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Old May 20th, 2010, 11:18 AM
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sugarcatmom sugarcatmom is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rjesak View Post
The vet put him on insulin so mom will be giving him shots twice daily.
Do you know what type of insulin it is and how much?

Quote:
Originally Posted by rjesak View Post
She (the vet) also recommended that she (mom) change his feeding to twice a day (she's (mom again) in the habit of leaving food for him 24 hours a day).
Depends on the type of insulin. My cat is on a slow onset, long-acting insulin and does fine with free-feeding wet food. If a fast acting insulin like Humulin N or Caninsulin is being used, it's more important to get a good meal in first and free-feeding isn't always a good idea.

Quote:
Originally Posted by rjesak View Post
she is currently feeding him Purina Indoor Cat dry food (left down all day)
And that's why he now has diabetes, unfortunately. Kibble is absolutely the main cause well above and beyond any other factor.

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Originally Posted by rjesak View Post
The vet told her to put him on "any senior cat food"
Ugh. Not a good idea at all.

Quote:
Originally Posted by rjesak View Post
I know it should be high fiber and low protein
Quite the opposite. You want high protein, low carb. High fibre diets tend to be high in carb, so not a good choice. (and cats don't need much fibre anyway - the notion that it slows down glucose absorption may apply to doggies and hoomins, but cats - not so much).

Quote:
Originally Posted by rjesak View Post
and I imagine that it would still be a really good idea to get him off kibble
That's probably the most important factor in treating feline diabetes. There are some lower carb kibbles around like Evo and Core that would at least be better than Purina anything, but because those are so high in calories, it can actually make regulation more difficult than feeding strictly wet food. Many cats even go into remission when switched to wet and given an appropriate amount of insulin.

Quote:
Originally Posted by rjesak View Post
Any thoughts on what food would be good? I also could seriously use some arguing material - I know why canned food beats dry food generally but any specifics regarding diabetes?
Any of the grain-free wet foods, like Wellness, Evo, Nature's Variety, and yes, even Fancy Feast (but only the plant-free varieties - some are too high in carbs). The reason you want low-carb is because carbs are basically sugar. The feline pancreas wasn't designed to handle large amounts of sugar over long periods of time, and can eventually "burn out" from having to produce so much insulin to deal with it. The best way to help the pancreas recover is to stop stressing it out with all the sugar. So wet food it is!

One very important thing to know, however, is that if your mom does change her cat's food to wet, his insulin requirements may drop dramatically and it would be a really good idea if she either dropped his dose (depending on how much it is), or learned to home-test his blood glucose herself. Hypoglycemia can result otherwise. Does she know how to recognize a hypo event, and what to do in case it happens?

Gotta go back to work, but in the meantime here is some info for you and your mom to read on feline diabetes: http://www.catinfo.org/felinediabetes.htm

ETA - Doh, 14+ beat me with the link! Good job.
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Last edited by sugarcatmom; May 20th, 2010 at 11:22 AM.
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