shreds.. and they wouldn't touch it at first, I had to get them somewhat used to wet then went back to it, and they ate it), and that is what they have been eating for many months now.

 

[FurBabiesMama]

Maybe microchip feeders would work to keep Zoe from eating Bella's food: https://www.chewy.com/surefeed-microchip-small-dog-cat/dp/157144

 

[Sybil and Zoe]

Thanks so much for your reply. I will keep on trying. I have been rewarding Zoe with her favorite Temptations treats (just a few) after her shots and gave Bella some because of her weight loss but they are trying to manipulate me already. I have yet to try any no carb treats. I just want to get to a point where I can confidently order a case of food and stop having to buy a couple of cans here and there. That will make my life a little easier!

 

[LexaJoy]

I feel you on the food struggle. When we switched, it felt like all I did for weeks was clean up vomit or scrape away uneaten food. I'd try something expensive, no dice. They didn't like it. They would eat it, but it would make a reappearance within a few minutes. They'd steal the dog's food instead of eating what I put down because... I have no idea. They wanted kibble and the only animal getting kibble now is the dog? Who knows, it was exhausting (also expensive and a little gross, yuck). I was pleasantly surprised that all the cats (diabetic and non) like the treats I bought to try. We used the Temptations before, but they're okay with the PureBites chicken. It was pricey at the local pet store, but I found it on Amazon as an add-on for $3 (phew). Sprinkling that on food does seem to help mine. I'm pretty sure it's a texture thing since they're funny about the pates versus the shreds that come in a Tiki Cat can, for example. Heating things does seem to help, too. I just run the tap for some hot water and mix it in a bit and that warms things up without having to microwave anything because wow does that make the house smell not delicious.

Good luck to you. I know it's frustrating for now, but you'll get past it!

 

[Beck and Philly]

Oh how I can relate! When Grandpa was feeling well, he would eat anything and everything. Too much of a good thing would cause a pancreatitis flare and he wouldn't eat much at all. Add to that a cat with severe grain and poultry allergies plus many other cats and life was an endless string of popping lids on cans.

 

[Bama Kitty Mom (GA)]

Dr. Elsey's Clean Protein Chicken, a high protein, low carb [4-6%] kibble was a lifesaver for me. While Bama will eat a little wet food he much prefers dry and loves Dr. Elsey's. After a two month stint of trying wet food only, I have gone to 1 [3 oz. can] wet with up to 2 oz. and 1/4 to 1/3 cup dry. He eats 4 meals a day with up to 2 oz. of added water per meal. I pour it on wet and dry food alike. He laps it up. Meals have gone from dread, doom and gloom to not so bad and Bama is much happier. Shoot them an email from their contact page and they'll send you a bag or two of sample product to try. I got mine within a week of contacting them. I know the mantra here is wet, wet, and wet but if kitty is miserable, mama is likewise miserable.

 

[FurBabiesMama]

If your cat is a die-hard kibble addict, it may be necessary to have a transition period where you gradually reduce the dry food (though you would still want to get a lower-carb one for this). As I mentioned in my previous response to this thread, I had to put a few kibbles on top of Mia's wet food for months.. and I'm not talking about anything like a couple of months.. I'm talking about TEN months. So, with some cats, it is harder than with others, and it takes patience and perseverance, but the transition to wet can be done, and it is great feeling once you succeed. Now, Mia only gets a few kibbles (4 or 5) offered as a testing treat, and she has gotten to the point that she rarely even eats them, so I am not sure how much longer I will even offer them. She usually prefers PureBites freeze dried chicken or, better yet, pieces of chicken breast meat. Wet food is not a 'mantra', it is just the goal for most of us because of what we learned when our cats were diagnosed, primarily from catinfo.org. Each person has the right to choose for themselves and their cat, but for those who want to go to an all wet food diet, it is possible.

 

[Noah & me (GA)]

I feel your pain. My wife is a vegetarian and we have a sink and a half full of pig slop and crusted on food. I'm surprised we don't have a bug infestation here because that sink looks like a toilet somedays. We use dollar store dishes (paper plates don't work, trust me) and what we put down the drain is putrid. I'm pretty sure local water treatment plants never planned on meat going down the drain. We have a green cart and can toss out bones and paper towels but not meat, what a waste. Lewis is the worst for walking away from his dish, sometimes I just stir it up and it's like he forgot there was food there.
We switched to all wet/Fancy Feast so it's not a tragedy money wise. The pull tops can't be recycled so that bothers me.
Take a stroll behind Walmart and see what they toss out. Food doesn't expire at midnight on a certain day so there are worse things in life than disposed cat food.
And for people who say "They'll eat it if they're hungry enough" I've got some week old tomatoes for you.

 

[SpotsMom]

And for people who say "They'll eat it if they're hungry enough" I've got some week old tomatoes for you.

