Still struggling with diet change

[Lys7]

Looking for advice regarding dry food switch / transitioning to an all wet food diet. Hotch is eating wet food 4 times a day, but at dinner I give less canned and mix in some of his old kibble (Merrick Healthy Weight - about 70 kibbles). I know this is not ideal and I should not switch to an all canned diet until I can home test him (which probably won't happen anywhere in the near future, if ever). I plan to go to the vets this week and ask for a midday leg poke to get an idea of his numbers since he has only been on ProZinc since Thursday. He seemed in good spirits this morning and I even caught him playing with his cat nip prey pillow - twice! He has been extremely tired at 3pm today and yesterday (+7).

Anyways, my main question is should I just stick with what I am doing at dinner until I get a few consistent leg pokes in? Or, should I slowly mix in some of the Purina DM kibble with the Merrick and eventually just have a small amount of the DM dry mixed in (hopefully weaning off that as well at some point).. My thinking is that if I'm going to have to stick with the kibble for a while it should at least be a lower carb one?

I just had a thought that if I did want to know how the kibble really affects him I could do the mixture in the morning the day of a leg poke. Of more importance is knowing his level from the first *cycle?* with just wet food in his system.

Look forward to hearing your thoughts. Thank you for being so helpful and understanding. Don't know how I would be handling this without you.

Alyssa

 

[BJM]

The change from high carb to low carb food may reduce the glucose 100-200 mg/dL (in at least 1 cat here, 300 mg/dL) and may reduce the insulin requirement by 1-2 units.
Glucose tests at the vet may be 100-180 mg/dL higher at the vet's office than at home.

While you work on the blood glucose testing, have a look at my signature link Secondary Monitoring Tools and keep an eye out for urine ketones and glucose, dehydration, food and water intake and output to help monitor your cat and keep him safe.

Evo Cat & Kitten (available at pet supply stores) and Young Again 0 (online only) are 2 low carb foods in the US which may be used for a die hard kibble addict. as with all food changes, change gradually to reduce the chances of GI upset.

 

[TiffB]

I don't have any advice, but just wanted to say I feel your pain. I'm on week two & this is all so new. My kitty is sooooo picky. He only eats one flavor of wet food, which is too high in carbs for him to eat (so he isn't getting that anymore). We immediately switched to Hill ' s DM dry, but it's a struggle trying to find wet food he will eat. I'd like him to eat 100% wet. For now we are just dealing with a kitty with an attitude.

It's been a long stressful two week at our house

 

[Carol & Murphy (GA)]

I just wanted to chime in - I have a very difficult cat with all sorts of IBD issues and pancreatitis and food aversions - I feed him about half dry and half wet - in addition to Evo (which raises Murphy's sugar but frequently it is the only dry he will eat), Young Again Zero Carb absolutely does not raise his sugar, but there are two other ones: Epigen 90 by Wysong (starch and grain free) and Waggers - a semi-moist starch free food - Of the 4, the only food that raises Murphy's sugar is Evo. I obviously would prefer he eat all wet, but he already had hepatitic lipidosis and he eats such a small amount of the wet, and it is so low in calories, I need some dry to supplement his calories (Evo and Young Again are very high in calories - 600 per cup)

 

[jayla-n-Drevon]

 

[MrWorfMen's Mom]

Alyssa, I did a very rough calculation on the Merrick's carb load and I don't think it's any higher than the Purina DM. If it is higher, it's not by much. In the big scheme of things, I don't think it's going to make a big difference which kibble you feed Hotch right now but in case my calculations are off (we don't have the "as fed" numbers for the Merrick's....just the guaranteed analysis), I'd stick with the Merrick's until you can ensure Hotch is on a safe dose of insulin or you can home test.

We do not have access to EVO, Wysong Epigen 90, or Waggers in Canada. The Young Again may be available (if they are still shipping to Canada) but it's only available online and at $70US + per bag plus shipping and taxes etc., it costs a small fortune. I can provide you with a list of the lowest carb Canadian options if you still need kibble going forward but hopefully you will be able to transition Hotch to an all wet diet in the future and have no need of kibble because most of our selections are not much lower in carbs than the DM and none are optimal for a diabetic cat.

 

[jayla-n-Drevon]

I don't have any advice, but just wanted to say I feel your pain. I'm on week two & this is all so new. My kitty is sooooo picky. He only eats one flavor of wet food, which is too high in carbs for him to eat (so he isn't getting that anymore). We immediately switched to Hill ' s DM dry, but it's a struggle trying to find wet food he will eat. I'd like him to eat 100% wet. For now we are just dealing with a kitty with an attitude.

It's been a long stressful two week at our house

For what it's worth
It has been a year in September for us and I literally have a display shelf of different flavors and brands of low carb foods.
Some days we go thru 5-7 cans before Dre will eat in the morning. He has a few favorites and now I only feed those at pre shots so I am pretty sure he will eat. ( mind games )
Luckily he likes some of the flaked fancy feast that are under 10% carbs. Natures variety pride is sometimes a hit around here. Lately pinnacle has been good too.
When we need a medium carb if he goes too low we have been using precise flaked Pork beef chicken or salmon. The Pork is the favorite.
I have some other good ones but so far no luck.
It is not as frustrating as it used to be and I have realized it is stressful for Dre too. For 16 years he ate whenever he wanted and although it is hard on us I have to think it is a big change for them too. One day at a time