Help: Picky Eater Needs Canned Food Recommendations

[Hilary G]

I have been feeding my Diabetic cat dry food because he is EXTREMELY picky and will only drink the juices of wet food. The vet gave me a slight slap on the wrist yesterday when we went in for a check up saying I really need to try transitioning to wet food for Rascal. The vet recommended Royal Canin, I tried the can last night and just as I suspected because its chunky he only drank up the juice and didnt even look interested in the real substance.

Do any of you have recommendations on a wet food good for diabetics that is extremely tempting to a picky eater? Please note, I try to feed my animals organic and as healthy of food as possible. Rascal has been so happy on his Acana dry food, I need to ensure the quality of the food and that he will be satisfied.

I appreciate all of the help!

 

[Julia & Bandit (GA)]

Have you tried BFF? I've had a lot of luck getting picky cats to eat it.

Have you also seen the tips for transitioning? One huge thing that often gets neglected is if you're free feeding the dry, cats often have no incentive to really eat the wet because they know they can just go eat kibble whenever they want. It's really important to pull up all the dry and only give it in scheduled portions, same as canned, until you can get them eating the canned food.

 

[jayla-n-Drevon]

I have a pet store in my kitchen
we rotate
fancy feast classic and flaked (under 10% carbs)
tiki
evangers
rachel ray nutrish
weruva mideast feast (they won't eat the others)
Stella and Chewys
Natures variety/ NV Pride/NV freeze dried
tuna in water
chicken in water
soulistic in gelee
cat info.org has the list of the foods and carbs-
it will get better!

 

[minxkohl&mush]

gave my guys, fancy feast, 9 lives & friskies wet food. had to pull up all dry food. All of my cats that I had over the years,
never liked the food you get from the vet. My guys get fed @ 8 am, 12pm,5-5.30 & 10 pm.
Good luck & hang in there!!

 

[Hilary G]

Have you tried BFF? I've had a lot of luck getting picky cats to eat it.

Have you also seen the tips for transitioning? One huge thing that often gets neglected is if you're free feeding the dry, cats often have no incentive to really eat the wet because they know they can just go eat kibble whenever they want. It's really important to pull up all the dry and only give it in scheduled portions, same as canned, until you can get them eating the canned food.

I have tried BFF in the past and I believe he was a fan, do you find that your cat does well with the carb levels on BFF?

 

[Hilary G]

gave my guys, fancy feast, 9 lives & friskies wet food. had to pull up all dry food. All of my cats that I had over the years,
never liked the food you get from the vet. Hang in there!!

Vet's aren't usually trained on foods, they only know what the people who sell them the food tell them so it's tricky. Thank you so much for your insight! Rascal will be sad to see his dry food go but I hope that it makes him healthier, thats the main goal!!!!

 

[Critter Mom]

Is Rascal already on insulin? If yes then to avoid an insulin overdose you need to make sure you are home testing his blood glucose levels before changing him from a higher to a lower carb food. Blood glucose levels can drop significantly from the start of the transition so to keep him safe you'll need to check his BG throughout the transition and adjust his insulin dose if his BG levels get lower.


Mogs
.

 

[Hilary G]

Is Rascal already on insulin? If yes then to avoid an insulin overdose you need to make sure you are home testing his blood glucose levels before changing him from a higher to a lower carb food. Blood glucose levels can drop significantly from the start of the transition so to keep him safe you'll need to check his BG throughout the transition and adjust his insulin dose if his BG levels get lower.


Mogs
.

Hey is on insulin but he is not regulated. We are switching him back to Lantus from Prozinc and changing up his diet in hopes to get things better under control. I have him set up to go to the vet next week to check all his levels throughout the day to make sure we will a good mix of insulin and food. I am fortunate that I have had medical training when I used to run an animal rescue and I have worked with animals my whole life but this is my first experience with a picky eating diabetic cat who seems extremely happy and shows no signs of his levels being off but yet they are. I am just thankful he acts like a happy baby boy Looking forward to having him regulated.

 

[Julia & Bandit (GA)]

I have tried BFF in the past and I believe he was a fan, do you find that your cat does well with the carb levels on BFF?

Yes, I think the highest carb BFF out there is 5%, which definitely low enough for a diabetic (you can find their carb content on the nutrition chart here).

I agree that it's very important to make sure you're testing him as you transition to the canned food--you may see an overall drop in BG of 100-300 points! Insulin doses that were ineffective before can become overdoses very easily when changing the diet. Testing at the vet is not usually recommended because their numbers become artificially inflated due to stress. It is also too infrequent to judge how the Lantus is actually working, and this can easily lead to to chronic overdosing. The recommendation for Lantus is to test at least three times a day--once before each shot to make sure it is safe to give insulin, and then one test mid-cycle to see how the insulin is working on his blood sugar.

If you need help learning to home test, there's a ton of great tips here. It always seems like it's going to be difficult to do at first, but nearly all cats tolerate it just fine after it becomes routine (and if you give diabetic safe treats after each test). Bandit struggled pretty hard at first, but now he comes running and purrs when he hears me turn the meter on. I was very lucky that my vet was adamant about home testing, and insisted that it was the only way to move forward with successful treatment.

 

[Hilary G]

Yes, I think the highest carb BFF out there is 5%, which definitely low enough for a diabetic (you can find their carb content on the nutrition chart here).

I agree that it's very important to make sure you're testing him as you transition to the canned food--you may see an overall drop in BG of 100-300 points! Insulin doses that were ineffective before can become overdoses very easily when changing the diet. Testing at the vet is not usually recommended because their numbers become artificially inflated due to stress. It is also too infrequent to judge how the Lantus is actually working, and this can easily lead to to chronic overdosing. The recommendation for Lantus is to test at least three times a day--once before each shot to make sure it is safe to give insulin, and then one test mid-cycle to see how the insulin is working on his blood sugar.

If you need help learning to home test, there's a ton of great tips here. It always seems like it's going to be difficult to do at first, but nearly all cats tolerate it just fine after it becomes routine (and if you give diabetic safe treats after each test). Bandit struggled pretty hard at first, but now he comes running and purrs when he hears me turn the meter on. I was very lucky that my vet was adamant about home testing, and insisted that it was the only way to move forward with successful treatment.

Thank you so much for all the great advice, I really appreciate it! I will be getting BFF today!

 

[Olive & Paula]

I'm using ziwipeak novel proteins. They love the lamb, rabbit. Venison not so much.

Royal canine has carrageenans in it. Know to be irritating and possibly carcinogenic.

 

[Hilary G]

I'm using ziwipeak novel proteins. They love the lamb, rabbit. Venison not so much.

Royal canine has carrageenans in it. Know to be irritating and possibly carcinogenic.

Thank you for your feedback, I agree that Royal Canine is not a good option! I went and picked up BFF yesterday and my cat loved it so we are making good progress, I will check out Ziwipeak as well. Thank you to everyone for all of your support!