My anorexic kitty says yeah right! He would rather not eat ever again than deign to have any undesirable food touch his tongue. To make matters worse, every time he has a pancreatitis episode, formerly yummy food becomes a no go, so we have to find something new. Usually I am able to switch him to what I want him eating by starting really small (like 1/4 tsp), and gradually in REALLY slow increments over the course of several weeks increasing the amount of the new food, and decreasing the amount of the old (switching to raw recently was a novel experience for me, as he loved that from day 1, so raw may be something to consider for the extremely discerning palate). But yeah... I definitely don't recommend waiting until kitty is "hungry enough"... our fur babies are nothing if not stubborn

 

[Tom & Thomas (GA)]

If you can't eliminate kibble, or can't do it right away, see if you can at least cut back so it is no longer the principal food.

Try a just couple small portions a day of (lo-carb) kibble. That lets her know you understand and still love her. Have wet food available right next to the kibble. She just might move over to the other bowel when done with the kibble. Yes, putting some crumbled kibble on top of the wet can help

I put wet food out multiple times a day, but strictly limit the kibble. At this point, once or twice a day in real small helpings, as little as 1/8 of a cup, sometimes a bit more. I may stick with this rather than completely eliminate kibble. They (three cats here) are just so happy when they hear the rattle of kibble going into a bowl. Or I might push to only wet, which we did for a while.

Of course, what works for me might not work for you.

None of this helps with the search for a wet food they like. I am always amazed at how what seem to be similar foods are viewed either as yummy or as inedible, with no middle ground.

I'll second the suggestion of Dr Elsey's kibble. My cats love it.

 

[Bama Kitty Mom (GA)]

The wasted food was not as big an issue with me as the 30 to 40 minute ordeal each meal took to get Bama to eat. It was a constant pour in a little food plus a little water, stir and stir some more, follow him from place to place as he would eat a bit then move halfway across the room and flop down. I would follow with the food bowl and try different positions. Hold it at face level so he didn't have to bend down to eat. Put it in front of him when he was lying down. There was no just leaving the bowl there for him to eat whenever he pleased or put into a timed feeder as he would do covering motions over the bowl and turn it over. He wouldn't even eat if I was not in the room with him.

 

[Sybil and Zoe]

Thanks for all your replies and it is all so funny! Tonight was the icing on the cake. I decided to use the tuna and pumpkin BFF in the refrigerator since Bella seemed to like it ok. I put it in a glass pyrex bowl with top on it in a sink full of hot water to warm. It was taking so long so I added a little hot water to it, and dished it up in their bowls. Zoe was intent on getting her treats she gets for getting her insulin shot so didnt even bother with it. Bella ate some but because Zoe wouldnt touch it I opened some Sheba chicken pate which was ignored. The next thing I know I look in my dining room carpeted floor where the food bowls were and there was a pile of liquid vomit that FOR REAL looked like a bad case of diarrhea and smelled like fish. It was so gross!!! I swore never again. I had just eaten something and I wanted to vomit too. I, like one of you said , do not want the "if you're hungry enough you will eat" tactic because they simply will not. But I can't stand this mess. I refuse to refrigerate uneaten portions any more. I am so close to just giving them each a bowl of temptations every meal and deal with the BG explosion!!!

 

[Dusty Bones]

I'm a firm believer in that you have to keep them just a little hungry in order for them to eat what you serve them. Another thing I've found and it may be true of other food brands but with FF one case of food is not like another case. The color is different, the smell is different, the consistency is different and apparently the taste is too. For example I buy 2 or 3 cases of FF chicken classic and they might not like it from case #1 but if I take a can from case #2 they love it. They'll get tired of it after a few days and I go back to case #1 and they'll love it, then they get tired of case #1 and case #2 so I go to case #3 and they love it so I rotate the same flavor but different cases. I do the same thing with other flavors like beef or liver. Jeeze... cats are making us all crazy aren't they!

 

[Bama Kitty Mom (GA)]

Thanks for all your replies and it is all so funny! Tonight was the icing on the cake. I decided to use the tuna and pumpkin BFF in the refrigerator since Bella seemed to like it ok. I put it in a glass pyrex bowl with top on it in a sink full of hot water to warm. It was taking so long so I added a little hot water to it, and dished it up in their bowls. Zoe was intent on getting her treats she gets for getting her insulin shot so didnt even bother with it. Bella ate some but because Zoe wouldnt touch it I opened some Sheba chicken pate which was ignored. The next thing I know I look in my dining room carpeted floor where the food bowls were and there was a pile of liquid vomit that FOR REAL looked like a bad case of diarrhea and smelled like fish. It was so gross!!! I swore never again. I had just eaten something and I wanted to vomit too. I, like one of you said , do not want the "if you're hungry enough you will eat" tactic because they simply will not. But I can't stand this mess. I refuse to refrigerate uneaten portions any more. I am so close to just giving them each a bowl of temptations every meal and deal with the BG explosion!!!

