Worried cat Dad at wit's end, please advise.

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PHK

PHK

Member Since 2016
Hey all,

My 17.5 lb cat (9.5 years old) was just diagnosed with diabetes last week. Vet said to get on Lantus immediately and switch food immediately - from dry grazing method to Hill's M/D wet food with specific meal times. He ate it up the first night but has been very picky since then, even after switching to Fancy Feast. Tried mixing with dry food but that doesn't help that much. Was always under the impression that this is a process, diet/feeding time transition (a large one at that), but the vet just told me that if he isn't getting enough caloric intake, even for a few days, then he is at serious risk for Hepatic Lipidosis, especially since he is so large...advised me to go back to dry food grazing method, which seems like an awfully rash decision. He isn't eating enough, plain and simple. I don't want to risk him getting HL, but I also don't want to just go back to dry food/grazing because he'll never attempt to eat the wet food and this will all have been in vain. Any input would be greatly appreciated, as I am sort of at my wit's end. **Haven't been giving him insulin as I know that he shouldn't get shot if he isn't eating enough (BG levels would be too low). Going to try Fortiflora today but don't have high hopes to be honest, he's a smart picky cat. Should I continue trying this feeding transition even if he isn't getting enough food? Or go back to the old approach?

Oh and I got the AlphaTrack glucometer coming in the mail tomorrow, really excited to subject him to even more uncomfortable changes! :(

Thank you in advance!!!
 
PHK said:
Hey all,

My 17.5 lb cat (9.5 years old) was just diagnosed with diabetes last week. Vet said to get on Lantus immediately and switch food immediately - from dry grazing method to Hill's M/D wet food with specific meal times. He ate it up the first night but has been very picky since then, even after switching to Fancy Feast. Tried mixing with dry food but that doesn't help that much. Was always under the impression that this is a process, diet/feeding time transition (a large one at that), but the vet just told me that if he isn't getting enough caloric intake, even for a few days, then he is at serious risk for Hepatic Lipidosis, especially since he is so large...advised me to go back to dry food grazing method, which seems like an awfully rash decision. He isn't eating enough, plain and simple. I don't want to risk him getting HL, but I also don't want to just go back to dry food/grazing because he'll never attempt to eat the wet food and this will all have been in vain. Any input would be greatly appreciated, as I am sort of at my wit's end. **Haven't been giving him insulin as I know that he shouldn't get shot if he isn't eating enough (BG levels would be too low). Going to try Fortiflora today but don't have high hopes to be honest, he's a smart picky cat. Should I continue trying this feeding transition even if he isn't getting enough food? Or go back to the old approach?

Oh and I got the AlphaTrack glucometer coming in the mail tomorrow, really excited to subject him to even more uncomfortable changes! :(

Thank you in advance!!!
Click to expand...
 
Welcome.
Most of us here test or cats blood glucose at home using a human meter. It is good that you have a meter coming. Just note that the strips for the AlphaTrak are expensive ad most of us use a human meter like Walmart's WalMart ReliOn Confirm or Confirm Micro
We test before each shot and periodically between shots. We record our reading and other info in a spreadsheet. See:http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/...te-a-ss-and-link-it-in-your-signature.130337/
A low-carb canned is best. No reason for a prescription food. For transitioning have you tried mixing the dry with the canned and increasing the amount of canned gradually? Yes, it is better to feed dry than nothing. Just note that gong to canned will reduce insulin needs so dose may have to be decreased and home testing BG is very important in that regard.
Here is a list of commercial low-carb canned

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/shortcut-shopping-list-all-8-or-less-updated.117688/

Here is a link to home testing blood sugarshttp://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/
 
Hi!
I know the situation you & your cat are in can be very scary at first; don't loose hope. I have a 13 year old female cat that developed diabetes in 2014. After 3 months of insulin & a change in her diet the diabetes disappeared. Unfortunately, it reappeared again last fall so I'm hoping things will turn out as good this time as it did before. I've found if I keep clam & speak in a low quiet voice when I do the blood testing & the insulin injection she also stays quiet. I get everything ready then put her on a mat on the table & gently massage her back. She lays down on the mat & begins to purr. Next is putting a warm cloth on the outside edge of her ear to bring the blood to the surface; I use a folded paper towel, wet with warm water (squeeze out excess water). Find the vein in the ear & prick for blood sample; helps if the ear is white or light colored.

