Primal Raw Pet food - spike in BG

[Rachel & Gus]

I am trying to transition Gus over to at least a partial raw diet in hopes that it would help him with some of his problems - diabetes, itchy ears, irritable bowel or pancreatitis (not sure which but the vet put him on Pepcid AC and he definitely feels/acts better with that med). He has also become fickle and doesn't want Fancy Feast flavors most of the time - which used to be his favorite. He does like ZiwiPeak and plain raw chicken (of course this isn't nutritionally complete).

We just started last week and everything was going along fine - Blood glucose levels the same. He was getting the Primal mixed with raw chicken or his wet food. First it was just half a nugget at night and canned the rest of the day.

This week his Blood Glucose was 450 yesterday, 350 last night and 400 this morning. Of course I'm ready to have a heart attack! Last week we were in the upper 100s to low 200s.

Primal Raw food (chicken and salmon) states on their site that it is 1% carbs. I worry as to if this is correct or not because I see it has yams in it.

On another note - Gus's blood glucose spikes when I give him Fortiflora. Me and the vet agree that there are no obvious ingredients in Fortiflora that would spike his numbers, but I swear I have put him on and taken him off of this stuff enough times to see that it does. I know many use it here with great success.

Maybe he is just an extra sensitive kitty.

Any help or suggestions?

 

[mybuddybinks]

no good input from me...but giving your post a bump up for more experienced eyes...

celi & binks

 

[Noreen&DC&Frisky]

I'm not familiar with fortiflora or Primal Raw.
Just giving you a bump.

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

I've never had a problem with FortiFlora affecting numbers but every cat is different.

As far as your observations about food, Wellness also has some veggies in it. The carb count on the varieties (chicken and turkey) that I use is about 4%. If you look at Lisa Pierson, DVM's site on feline nutrition, she notes that in brands like Wellness the quantity of these carbs is very small given the overall percentage of carb in the food.

Some cats will react to changes in food with higher numbers. How long has it been between your changing up foods? If it's only been a day or two, you may need to give it a bit more time for numbers to settle down. I would suggest calling Primal and ask for their "as fed" values. You can then plug those values into the same formula that is used on Janet & Binky's food charts. The spreadsheet for these calculations in in the FAQ section.