Some questions

[pteacher]

I looked at the topic on calculation carbs in cat food, but am still confused. How can I know if a certain canned food is okay to feed my diabetic cat? Right now they seem to like Friskies Plus Classic Pate Seafood Platter, but I'm afraid it may have too many carbs.

Also, probably a dumb question, but what is a rice sock?

 

[Wendy&Tiggy(GA)]

A rice sock =a sock with uncooked rice in. You put like 2 tablespoons of uncooked rice into a small sock and tie it. Then shove in the microwave for 15 seconds or until warm but not too hot. Hold to the cats ear to warm it.

You can feed your cat any canned food under 10% calories from carbs. In this chart http://www.catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdfit's any food that's under 10 in the third column _column C. All friskies pâtés are fine, but really you don't want to feed fish more than twice a week (for the same reasons humans shouldn't)

Wendy

 

[pteacher]

Thanks for the information. Not sure I understand about feeding fish that often. This is all they want to eat for now. Is that bad? I've bought chicken and they turn their noses up, so why waste the money?

 

[Deb & Wink]

Here are two reasons we do not recommend feeding a fish based diet more than a couple of times a week.

1. Allergies. Fish/seafood tend to be one of the most hyperallergenic ingredients in cat food, causing various allergic reactions.

Fish/seafood, beef, lamb, corn, wheat, and soy tend to be the most hyperallergenic ingredients for the cat - especially fish/seafood.

2. Chemical contamination. mercury, pbde's, too much phosphorus

You will notice that many of the higher protein diets are fish-based but it is not a good idea to feed fish to cats. Or, at least not as their main diet. Fish can be high in mercury, high in PBDEs (fire retardant chemicals linked to hyperthyroidism), high in phosphorus (not good for older cats' kidneys) and can be very addicting. It is best to feed poultry-based diets to cats.

Both of these quotes are from Dr Lisa Pierson's site, catinfo.org. http://www.catinfo.org/

 

[Elizabeth and Bertie]

Hiya,

If you're feeding canned foods other than those on the list (linked to in a post above) then you can get a rough idea of the carb content of the food you're using by running the 'analysis' values on the label (percentage of protein, fat, ash etc) through the online carb calculator that I posted a link to in another of your threads:
viewtopic.php?f=28&t=94329#p1011464

For a diabetic cat we're looking for the percentage of calories from carbohydrates to be less than 10%. In the online calculator that figure will be in the turquoise box in the bottom right of the calculation.

When using the label 'analysis' though do be aware that the actual contents of the can may differ slightly from that. If your cat has a favourite food and you want to know what is actually in that can then you will need to contact the manufacturer and ask them for the 'as fed' values.

Eliz

 

[tuckers mom]

My Tucker was a dry food addict when adopted. To get him onto canned he ate only Fancy Feast Savory Salmon for nearly a month and then finally started eating some Chicken Feast and eventually ate all the kinds I gave him.

My new kitty named Monkey, he's not special needs but would prefer a dry food diet. In order to get him to eat his canned food I sprinkle a little Forti Flora on it. I buy it from petfooddirect.com but you can read about it here: http://www.purinaveterinarydiets.com/Product/FortiFloraCatNutritionalSupplements.aspx

The first ingredient, animal digest, seems to have some magical powers. I have yet to see one of my kitties not eat their food when that is sprinkled on it.