Transitioning to Porta 21

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Madalina & Mishu

Member Since 2020
Hello, could use your advice, Mishu has been on insulin for a few months now, he is doing ok, i am still looking to find a better vet but i am still stuck with my old one for now (a story for another time) and i want to start introducing Porta 21 to his diet. I have 6 cats in the house, Mishu a diabetic, the male cats (Stix and Mishu) having 2 3 urinary tract runs to the vet over the years, but not in the last 3 years, Pia, a female who was overweight, Lucky, male, who is 2 years old, Kali a female who has a sensible stomach and Luna, female, who is on the chubby side, all of them are indoor and sterilised, healthy and happy now.

Ordered off of zooplus last night Porta 21, and i would like for all of them to try it out. Is it safe? How do i do it? Do i change with one of the foods they already have on a freefeeder or do i start with small portions? I am trying to get rid of Royal because i read that it is not healthy for any one of them. I frequently give them wet food and snacks (olives, raw chicken, etc) but would love to still have a free feeder with something ok for everyone. What do you guys think? What now? Thank you in advance!
 
Any food change should be done slowly. ESPECIALLY for the Mishu. A little less dry everyday with a little more added can everyday
I am not familiar with Porta 21 so will let someone else speak to that.
Ummm are you just shooting Lantus once a day?
 
Trying my best with the wet. And we are getting to the long story part with the lantus 1shot... been trying to find a better vet to help me out with that part. Went to 4 other from where i live and talked to 2 other who are friends of friends and can't find a single one to help me with the shots or at least say to do 2 shots per day. So i'm stuck with my old vet with which i have had a wonderfull relationship for the past 8-9 years untill this... I live really far away from the next city, don't drive, no taxis here, i only have my dad who cand help me with the vet visits, so if Mishu goes in LO or in HI i don't have anywhere to go with him ... So the vet (and the others) said that it is safer to be on the high side (300-400) than risk losing him at home with no where to go with him...
 
Everyone in the US uses dr Elsey or something like that but we fon't have that here. Porta 21 is the only low carb i can find, and one from Feringa (will try that too) Bought a lot of Porta to start with, and now i'm getting worried again as to how i'm gonna do this food change. I am already scared out of my mind with the lantus 1shot per day, this is the cherry on the top for me now.
I am hoping that transitioning to Porta his BG will go a little lower so 1 shot will be enough. Am i crazy to hope for something like that?
 
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Well you CAN give 1 unit a day, just split it in two. You dont have to tell your vet you did that. How is he to know? I'm sorry if this has already be hashed out here. I dont mean to upset you. But thats what I would do. I'd just tell the vet YES he gets one unit a day and leave it at that. Does that make sense?
 
Tried to talk to the vet about this, and him and the other vet with whom i talked to about the same problem (one is in the afternoon, one is in the morning) said that they both have had diabetic cats go into remision with 1 shot of 2 units per day. After this on a different visit we talked about 2 cases they both had, one with a lady with a diabetic cat who tried to do something like that on her own, to adjust the insulin, and was at the vet almost everyday with BG under 40 and over 500. Scared the life out of me ...
You didn't upset me, i understand that most people who have diabetic cats do 2 shots, i talked to people who give 1 shot, who got into remision with 1 shot, who went into remision with only diet change and so on. I just want to try this food change out hoping that it will be enough to lower his bg and not need insulin at all. The vet said that it could happen and he was ok with me trying it in the first place but we got stuck on the foods available here and that i have 5 more cats at home that can't eat diabetic food.
I test like crazy, i keep an eye on him and what he eats, i work from home now, this is the right moment to try this out. With the shots, i'm not doing it alone, i want a vet to be ok with this, i feel like i'm insanse trying to convince every vet to let me do 2 shots and they keep telling me that they have succeded with one... I wish i could find one to support me because when something seems off i want to call him and find out that everything is ok and i'm just overreacting, or to tell me to come in for a check up. I can't do it on my own... i don't know if anything i just said makes sense to you
And the weird part is that Mishu (on the outside) is doing great, i mean he is perfect, even with 450 he is his happy self running around the house jumping all over, no over drinking, no overeating, no nothing, everytime the vet asks me how he is, he is great, but with 450 before the shot. I am confused... And i think that all the vets i talked to are also confused ...
 
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It does make sense and I understand. Looking at Mishu's spread sheet should be enough for your vet to see it isnt working. I see you have a blue test but thats the only one:(. Not all cats are alike. Mishu is a different cat. I feel bad for your situation. But I get you are doing what you have to do to keep your vet. :bighug:

As for the food? I'm clueless. sorry.:oops:
 
Hi Madalina,

Based on your food choices am I correct to guess that you're in Europe and do you order your food from Zooplus? If yes, we may be able to point you towards additional low carb options that they carry.

Wherever you're ordering the Porta 21 food from, I recommend that you check that it's a *complete* cat food, not just a *complementary* food. Complementary foods don't contain all the nutrients a cat needs every day so they should only be fed as a supplementary food, not a main one.

With regard to twice a day dosing, I've attached below a copy of a peer-reviewed study on treatment of cats with long-acting insulins including Lantus. They advocate twice a day dosing for Lantus. Maybe it might help your discussions with your vet.


Mogs
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Hi Madalina,

i order from Zooplus. [...] How do i find out if it is a complementary or a complete cat food?
Go to the Zooplus website and look up the product(s) you're interested in. For each product, check out the description of the food and also look at the Feeding Guide tab. They usually identify there whether a product is either a complete or complementary food, e.g:


upload_2020-11-11_10-42-11.png




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NB: Sometimes in their product description/feeding guide Zooplus refer to complementary foods as 'supplementary foods'. They're the same thing.

If you're not sure about whether any particular product is complete or complementary, Zooplus customer care can usually answer these queries easily.


Mogs
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Here's a link to the FDMB UK food list:

UK Cat Food List

At the beginning of the list there's a wide selection of low carb foods normally carried by Zooplus. You're looking for anything that has less than 10% kcal from carbs (yellow column). Also at the end of the list there's a section on additional foods available in Europe but not directly in the UK.

I think with the covid problems their stock has been a bit more restricted of late, but hopefully the list should help point you in the direction of some additional low carb food choices for Mishu. :)


Mogs
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Thank you! I'm from Romania, most of the foods aren't available here that's why i bought some porta 21 because it's the only one with @15% carbs. I know it's a bit high but it's the best i could find for now and feringa (will try that too) with 12%, both dry.

This is what i found in the description
Completă = complete here, so, i'm on the right track right?

Thank you so much!
 

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