Safe transition to all wet food diet

[FurballLover]

Hello all--just recently joined the board (yesterday) after my Charlie had his first, and hopefully last very serious hypo event this weekend. (see my "thank you" post from yesterday if you like) I will be assembling a better hypo kit tonight after reading a link from Ronnie & Luna. I had karo syrup and high carb canned food, but his attack was so sudden and serious that it didn't help. Luckily we live less than 5 minutes from the vet and he was in with the vet within 15 min of the first sign of trouble.

Charlie almost died sat--his vitals tanked and I don't ever want to see him in that kind of pain again. For the last few months he had been doing very well. We were feeding FF pink label chicken, green label turkey, and hill's d/m. We tried beef and fish, but the cats wouldn't eat enough of it. I want to take him off the d/m so his diet is healthier and more appropriate for a sugarcat.

My plan is to keep him on his current diet for a few weeks until I can get a meter, practice and then slowly remove the dry food. Does anyone have advice on how slowly to do this? I want to make sure I can get BG readings from him before I change his diet again. It took me a full month after his diagnosis before I was confident with giving his injections. I don't want to rush the process, as I am unsure of how well he will tolerate ear pricks. His serious hypo was probably due to my slightly decreasing his d/m, so I don't want to make any mistakes this time. Does anyone have advice on a timeline?

Thanks much,
Jen

 

[Ronnie & Luna]

Hi
glad u will be putting together the hypo kit!

just wanted to clear one part up, u are giving insulin but not able to get a meter for a few weeks correct?
In case u were not aware, this link will give u some info on how to get a "newbie kit" free of charge. If u PM(private message) Cindy, she can set u up with a kit.

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=6

as for the transitioning, your bestest guide is Dr Lisa's link:

http://catinfo.org/

what most of us do is mix a bit of both at a time, wet and dry over the course of a week or so, and some kitties actually go straight for the wet food within days.

BUT because u are giving insulin and NOT home testing you really want to take ur time and not rush the process, as u mentioned.
How much insulin are u doing by the way?

Dont want ot scare u any further, but serious hypo can also occur by shooting insulin blindly. Please consider contacting Cindy for the newbie kit.

 

[FurballLover]

Charlie was on 3u bid and I am slowly bringing him back up to that level. Definitely will be doing home testing, but the vet bill this week busted my budget. Thanks for the info on the free kit and the hypo kit.
I'm thinking about doing this over the course of 4-6 weeks to keep it nice and slow. My cats have always preferred the 'crunch' of dry food so it will take time. Not to mention the fact that I have a slow learning curve with needles and such.

 

[Lori in Ohio]

My cat is very picky, has always eaten dry food and will not even eat treats.

Today I bought the (Grain Free-Low Carb) EVO Turkey & Chicken Formula DRY Cat Food.
Its not a low as wet canned food, but it is better if using a dry food during the transition.
My picky cat loved it!
On this page it tells about it also there is a link at the top so you can search where to buy via your zip code.

http://www.evopet.com/products/default.asp?id=1500

I paid approx $37 for a 15.4 lb bag here in Ohio
It comes in smaller sizes too, but I have 3 cats.