While doing some research I found a web site called Binkey's Page, a resource for feline diabetes; http://binkyspage.tripod.com/index.html. It has great information on just about anything you want to know about choosing food, treatment, & answers to questions you may have. You mentioned Fancy Feast cat food & one of the lowest carbohydrate flavors is Fish & Shrimp or Ocean Fish.

I certainly wish you & your cat well & hope he begins to improve very soon.

Oreo's mom
 
Hi there,

I've been where you are right now with my cat not long after she was diagnosed. It's frustrating. And very scary. :bighug:

When our little ones are diagnosed all we want to do is have them get better as fast as possible, so we try to do all the things that in theory are the best things to do but in practice don't suit our particular kitty straight away.

Abrupt food transitions can cause digestive upsets and, based on what I've experienced with my own cat and what I've seen here over the past year and a half, I think some cats can get GI upsets in the early stages of insulin treatment, too. One of the things I note from your opening post is that the vet asked you to switch to fixed mealtimes instead of grazing. That, too, can cause GI upsets; if the fasting period is too long some cats get problems with build-up of stomach acid (not just diabetic cats). Below is a link to a nausea symptom checker. See if your cat is showing any of the signs, even subtle ones.

Nausea symptoms and treatments

Right now, the most important thing is for your cat to get food - any food it will eat. It also needs to receive insulin. With not enough food AND not enough insulin your cat is at greater risk of developing ketones, and this can lead to diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) as well as hepatic lipidosis. DKA is potentially life-threatening and needs intensive veterinary treatment.

If you don't yet have urine test strips for detecting ketones at home I strongly recommend you to get hold of some straight away and test your kitty's urine for ketones. If it comes back 'trace' let the vet know immediately. If it comes back higher than trace, get your cat to the vet for emergency treatment straight away.

Will your kitty happily eat his old food? If yes, then if I were in your situation I would let him eat that and ring the vet today about his insulin. Your kitty really needs to receive insulin and your vet will need to instruct you on what to do dose-wise based on the blood glucose data he has and how much you manage to get your cat to eat. If your cat is still struggling to eat then I recommend you ask your vet for some sort of anti-nausea treatment (Cerenia or ondansetron) and an appetite stimulant (e.g. cyproheptadine) as a matter of urgency. Also, ask about famotidine for excess stomach acid in case that might be the problem. The longer they go without food the harder it is to get them to start eating again. One positive; Lantus is a longer-acting insulin and many, many people here are successfully treating their cats' diabetes while feeding multiple small meals throughout most of the day. Some even leave their kitties to graze, only lifting the food for the two hours before an insulin dose is due. (The two-hour fast is needed to ensure that the pre-injection blood glucose test isn't influenced by food, so that you will know better how safe it is to give insulin.)

Right now the priority is to get your kitty eating again A.S.A.P. The insulin can be worked around the carbohydrates in the food and when he's stabilized again you'll be able to v-e-r-y gradually transition your cat to the better diet over time. It doesn't need to be done overnight. Diabetes management is very much a marathon, not a sprint. Even though it might seem like it right now, all is not lost; it may just take longer to get all the ducks in a row than you had originally hoped. One of the hardest things to learn about treating diabetes is the amount of patience required. I have never been a naturally patient person and I really struggled with it in the early days and, to be completely honest, I still do on occasion. :oops:

Let us know what you plan to do, and please ask any questions you can think of.



Mogs
.
 
