You want to switch all of your cats to a low carb/high protein canned or raw food diet. If you are feeding them dry food, you want to start removing it from their diet. All of your cats will benefit and it will also help you get your cat's diabetes under control. Don't let your vet try to talk you into prescription food. It is not good for diabetes, expensive and most cats stop eating it. If you have already purchased the prescription food you can take it back for a refund, even if it is open. Many of us feed our cats either Friskies or Fancy Feast canned foods. I have 7 cats and they all eat Friskies. You want to stick to pate flavors, anything with gravy in it is usually higher in carbs.
You don't mention anything about insulin. Has your vet prescribed any yet? If so, what kind? Lantus, Levemir, PZI & ProZinc work best in cats. The first two are human insulins. All are long acting insulins. If your vet prescribes either Lantus or Levemir, ask for a script for the pens. The cost of a pack of pens initially is higher than a vial, however, with vials, you end up throwing away most of it because it becomes ineffective before you can finish using it. With the pens, depending on your dose, you will have enough insulin to last almost a year. With any insulin, you also want to start at a low dose and gradually increase it if needed. We suggest starting at 1 unit twice a day.
You also want to learn to hometest. This means testing your cat's blood glucose (BG) level before every shot. You will use a human glucose meter to test a drop of blood. You do this for several reasons. First, to make sure the it is safe to give insulin. You do not want to give insulin if your cat's BG level is too low or you risk hypoglycemia, which can be dangerous or deadly. Second, hometesting will let you know if your current dose is working or if it needs to be increased/lowered. Third, it will eliminate unnecessary trips to the vet just to have your cats BG levels read. Readings at the vet rarely are accurate since vet stress can raise a cat's BG level considerably.
If you have not already started, begin reading the posts on this board. Start with diet, insulin, hometesting & hypoglycemia. Ask us any questions you may have. We have all been where you are now and are here to help you.
