Suitable dry food to use while out of town

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Melina

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Hi ladies. My cat is currently on Wellness canned food and she's doing awesome! She's back to her normal self without having to ever use insulin.

With that said, we are going out of town for a few days and I'm wondering if there is a dry food that I can use for the last part of our trip so it won't mess up her system? We are only going for two nights and the first few meals I can use the canned food cause I plan on freezing it beforehand so it won't go bad. No one is around to come check on her and feed her so I'm trying to find a dry solution for her for a couple meals. We have the automatic feeder that has 5 meals all at different times.

Any advice? I was thinking of sticking with the Wellness program as this has done wonders for her but I'm unsure which one.

Thanks :)
Melina
 
Wellness CORE and EVO are fairly low in carbs if you are really desperate. But it would probably be better to find someone to feed her her usual food while you're gone.
 
We have EVO cat and kitten and Wellness core out for our kitten who doesn't eat much soft. It doesnt seem to effect Smokey much, but she doesn't seem to eat much either and we are 15 months past our last insulin shot.

When Smokey was getting sick after her she had needle biopsies recently and had to be put under, I had her eating the hard food pretty much straight for 3-4 days because it was the only thing that she didn't throw right back up. I think she stuck to the EVO cat and kitten mostly and she didn't test more than 105 the whole time.
 
This is not a situation of a cat on insulin who was not given their insulin and feed dry food. This is an instance of a cat who was diet controlled without ever needing insulin - currently has a properly functioning pancreas - who will be eating dry food for a couple of days. Wow, posting link a to someone who had an unregulated cat on a high insulin who was left without it, without monitoring, and without proper food for its medical condition is a scare tactic and not really applicable to this poster's situation.

A pet sitter is always the best option because cats can find ways to get themselves into predicaments when left to their own devices (my Avie loves to manage to get herself closed into one of the bathrooms!). EVO is the lowest in carbs for dry, if you want to stick with Wellness, the Core will be the better, grain free option in their line.

Is there a neighbor or co-worker that could do a quickstop? You could just leave some prepared food in the fridge and they could check on the kitty, make sure the water was NOT tipped over, and take out the food so there wasn't any real prep and it would only be a 5-10min stop. Even "non-kitty" people could handle that:)
 
Melanie and Smokey said:
This is not a situation of a cat on insulin who was not given their insulin and feed dry food. This is an instance of a cat who was diet controlled without ever needing insulin - currently has a properly functioning pancreas - who will be eating dry food for a couple of days. Wow, posting link a to someone who had an unregulated cat on a high insulin who was left without it, without monitoring, and without proper food for its medical condition is a scare tactic and not really applicable to this poster's situation.
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A diet controlled diabetic cat is still a diabetic cat.

We have no history on this cat other than the cat is diet controlled.
We don't know how well the pancreas is functioning.
We don't know what the risk level if for feeding a higher carb dry food diet to this particular cat.
We don't know if it will be enough to throw the cat into needing insulin
...and in this case, there might be a good chance the owner may not catch the symptoms for several weeks as they manifest.


We would never 'approve' of skipping insulin shots for 2-3 days.

Why should we encourage a diet controlled diabetic cat to skip a few diabetic meals?
 
Blue said:
Why should we encourage a diet controlled diabetic cat to skip a few diabetic meals?
Click to expand...

One of the important functions of FDMB is that it can give people choices and alternatives because ECID and EHID. We have members who are well versed in the quality and carb content of all foods, not just canned and can determine what is the most diabetic friendly.

This is an exception and we are not encouraging anything but trying to help a poster with a temporary problem.

The food issue probably drives more people from the board than any other. Since I posted in the thread of another short term member who came on asking about a food issue and that member got angry at how they were treated (not with contempt by anyone I should point out), I want to try to become more sensitive to members' particularly food issues. It would behoove us to try to find an alternative for these type of members, which is what this poster is asking for, instead of berating them or not giving them an alternative.

In this case there are good alternatives out there, if what they're looking for is a low carb dry food. EVO and Wellness Core have been mentioned as the best choices. The thread should be left at that because harping on the dry food aspect is not helpful. It sounds like the poster knows it's not something to feed all the time.
 
Melina, don't let the tight control people guilt-trip or panic you. There are folks here whose diabetic cats have never switched to wet food, and guess what? They didn't keel over dead after a few days, and a couple of dry meals are unlikely to do lasting harm to your cat.

