? Food Questions

[Lynda and Louis]

Hello All:
First Thank you for all that you do. My handsome boy, Louis is 6 years old and newly diagnosed as of last Thursday. Thanks so much to Mr. WorfMen's Mom for getting me started and pointing me to Dr. Pierson's food chart.

Briefly, Louis was diagnosed (BG at 407 with typical symptoms which started in late August), and Vet put him on Purina Pro Plan DM for two weeks and we will retest to see if numbers come down. So we are not on insulin, yet...

Questions are:
1. Are any of the FF Classics okay, or just the Chicken? After studying Dr. Pierson's list, I bought two of each flavor just to get started and he seems to like all of them. I see that most of you folks just mention the chicken. I am alternating the FFC flavors, with the ProPlan.
2. He was 13.8# at the Vet on Thursday...down from 19# end of July. I am giving him 3oz of food alternating flavors four times a day on a schedule now. HE SEEMS SO RAVENOUS. He used to eat about a cup of Blue Salmon dry plus a 3oz of wet food each day and was satisfied. When this all started, he became so hungry. No more dry food and he doesn't really want it anyway. But the 12oz of food per day doesn't seem like enough for him, especially the first 3oz in the morning. What to do?
3. Louis is smart. He does tricks. Tricks need Treats. Are there any at all that I can give him other than boiled chicken pieces? He used to love Greenies.

That is enough for now. Thanks again!
Louis and Lynda

 

[Panic]

Hi Lynda, welcome to FDMB!

You're in a really good position right now to give him the correct food since you haven't started insulin yet. I would make a complete switch to just the FF Classics, all of the Classics are fine to use. Typically around here we use the Beef & Poultry variety pack (we stay away from the fish for the most part). His numbers can go down up to 100 points alone on a low-carb diet. Purina DM dry is 18% carbs, the wet varieties are 6% (regular flavor) and 10% (Savory Selects) so he will do better on FF Classics which is in the 2-5% range.

It's normal for kitties to want all that extra food. I think the standard is roughly 6oz of food a day and my girl was eating 12oz at one point. That hunger won't go away until he's regulated (he will probably need insulin if he was at 400s in August). Adding water to the food helps it go a little farther.

Baked chicken has more nutrients than boiled chicken. Any type of unseasoned meat is good (mainly chicken/turkey). PureBites are freezedried treats that most cats adore but they're expensive. I think most of us stick to either PureBites or baked chicken.

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

Any of the foods on Dr. Lisa's food chart that are below 10% carb are considered low carb (LC). However, as Elizabeth noted, most people used foods that are in the 4 - 6% carb range. The bottom line is that the best food for your kitty is the food that Louis will eat.

There's a reason that Louis is ravenous! Insulin is a hormone that allows the product of metabolism, glucose, move from the blood stream into the cells in order to provide nourishment. Since diabetes means that your cat's pancreas isn't producing enough insulin and as a result, glucose isn't making it into the cells and it's floating around in the blood. Louis is trying to consume more food in order to get more glucose into his cells because he's literally starving. This is why so many cats lose weight by the time they are diagnosed. Was 19 lb a good weight or was Louis a bit ummmm... "fluffy" at that weight? You can also feed him more but you don't want a fat diabetic kitty, either. Obesity isn't good for diabetics. The good news is that his appetite will taper off as he becomes regulated.

Treats will be your best friend!! Not only do you need to reward Louis for doing tricks, you will want to reward him any time you test. Freeze dried proteins, especially chicken, are very popular here. There are a number of freeze dried proteins around. (I have freeze dried mussels for my kitty -- they are very stinky.) Wellness used to make a jerky style treat. I would just be careful that any treats you buy are manufactured in the US and not China. Over the last few years, there have been problems with pet products imported from China. I also use an air dried lamb food as a treat. It's made by ZiwiPeak. (Gizmo has IBD so I need novel proteins and lamb works.)