Types of Cat Food

[Willow The Cat]

Hi, I am new here, the owner of Willow The Cat. I believe I gave Willow type 2 diabetes by feeding him the dry food from Trader Joe's. Willow has been diabetes free for over a year now but it was a harrowing and expensive experience to treat him and and learn all about the disease.

My FIRST AND FOREMOST bit of advice is SAVE MONEY IN AN EMERGENCY ACCOUNT!

When I adopted Willow from the shelter I inquired about pet insurance. I was told it was not worth it and to just save 10 or 20 dollars a week in a separate special account for the cat, which I did. I had 3000 in it by the time Willow was sick and it cost me all of it and more to treat him, this doesn't even include the veterinarian visit because she never charged me. Willow required immediate attention when I realized he was sick. I noticed the excessive thirst and urination and the strong smell of the urine. I knew what was wrong because I was aware of these symptoms in humans and a small bit about diabetes in humans.

The veterinarian suggested immediate emergency hospitalization and I could not afford this, this was all of the 3000 plus more just to begin treatment and provide emergency care. I said I would buy the equipment and treat him myself and the veterinarian was delighted and taught me what to do. She was wonderful.

If I remember correctly the immediate danger was that I would overdose Willow on insulin and he had to be watched all night. I was willing to take this risk. This involved getting some type of corn syrup if I remember correctly to give him to counter act the insulin shock if it happened... or something...

I had to purchase a feline glucose monitor, syringes, insulin and everything that goes with it and learn what to do.

I think Willow's blood sugar was around 400 or something when he was first tested, is that possible???? it seems to be normal at 90... He actually lost the use of his back legs, he could not jump, although he kept trying he would just flop back down... I was sure I would lose him....... The treatment took almost one year.

Anyway, the money I had saved for Willow The Cat proved to be there for that reason and was a big help.

I have more to say about Willow, and feline diabetes and am more than happy to answer questions about my experience.

My first question is about the food. I have been feeding Willow 'Wellness' brand Grain Free varieties only, specifically chicken, as per the vet.

I have been feeding this to Willow for over a year and this vet has since retired and disappeared. Does anyone have other Grain Free cat foods they have fed a RECOVERED diabetic cat with and had success??? What about dry??? Willow likes dry and he gets Wellness CORE, from time to time but I am afraid of DRY food specifically......

Food Suggestions??? and thanks for having this page!!

 

[TheBowHuntress]

Hi there! What a sweetie Willow must be!
Do you mean he's diabetic again?
Most of us feed our cats wetfood, only, with 8% or less of carbs; never dry food.
Some members feed the Zero Carb dry food; and some both wet and dry...
I know nothing about the Wellness grain free--do you mean dry or wet?
When did his BG go up and have you been testing?

 

[Deb & Wink]

I think Willow's blood sugar was around 400 or something when he was first tested, is that possible????

Yes, when cats are first diagnosed, the BG numbers can be in the 400's or even higher up into the 600's.

I think you said your cat was still in remission, for 1 year now, not needing insulin any more. Is this correct?

You were looking for other low carb canned foods to feed Willow. We use this food chart, by Dr. Lisa Pierson, DVM. http://www.catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf Look for any foods that are ,< 10% carbs. That would be the third column of numbers on the chart. Some cats do better on even lower carb foods.

I believe the foods you are currently feeding are more in the 3 to 6% carb range. You might want to look for those lower carb percentages since that seems to have kept Willow in remission.

Member Rhiannon and Shadow has created this shortcut list from the food chart. You only need to pay attention to the phosphorus number if your cat has kidney disease. Link is here: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=94685

 

[Hillary & Maui (GA)]

If you are looking for an alternative to dry food, I have been feeding Stella & Chewy's freeze dried raw dinners. While it's intended to have water added to it, my cats prefer it dry. It's the closest to kibbles that will get (without actually giving kibbles) and it hasn't affected Maui's BG's at all.

Here is where I buy it and it does come in several flavors - chicken, duck, turkey, salmon...

http://www.petfood.com/item/stella-and- ... od/498360/

If you sign up for auto delivery, you automatically get 15% discount, plus they send discounts/coupons in email.

They also get Fancy Feast Classics with one can of water added to one can of food.

Hope this helps.

 

[danialhutson]

I am prefer the only doctor suggest food for my cat.

 

[Deb & Wink]

Hi Daniel,

What foods has your vet suggested for your cat?

My vet wanted my foster cat on the Hill's w/d which is about 37% carbs, the shelter also was advised to feed grain free food so they were feeding Arcana which is 26 -30% carbs. Then the vet wanted to switch to Hill's m/d. Still a bit too high in carbs at 14-16% for a diabetic cat.

You might want to read the AAHA Diabetes Management Guidelines for Dogs and Cats http://www.aahanet.org/PublicDocuments/AAHADiabetesGuidelines.pdf which is from a vet published journal back in 2010. It advises feeding the lowest carb diet your cat will accept. We here have also found that feeding a diet with <10% carb can get a cat into remission. That means no more insulin for a time.

I switched my cat Wink to the low carb diet and got him into remission after about 6 weeks at my house. This was after 4 months of uncontrolled, unregulated blood glucose numbers at the cat shelter. He had horrible diabetic neuropathy too. High BG's cause organ damage over time so we want to get those under control, under 250 as quickly and as often as we can.

Some cats can drop 100 points when switched from dry to wet low carb. A very good thing to get those blood glucose numbers lower.

Daniel, You may want to start your own topic. Just click on the Newtopic button at the top left of the page and write away. We can answer any specific questions you may have and explain why we are making those suggestions.

We live feline diabetes 24/7 and there is a lot of experience in the day to day management of diabetes by our members.