Food Options (in Ontario/Toronto)

Status
Not open for further replies.
S

ssauro

Member Since 2014
Just wondering what dry food others are feeding their cats. We are using Purirna DM in combination with no- carb wet food (Almo Nature), but I swear there is something addictive about the dry food. We feed her the wet at breakfast and dinner and give her the dry before leaving for work and before going to bed. She now sits beside her food dish waiting for the dry food at night and gobbles it up. She hasn't lost any weight (if anything she looks bigger) and the insulin (smallest dose possible) is keeping her blood sugar in check.

Any suggestions are more than welcome!

Sylvia
 
I feed CJ only canned food. You don't need an expensive prescription diet food like Purina DM to manage your cat's diabetes.
See my link for carb values. You want to aim for under 10% with canned food or raw food. Some freeze-dried options are suitable if given with water.

Which insulin are you giving your cat?
 
Thanks. A Vet (who doesn't make money off the food) told me:

"First, it doesn't matter at all if you feed wet or dry to a diabetic cat. It makes no difference. You can feed either or a combination. It only matters how well their glucose control is while they're on it. The DM has complex carbohydrates that slowly break down and therefore, slowly release sugar over time. This is ideal for a diabetic cat. So a diet with long chain/complex carbohydrates is best."

My goal is to find a reasonably priced long chain/complex carb dry food. Maybe we'll try Evo!

Thanks.
 
Evo is a good choice. Fancy Feast Classics and some Friskies pates are also equally good, inexpensive choices. Click on my link in my signature line and read why a canned/wet food diet is best. Additional info also here: http://www.catinfo.org/
 
ssauro said:
Thanks. A Vet (who doesn't make money off the food) told me:

"First, it doesn't matter at all if you feed wet or dry to a diabetic cat. It makes no difference. You can feed either or a combination. It only matters how well their glucose control is while they're on it.
Click to expand...
We've seen a cat go from 5.5 units of insulin to none, after removing dry food from the picture. Most kitties here that switch from dry to wet need less insulin, though most not as dramatically as the first one I mentioned. Yes, low carb wet or raw food makes a big difference in the insulin dose. Some kitties no longer need insulin when dry food is removed from the picture.

As for food options in Canada, unfortunately there are no low carb dry food options available, but a lot of the wet food options listed in the document Cat Ma pointed you do are available here. Some of the Almo Nature have carbs, those with carrots, pumpkin, maybe cheese. As per the food chart, less than 10% carbs is OK for diabetics.

ETA: But don't change your diet if you aren't home testing his blood.
 
Last edited:
CJ was one of the lucky ones to go into remission after being switched to a low carb canned diet from a high carb dry and wet food diet. I don't feed her any expensive prescription diets.
 
Last edited:
Young Again Zero Carb is a great dry food option for diabetic cats. I feed it to my sugar baby - free fed, by the way. Here is a link to their website. https://www.youngagainpetfood.com/zero-carb-formula.html I also give my Petey Almo Nature wet food but ONLY as a treat ( I mix his daily methyl b12 with it; about a tablespoon). It DOES NOT have the added vitamins or minerals so it is NOT meant to be an actual food source unless you are supplementing with vitamins etc. Petey has been on the Young Again for a month or two and his numbers have improved a ton!
 
I was feeding Spaz a mix of Purina DM dry and fancy feast after his diagnosis in March for about two and a half months. I finally weaned him completely off dry and he went into remission about two weeks later. I definitely think it DOES matter whether you feed wet or dry food to a diabetic cat :).
 
Hi Sylvia - not sure I can add much to what has been said but diet is critical to managing diabetes. Yes you can shoot more insulin but that is not the path to health, not in cats or humans. Feeding a species appropriate diet can only be of benefit. A diabetic human can eat a candy cane, but risks persistent hyperglycaemia as a result. I think some cats can manage diabetes through diet alone so that says a lot.

FYI be careful transitioning to EVO in Canada. I understand that new legislation in Canada is causing many U.S. Manufacturers to pull out. I'd have to research but I believe EVO is one of them - my local pet food store is already limiting supply and telling customers to start transitioning.

Best of luck with your cat!
 
@Cat Ma the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has changed requirements for US imported pet food - this was announced in February this year:

"CFIA has signalled that CFIA will introduce a new import policy that would require a zoo sanitary certificate to accompany each shipment of pet food imported from the U.S. into Canada. The zoo sanitary certificate would be issued by APHIS. It is anticipated that an APHIS inspection of the U.S. facility would be required in order for issuance of a zoo sanitary certificate.

Timeframe and details for implementation of the proposed change is under discussion.

Currently, a zoo sanitary certificate is only required for the import of pet food that contains beef or ingredients derived from animals in the genera bovinae. The new policy would see a zoo sanitary certificate also required for the import of all other pet food that does not contain beef or is non-bovinae. The import policy would impact the import of all pet food and pet treats.
​
 
ssauro said:
I swear there is something addictive about the dry food.
Click to expand...

Sylvia, I think this could well be "animal digest" that is sprinkled on dry food to make it more palatable. Some folks use FortiFlora, marketed as a probiotic but containing animal digest, to entice their "wet food resistant crunch-a-holics" to an all wet food diet.
 
EVO is no longer available in Canada. The company has indicated they pulled out of the Canadian market for financial reasons (i.e. not a lucrative enough market) which may in part be true as it is going to cost manufacturers a lot more money to get the necessary documentation to meet our import regulations going forward.

As a Canadian consumer, you have no choices of dry food under about 14% carb. I believe the lowest Canadian varieties are GO - Fit & Free at around 14%, and Orijen around 18%.

I have a kibble addict I was feeding EVO and have currently got her on Taste of the Wild Rocky Mountain which is about 19% as she will not eat either of the lower carb brands I mentioned above.

I sent a note off the Boreal, a Canadian company that markets their foods as low glycemic however a quick calculation of carbs in their kibble came out to a whopping 28%. I have asked for the Dry matter analysis twice and had no response back.

Our selection of foods especially for our special needs pets is going to be seriously impacted by the new import laws and we as consumers are going to have to lobby the Canadian companies to produce better foods or the government to relax their requirements in order to be able to deal with those cats that won't transition entirely to canned foods.

The new regulations are due to be implemented in September and had not yet been finalized as of the last week in June because no one could understand the new regs as they were written. I am assuming the delay has no doubt been because of a lot of push back but where this is all going to take us as far as pet food selection is anybody's guess right now.
 
That is really disappointing to hear about EVO! I had planned on trying to transition my cat from his original dry over to the EVO because the carbs were so low in comparison to other brands. :(
 
MrWorfMen's Mom said:
The new regulations are due to be implemented in September and had not yet been finalized as of the last week in June because no one could understand the new regs as they were written.
Click to expand...
Leave it to the Canuck government to completely obfuscate!!

@MeltyCat I'm just not with the times, am I? I was responding to your other thread this morning, darn work got in the way and I just got back to it now.

If your kids will eat wet food and you are looking for options to leave food out all day, I'm sure it would be just fine unless it is roasting hot where you are. You could also leave out frozen "pucks" that would thaw throughout the day and stay fresher. Just thinking out loud!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top