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Old September 14th, 2012, 08:53 PM
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sugarcatmom sugarcatmom is offline
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Join Date: May 2007
Location: Calgary, AB
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pennydreadful View Post
There are a lot of recommendations out there... which one do you use/recommend?
I've heard a lot of people like one of the various Freestyle meters, but I've never used it myself so can't comment. I think as long as the meter uses test strips that "sip" (I don't even know if they make any other kind these days, but there used to be ones that required you to "place" the blood drop on the strip, a rather challenging endeavour when the blood donor is a cat), and only requires a small drop of blood, the only other thing to consider is the price of the test strips. Walmart carries a meter called Relion that supposedly is one of the cheapest. I personally have used the Precision Xtra (the only meter that also tests for blood ketones), Bayer, and now the iTest (I think called WaveSense in the U.S.).

Quote:
Originally Posted by pennydreadful View Post
Unfortunately, a raw diet is not very feasible. My husband and I are both professors and have night classes so we have no time to prepare meals for Kis, let alone ourselves!
Oh I totally hear ya! I can't make home-made raw diets for my cats either because of the time issue, along with the fact that my husband and I are vegan . So instead, I buy premade frozen raw from the higher end pet food stores and just thaw-n-serve. Easy peasy, but also a tad more expensive. They also get canned food that I leave out for free-feeding.

Quote:
Originally Posted by pennydreadful View Post
I found a great chart that breaks down the nutritional facts of various wet foods http://binkyspage.tripod.com/CanFoodNew.html I am reviewing them closely and will try a few out on him and see how he does.
The famous Janet & Binky charts! Yes, a great starting place. There are lots of newer options these days that aren't on that list but if you read ingredients carefully and weed out the ones with grains and a high vegetable content, you should be okay.

Quote:
Originally Posted by pennydreadful View Post
I am going to print out some of the articles written by DVMs who specialize in diabetes and bring them along and tell her I am switching him over.
Great idea! It's hard for vets to keep current on every issue related to every animal, especially if they don't often encounter patients with that particular condition. A good vet is open to learning things from their clients. One who gets defensive or dismissive when presented with new info is someone I would avoid.


Quote:
Originally Posted by pennydreadful View Post
Do you recommend a specific brand?
Hard to say really. For canned, I feed my cats a rather huge variety, everything from Nature's Variety, Weruva, ZiwiPeak, and Precise, to Wellness, Blue Buffalo, Evanger's and Nature's Logic. I think some rotation is important to avoid nutritional excesses and deficiencies, minimize the chance of addiction, as well as lessen the harm that might occur if one of the foods became toxic for some reason.

Quote:
Originally Posted by pennydreadful View Post
Some foods he has helped himself to in the past are an unopened bag of cheetos he chewed a hole through, a wrapped brownie, and an unopened bag of bagel chips.
Junk food junkie! My MIL's cat also loves cantaloupe, what is with that? Not very carnivore of them.
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