Larry and Kitties said:
Welcome.
Most of us here test or cats blood glucose at home using a human meter. It is good that you have a meter coming. Just note that the strips for the AlphaTrak are expensive ad most of us use a human meter like Walmart's WalMart ReliOn Confirm or Confirm Micro
We test before each shot and periodically between shots. We record our reading and other info in a spreadsheet. See:http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/...te-a-ss-and-link-it-in-your-signature.130337/
A low-carb canned is best. No reason for a prescription food. For transitioning have you tried mixing the dry with the canned and increasing the amount of canned gradually? Yes, it is better to feed dry than nothing. Just note that gong to canned will reduce insulin needs so dose may have to be decreased and home testing BG is very important in that regard.
Here is a list of commercial low-carb canned

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/shortcut-shopping-list-all-8-or-less-updated.117688/

Here is a link to home testing blood sugarshttp://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/
Click to expand...


Thanks for your reply and the input regarding the BG meter, we decided to go with AlphaTrak per vet's instructions and so forth. My main concern is the diet right now. We are mixing the wet food with his previous dry food, but he still won't eat the whole can. I don't know if it's because he isn't used to eating so much at once or what. Doesn't seem like he refuses the wet food, he just can't handle eating all of it at once. Should I just leave it out and hope for the best? Switch back to dry food entirely? Would it be a smart approach to switch back to the dry food, start the insulin doses since we have yet to do so, and then work on the diet over time?
 
It's not necessary for him to eat his whole amount in one meal....it's actually easier on the pancreas to deal with several small meals per day than 2 big ones (that's one of the reasons they tell human diabetics to switch to eating 6 small meals a day....puts less strain on the pancreas)

The main time it's important that they don't eat is the 2 hour window before shot time so you can test and get a result that's not influenced by food.

You might try breaking up his meals...take the total amount you want him eating in the day and divide by 3....give him 1/3rd with the shot, 1/3rd about 3 hours later (+3) and the final 1/3rd at +6 ....then repeat on the evening cycle ....see if that helps and let us know

You can also make frozen "food-sickles" by adding water to canned food and freezing it in ice cube trays or mini-muffin pans....Most cats won't eat frozen food, but as it thaws several hours later, it offers them a "fresh" meal (good for those night feedings if you don't own an auto-feeder)
 
Critter Mom said:
Hi there,

I've been where you are right now with my cat not long after she was diagnosed. It's frustrating. And very scary. :bighug:

When our little ones are diagnosed all we want to do is have them get better as fast as possible, so we try to do all the things that in theory are the best things to do but in practice don't suit our particular kitty straight away.

Abrupt food transitions can cause digestive upsets and, based on what I've experienced with my own cat and what I've seen here over the past year and a half, I think some cats can get GI upsets in the early stages of insulin treatment, too. One of the things I note from your opening post is that the vet asked you to switch to fixed mealtimes instead of grazing. That, too, can cause GI upsets; if the fasting period is too long some cats get problems with build-up of stomach acid (not just diabetic cats). Below is a link to a nausea symptom checker. See if your cat is showing any of the signs, even subtle ones.

Nausea symptoms and treatments

Right now, the most important thing is for your cat to get food - any food it will eat. It also needs to receive insulin. With not enough food AND not enough insulin your cat is at greater risk of developing ketones, and this can lead to diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) as well as hepatic lipidosis. DKA is potentially life-threatening and needs intensive veterinary treatment.

If you don't yet have urine test strips for detecting ketones at home I strongly recommend you to get hold of some straight away and test your kitty's urine for ketones. If it comes back 'trace' let the vet know immediately. If it comes back higher than trace, get your cat to the vet for emergency treatment straight away.

Will your kitty happily eat his old food? If yes, then if I were in your situation I would let him eat that and ring the vet today about his insulin. Your kitty really needs to receive insulin and your vet will need to instruct you on what to do dose-wise based on the blood glucose data he has and how much you manage to get your cat to eat. If your cat is still struggling to eat then I recommend you ask your vet for some sort of anti-nausea treatment (Cerenia or ondansetron) and an appetite stimulant (e.g. cyproheptadine) as a matter of urgency. Also, ask about famotidine for excess stomach acid in case that might be the problem. The longer they go without food the harder it is to get them to start eating again. One positive; Lantus is a longer-acting insulin and many, many people here are successfully treating their cats' diabetes while feeding multiple small meals throughout most of the day. Some even leave their kitties to graze, only lifting the food for the two hours before an insulin dose is due. (The two-hour fast is needed to ensure that the pre-injection blood glucose test isn't influenced by food, so that you will know better how safe it is to give insulin.)

