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Food recommendations for diabetic cat?
Hello!
My 13 yo cat was diagnosed this morning with diabetes. I've done a lot of reading today and am reading that beside the prescription food being expensive, it's also not necessarily the highest quality. So I'm looking at alternatives for her. Most of the sites I've found are american based and therefore likely to have american food recommendations. What foods in Canada are ideal? I'm thinking I'll feed wet (per recommendations) but leave dry out as well. I do have 2 cats - the other one is overweight so I'll switch him to the same diet anyway since he could stand to lose a few pounds and it will be easier. Do you have any thoughts as to which dry foods would be ok as a supplement. I looked at the Purina DM and the dry food was 50% protein base - the highest one I could find at Petsmart (which is American but also Canadian) was Purina One Weight Management coming in at 40%. I was going to go to the Pet Smart to see if I could confirm the percentage tonight and also look at all the foods available. What about wet food? My cats love wet food - so getting them to eat it won't be an issue. Which ones are the best from a protein/carb/calorie standpoint? My cats seem to enjoy to fish ones more than others - though I haven't had them turn their noses up at anything though...LOL. Any pointers for this newbie. I've been exploring the felinediabetes site which is great. All this is very new and has incredible timing as we are going on vacation on Friday. Talk about a pain in the but figuring this out now - guess the neighbourhood kid isn't going to cut it this time. I have arranged for them to be boarded at a cat hotel in Oakville for the week. It's not ideal because they are so very rarely out of my house (only to go to the vet) but we were thinking with a pet sitter the cat would just hide as she doesn't like strangers really anyway. So that isn't ideal either. Anyway, I will be getting her blood glucose monitored at the vet tomorrow - I did read that I could do it at home - and the vet was agreeable to this but because of timing and stuff it's not going to work out. Then we'll be starting the insulin. Her blood sugar when tested was 29 which the vet said was quite high - is that correct? Any other pointers? thanks for your help!!!! Cheri |
#2
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Well howdy, cheriliko!!! Welcome to pets.ca, but sorry it's under these circumstances. I just so happen to know a thing or 2 about feline diabetes, having looked after one now for over 9 years . I'm just about to leave work so I'll try to post more later tonight....
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Gotta run, but I'll be back later.....
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"To close your eyes will not ease another's pain." ~ Chinese Proverb “We must not refuse to see with our eyes what they must endure with their bodies.” ~ Gretchen Wyler |
#3
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Thank you for your recommendations regarding the wet food that we should try. The cats have always had dry food available to them - do you think it will be hard to transition them?
Given the timing, I'm going to continue with their regular dry food for now because she'll be boarded and it's important that she eats at all. The owner talked about how some cats don't eat well while they are there and she's concerned that if we trying to change foods etc while we're there that will make it difficult - which makes sense. So what I'm thinking is I'll send her regular dry food, some new dry food to mix in with it, the regular wet food that we have given them as a treat, and new wet food. And I'll tell them to feed her the new wet food first - if she won't eat it then try the regular wet food. Then I'm thinking I'll ask them to leave a small amount of dry out a mix of regular and higher protein one and hope that she eats enough while she's there. What do you think? After we get back from vacation then I'll try getting them off the dry food all together. Should I not even bother with a new dry food then? I mean does it really make sense if it's only for a week? Hmmm.... Thanks again for the suggestions on the type of wet food - I'll go look for it tomorrow evening. Any pointers you have would be SO appreciated. Regarding insulin - do you get that at the vets - or do you get it somewhere else that is cheaper? Where do you get your syringes - I've heard Costco is likely the cheapest? What about testing supplies? Thanks for your insight! Cheri |
#4
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The other important factor in this is the type of insulin and the dose. If the vet determined the dose based on the current dry food diet, it will likely be higher than it would be if your kitty was eating wet (ie lower carb) food. I wouldn't change the food at all until you're back from your trip and can start testing her blood glucose yourself so you know what kind of impact that diet change will have. My own cat was at one time on 4.4 units bid (2x/day) of a fast acting insulin (Caninsulin) when he was still eating kibble. He only eats wet now and gets less than 1u of a very slow acting insulin (Levemir). Many cats can go into total remission with a diet change. Another reason why hometesting is crucial. Quote:
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Oh, and I should mention that while the learning curve can be a little steep with all of this, there will come a time when it's easy peasy lemon squeezy. I feed/test/shoot literally in my sleep now (which is useful since Aztec, my diabetic, gets his shot around 5am). Hang in there Cheri! The fact that you're researching everything and taking an active role in your cat's treatment (what's her name, by the way?) is fantastic and bodes well for you both. Looking after a special needs cat, while sometimes scary and frustrating and ulcer-inducing, can also be one of the most rewarding relationships. Do keep us updated on your progress. I look forward to hearing more about your new adventure with your girl.
