Hi Catherine,
I'm really glad you've posted this message because I think a UK food discussion is needed. So thanks for initiating it. :smile:
Funnily enough, I've been meaning to post for a couple of days because I've changed Bertie's food recently and almost cannot believe the change in him! At first I thought it was just a 'flash in the pan' thing, but the effect on him has remained stable for about a month now, so much so that I'm going to write to my vet about it...
Around this time of year, as the weather gets cooler, Bert's numbers usually deteriorate dramatically, and he can even fail to respond to insulin at all - flying up into the mid teens and even low 20's (270-396) for a spell. But this year, as his numbers started to rise, I felt I just had to see if I could make the situation better, and I looked at his diet... I started reading online about cat food...ingredients in cat food....quality of ingredients in cat food...blah. blah, blah... Geez, I've even started dreaming about cat food... :shock:
When Bert was DX back in early 2007 the general advice for UK'ers on this board was that pretty much any food in jelly (that looked like it had a low carb content) was fine. Most people fed their cats Whiskas or Felix in jelly, or Butcher's Classic (and a few folks fed raw food). I fed Bert Butcher's Classic and Felix foils. And it stayed that way until about a month ago...
Following all that I came across online I switched Bert's food to mainly Bozita (cans not tetrapacks), supplemented with Grau 'grain free' and Lily's kitchen. It was the start of an interesting experiment...
Within 3 days Bert's blood glucose dropped. And his response to insulin changed. His glucose curves flattened out. Currently at preshot he's about 10(180), then after 4 hours he'll drop to between 5 - 7 (90 - 126) and just stay there for hours...sometimes up to 24 hours, which means he sometimes needs only one shot per day. This morning when I got up he was 6.2, and he was the same when I checked him just recently, so, no shot this morning.... This is extraordinary! Even in the height of summer his numbers have never been this good!
Now, when you just look at the cat food label 'analysis' of protein, fat, moisture levels etc, all of these foods look pretty much the same. And the carb content seems to be fairly similar. So I think the 'quality' of the food must play a key role in the equation.
When you read pet forums there are a lot of messages from people concerned about the quality of our 'usual' UK cat foods, especially the 'big names' that so many of us buy just out of habit. There is a feeling that things are very different in the rest of europe -notably Germany and Sweden - where pet food standards are apparently higher; The protein content from real meat is significantly higher, and the protein from other sources, ie meat or fish 'derivatives' is much lower. There is also much greater transparency about what the food actually contains.
In terms of cost, Bozita cans can work out only slightly more expensive than Whiskas and Felix etc, and so would seem to be one of the best options for FD cats on a budget. It is however a 'pate' type and not all cats will take to it initally. Grau 'grain free' is quite pricey unless you buy the big 800g cans (which work out much cheaper per kg). With the big cans there would seem to be the potential for wastage if the cat/s gets bored. But someone pointed out to me the other day that - even if you only have one cat - you can buy some big cans, portion up the food and freeze it so that you can use it more easily in rotation with other foods. Lily's kitchen is even pricier but the ingredients look fab: and they refuse to make a dry cat food! Hurrah!!!
Animonda Carny is another food that is generally popular, but when I calculated the carb value from the label it looked higher than the other foods. (Though it might be worth contacting the manufacturer for a more detailed breakdown of the ingredients..)
Bozita cans and Grau grain-free can be bought from Zooplus. The price of Lily's kitchen foods seems to vary and it can be worth searching online for good deals. Generally, vetuk.co.uk seems to have the best prices (but currently at Ocado Lily's kitchen is 5 for the price of 4, so maybe Waitrose have the same offer..?)
I'd be really interested to know what other UK folks are now feeding their cats, and also would love to know if anyone else has observed significant BG changes as a result of switching brands...?
