Introduction.

[Daddy Jim]

Hi there everyone. My name is Jim and I am a HUGE animal lover. I have had many different pets ranging from chickens and ducks that parents gave me at Easter time MANY decades ago, to one dog that lived 18 years, to tortoises, fish, a rabbit, to my several cats that all lived VERY long lives.
I have a tuxedo cat, Charlie that was 12 years old on March 22. He was an abandoned baby left out on the dunes on Fire Island and he chose me as a baby. He was originally given to mom for mothers Day 2001. He was neutered in Sept 2001. When mom got sick I had Charlie flown down via Pet Relocation Services (I HIGHLY recommend them)from Brooklyn NY to south Florida and he was given VIP treatment.
In February, he got VERY sick and was diagnosed with Ketoacidosis brought on by undiagnosed diabetes and was in the hospital for 10 days. He is on 2 units of Humulin 2x per day and is doing wonderfully. He is acting like he did many years ago and is playing again and interested in toys and jumping all over the place.

My question is this. Instead of me reading hundreds of messages in older posts..WHICH foods do YOU find to be the best, most nutritious, low carb foods to buy? Charlie is NOT fussy and he seems to like everything. Right now hes on the vet recommended Purina DM food switching back from dry to wet in portions 2x per day and substituted with the Evo Turkey and Chicken lowest carb dry food. Is there anything else better that I'm missing out on for him? Money is no object here. I personally will do without something if I have to but he WILL have the best so please don't worry about posting expensive foods if you feel its the best for his diet!! Thank you for helping me out with my Charlie!!!

A short addendum. I recently added two NEW baby kitties to the family. Born on a front porch of a friends sisters house Sat Feb 23, One is ginger. Her name is Betty the other is her brother, a tiger (black and grey) and his name is Barney. They will be neutered and spayed come the end of July/beginning of Aug.

 

[MaryB & Chester]

Hello, Jim!

A great link for low-carb food can be found here
It's been boiled down to a more manageable read here

Wet food is always better than dry, for a number of reasons. However, if your cats are stubborn or if switching to all cans is going to take some time, there are some dry foods that are better than others. The EVO you mentioned is one of them. Wellness CORE original isn't too bad. Young Again makes low- and zero-carb varieties. They are only available online. You certainly do not need to feed any of the "prescription" foods

Humulin is really not the best insulin for cats as it tends to be harsher and shorter acting. I'm glad Charlie is feeling better with it, but you may want to consider a longer-acting, longer-duration insulin like Lantus, Levemir or PZI.

If you are not testing at home yet, I strongly encourage it. It lets you know if the cat's BG is high enough to give them insulin - too low and you could have a hypoglycemic crisis, which can be deadly. It is also useful for dosing questions and to see how well your cat actually is responding to the insulin dosage. You can use a human meter with no issues. Most people here do. some of the cheapest are the ReliOn Confirm, Micro or Prime from Walmart. You can also buy inexpensive and reliable Arkray meters from American Diabetes Wholesale (see the shopping link above). Strips are the biggest meter expense, and ReliOn and Arkray have some of the cheapest around. You will also need lancets - I use 28-29 gauge. And don't forget the low-carb treats! You must give a treat in return for the poking! My Chester loves freeze-dried shrimp and chicken.

I'm sure there will be more people along soon with even more information. This is a great place with some wonderful and knowledgeable folks.
Oh, and to let you know, the rainbow icon is one of them usually used when a cat has died and crossed the Rainbow Bridge. You might want to edit and remove that, since your Charlie is doing well.

 

[Hillary & Maui (GA)]

WELCOME, this forum is a great place to gain knowledge and really learn how to manage feline diabetes. By doing just a few things each day (that really won't take up much of your time at all), you won't need to worry about losing your precious cat, not where feline diabetes is concerned.

There are three key factors to managing diabetes: food/nutrition, home testing and insulin

1) Feline Nutrition: Now, as far as diet - definitely dump the dry food (if you are feeding any) and if the vet recommends purchasing prescription food like DM just say "no thank you". ALL cats, and especially those with diabetes, do best on a species appropriate diet that is high in protein and low in carbs. Dry food DOES NOT fit that bill and DM food, even canned, just really isn't that great as far as quality. Most here on FDMB feed low carb/high protein canned, raw bought from a pet store or they make there own.

