OTJ in spite of Dry Food Diet???

  • Thread starter Thread starter Carl & Polly & Bob (GA)
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Carl & Polly & Bob (GA)

Not advocating dry food at all, for any cat, ever.

But I want to know... I've only been around a little over a year, and can't recall seeing anyone who has had a cat go OTJ while staying on a dry food diet (even a "low carb dry" one). Has anyone had, or remember seeing, a kitty who has gone into remission in spite of never being successfully switched to low carb canned food? Basically, is it possible?

Thanks for any input,

Carl
 
Carl & Bob said:
Not advocating dry food at all, for any cat, ever.

But I want to know... I've only been around a little over a year, and can't recall seeing anyone who has had a cat go OTJ while staying on a dry food diet (even a "low carb dry" one). Has anyone had, or remember seeing, a kitty who has gone into remission in spite of never being successfully switched to low carb canned food? Basically, is it possible?

Thanks for any input,

Carl
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There's no reason why it's not possible... if the short bout on insulin is enough to get the pancreas healed and able to handle the extra carbs, I would think it's possible.
 
I think it is very possible. Case in point:

I have recently made the switch to a grain-free variety of dry food (Blue Wilderness) and for now that is part of Pookie's diet in addition to his wet food. While Pookie is not OTJ, he has gone down from needing 2 units a day to only 1. I would imagine if he was fed the grain-free variety of wet (Wellness, et al), there is a strong possibility he could be OTJ entirely.

Due to budget constraints I cannot feed him Wellness on a regular basis. But rest assured he will be on a Wellness diet once there are some additional monetary resources.
 
There have been a couple - but that's just a couple over the decade that I've been on this board. There are low(er) carb dry foods available now, and that can certainly help, especially if the FD is caught and treated early, allowing for pancreatic recovery.

That being said, it doesn't mean dry food is optimal. I know I'm preaching to the choir, but it comes down to the moisture issue, and kidney health. Dry food just doesn't give a cat what they need for that.
 
I've never seen a cat go OTJ on a grain-free dry food since I showed up in 2009. Since ECID I'm sure it's possible, kind of like going OTJ on Humulin N is possible, just not likely nor recommended.

CoatCheckGirl said:
I think it is very possible. Case in point:

I have recently made the switch to a grain-free variety of dry food (Blue Wilderness) and for now that is part of Pookie's diet in addition to his wet food. While Pookie is not OTJ, he has gone down from needing 2 units a day to only 1. I would imagine if he was fed the grain-free variety of wet (Wellness, et al), there is a strong possibility he could be OTJ entirely.

Due to budget constraints I cannot feed him Wellness on a regular basis. But rest assured he will be on a Wellness diet once there are some additional monetary resources.
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Blue Wilderness is still about 18% carbs (higher in carbs than the Purina DM dry, i believe). Even when dry foods are grain free, they aren't usually low carb. Blue Wilderness and Taste of the Wild, for example, use Potato starch as a binder instead of corn which is still very high in carbs.

One thing that people don't realize with canned food is that when you factor in savings in insulin, test strips, litter (cats eating canned food actually digest most of their food), and current and future vet bills, the dry food is far more expensive to feed than canned.

Have you tried putting your zip code in the Wellness store locator? http://www.wellnesspetfood.com/store-locator.aspx Often times independently owned pet food stores sell Wellness WAY cheaper than places like Petsmart or Petco, and usually they'll offer discounts if you get 24 cans at a time. Most towns have a locally owned feed store, but you just have to find it. If you get it in the 12 oz cans for the average non-chain feed store price, you'll be paying far less money.

If you can't find cheaper Wellness, it would be much better for you to feed a super-cheap grocery store grain free canned food like Special Kitty Pates from Walmart or Grreat Choice pates from Petsmart only, rather than a mix of dry and premium canned food. 13oz cans of those foods are less than $1, and I know that is way cheaper than the cost of feeding the two foods you are getting now.

I remember one kitty here (Doombuggy's Cedric), was eating canned Wellness with ridiculously small amount of Blue Wilderness dry food (1/8 of a cup a day) when he showed up here. After a month of being unregulated on insulin, we finally convinced her to ditch the dry, and Cedric went immediately OTJ. Not saying that happens to every cat, but you'd be surprised what a small amount of grain free dry food can do to BG. Bandit can't have even a few pieces of EVO dry at 8% carbs or his BG shoots up 100-200 points, but he can eat canned foods at 8-9% carbs with no effect on BG whatsover.
 
Lizzie's Margherita is still diet controlled after several years on Purina DM. Having been her kitty sitter on occasion, I will tell you that Rita absolutely will not eat canned food. Now that she's no longer on insulin, my sitting services are no longer needed, which is great because she was never happy staying here.

There have been others but I can't recall all of the names right now. Several were on Purina DM and I think it was Marcie's E-Marie who went OTJ on Hill's WD.

The thing that a lot ofpeople have lost sight of is that diabetes isn't always caused by the food and that not every cat is carb-sensitive. Boo never ate dry food. He was raised on canned food since I rescued him as a 3 week old kitten. If he dipped low, high carb foods didn't give him a big spike. In fact, his diabetes was better managed on moderately high carb food and steroids, which goes against all of the ideas promoted here.

ECID. You have to find what works best for your cat, your budget, your lifestyle and treat accordingly.
 
My Maggie was a dry food addict and she went off the juice. She ate Purina NF (for kidneys) dry - would not touch anything wet, even people food. Here is some of her old profile, showing honeymoons. In fact, she was OTJ more then she was on insulin in the beginning. The complication of her HCM kept her on insulin at the end.

I DO NOT advocate dry food! My current civies eat canned food.


DX Diabetes: 8/99 (bg 602)
Humulin U: 8/99-10/99 (3 months on juice)
Honeymoon

Humulin U: 8/01-11/01 (4 months on juice) Steroid shot!
Honeymoon

Humulin U: 11/05-11/05 (2 weeks on juice) Cosaquin?
Honeymoon

Humulin U: 2/06-2/06 (2 weeks on juice) Greenies?
Honeymoon

DX Cardiomyopathy: 6/2/06
Diltiazem via trans-dermal gel.

Humulin U: 12/06-3/12/07
Levemir: 3/13/07

DX bladder stones: 1/11/08
No treatment even though there is blood in her urine regularly

Died: 1/30/08, probably from heart failure.
 
There was one that I recall a few years back, Pam and Spike. She didn't post often because she chose to go against the grain and feed a higher fiber diet which to her meant she had to feed dry food. Once she gave Spike more fiber he did go OTJ, but she was also testing more and giving BCP PZI on a sliding scale. Maybe it was the insulin keeping the numbers lower that caused Spike's remission.

Her user name may have been Spikes Mom, I can't recall. I remember her because she lived close enough for me to go over and teach her to hometest.
 
Coatcheckgirl, if you buy Wellness in the 12.5 oz cans it is much more affordable. If you can buy by the case (Wag.com) it can be as cheap as getting FF on sale and much better quality.
 
Ann & Tess said:
Coatcheckgirl, if you buy Wellness in the 12.5 oz cans it is much more affordable. If you can buy by the case (Wag.com) it can be as cheap as getting FF on sale and much better quality.
Click to expand...

Thanks! :) I will most definitely check it out.
 
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