Right now the priority is to get your kitty eating again A.S.A.P. The insulin can be worked around the carbohydrates in the food and when he's stabilized again you'll be able to v-e-r-y gradually transition your cat to the better diet over time. It doesn't need to be done overnight. Diabetes management is very much a marathon, not a sprint. Even though it might seem like it right now, all is not lost; it may just take longer to get all the ducks in a row than you had originally hoped. One of the hardest things to learn about treating diabetes is the amount of patience required. I have never been a naturally patient person and I really struggled with it in the early days and, to be completely honest, I still do on occasion. :oops:

Let us know what you plan to do, and please ask any questions you can think of.



Mogs
.
Click to expand...


Thank you!! I agree that it seems like the most logical step would be to just get him back to eating normal amounts of food, then worry about the diet transition after I'm checking his BG levels regularly and giving him his shots twice a day. Will keep everyone updated, and plan to be an active contributor once I lose the training wheels! Will offer any helpful input I can.
 
Chris & China said:
It's not necessary for him to eat his whole amount in one meal....it's actually easier on the pancreas to deal with several small meals per day than 2 big ones (that's one of the reasons they tell human diabetics to switch to eating 6 small meals a day....puts less strain on the pancreas)

The main time it's important that they don't eat is the 2 hour window before shot time so you can test and get a result that's not influenced by food.

You might try breaking up his meals...take the total amount you want him eating in the day and divide by 3....give him 1/3rd with the shot, 1/3rd about 3 hours later (+3) and the final 1/3rd at +6 ....then repeat on the evening cycle ....see if that helps and let us know

You can also make frozen "food-sickles" by adding water to canned food and freezing it in ice cube trays or mini-muffin pans....Most cats won't eat frozen food, but as it thaws several hours later, it offers them a "fresh" meal (good for those night feedings if you don't own an auto-feeder)
Click to expand...

Thanks! I'm feeding him twice a day, so I'm not attempting to get him to eat more than he can handle (at least I didn't think so). Vet suggested that since he is such a large cat that he needs about 9-10 oz of food per day...and right now I'm having trouble getting him to even eat 3 oz at a time (twice a day) of the wet food mixed with the dry. I could feed him 3x a day if feeding at midnight is ok, I work 9-6 everyday so the only option is to feed him early, then after work, and then before bed around midnight?
 
I'd hang fire on the raw food for now. It needs a slow transition at the best of times. I suggest that right now you just get your kitty eating enough and reliably so that you won't have difficulty giving him his insulin. (Great that you'll be home testing!) Sorting out a schedule for food and insulin which suits you and your kitty's specific needs is the thing to focus on right now. When you get that sorted it takes away a lot of the post-diagnosis initial stress and that helps enormously (believe me!). After that you can focus more on food transition (NB: testing during the gradual transition is vital to keep your little one safe; blood glucose levels may decrease significantly so you need to make sure you don't give too much insulin.)

Following on from Chris's suggestions about feeding times, while it is better in principle to give all of the food allowance in the first half of each 12-hour cycle if nausea/GI upset is potentially a problem then feeding every three hours could work better because it helps to prevent stomach acid irritating the kitty's tummy (i.e. before insulin, then +3, +6 and +9 hours after the injection time). You could divide up the feeds into different sizes so that your kitty gets most of his food between injection time and +6 hours after, and then gets a smaller meal at +9 so that he has something in his tummy. I did that for my Saoirse and it worked well.

As Chris has suggested above, setting out meatsicles while you're at work or asleep can help, but you get more control over when your kitty has meals if you use a timed feeder. Petsafe 5 feeders are excellent (and I've tried several).

What's your little fella's name? And yours (if you care to share!)?


