Newly diagnosed just started treatment: food advice

[Audra]

Hi there. Cody is a 12.5 year old ginger tabby that we adopted about a year ago after his people died. We managed to get him off dry food after we got him but was a challenge to even find wet food he would eat consistently — we tried all kinds of high end food but gave in to his Fancy Feast affinity as he has a few types he likes. We started insulin five days ago. We are not yet testing blood glucose (vet said was an option) but he goes in tomorrow for his first glucose curve check up. Reading the info on this forum has convinced me we probably do need to be testing him. We were told to get him on low carb (less than 7% carb content) food, feed only twice daily and give insulin once he's had a good amount of food first. He's fussy and will be enthusiastic about a food and then just not eat it. We're worried about getting enough into him to be able to safely administer insulin. Finally, my question: is it more important to get food (any food) into the cat or stick to low carb food period? Much thanks for any insight.

 

[Chris and Checkers]

I see you found the food chart, hopefully you can find something your kitty will enjoy. If you worry about getting him to eat there is a great post on that here
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/suggestions-on-how-to-stimulate-kittys-appetite.130770/

Most people here divide the food so you feed the majority early but then give snacks (smaller portions) throughout the day. So in other words we don't feed only two meals 12 hours apart. This is old school thinking, but many vets still recommend it.

Of course, ideally you want to feed only low carb food, but it is really important that he eats and gets enough calories. It can take time to transition kitties to new foods so making sure he eats is most important.

Hometesting your cat once he is on insulin is very important especially if you are changing his diet. Here is some information here on getting started with that. Actually, if you go to the folder called health links there is a tonne of great resources.

https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

Welcome
Here is a link helping us to help you link. If you noticed, our members have some basic information about their cat's in their signature. This helps us to not pester you by asking the same questions (your cat's name, insulin type, date of diagnosis, etc.) repeatedly. We also have a link to our spreadsheet in our signature. We are very numbers driven. The spreadsheet is a record of your cat's progress. By linking it in your signature, we can follow along and provide feedback should you need the help.

If you live in the US you can pick up The Relion Premier Classic human meter which most of us use for 9 dollars and 100 strips for 17.88
Pack of lancets 26 or 28 gauge
Cotton rounds
Our numbers are based on human meters. Your vet may suggest getting a pet meter which is the Alpha Trak 2 , the strips are very expensive about 54 dollars for 50 strips.
Testing Cody is the only way to keep him safe
In the future you can do your own curve at home , your kitty will be less stressed , having it done at the vets will most likely stress Cody out and his numbers will be higher than doing it at home.

You might find other wet low carb food on this chart in case you haven't seen it, we like to say under 5% carbs and limit fish flavors to once per week
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/dr-pierson-new-food-chart.174147/

Feel free to keep asking questions

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

Testing your cat
Always aim for the sweet spot warm the ears up first, you can put rice in a sock and put it in the microwave, test it on the inside of your wrist to be sure it's not to hot, like you would test a babies bottle. You can fill a pill bottle with warm water and roll it on the ears also.Just keep rubbing the ears with your fingers to warm them up

6. As the ears get used to bleeding and grow more capilares, it gets easier to get the amount of blood you need on the first try. If he won’t stand still, you can get the blood onto a clean finger nail and test from there.
When you do get some blood you can try milking the ear.
Get you finger and gently push up toward the blood , more will appear
You will put the cotton round behind his ear in case you poke your finger, after you are done testing you will fold the cotton round over his ear to stop the bleeding , press gently for about 20 seconds until it stops
Get 26 or 28 gauge lancets
A lot of us use the lancets to test freehand
I find it better to see where I'm aiming

Here is a video one of our members did
VIDEO: How to test your cat's blood sugar

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

Hi and welcome. Can you tell us what type of insulin and the dose please?
I would recommend getting a human meter. Much cheaper to run, our dosing methods are based on the human meter and it is just as good as a pet meter.

 

[Hendrick Cuddleclaw]

Hi there and welcome to the best place on the internet you never wanted to be.

My journey with a diabetic kitty has only just begun as well. (diagnosed 1/5/22)

couples things that worked great for us to get Hendrick and the rest of the kids off of dry food, that were suggestions found here on the FDMB:

Fortiflora packets. This probiotic powder has the same digest enzyme that dry cat food is coated in, and cats generally find it irresistible. We landed on a brand and type of wet food that Hendrick eats VERY well without much help but sometimes if he doesn't finish it all, I'll take it away, sprinkle a little Fortiflora on there, 7 secs in the nuker, and re-present. Hasn't failed yet, he licks the bowl clean after. Type of food we're feeding primarily right now is CORE Hearty Cuts, Shredded Chicken/Tuna, Chicken/Turkey, Whitefish/someotherfishIcan'tremember. Also sometimes the Purina DM Savory Selects which ALL of our cats seem to like not just Hendrick (6-cat house, wooooo yeah). In fact, warming up the wet food has made a huge difference in all the kids' transition to wet food (we were free feeding dry with wet food like once a day).

We were also giving out Temptations and Greenies, our cats LOVE the activity boxes that you have to work at to free a treat. Still working to find a suitable replacement treat, Vital Essentials to arrive today from Chewy look promising.


If you must feed dry we bought some Wygen dry food that is 5% carbs. Our cats love it, of course they only get it like once a week now as a treat, just like 10-15 kibbles. Pretty calorie dense (326 in a 1/4 cup I think) so if you're trying to squeeze in more calories it is great.