Problem with New Formula Purina DM (cans)

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Bear

Bear

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I saw a question on the archive by RoboChimp & don't know if he/she ever an answer to their question of whether something had changed with Purina DM for Cats / canned variety.

The answer is yes, it has. Purina has chnaged the formula, and it has caused some significant problems with our 16-year old diabetic cat, Bear (named "bear" by the children of the family of the cat mom who had the litter, because Bear is black & looked like a little black bear when he was a kitty)

Anyway, Bear's been diabetic for about 6 years & we fed him dry & wet Purina DM...until Purina chnaged the wet DM formula. Bear hates it. Frankly, the new formula is a radical departure from the old formula. We've tried everything: Hill's, non-wheat gluten Fancy Feast, dripping chicken stock, clam juice & even a little Tuna Juice (per vet's advice) over the new DM.

We've really gone through it with Mr. Bear, and things have been a little better. He went from 14.5 lbs to 9 lbs and was not eating. We've got him eating now, but wanted to let RoboChimp and any others out there with similar problems know what weve discovered.

I tied calling Purina today & got a voicemail. I may try to call back & find out what their thinking was. Seems like a Coke/New Coke corporate blunder to me...and to Mr. Bear.

Bear says hi to all the other kitties, by the way.

-John, Bear's dad
 
Sorry Bear's not eating well and dislikes the new silver top canned DM and other canned foods(Hills and Fancy Feast). Did the vet run blood to see if something else might be going on? Did he like those other foods before?

Cody and I have had the exact opposite opinion. He used to be lukewarm/dislike the gold top, I thought it looked and smelled bad, and had a rough gritty texture . It also had corn in it which was stupid and added high glycemic index carbs.

I think the new stuff smells a lot better, and I think they tried to make it a better formula for diabetics. Since it's the main thing mine eats, I've called Purina and with Janet's help figured out the 'as fed' data of the new formula and it has 5% carbs. She doesn't like that liver is the first ingredient and the fat is pretty high, but I wonder if that has something to do with the Omega 3's they have added (suppose to be good for insulin resistance??) The guar gum makes it so I can add a lot of water to it without getting as soupy.
35% of calories from protein
60% of calories from fat
5% of calories from carbohydrate
262 mg phosphorus/100 calories

Sorry he's not eating it, maybe some other vets in your area still have the gold top. I know mine has 4 cans I refuse to buy. we're in north suburbs of Atlanta, or maybe some of the online pet food stores have it still.
 
BTW, the numbers on the can- I've called it twice to verify more details.

1-800-879-1266 M-F 8-4:30 CT

1-866-884-8387 in Canada
 
Thanks for your comments, Nancy & Cody. I'm glad Cody is eating & enjoying the new formula. (Hey look, Bear is looking up at Cody & Nancy in the pictures...he wants to be friends... :lol: )

Yes, we've had Bear in for glucose curves an average of every week or every other week since early December. He had a blood panel done a week ago, plus the vet gave us a gratuitous (free) "scan" (I assume that means x-ray & not MRI, my wife would know for certain), plus the vet checked him physically for possible other problems.

He just hasn't been eating, though as mentioned, we've had better luck with him over the weekend into yesterday & today. But last Thur & Fri, he wasn't eating at all, and he seemed like he was just shutting down, physically & psychologically.

My thought on Purina changing the formula is this: With cats being extraordinarily finicky eaters in the first place, and the fact diabetic cats don't have a whole lot of variety anyway, why just up & change the formula like that?

Why not do both formulas (new & old) in recognition of the fact some cats are just not going to eat the new formula even though their lives depend on eating something? Why just change the formula like that?

I know it's a healthier formula, but to be honest, if Bear doesn't eat, he not live much longer. I think that;'s a reason for having some plan in place not to just change the formula so radically without giving old formula eaters options.

Just my two cents. Hearing Cody likes the new better makes me feel better about Purina's decision, but again from a corporate responsibilty & cat lover's view, why not call it something else (like DM2 or some such) & make & sell both formulas for a while...for a long while.
 
Hey there

Any chance we could convince you to test his blood glucose levels at home? It is especially important if he is 'off'; you need to know what his levels are any time you need, and you should also be testing his urine for ketones.

Wish I could suggest some other food options; mine are very finicky right now but luckily Squeak isn't on insulin anymore so I have one less thing to worry about.