Here great links, one is to a food chart put together by one of our board members that breaks down the carb % and protein % of most of the commercial brand foods. You want to keep the carb % below 10% and around 7% is great. The other link is to a site by a vet "Dr. Lisa DVM" ... who also posts on this board from time to time ... there is in-depth info. there about many things, including nutrition and how to make raw food.

Nutrition/food info​

The good thing with feeding your diabetic cat this way, is that it is ALSO good for any non-diabetic cat too. All your cats can safely eat the same food without worry and it may save you some costs and headaches of having to do separate feedings and keeping track of what they are eating.

2. Home testing: It is impossible to convey the value of testing your cat's BG (blood glucose) level at home. Some vets will "suggest" this, but most won't even mention it. They will send you home with insulin and an amount to shoot and maybe some instructions about hypoglycemia (blood sugar dropping to a dangerously low level).

Well, the thing is, human diabetics don't EVER give themselves insulin without checking there BG to make sure it is safe to do so, so why shouldn't it be the same for our kitties. Here on FDMB it is. You will notice that the vast majority of people here test their cat's BG at least 2x/day (before giving each shot to make sure the level is safe enough) and periodically at other times to see how the cat is responding to the current dose. We use a human glucometer, test strips and lancets - which are all very readily available and easy to use.

Our kitties get lots of love and treats for "putting up" with this and most of them actually come out to be tested on their own 'cause they want those treats . Here is a collection of great links about home testing. See what you think ... it truly is the best way to not only keep Your cat safe but also really get a handle on this disease and help him to live a healthy life with FD (feline diabetes).

Home testing Links​

3. Insulin: There are several types of insulin available. Many people, myself included use Lantus or Levimer both of which are great insulins. They are gentle insulin and given twice (BID) per day in 12 hour increments. Or you could also choose PZI or the new version called Prozinc.

Please read up on the insulins available, here is a link to the Insulin Support Groups:

Insulin Support Groups​

However, one caveat and again this shows how these three things are inter-related:

If you are feeding dry food or even a high carb food, BEFORE removing these foods, please make sure of your insulin dose as it will most likely need to be reduced, so as to avoid a possible hypoglycemic situation due to the removal of the dry/high carb foods that will lower the BG’s and reduce the amount of insulin required. Again, another reason why home testing is important.

I know this all seems like a lot, and that's because it is ... there is a learning curve here. But as long as you are determined and keep at it, you will have it down before you know it and you'll be seeing the results in Your cat's overall health and happiness. Ask all the questions you can think of - that's why we are here!

 

[Hillary & Maui (GA)]

Oh I just noticed you have the rainbow symbol on your post - may I suggest you change it to the star or heart ones - as the candle and rainbow symbols represent a cat that died.

(Done.
Moderator ;-) )

 

[BJM]

...He is on 2 units of Humulin 2x per day and is doing wonderfully...

I am sorry to say, your vet may be out of date, or treating your cat like a dog. I strongly encourage you to read the AAHA Feline Diabetes Guidelines, print them out, and discuss them with your vet.

The cat's metabolism is faster than than the dog's and runs through Humulin N (or Novolin N or any of the N type insulins) in about 6-8 hours. This means there are 4-6 hours when no insulin is on board. There are 2 ways to manage this. One is to pick up all food 6 hours after the shot. The other is to shoot 3 times a day at roughly 8 hour intervals.

Additionally, N type insulins hit hard and fast with steep onset and steep wear off patterns for most cats. Preferred insulins for cats are Lantus, Levemir, Prozinc, and PZI (depending on country). For more info on safely using Humulin N, read here.

Also, you should become familiar with How To Handle a Hypo as there is a tendancy for vets to increase the dose after getting a high test reading in the office, completely forgetting that vet stress may elevate the glucose 100 points or more and the shorter action of N type insulins.

For your cat's safety, please learn to home test the blood glucose, as it is very easy to overdose on N type insulins. Keep the diet the same until you are hometesting as changing it to low carb canned or raw food may drop the glucose level 100 points.

 

[KPassa]

Welcome! :YMHUG: You've gotten some great information already. I just wanted to add my own food list (built off the food lists linked above) since you mentioned you have kittens, who need higher amounts of protein and calories. I have two growing boys (1 year and 7 months), so I created a customized low carb food list sorted by carbs, then protein. Since I free-feed, I don't really keep track of the calories, but I weigh them regularly to make sure they're gaining weight (aka "growing" :lol: ).