Mogs
 
Last edited:
Hello,

Do you and your cat have names? You will find a routine that works for you, no doubt on that. As a reference, my Smokey is 16-17 lbs. His top was 22-25 when he was non diabetic. He eats 1.5 oz (approx 10 oz a day) every 3-3.5 hrs round the clock because he will vomit if He goes longer without food. He is maintaining his weight. When his levels are high and quite low he is hungrier than normal. In between like he is now, he does leave food in his bowl. One day not long ago he ate hardly anything. He was in middle of bounce and feeling it and just not hungry at all. Next morning the bounce broke and he was fine.

I have just bought a auto feeder, how I did with out it I don't know. I set it up for 2 night feedings and on the days I work. Sometimes I put the frozen food in it, normally I just put regular depends on his readings.

Find a starting point for feeding and tweak as he/she progresses with insulin. Keep us posted.
 
Critter Mom said:
I'd hang fire on the raw food for now. It needs a slow transition at the best of times. I suggest that right now you just get your kitty eating enough and reliably so that you won't have difficulty giving him his insulin. (Great that you'll be home testing!) Sorting out a schedule for food and insulin which suits you and your kitty's specific needs is the thing to focus on right now. When you get that sorted it takes away a lot of the post-diagnosis initial stress and that helps enormously (believe me!).

Following on from Chris's suggestions about feeding times, while it is better in principle to give all of the food allowance in the first half of each 12-hour cycle if nausea/GI upset is potentially a problem then feeding every three hours could work better because it helps to prevent stomach acid irritating the kitty's tummy (i.e. before insulin, then +3, +6 and +9 hours after the injection time). You could divide up the feeds into different sizes so that your kitty gets most of his food between injection time and +6 hours after, and then gets a smaller meal at +9 so that he has something in his tummy. I did that for my Saoirse and it worked well.

As Chris has suggested above, setting out meatsicles while you're at work or asleep can help, but you get more control over when your kitty has meals if you use a timed feeder. Petsafe 5 feeders are excellent (and I've tried several).

What's your little fella's name? And yours (if you care to share!)?


Mogs
Click to expand...

His name is Copernicus and he is a very fat cat that only wants to lay on his back and be nuzzled (and take selfies). Mine is Patrick!

IMG_6493.JPG
 
Woodsywife said:
Hello,

Do you and your cat have names? You will find a routine that works for you, no doubt on that. As a reference, my Smokey is 16-17 lbs. His top was 22-25 when he was non diabetic. He eats 1.5 oz (approx 10 oz a day) every 3-3.5 hrs round the clock because he will vomit if He goes longer without food. He is maintaining his weight. When his levels are high and quite low he is hungrier than normal. In between like he is now, he does leave food in his bowl. One day not long ago he ate hardly anything. He was in middle of bounce and feeling it and just not hungry at all. Next morning the bounce broke and he was fine.

I have just bought a auto feeder, how I did with out it I don't know. I set it up for 2 night feedings and on the days I work. Sometimes I put the frozen food in it, normally I just put regular depends on his readings.

Find a starting point for feeding and tweak as he/she progresses with insulin. Keep us posted.
Click to expand...


Above! And thank you, that sounds like a great suggestion, especially considering I can't be home to feed them every 3 hours.
 
Critter Mom said:
I'd hang fire on the raw food for now. It needs a slow transition at the best of times. I suggest that right now you just get your kitty eating enough and reliably so that you won't have difficulty giving him his insulin. (Great that you'll be home testing!) Sorting out a schedule for food and insulin which suits you and your kitty's specific needs is the thing to focus on right now. When you get that sorted it takes away a lot of the post-diagnosis initial stress and that helps enormously (believe me!).

Following on from Chris's suggestions about feeding times, while it is better in principle to give all of the food allowance in the first half of each 12-hour cycle if nausea/GI upset is potentially a problem then feeding every three hours could work better because it helps to prevent stomach acid irritating the kitty's tummy (i.e. before insulin, then +3, +6 and +9 hours after the injection time). You could divide up the feeds into different sizes so that your kitty gets most of his food between injection time and +6 hours after, and then gets a smaller meal at +9 so that he has something in his tummy. I did that for my Saoirse and it worked well.