I think people should answer the question you asked rather than deciding what question they think you should have asked and beating you over the head with their answers. As I understand it, your question was not "Should I get a pet sitter?" or "Should I leave dry food?" It was more about what dry food would be best *in this particular situation.* My advice would be to focus on the responses that answered your question and consider that the others were trying to help but were stepping too far out of their own business and into yours.

I've heard pretty good things about Wellness Core but can't vouch for it myself.

In the days before my cat's diabetes, I used to leave the cats for weekends without a care and occasionally for longer. Sure, having someone look in on them is best if it can be easily arranged, but there's no sense trying to live in an ideal world when we don't live in an ideal world--that's my opinion, anyway. In other words, don't stress out over it.

I hope you have an enjoyable trip.
 
Depending on where you live, heat/humidity, Wellness CORE might keep better than the EVO. The CORE kibble is dryer than the EVO, I use them for treats and the EVO always feels like it has a softer, moisture feel to me. So, I might go with CORE if it were hot/humid because the EVO, in my mind might not keep as well, but I have no scientific proof on this, it's just a gut feeling.

I prefer Natural Balance dry food for occasional treats over CORE and EVO simply because it's more affordable but I don't know carb content on that. It is grain free, I had to find only corn and wheat gluten free varieties for my boy Tucker(GA) who had allergies. So, another option if you see at the stores would be the Natural Balance.
 
Vicky & Gandalf said:
One of the important functions of FDMB is that it can give people choices and alternatives because ECID and EHID. We have members who are well versed in the quality and carb content of all foods, not just canned and can determine what is the most diabetic friendly.

This is an exception and we are not encouraging anything but trying to help a poster with a temporary problem.

The food issue probably drives more people from the board than any other. Since I posted in the thread of another short term member who came on asking about a food issue and that member got angry at how they were treated (not with contempt by anyone I should point out), I want to try to become more sensitive to members' particularly food issues. It would behoove us to try to find an alternative for these type of members, which is what this poster is asking for, instead of berating them or not giving them an alternative.

In this case there are good alternatives out there, if what they're looking for is a low carb dry food. EVO and Wellness Core have been mentioned as the best choices. The thread should be left at that because harping on the dry food aspect is not helpful. It sounds like the poster knows it's not something to feed all the time.
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Thank you, Vicky for you comments. I agree exactly!
 
Hi Melina!

I know it can be difficult to go away and leave your furfamily back at home! I totally understand what it's like to not have someone that can come by and check on your pets while you're gone. I have lots of awesome/amazing friends but, unfortunately, I wouldn't trust any of them to make sure they come by and feed my 2 civvies wet food twice a day when I have to go out of town (we take our FD and dog with us), even though we have done this OFTEN for them. We always leave dry out for them and ask someone just to check in once in awhile (every other day or every 2 days) to make sure no one is stuck to the cat tree (has happened) or something similarly as goofy :lol:

Before Willy was DX'd we were feeding the whole gang dry, specifically, Wellness core. My civvies really don't care for Wellness at all (and they STILL dislike Wellness wet). They really really like Evo (in general both wet and dry). Zell has picked up on Willy's bad habits and he will scarf his food (even the dry) but with the Evo he seems to pace himself better. When I get home there is usually a lot more left than what I expected (this wasn't the case with other foods). I also try to leave food and water in more than one location, in the odd event something happens to the bowl or something.

I have given Willy Evo dry when I suspect he will go hypo to help stabilize him MUCH LATER (like 4-5hrs later) in his cycle (we use the wet food/karo for early on) FOR HIM (each cat is different) a small amount (20-30 pieces) doesn't totally rocket his BG and he is pretty carb sensitive. We have noticed Evo products keep him much more stable than other foods. We started doing this because he only hypos at night and we really needed to get some sleep so once he's safe it lets us sleep easier.

Dry food is not the ideal, especially for FD, but things happen and it doesn't always work out perfectly. Try not to feel guilty about it.. situations arise and you handle them the best you can! If you decide to go ahead with the dry food, I would recommend some home testing (if you have the supplies) when you get home for a few days. This way, you'll know exactly how she's doing and know if a vet visit may be in order. If you don't have the home testing stuff (and you're not interested in getting it) it might be good to keep a journal of her behavior (water intake, food intake, and general behavior) so you can make sure she's still doing well and is still in remission and you have information you can give the vet if you become concerned.

Have a good trip!!
 
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