Some kitties have problems with fish which is a problem in itself because so many companies add fish to their products--even the ones labeled poultry.

 

[LVSAuthor]

Hello! Henry is an eleven-year old cat and was diagnosed with diabetes on 11/02/2018. He has a myriad of other complicating issues stemming from a surgery that he had about three years ago. He had a perforated diaphragm (a birth defect) that resulted in several of his internal organs being pushed up into his chest cavity. One of these was his pancreas. After a long recuperation with many boats of pancreatitis, which we treat with Cerenia when it flares up. because of this, it was predicted that he could develop diabetes in the future, which he now has. One of the other complications of the surgery is that he has "some degree of sphincter incompetence at the lower esophageal sphincter". This means that he cannot consume large amounts of food at one time because he will simply throw it up involuntarily. We dealt with this by feeding him very small amounts of food over the course of the day and waiting approximately 30 minutes in between feedings to allow him to digest it.

Now that he has been diagnosed with diabetes, our vet wants him to eat either 3 oz. of wet food or 1/8-1/4 c. of dry (Dr. Elsey's Clean Protein Chicken) before each 1-unit injection of Prozinc. Prior to his diagnosis, he was eating Hill's i/d dry and Solid Gold chicken with coconut oil wet, which he loved. Now we are having trouble finding ANYTHING that he will eat consistently and more than a few bites of. He initially loved the Dr. Elsey's (and seems to still eat it in lieu of anything else), but like all of you, we have about ten different cans of wet food (high protein, low carb from several companies) in the fridge and he turns his nose up at all of them. We purchased the Primal Chicken Bone Broth at a friend's suggestion, but he doesn't like it at all. I haven't tried any flakes (chicken or otherwise) and have not tried warming the food-will try both today.

His blood glucose is extremely high (it was in the 500's, but since we switched his food it was down in the 400's as of his appointment yesterday). We have not started him on the Prozinc yet because of his eating issues, but intend on starting tomorrow AM. My question is (finally!) if the purpose of feeding him before the insulin is to raise his blood glucose, does it matter if he eats a smaller amount of food prior to the injection if his glucose is already so high? I am going to ask the vet about this today, but wondered if anyone else has experience with this.

Thanks and sorry for the lengthy post!

-Lisa, Kathy & Henry (& Deery Lou, our 15-year old cat)

 

[Paigeworthy]

My question is (finally!) if the purpose of feeding him before the insulin is to raise his blood glucose, does it matter if he eats a smaller amount of food prior to the injection if his glucose is already so high?

I wonder what your vet's rationale was for wanting him to eat that much before an injection — seems like his appetite will probably come back if you can get his BG under control, which the insulin will help? I'm very new to this, hopefully someone will also give you some good advice. Good luck Lisa/Kathy/Henry <3

 

[Sharla]

I am having the same issue with Pebbles. We were about 4 months in and she decided she no longer wanted Fancy Feast. I thought it was the brand but nope. Had every flavour in Pate in Fridge that went in the Garbage. Unopened ones I gave away. I had her on different ones from Whiskas portions pate to Blue Buffalo and even has some Merrick still in the fridge and some has been or waiting to be taken back to store, but now all she seems to want is Whiskas Cuts in Gravy likes the Gravy will eat some of the bits but depends on the day. No idea what has changed but question is do i leave her on Whiskas Cuts in Gravy or try her on something like BFF or Cats in the Kitchen but not pate? Spending far too much $ trying to figure it out. Vet appt on Sunday so we will ask then too.

 

[JoyBee&Ravan]

Have any of you read Dr. Lisa Piersons Yellow Sticky note?
Info Dry Food - PLEASE consider more than just carbohydrate content

There are several reasons why you should not feed any dry food. Are you checking the canned food to make sure it's LOW carb 10% or less?

I've been on the Lantus forum for over 9 months & I've seen Kitties go into remission just by eliminating all dry food.
Dr Pierson talks about how to transition your cat off dry food.

The cats weight has influence on his Diabetes. Just like Humans they are more prone to get Diabetes if they're overweight.

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/597c71d3e58c621d06830e3f/t/59974eb56f4ca3e7b97d661a/1503088349095/Cat Weight Translator.pdf

Good luck to all of of you!

 

[Sharla]

My Cat was not overweight when diagnosed. Vet thinks she has a crappy Pancreas.

 

[LVSAuthor]

Thanks, everyone for your helpful reply. Henry is eating very well now (wet food only-mostly Fancy Feast)! Our vet said that because his BG is so high to begin with, it was okay to start him on the insulin, so we did. So far, he is doing well-no adverse reactions, etc. Will check his BG in a few days and report to our vet.

 

[LVSAuthor]

My Cat was not overweight when diagnosed. Vet thinks she has a crappy Pancreas.

Henry is a big cat, but the vet has never said he was overweight. His diabetes is likely an issue that developed from his pancreas being pushed into his chest cavity for the first nine years of his life.