New Member—Royal Canin Glycobalance

[dapooh1]

First post, have already learned a lot! When my cat Otis was diagnosed diabetic, the vet recommended Glycobalance along with insulin. Otis’ BG at vet was 365, and after several days on glycobalance his home readings were still in the 500s! So from my research here, I took him off the glycobalance and have been feeding only Fancy Feast. BG numbers immediately improved. When his BG started being on the low side I decreased insulin and eventually took him off altogether. His BG remains below 130 with just the food change. NOW my problem…Otis doesn’t seem satisfied with just the FF, he always wants food. I feed him 3 cans a day, 6 hrs apart. I tried introducing a bit of glycobalance back in, but he shot back up to 365. Is there ANY dry food he can snack on that won’t blow his BG up high?

 

[Jules and Mister]

First post, have already learned a lot! When my cat Otis was diagnosed diabetic, the vet recommended Glycobalance along with insulin. Otis’ BG at vet was 365, and after several days on glycobalance his home readings were still in the 500s! So from my research here, I took him off the glycobalance and have been feeding only Fancy Feast. BG numbers immediately improved. When his BG started being on the low side I decreased insulin and eventually took him off altogether. His BG remains below 130 with just the food change. NOW my problem…Otis doesn’t seem satisfied with just the FF, he always wants food. I feed him 3 cans a day, 6 hrs apart. I tried introducing a bit of glycobalance back in, but he shot back up to 365. Is there ANY dry food he can snack on that won’t blow his BG up high?

Hi there, new member myself and not an experienced advice giver, however I am currently in a similar boat trying to find a dry food option for my guy Mister that won't wreak havoc with his BG.
Some research has led me to consider Dr. Elsey's Clean Protein, Ziwi Peak (very pricey be forwarned). Happy to hear Otis is off insulin, let me know if you find a dry food "snack" that works for you.

 

[Roxana & Henry]

Hi, I am also new member here and would love to have the numbers your kitty has. From my own experience any dry food will increase BG and you are better off with canned food. There are many low carb options out there. Also, sprinkling a little Stella and Chewy freeze dried food, bonito flakes, fortiflora, chicken or shrimp or other low carb treats (raw freeze dried type,) on top will help the kitty not get bored. Mine is a dry food addict that gets bored from day to day of the canned food. I have to rotate wisely. Some folks here also do raw meat mixed with EZ complete.

i have tried the prescription vet food and the numbers were awful. Then did 2 weeks of FF and they were so much more improved. He got bored in 2 weeks and tried other low carb dry food and BG increased again. Now each cat is different and maybe yours with be ok with Young Again, Dr Elsey's, Ziwi peak air dried and Epigen 90 low carb dry food. But I personally would not risk it. Now Henry gets only low carb canned food and I rotate the food and the treats on top and so far so good thank god but it is not easy or cheap. I have done many experiments with food and I can say that keeping the same dose and using even the lower carb dry food it still increased the BG more than the canned food. I am sure other more experienced members here can provide better advice, this is just my own experience. You will have to find something that works best for you and your kitty.

 

[Hendrick Cuddleclaw]

First post, have already learned a lot! When my cat Otis was diagnosed diabetic, the vet recommended Glycobalance along with insulin. Otis’ BG at vet was 365, and after several days on glycobalance his home readings were still in the 500s! So from my research here, I took him off the glycobalance and have been feeding only Fancy Feast. BG numbers immediately improved. When his BG started being on the low side I decreased insulin and eventually took him off altogether. His BG remains below 130 with just the food change. NOW my problem…Otis doesn’t seem satisfied with just the FF, he always wants food. I feed him 3 cans a day, 6 hrs apart. I tried introducing a bit of glycobalance back in, but he shot back up to 365. Is there ANY dry food he can snack on that won’t blow his BG up high?

Hi there, welcome to the group. To be honest it sounds like your kitty is still an unregulated diabetic feline. 365 is very high and is a BG value you would not see in a non-diabetic feline.

It is possible that your cat could be diet-controlled and his BG remain in the normal range, but like others have mentioned that would require an all canned food or raw diet for sure, in my opinion anyway.

The truth is in order to offer any solid advice at all the experts here will need some more information for you, in particular some BG values in a spreadsheet form. The folks here are very numbers driven I love it!

See this link here:

https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-create-a-spreadsheet.241706/

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

Hi and welcome to you and Otis to the forum.
If you could get the spreadsheet set up and some data added, that will help us to be able to help you.
Also if you could get the signature set up to tell us about Otis, we won’t have to pester you for info about him,
HELP US HELP YOU has the signature link int plus other useful information.
Ask lots of questions

 

[Gracie85]

Do you realize the RC Glycobalance dry food has 24-25% carbohydrates? Any vet who prescribes that for a diabetic cat is guilty of medical malpractice.
How much does your cat weight, and how old/how active is he? Perhaps he just needs a bit more canned food each day.
Or, like a child who is well fed but has a sweet tooth, begs and whines for candy all day because they like it, not because they're hungry.

 

[Roxana & Henry]

Do you realize the RC Glycobalance dry food has 24-25% carbohydrates? Any vet who prescribes that for a diabetic cat is guilty of medical malpractice.
How much does your cat weight, and how old/how active is he? Perhaps he just needs a bit more canned food each day.
Or, like a child who is well fed but has a sweet tooth, begs and whines for candy all day because they like it, not because they're hungry.

I agree, unfortunately all the vets tend to prescribe this. I had one barely out of school and she told me that the carbs in the prescription foods are good carbs. I kept telling her the BG is up with the prescription food and she kept insisting. She was super nice but Seriously? 25% is good carbs?? the only good advice about nutrition I got was from a feline specialist vet. She sent me to this site and her cats are on a healthy raw food diet mostly. A lot of vets do not bother about nutrition and recommend the prescription food without bothering to learn about it. When I started reading how many carbs were in the dry and wet prescription food I almost had a heart attack. It is a shame really. Nutrition is such a big important part along with insulin. It is on us pet parents to care and do the best we can as far as nutrition is concerned.

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

I'd love to know what a "good" carb is for a diabetic. The last vet that said something like that to me, I asked a couple of questions. I asked if she had a child at home. If so, if her child was diabetic, would she feed her child a diet of whole wheat mac and cheese, pizza, French fries, and ice cream. Of course, she said she wouldn't. When I asked why, she choked out that it would be too high in carbs. I thanked her for making my point.

The other issue is that cats are obligate carnivores. Their body cannot process the carbs, regardless of whether they are "good" or "bad" carbs, that are in their food. And aside from fruits and veggies that some manufacturers include, they will also include varieties of cellulose -- in other words, they include what amounts to sawdust in some cat food.

If Otis is hungry, it's fine to feed him. The Fancy Feast is being metabolized better. Once Otis' numbers are better regulated, his appetite will begin to be more normal. If he lost weight when he was first diagnosed, he may need to make up the calories.