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"To close your eyes will not ease another's pain." ~ Chinese Proverb “We must not refuse to see with our eyes what they must endure with their bodies.” ~ Gretchen Wyler |
#5
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I had wondered about leaving them on their regular food until we got back because the vet said not to worry about the food before bringing her in tomorrow when he monitors her blood sugar all day - and I had a feeling that would affect the dosage she would receive. Ok - so I think the plan will be that I leave their regular kibble and bring some wet food to make sure they eat (they come a running when I open the wet food!!!). When we get back I'll get the testing supplies and figure that out. Once I've got that figured out I'll change her diet.
As for the cat boarding place - they do deal with diabetic cats on a regular basis. In fact one of the owners cats is diabetic (I picked his brain today!). I'll bring the print out from feline diabetes on how to deal with a hypo episode. I'm slightly concerned that there isn't anyone at this place overnight and what happens if she has a hypo episode during the night? Hmmm...I'm beginning to wonder if I should just not treat the diabetes at all until we get back from vacation? We have the option to board with the vet, but that will be more stressful because my cats won't be in the same cages, and the place that we're going to has a bunch of "perks" too. And yeah - I was already going to be touching base with them while we are gone. LOL....I'm a bit of a helicopter parent when it comes to this kind of stuff. I went through a lot with my oldest daughter when she was a baby and made me realize that doctors aren't Gods, don't know everything and often make mistakes. Lets just say this vet doesn't know what he's gotten himself into...LOL. I'm a pain in the ass. The one good thing is that I mentioned that I had read online about bg testing at home and whether I should be doing that and he mentioned that I could do the inital bg curve at home (just likfe felinediabetes says!) - so I'm hoping he's good. He also said that he recommends wet food over dry (another point for him!) but that it will be prescription food (boo to him....). But it's a start anyway. He's not completely out to lunch. The real test will be tomorrow when I talk to him about the type of insulin etc (I did a bunch of research on this today). So we'll see how everything goes tomorrow. Oh, my basic info....I have 2 cats. They are brother and sister (and act like it...LMAO...gosh those 2 can fight but have each other backs too....it's too funny) and look very similar - both are black and white. They are 13 yo. The boy is massive compared to the girl (the girl is the diabetic). She was approximately 10-12lbs before this started but has lost weight to 9.2lbs now. The boy is approximately 16-18lbs I think. Boy is named Chaos and girl is Storm. I'm hoping she weathers this fairly well. She is fairly timid - doesn't really like people except for me. She is just finally letting my daughters touch her now (they are 7 and 11!). But she is very docile so even though she is afraid, she lets me do anything I need to to her. For example she doesn't like to have her nails cut by me but she just sits there while I do it. She knows she has to do it so she doesn't fight it. Chaos on the other hand is a bit more um, well independant minded lets say. If he was the diabetic I suspect I'd have to fight him each time I went to test his bg...LOL. That said, he LOVES people - we call him our affection whore. He's all over everyone that comes into the house. Both are great cats. Even though they were around before the kids, Chaos is very good with them. Storm - well she just runs away from them...LOL. But she's never tried to bit or scratch them. So it's been a nice mix. I'm totally on board with everything that is happening, the only thing I"m having trouble with is not being able to leave them anymore. We often took day trips overnight and would leave them for a day or two with absolutely no issues. That's not going to be happening anymore without some planning which sucks. I am imagining that once we get settled in with this stuff though that we'll have a professional pet sitter come to the house while we're gone. I'm crossing my fingers that Storm is able to be on a slow acting insulin and only requires dosing once a day - that would be the ideal. Anyway, I'll certainly be checking in here. Thanks for your information and I'm sure I'll have more questions. Cheri |
#6
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Hi Cheri, how did Storm's day at the vet go?
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In case you haven't seen this website yet, it has some excellent info on feline diabetes: http://petdiabetes.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page Quote:
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It can be a bit of an adjustment for sure. My hubby and I love to travel, and I mean BIG trips, like 2 months in Africa kinda thing. Thankfully my MIL is amazing and stays at our house while we're gone (we've had to tone it down a bit though, to maybe 3 weeks at a time). There are very few people I know that are not only willing, but I think are responsible enough to look after my cats. If it wasn't for my MIL, Aztec's diabetes probably would have been a bigger pill to swallow.
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"To close your eyes will not ease another's pain." ~ Chinese Proverb “We must not refuse to see with our eyes what they must endure with their bodies.” ~ Gretchen Wyler |
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