Switching to Canned Food

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Sushi (GA 5/05-3/14)

Sushi (GA 5/05-3/14)

Active Member
Hi!
I just joined the board yesterday, and I've gathered that a major first step is to start feeding canned food. I read Janet & Binky's list http://binkyspage.tripod.com/canfood.html, and it's got lots of great information, but I didn't find that it recommended any food. So:
- How do you choose a canned food?
- It sounds like it impacts the dose of insulin you should give--what is the process of "starting over" with regulating your cat?
- What is the most inexpensive canned food you would recommend?
Thank you!!
 
If you are using Janet & Binky's list you want to look for foods that have 10 or less in the Carbs column and a high number in the Protein column. Many of us feed our cats either Fancy Feast or Friskies canned food. If it has "gravy" in the name, most likely it is high in carbs.
 
Hi, and welcome!

I am new to all this myself. Just joined about 3 -4weeks ago. our girl, Bobbie has been on canned food since then and OTJ 2 weeks and doing great, although I still worry too much. I guess it just comes with the territory.

For me, it was an easy choice. At diagnosis the vet put her on RX food and she did not like it and barely ate. So when I found out here that I could give her canned only and Friskies classic Pate was a good option, it was a no brainer for me, as that is what she ate BEFORE diagnosis! Although then, she free fed on dry and got wet in the evenings. Now she is exclusively wet. She does still try to sneak around for dry but we no longer leave it out.

This past weekend I switched to Special Kitty after reading here that it too, is a good option. Just trying to watch pennies as we are on a fixed income and when we went to wet only the food bill went up. We also have 5 other cats.

Hope this helps, :-D
 
Sushi said:
So:
- How do you choose a canned food?
Click to expand...

Use the canned food charts. Yes, neither charts recommened a particular brand to feed. They are just an nutritional breakdown of many brands of food and you choose a brand(s) based on what meets your criteria (example: low carbs for diabetics).

Look for foods that have a number 10 or less in the carbs column. These are "low carb" for diabetics. You'll find many brands.

Which brand to feed is up to you :smile: The most important thing is that your cat will eat it. Some people consider cost when choosing a food. Some are inexpensive, others are pricey. Ease of buying the food may be another thing to consider. Something like Fancy Feast is sold at grocery stores, Wal Mart, etc while other brands may only be sold at specialty pet stores, and maybe not even in your local area.

Some often recommened brands to feed are Fancy Feast, Friskies, Wellness, Innova EVO, Merrick, and Special Kitty. Try a few different brands to see what your cat likes and doesn't like. I had to try several brands before finding a few that my diabetic would eat.

{quote]- It sounds like it impacts the dose of insulin you should give--what is the process of "starting over" with regulating your cat?[/quote]

A change in diet can impact blood glucose levels. Testing the blood glucose levels at home is the most important thing you can do to prevent a hypo.

If you haven't started on testing yet, you could reduce the insulin to 0.5 units twice a day while changing the diet. But it depends on your cat and the particular insulin, I think. More experienced people can suggest what to do.



- What is the most inexpensive canned food you would recommend?
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Fancy Feast but those little teeny cans can add up in cost. Special Kitty (a Wal Mart brand, I think) is a little cheaper than Fancy Feast and I think those only come in teeny cans as well.

You may want to consider brands that come in a variety of can sizes. Like Wellness comes in 3 oz, 5.5 oz, and 12 oz sizes. If you have multiple cats, the larger can sizes are more economical.

My two cents :smile:
 
I'm pretty sure I've seen Special Kitty in big (dog-food-sized) cans in the Walmart near my house. I don't feed it - found something else that works with my allergy-asthma kitties and haven't dared to change - but plenty of people do, with good success.
 
I have 2¢ too!
Don't buy in bulk until you make sure kitty will eat that particular brand/flavor. I've done that.

Yesterday I dropped $35.00 at petsmart. 40 cans of FF classics for Bob which will feed him for 20 days, and 30 cans of Friskees pates for Mullet, my civvie and that will feed him for 4 weeks. My shelf is about to collapse, but I won't have to drive 25 miles to Petsmart for a while. I switched Mullet to an all Friskees diet when I changed Bob to FF. Beauty of it is that they both like their respective foods, and when I need to give Bob a little more food in the day, I can steal a spoonful out of the Friskees without screwing up his carbs or dipping into his FF stash.

Carl
 
carlinsc said:
I have 2¢ too!
Don't buy in bulk until you make sure kitty will eat that particular brand/flavor. I've done that.
Click to expand...


Lol :lol: Very good and important point :lol: When I was switching my diabetic from dry to canned, I bought one 3oz can of each variety from a particular brand and gave my cat a teeny sample of each in separate bowls to try. I eventually figured out what brands and which varieties for each brand he liked and didn't like. Then I would buy a case of the "yummy" food. The "yucky" cans of opened food were given away to a friend whose cats had less disciminating tastes :razz: Of course there were a few times when I bought a case of "yummy" food only to have my cat flat out refuse to eat it :roll:
 
The Special Kitty large pate cans are okay, as are several of the pates of 9-Lives and Friskies. One thing I've found is that we do go through more cans because the water content is much higher in those foods than in some of the pricier brands... I have Willie on a raw diet now, but when I feed canned regularly, I stick with Merrick Before Grain Turkey and Blue Wilderness Duck because they are low in phosphorous and with his age, I'm doing all I can to shield his kidneys. I found that he tended to eat less of those foods than the cheaper brands (which he LOVES), so it tended to balance out. Either way, MUCH cheaper than buying prescription foods!!

If Sushi doesn't take to wet food right away, there are lots of tips out there for making the conversion more palatable!! Just ask!!
 
Hi Sushi's person,
You said 'starting over' in your first post....are you already shooting insulin. Sorry if you already have all that written somewhere and are on top of it. But you do know that you will drop dose if/when you switch to a low carb diet right?
Just checking.
If your shooting can you tell us which insulin and how much?
Lori
and tomtom
 
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