As Chris has suggested above, setting out meatsicles while you're at work or asleep can help, but you get more control over when your kitty has meals if you use a timed feeder. Petsafe 5 feeders are excellent (and I've tried several).

What's your little fella's name? And yours (if you care to share!)?


Mogs
Click to expand...

Also thanks for the input, I'll keep the raw food on the back burner for now. Going to basically just throw whatever method I can at the wall and see what sticks for now, as long as he gets food down and my stress goes down, then things will be easier.
 
Welcome Patrick and Copernicus! About the only things I can add to this conversation is that you might try giving kitty some plain cooked chicken or non breaded fish to get him to eat.

Also, some of use Freestyle LITE strips in our AT2 meters. They cost half what the AT strips cost and are made by the same company. I'd suggest doing some side by side comparisons until you're comfortable with trusting the numbers. Those of us that use them have found the numbers to run very close, but you need to do your own tests. If you type Freestyle LITE into our search, you'll find the posts/ conversations about it.

I love Copernicus' picture! Ya can't help but want to snuggle that guy!
 
Hi and welcome. One thing I have found that always piques my kitty's food drive is bone broth or roast juice(no onion. garlic or spices) You could try putting some over the wet food. Kitties need to "smell" their food to get the eating urge. Most dry foods have a flavour enhancer added to them, so if you can try to duplicate this with wet food it might be something to try.
 
Mogmom and Goofus said:
Welcome Patrick and Copernicus! About the only things I can add to this conversation is that you might try giving kitty some plain cooked chicken or non breaded fish to get him to eat.

Also, some of use Freestyle LITE strips in our AT2 meters. They cost half what the AT strips cost and are made by the same company. I'd suggest doing some side by side comparisons until you're comfortable with trusting the numbers. Those of us that use them have found the numbers to run very close, but you need to do your own tests. If you type Freestyle LITE into our search, you'll find the posts/ conversations about it.

I love Copernicus' picture! Ya can't help but want to snuggle that guy!
Click to expand...

Ah thank you for the insider tip! Always looking to save a little $$$ especially after everything we've had to spend up until this point. Will post results/updates asap so others can find out a possible solution if they are having the same issues!
 
OMG--what a cutie face!
I have a 20 pounder :eek: that I love beyond words!
WE all here can relate to your stress and worry-
My guy is very fussy about food and I have to rotate often to "trick " him as if it is a new food-
I am on the tight reg. protocol as my guy has transitioned to wet food-he does get the freeze dried chicken/salmon and bonito flakes as well. Many people who have the dry food addicts use Evo or Young again (expensive and high calorie but low carbs-0 net carbs is what they claim) and they do the start low go slow method as tight reg is only if on wet food/no dry.
We have been at the since October and trust me it does get better and you are in a great place! Most of the help I have received was better and more accurate than my vet. I love my vet but he admittedly says he just does not see enough cases to know more about it. Hang in there :cat:
I also use alpha track and I really like it--the strips are way too costly but I found a place that is a little less https://www.pricefalls.com
is about 5$ less than amazon-
 
I have a big old lazy baby like yours, you would never know it to look at him but he will only eat a few bites at a time so I just leave his fancy feast out all the time and let him free feed, he is regulated and stays between 70 and 90 on a human meter all the time so you can free feed wet food without it affecting regulation, sometimes I think he is just to lazy to stand there and eat a lot at once.
 
Copernicus is adorable!!! What a cutie!

Patrick, although I feed raw (Nature's Variety frozen) to my kitties, I agree with Critter Mom - don't start the raw until he is consistently eating a good, preferably low-carb, food. I feed 1/2 of a 5 oz can three times a day, mixed with raw. Sometimes this is too much for my guys to eat at one time, and that may well be what's going on with Copernicus. I would definitely try smaller, more frequent meals and see if that helps. It can also help to warm the canned food a bit ( just double check that it's not too hot!). A sprinkle of Parmesan cheese or a crushed treat makes a nice topping and will sometimes encourage eating.