Jen
 
I don't know about that Jen. It may depend on how it plays out in the next month. As mentioned, we've been bringing him to the vet an average of every 10 days for glucose curves. Not sure of the advantage of doing that at home. Like I said, I was worried last Thur & Fri Bear wasn't going to even be with us for very long. We are just going day-to-day and week-to-week at this point. Once he starts eating regularly, we'd probably consider anything within the realm of doable.
 
Well...

Vet curves aren't always valid IF vet stress inflates those blood glucose levels. And vet curves don't tell you at shot time whether Bear's bgs have suddenly plummeted for some unknown reason.

HOnestly? He may be going down hill, or this may be completely fixable, but if you don't test at home you won't know that key part of the puzzle.

Please confirm whether the vet tested for ketones or not...

Jen
 
The advantage is that you know his levels before shooting.

Hometesting is VERY important. Most of us here use any human meter. Think of it as a human diabetic does. *If it were you or a child of yours, you'd be testing blood glucose levels at home prior to each shot; you'd be working with your doctor to determine a proper dose based on those shot results, correct?* Some vets do not agree with hometesting and I cannot for the life of me understand why. Most vets, sadly are not knowledgeable enough in feline diabetes. Insulin is a VERY powerful drug and you NEED to hometest before giving a shot. This is very important. The vet would rather have you bring the cat to them, stress it out more, which may spike the levels anyway and then they can charge you $$. Hometesting saved me a lot of money and it is VERY important for you personally to know the cat’s levels and how it is reacting to the insulin before you shoot so you do not pass up your ideal dosage.

Thanks to everyone's help here I learned to home test 2 cats and they both got off insulin within 3 weeks with diet change…but of course, they reacting both DIFFERENTLY with the process. If I can do it with 2 cats twice a day (and more on curve days), ANYONE can do it. It does NOT hurt them as much as you think it does. It just stings for a moment and then it is gone, you can try it on yourself. Also, put pressure on the ear after poking and it should minimize the nub. They won't mind it once they start feeling better. I use the True Track meter (CVS or Walgreens brand) which I love. And, the strips are also reasonable. Also, remember to give them a treat after the test. Here is a link to a member videos on hometesting:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zE12-4fVn8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZ6iXetR398

You do not need any type of prescription food or “special” diabetic food. Use Janet & Binky’s chart for canned food at http://binkyspage.tripod.com/canfood.html. . Low carb is best for diabetics. I try to stay around 10% or under. I feed Whiskas, 9-Lives and mostly Friskies canned food. Diabetes is very treatable and does not cost as much as you would think. If you are giving a high dose of insulin and feeding dry, be careful with switching to canned food. You MUST reduce the insulin at the same time you switch to canned food.

Good luck and keep up informed. I really think hometesting would help you with his regulation and not having to spend the extra money at the vets is a bonus. :razz: :razz:
 
Bear said:
I don't know about that Jen. It may depend on how it plays out in the next month. As mentioned, we've been bringing him to the vet an average of every 10 days for glucose curves. Not sure of the advantage of doing that at home. Like I said, I was worried last Thur & Fri Bear wasn't going to even be with us for very long. We are just going day-to-day and week-to-week at this point. Once he starts eating regularly, we'd probably consider anything within the realm of doable.
Click to expand...

My cat's curve at the vet showed his glucose about 500 all day long. My cat's curve at home has yet to give me a number above 200. The dosage of insulin is very different in these two situations, and I believe his numbers were higher at the vet because of stress--my cat is a scardey cat. Had I not been home testing, Max's dose would have been far too high, potentially causing hypoglycemia. As it was, I halted one hypoglycemic event in its mild stages because I home tested. Had I not been testing, it could have become an emergency vet visit, hospital stay, or worse.

My home curves were far more accurate than the vet's, which is why he encouraged me to test at home. Please consider trying this out sooner than later; your cat can only benefit.

Glad you found this board, everyone here has been more helpful than my vet :)
 
This is not really a long-term solution for your problem, but if you're desperate to get some of the old canned DM, I might be able to help you. I *THINK* we have a case (24 cans) of the old stuff at the clinic where I work. I could be wrong, but I can look tomorrow if you're interested in purchasing it. I could find out a price and shipping cost too. Just a thought!
 
Holly, thanks for the offer. I was able to find 4 cases of the gold lid (old formula) variety at an animal hospital about 5 hours away from us. We bought 4 cases & a friend who lives near there is picking them up for us. Thank you again for the offer. Someone else sent me a PM saying they had 20 cans as well. Maybe someone who has the same problem as Bear will chime in here, and we can hook them up with you & the person who PM's me.
 
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