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ericbakes

ericbakes

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Since I apparently can't leave well enough alone...

Melville has been on a strict diet of canned Purina DM. I feed all the other cats Friskies Mixed Grill. Now that Melville's BG is more predictable and less erratic, I would like to start feeding him Friskies. This is purely a cost and convenience thing for me. I will save roughly $1.25/can by taking Melville off DM.

According to Binky's chart, the breakdown in calories for DM is 46% protein, 47% fat, 7% carbs. Mixed Grill is 34%, 58%, 8%. It seems that the norm among FDMB members is to feed some variety of "grocery store" pate, like Friskies, Fancy Feast, or Wellness. All of these have a similar composition as Mixed Grill: lower carbs, but higher fat content than protein.

Since I'm out of DM, I will start this experiment tonight. I plan on holding his insulin steady at 2.2 for two more cycles. I will then adjust dosage as necessary to maintain, if possible, yellow preshots and a nadir under 150.

Is there anything I should watch out for when I make this switch? Anything I'm not considering?
 
I didn't consider digestion issues, so thanks for mentioning that!

I got a huge laugh out of the fact that the person whose cat is named "Poopy" came up with "loose stools." :lol: I guess I still have a 3rd-grade sense of humor!
 
I haven't been here long, but I have come to understand almost any canned food is better than dry food for carbohydrate levels, etc. I personally can't afford the high dollar foods, so I have been feeding mainly 9 lives and Special Kitty (Walmart brand). My cat Chester is a Manx who has occasionally, when under stress or eating wrong kind of food, would get what DH and I refer to as "runny butt". Part of it is a Manx problem, due to having no tail they tend to have "problems". But, so far so good with the cheap canned food. No runny butt! Hope it goes well for you, too!
 
Hopefully all will be just fine and he will enjoy his new menu!

They usually tell you to change foods by gradually introducing the new food into the old food, and in time faze out more of the old. This usually prevents a shock to their system, thus littler box problems :shock: and if you have a cat that is finicky, there is more of a chance they will continue eating. That said, since you are out of the “old” food, and your new food looks to be about the same amount of carbs, as long as Melville eats it, one would think you should be ok with your dose of insulin, it’s just the poopy or pukey issue you have to be concerned with.

Our cat had the runs awhile back from eating an olive or some herbs, and we had to watch his insulin then too. I am guessing that since the food didn’t stay in his system as long, it was like he was getting more insulin. Just an fyi if Melville gets the runs.
 
ericbakes said:
I got a huge laugh out of the fact that the person whose cat is named "Poopy" came up with "loose stools." :lol: I guess I still have a 3rd-grade sense of humor!
Click to expand...

LOL. Obviously my sense of humor isn't too far off. I did agree to name my cat Poopy after all. :lol:

Hopefully the change in menu won't upset Melville's tummy or runny butt. :-D
 
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