Newly diagnosed, need help with food!

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dirtybirdsoaps

dirtybirdsoaps

Member Since 2014
Well I took my 13 yr old male in today to check on weight loss and do a general senior check up. Come to find out he has a UTI and diabetes, his level was 560 :sad: He was started on antibiotics for the UTI and he goes in on Thursday to get regulated on insulin. The insulin won't be in till tomorrow afternoon. Ive been searching left and right since I got home to find information since I've never dealt with any of this. Reading everything I think the hardest part I will have is food. I have 3 cats and they are grazers. I give them each 1/2 c. of blue buffalo weight control dry food for the entire day and at night I split a 3oz can of avoderm wet food. My cats are VERY picky! When it comes to wet food they will only eat flaked food, more like bits of fresh fish, shrimp stuff like that. They will not eat pate, chunks, or shreds. Of course like every vet I have had she pushed me towards Science diet. My cats have never eaten the science diet, they absolutely refuse! All my cats are slightly over weight, that's why Ive had them on the blue buffalo. I need help on what food I can use besides science diet that is suitable for all my cats. I have read tons of info on felinediabetes.com including the diet section but it doesn't look like the foods listed have been updated since 2006. I think the other thing that makes me nervous is the injections. Any help or advice any one can give me on food or anything in general would be helpful and greatly appreciated. I just don't want to waste money on food that will go in the garbage. Thank you and Im so glad I found this board.
 
It looks like Blue buffalo has lots of carbs from the peas and potatoes. They don't list the percentage on the website. I was completely surprised to find that my expensive no-grain dry cat food was very high in carbs. I had to call the company to find out. I took it away from my 5 cats last week. Dry is not good for them anyway. Several of them were very upset. "Were's our candy?" They usually didn't eat much of the fancy feast or Friskies canned. I think cats may get addicted to carbs just like we can. All my cats were getting overweight. There may even be a second cat that was heading toward diabetes. She is a nutcase so I haven't checked. I think they did better on the rice cat food.

I cook chicken parts for 12 hours in the slow cooker. remove the bones, then add some plus the juice to a few cans of fancy feast pate and also add a little warm water. A week later all the picky unhappy ones gobble it up. I don't think a cat will let itself starve. They just get you well-trained to think they can't possibly eat what is good for them. If they don't like it I just ask them if they want to get diabetes like Jesse has.
 
Most people here feed Fancy Feast Classics or Friskies Pate flavors. Wellness Turkey and Chicken flavors are popular, too. Here's a link to an abbreviated list of appropriate foods that are less than 8% carbs. Hope that helps. There are also tips on the catinfo.org site for transitioning dry food addicts to wet food.

Low Carb Short List
 
There is a very good article by vet Dr. Lisa Pierson on feeding your cat. Here is the link. Feeding Your Cat

On her webpage, you will also see a side bar over to the right. Under the Feline Health section, there is a topic for Obesity with a lot of great info that should help all your cats.
 
Thank you everyone for the great advice and links so far. I have learned so much in one day and haven't even started treatment yet LOL. I do have two other questions though.....

1. I will be switching my cats to all wet food in due time. I know I should go cold turkey but I'd feel horrible since its been the same routine for 13 yrs. Heck they were shocked when I cut their food back. Anyways, I do not want to give my cats the hills prescription md. I have been looking at all the advice and it seems like Young again and EVO is mainly whats mentioned. Which does everyone prefer? I know Young Again is more expensive but if its better its worth it.

2. What should I expect to be purchasing? And any certain brands that are better? Im assuming a glucose meter but have no idea what kind, stripes, needles....my vet was saying something about urine stripes as well. Im sure she'll go over everything Thursday, but some vets suggest things that aren't needed or the most expensive things that theyre pushed to sell.

Thanks again
 
1. Actually, a gradual transition of food is often easier, less digestive upset.

2. Shopping list for you in this link.

If you are in the US, the Relion brand of meters from Wal-Mart or the Arkray equivalents from our shopping partner ADW are good. Inexpensive meters, but most importantly, inexpensive test strips.
 
The Evo Cat and Kitten dry will be found in Pet Supply Stores or online.

The Young Again is internet only.

Stella and Chewey's freeze dried does not crunch and may work well as a transitional food, albeit a bit pricey. Also found in Pet Supply Stores or online.
 
You will also want to make sure your vet prescribes one of the three insulins that work best with a cat's faster metabolism: Lantus (glargine), Levemir (detemir), or PZI/ProZinc. All other insulins do not last long enough in cats and some (like Glipizide pills) can actually damage their pancreas further.
 
Wow. Didn't even know there is a difference in insulin. I will definitely be checking into that tomorrow morning.

What does everyone think of Orijen cat & kitten food?

Ive been researching and Evo is not available at my local pet food store. They did have Orijen and the owners use it for their diabetic cat. Eventually I will be buying it online but it seems to only be a little more expensive than Evo. Here is the % and the ingredients.


Crude protein (min.) 42%
Crude fat (min.) 20%
Crude fiber (max.) 3%
Moisture (max.) 10%
Calcium (min./max) 1.4 / 1.7 %
Phosphorus (min./max) 1.1 / 1.4 %
Omega-6 (min.) 3.5 %
Omega-3 (min.) 1.2 %
DHA (min. )0.7 %
EPA (min.) 0.4 %
Taurine (min.) 0.25 %
Magnesium (max.) 0.09 %
pH 5
Ash (max.) 8%

New Recipe:

Boneless chicken*, chicken meal, chicken liver*, whole herring*, boneless turkey*, turkey meal, turkey liver*, whole eggs*, boneless walleye*, whole salmon*, chicken heart*, chicken cartilage*, herring meal, salmon meal, chicken liver oil, chicken fat*, red lentils, green peas, green lentils, sun-cured alfalfa, yams*, pea fibre, chickpeas, pumpkin*, butternut squash*, spinach greens*, carrots*, Red Delicious apples*, Bartlett pears*, cranberries*, blueberries*, kelp, licorice root, angelica root, fenugreek, marigold flowers, sweet fennel, peppermint leaf, chamomile, dandelion, summer savory, rosemary, Enterococcus faecium, Vitamin A, vitamin D3, vitamin E, niacin, riboflavin, folic acid, biotin, vitamin B12, zinc proteinate, iron proteinate, manganese proteinate, copper proteinate

*DELIVERED FRESH, preservative-free and never frozen
 
I ran it through this cat food calculator and it's coming out as 17% carbs, which is too high for a diabetic. We recommend diabetics be fed less than 8-10% carbs, which is why there's only the three dry foods BJ recommended from above:

BJM said:
The Evo Cat and Kitten dry will be found in Pet Supply Stores or online.

The Young Again is internet only.

Stella and Chewey's freeze dried does not crunch and may work well as a transitional food, albeit a bit pricey. Also found in Pet Supply Stores or online.
Click to expand...

All other dry food is going to be much too high in carbs for any cat, much less a diabetic. Since you're already planning on transitioning them to wet, I wouldn't worry about switching them to a different dry food and just switch them directly from their current dry to the wet. Start out by mixing a bit of wet into their dry food each meal and leaving out only wet food (no dry) for them to graze on. Then, slowly increase the amount of wet while decreasing the amount of dry. It might take a couple of weeks to get everyone switched over and you might have one or two hold-outs that take a bit longer, but eventually everyone will be happier and healthier for it. :-D
 
Any time you see legumes (peas, beans, lentils, etc), grains (rice, wheat, corn, maize, bulger, etc), or fruit, those are carbohydrates in disguise.
Don't believe it!
 
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