New to the Feline Diabetic world ...

[Jacksmom]

Hi all! My cat, Jack, was diagnosed today with insulin dependant diabetes. So far I've learned that I was doing a bad thing .. dry food and lots of crunchy treats (he LOVES them)! I feel I caused his condition to worsen (although I wasn't aware he was sick) after we lost our older cat, Louie, in January. I thought I was "helping" Jack through the grieving process by giving him extra attention, cuddles, and treats. I can admit I was probably doing that more so for myself. Anyhow ... I haven't gotten any details on the type of insulin, amounts of food, or anything specific yet since this is just at step one. I will probably be posting silly questions and have moments of confusion and panic, but I think I'll adjust.

My first question I have is ... does anyone cook for their pet(s)? I do for my dog, and believe in it's balancing benefits. If any of you have recipes for a diabetic diet I'd love to get my hands on it. For right now, until I get more specifics from the vet, I'm feeding Jack tuna fish. I'm willing to try a raw diet, but I'm just not sure how he'll take to it.

Thanks! I look forward to chatting with experienced care givers

 

[Jayne & Sweety]

Hello, and welcome. Sorry you have to be here but it is the best place for you and Jack to learn about this desease. There are many, many caring smart people here to gove you support - you are not alone.
Many here do feed raw and homemade diets. I'm sure they can help direct you (when they get up).
and there are NO silly question, ok? Don't even think of that.
And don't beat yourself up about the dry treats and thinking you caused it - you didn't know! But now that you do = dump the dry food and take a look at this - about food and felines, the food list:
http://felinediabetes.com/diet.htm
http://felinediabetes.com/diabetes-info.htm
And for the newly diagnosed:
http://felinediabetes.com/diabetes-info.htm
Feeding your cat: http://catinfo.org/
has a section on home prepared meals, with more links! - you'll love it!

 

[Gia and Quirk]

Hi and welcome!

One correction, your Jack may have diabetes (I hope it was diagnosed by a fructosamine test, the only definitive way to know) but he is likely a long way from insulin dependence. You will use insulin to support Jack's pancreas and give it a chance to heal and, hopefully, regenerate and begin working again.

You need to know about the proper diet www.catinfo.org is the best place to learn about this, and about feline diabetes and its treatment, our FAQs are the place to start, and you will want to read threads started by other newbies here.

As for what you have done before, read my sig line. Today is a new day.

Gia & Quirk

Guilt trips are a detour from life