Newly diagnosed and looking for recommendations on feeding

[luvmykitties]

Hi! I'm new here. One of my cats was just diagnosed a few days ago. From browsing around, I noticed that a lot of people are feeding fancy feast classics or friskies pate. My question is how to do the transition from the old dry food to the canned wet food. Should I mix them together for a while to get them used to it?

Also, we have more than one cat so how do we go about doing the feedings? Separate bowls for each with the amount they should have then leave any they don't eat for them to snack on between feedings? How many feedings a day? This is a definite change as we free fed before. We have a vet appointment to discuss all the details but I wanted to start the food transition asap.

 

[Kris & Teasel]

We usually say mix the new and old with more and more of the new over several days to avoid tummy upset. It'll be a lot easier for you if you can switch all your kitties to the same low carb wet food like Friskies/Fancy Feast. It's the best diet for all kitties who have no other medical contraindications.

Most of us feed several small meals a day or allow a kitty to graze all day if that's what they like. If you have some "scarf and barf" types in your kitty family, automatic feeders can help.

If you can mange the food transition before starting insulin that would be easiest. Dry food is high in carbs (including dry sold by vets as diabetic food) and a switch to low carb wet food can often have a significant lowering effect on blood glucose levels. If you dose based on a dry food diet it can be too much insulin once they only eat low carb wet food.

 

[luvmykitties]

Thank you! I am planning to begin the transition so that by the time we start the insulin we are fully converted. I guess my biggest unknown is how much I should put out for them to eat. They are all definitely grazers so I don't think restricting them to certain meal times will go over very well. There are 3 cats. The diabetic was around 20 lbs, he's down to 16 now. One's around 11-12 lbs and the other is around 15.

 

[PiePie]

Thank you! I am planning to begin the transition so that by the time we start the insulin we are fully converted. I guess my biggest unknown is how much I should put out for them to eat. They are all definitely grazers so I don't think restricting them to certain meal times will go over very well. There are 3 cats. The diabetic was around 20 lbs, he's down to 16 now. One's around 11-12 lbs and the other is around 15.

I'm about a week in and I can tell my two cats are getting used to the idea of eating twice a day instead of grazing. At first they just ate a few bites and walked away and are closer now to finishing their food when I give it to them. They still leave some and come back later, so I've been adding a little water (since they've completely stopped drinking water) to keep it moist longer. Also at first, they didn't seem interested in eating the "right" amount of food but are coming around to that too. For my two cats around 13 pounds each I'm doing a 5.5oz can plus a 3oz can twice a day.

 

[Veronica & Babu-chiri]

I changed all my cats to the same low carb wet food and is best thing I could have done, they all benefited from the change, even became more active and their coats improved , and they are all gracers so I give them breakfast, leave some food out for them to eat later and I have a time feeder that would open a few hours later, mostly because I work full time and that way I can leave the food with a frozen pack underneath to make sure is ok when they eat it late in the day , when I'm at home I will just place new food in their plates now and then

 

[Smokey and Jessica]

I'm about a week in and I can tell my two cats are getting used to the idea of eating twice a day instead of grazing. At first they just ate a few bites and walked away and are closer now to finishing their food when I give it to them. They still leave some and come back later, so I've been adding a little water (since they've completely stopped drinking water) to keep it moist longer. Also at first, they didn't seem interested in eating the "right" amount of food but are coming around to that too. For my two cats around 13 pounds each I'm doing a 5.5oz can plus a 3oz can twice a day.

Most of us still feed multiple times per day or leave food for grazing! It’s not necessary to feed only twice. You just need to make sure they do eat at shot time but they can still eat during the day and it’s actually recommended that they do.

 

[luvmykitties]

I'm about a week in and I can tell my two cats are getting used to the idea of eating twice a day instead of grazing. At first they just ate a few bites and walked away and are closer now to finishing their food when I give it to them. They still leave some and come back later, so I've been adding a little water (since they've completely stopped drinking water) to keep it moist longer. Also at first, they didn't seem interested in eating the "right" amount of food but are coming around to that too. For my two cats around 13 pounds each I'm doing a 5.5oz can plus a 3oz can twice a day.

A 5.5 and 3 Oz can each so 2 5.5 cans and 2 3oz cans or one of each total per day? If I follow the feeding instructions I need to feed 6 cans per day total for the 3 is them. That sound like a lot.