Just joined, my cat Baby is why I'm here.

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jharris

Member Since 2014
Hello, my name is Jenny and my female cat's name is Baby. She was diagnosed as overweight in August of this year and I've been trying hard to get her back down to a healthy weight. I was feeding her dry food because my vet clinic said that cats do fine on dry food. Eventually I decided to switch her over to canned food, I decided on Evo 95% Chicken & Turkey because the Evo 95% is low in carbohydrates (carbohydrates seem to be the problem with her). I've been struggling to get her to lose weight with the Evo 95% too so last week I scheduled an appt to find out if there are any prescription foods lower in calories than the Evo 95%. Now I'm transitioning Baby over to Hills m/d weight loss canned formula but my pet insurance company will only provide coverage for 2 months of the m/d. I need to find a commercial canned cat food that's low in carbs, low in fat, and high in protein that preferably doesn't have any kind of fish in it (there's mercury in fish) because I can't afford prescription cat food long-term (I have another cat also to provide for; he currently eats the Evo 95% Chicken & Turkey, he doesn't have weight issues).

I joined this board hoping to get some tips and feedback while working on getting Baby back down to her ideal weight (I've been bringing her in for monthly weight checks since August). I've been reviewing lists of information about the calorie and dry matter of each brand and flavor of canned cat food to try to find ones that are low in carbs and fat and high in protein but it's a foreign language to me. I don't understand what I'm reading. I'm hoping somewhere on this message board or in the archives there will be something that explains cat food composition in plain english. Right now I'm working on getting Baby comfortable with being in the hallway of my apartment building so eventually I can take her for walks around the building (exercise for her). Her ideal weight is 8 lbs and her current weight is 9.63 as of her appt last week. She was at 10.2 lbs in August of this year.

Thank you for your time, I hope you have a wonderful week with your furbabies :)

Jenny
 
Welcome to FDMB, Jenny.

Our go to web site for feline nutrition is Cat Info. Dr Lisa Pierson has compiled a list of commonly available foods in the USA which includes the percent of calories from protein, fat, and carbohydrate here. Anything under 10% is OK for routine feeding - for example, I feed Friskies pates to all 14 of the cats in my home, plus the 3 ferals in the condo maintenance garage.

One thing Dr Pierson notes is that you can add up to 20-25% plain meat or poultry to a food, mix well, then measure out a meal. This will reduce both the fat and carbohydrate content and increase the protein content. For cats, fat has 8.5 calories per gram, while protein and carbohydrate has 3.5 calories per gram. Doing this may help with the weight loss efforts. Using a digital food scale to measure portions may help, too.

If can help to use a timed feeder and give mini-meals, plus add a tablespoon or so of water to increase the volume without increasing the calories. This will keep your cat from getting too hungry and pestering you or getting an upset stomach.
 
A lot of us use Fancy Feast Classics as they are low carb high protein which is good for diabetics. Got to be Classic tho not Gravy.
 
Welcome to the best forum there is! There are many knowledgeable people here, just ask lots of questions and they will help you.There are loads of good foods out there that will work for your kitty,without having to use prescription diet foods. They are totally not necessary to use.I also strongly recommend you checking out Dr.Lisa Piersons food chart as BJM suggests. Best of luck to you and your sugar baby!
 
Thanks for the tips! :)

I printed out that list of cat foods from the website you posted yesterday and started reviewing it this morning. There are so many different canned cat food options out there!

When I was a teenager and still living with my mom the cats we had ended up with diabetes and their diabetes went uncontrolled because my mom couldn't afford vet expenses. She couldn't afford canned food so they were fed dry food. She also let them free feed. 2 of my cats died in my arms because of uncontrolled diabetes, one of them was in diabetic shock for hours before passing away in my arms. I begged my mom to let me bring Midnight to the emergency vet for help but she didn't have the money, so he died in my arms. That was the most traumatic experience of my life. I felt so helpless and powerless. We had to put my cat in a box on the balcony until the next morning when he could be buried on the complex because she couldn't afford to bring him to the vet for cremation. I was in such a state of mental shock and denial that I was sure Midnight was just sleeping and that soon he would wake up. I kept checking on him throughout the night.

I have complete control now over how well my cats are taken care of now and I'm determined to do everything I can to make sure Baby and Jacob (and any future cats) never have to suffer with diabetes and to make sure money is always available for preventative care and unexpected emergency expenses. I have a wellness plan (preventative care; annual teeth cleaning, shots etc) and a pet insurance plan (covers unexpected expenses like illness, injury, emergency vet) for both Baby & Jacob. I learned from my mom's financial mistakes. My cats are the center of my life, my primary focus in life is on making sure they're well taken care of.

That's my history with feline diabetes.

Jenny
 
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