My senior cat is being picky...

[jewlaaay]

Hi everyone!

I've been managing my cats diabetes for probably 10 years now and he's in pretty good health. He's 15 and has primarily been eating Hills Prescription W/D dry food for a loooong time but now it seems like he's no longer interested in eating it! I usually top it with some Fancy Feast Puree from their naturals line to get him to eat his kibbles but now he just licks off the Fancy Feast no matter how well I mix it in.

If anyone can recommend another type of food topper or maybe another type of dry kibble that is good for diabetic cats, I would love to know!

Thanks!

 

[squeem3]

No dry food is good for diabetic cats even if your vet says it's fine. Lots of info on why:

Info - Dry Food - PLEASE consider more than just carbohydrate content
Feeding Your Cat: Know the Basics of Feline Nutrition – Common Sense. Healthy Cats.

I think the WD dry is something like 30% carbs, way way too much for a diabetic. It's like a Human diabetic eating nothing but sugar and dense carbs.

The only two "good" dry foods diabetic cats *could* eat are Young Again and Dr. Elsey's. Some diabetics are super carb sensitive and even these dry foods may keep blood glucose levels high.

Alternatives to dry food for those cats who need crunchies are air dried raw and freeze dried raw.

If your cat just licks off the Fancy Feast, can you just feed that? The Classic / Gourmet pate ones are low carb and what many people feed.

But don't go changing the diet yet. Can you tell us more about your cat? Is your cat on insulin? If yes, what is the name of the insulin and the current dose? Do you test blood glucose levels at home daily? Any other complications with your cat like other health issues or a history of ketones? Does your vet say your cat's diabetes is well managed or needs work? Or is your vet pretty meh about the whole diabetes thing (some vets just aren't knowledgeable about diabetes and current treatments)?

 

[CORKY]

Welcome to FDMB
I love the questions Squeem3 has asked they are so valid, I do not understand how you have been managing your cats' diabetes by feeding 30% carbs, cats cannot digest carbs, so I assume his glucose level is quite high, these carbs destroy the pancreas, that can lead to other organ illnesses, and regulating the diabetes is almost impossible, a non diabetic cat's glucose level is between 50-120, what is your cats glucose level? t transitioning from dry, high carbs needs to be a slow process, you do not want to upset the cats' stomach and it can take a dip in the glucose level, so home testing is very important , if you can give us information on the questions asked, we can assist you better, by knowing more about your cat, are you in The US?