In the worst-case scenario, if he just won't eat canned food, there are a couple of lower-carb dry foods that have worked for some folks: Evo Cat & Kitten and Young Again Zero Carb. They are pretty pricey and don't work well for some of us, others have had good luck with them. However, I always advocate canned over dry if it's at all possible, so much better for kitty overall!
 
Good luck, Patrick My cat also is extremely finicky and frequently won't eat - I find that putting his food bowl right by his face when he is sleeping works well - he wakes up a little, and eats some before he totally wakes up
 
What a cutie!!!

The food transition is one of the worst parts of this dance. It was a pretty dark time in this household trying to get Jenks to eat wet food. Just remember that every cat is different in what they respond to. If you're like us, you'll try every suggestion in the book. Eventually, one of them will work, and then you'll be off to the races :)
 
AZJenks said:
What a cutie!!!

The food transition is one of the worst parts of this dance. It was a pretty dark time in this household trying to get Jenks to eat wet food. Just remember that every cat is different in what they respond to. If you're like us, you'll try every suggestion in the book. Eventually, one of them will work, and then you'll be off to the races :)
Click to expand...


The dry to wet transition took about 6 weeks for us, Goof H-A-T-E-D it. It was a NIGHTMARE! :nailbiting: It upset his stomch so much, I can't even begin to tell you how many vomit puddles i cleaned up! :confused: Now he just slurps it up and tries his best to steal everyone else's as well. :cat:

Keep the faith. :bighug:
 
Squalliesmom said:
Copernicus is adorable!!! What a cutie!

Patrick, although I feed raw (Nature's Variety frozen) to my kitties, I agree with Critter Mom - don't start the raw until he is consistently eating a good, preferably low-carb, food. I feed 1/2 of a 5 oz can three times a day, mixed with raw. Sometimes this is too much for my guys to eat at one time, and that may well be what's going on with Copernicus. I would definitely try smaller, more frequent meals and see if that helps. It can also help to warm the canned food a bit ( just double check that it's not too hot!). A sprinkle of Parmesan cheese or a crushed treat makes a nice topping and will sometimes encourage eating.

In the worst-case scenario, if he just won't eat canned food, there are a couple of lower-carb dry foods that have worked for some folks: Evo Cat & Kitten and Young Again Zero Carb. They are pretty pricey and don't work well for some of us, others have had good luck with them. However, I always advocate canned over dry if it's at all possible, so much better for kitty overall!
Click to expand...
@Merlin told me about another food - it's a semi-moist no grain, no starch food called Waggers. It was hard to find but I found it, and Murphy will actually eat some occasionally, and when he does, his blood sugars stay nice (as opposed to Evo, which increases his sugars) I'd be curious if anyone else had any experience with it - there's another one called FreshPet Vital - in the refrigerator section of pet food stores - it's also semi moist and according to the CatInfo site, it has only 4% carbs. It is also very low in calories (which isn't good for Murphy as he isn't a good eater) I asked the health forum a few days ago if anyone had any experience with that, but I didn't get a response.
 
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Carol & Murphy said:
@Merlin told me about another food - it's a semi-moist no grain, no starch food called Waggers. It was hard to find but I found it, and Murphy will actually eat some occasionally, and when he does, he blood sugars stay nice (as opposed to Evo, which increases his sugars) I'd be curious if anyone else had any experience with it - there's another one called FreshPet Vital - in the refrigerator section of pet food stores - it's also semi moist and according to the CatInfo site, it has only 4% carbs. It is also very low in calories (which isn't good for Murphy as he isn't a good eater) I asked the health forum a few days ago if anyone had any experience with that, but I didn't get a response.
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I've never heard of Waggers before. Where did you find it?
 
I found it at a pet food shop, but if you google Waggers, and put in your zip code, they will give you a list of retailers that sell it. But I guess Waggers sells treats as well (My Little Lion or something like that) so I have found that most of the stores listed sell the treats and not the Waggers food. You can also get it on-line. It was a great find, @Merlin I got the chicken, but there are two other flavors. Good ingredient list too
 
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