Best wet food for diabetic cats

What is the best wet food for diabetic cats? I heard fancy feast pate is a good choice.

 

Unless you kitty has any kidney problems, Fancy Feast Classic Pates are a great low carb choice. Here’s a link to the food chart we use. Look for foods under 10 carbs
https://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf

 

Friskies pate flavors are another option.

 

How much FF classic should a diabetic cat be fed a day? I currently feed half a 3oz can morning and night. Im cutting out kibble and Hobbes is starving. No insulin yet but im expecting it to start after our vet visit Monday.

 

The general rule is 5.5 to 6 oz per day for average cate. That would be one full 3 oz can in morning and another can in the evening. What you do is weight cat weekly and increase/decrease amount fed to get to/maintain desired body weight.

 

I have five cats, and they eat the equivalent of six 6oz cans a day between all of them. Hobbes will be a happy kitty to be given more food, and it will definitely help him to feel less hungry. Also, you can divide his feedings into three or four smaller meals, if that works better for you and Hobbes. A lot of members here feed more often than twice daily. I give mine breakfast and dinner, with a smaller meal somewhere in between. And they always have a little left over at breakfast and dinner, so they can graze on that for a little while afterwards.

 

Your cat is named Hobbes?
It might look disgusting and we've all been brainwashed into "spend more is better" but this bunch has eaten FF for years and no problems.

 

and....

 

One simple way to judge how much food to give is to multiply the cat's weight, his "should be" weight, times 20, and that's the number of calories a day needed. So, if your cat should be 10 pounds (but might have lost weight to the diabetes and be skinnier, that's why you use "should be" weight) you'd multiply 10 pounds x 20 and get 200 calories a day. A single can of FF classic pate runs somewhere near 92-98 calories per can, so to average it out say 95 calories, so a 10 pound cat should get a bit more than 2 cans per day. If he needs to regain weight, give him a bit more than that. If he starts getting heavy, cut back just a little bit and see how he does.
I have a hyperthyroid borderline diabetic cat, he should be in the 13-14 pound range, and he eats 3-4 cans of FF per day, as do our two older kittens (9 & 11 months), since kittens are both growing and high energy they can eat as much as a cat twice their size and then some. We do 3-4 meals a day. They generally eat most right away and then finish off anything left within a couple hours later.

 

Ha! Exactly where the name comes from!!! If im trying to get her to lose a little weight should i still feed 6 oz a day? She is currently on 1 3oz can twice a day and just stays 18lbs.

 

Oh! I misunderstood and thought you only gave her a 3oz can a day! That was my mistake. Sorry about that. Yes, I think it's okay for her to eat two 3 oz cans a day, and perhaps even a little bit more if she's acting hungry or not satisfied. I do understand that you would like her to lose weight, but you don't want to give her less than 6 ounces a day.

 

I have been only giving her a 3oz can a day...1/2 in morning, 1/2 at night. With kibble in between but I want to get rid of kibble entirely. So 6 oz a day is ok if I change to that you think?

 

Oh my goodness! So I did understand you correctly! Yes, I think it would be fine to give her a 3 oz can in the morning and a 3 Oz can at night, and get rid of the kibble. The dried kibble may be keeping some extra weight on her. If you find that she's still acting hungry, try dividing those two cans into three or four feedings, or giving her two and a half cans a day. If she's used to nibbling on dry food, it may be better to divide the feedings up. I know some people here freeze canned food and put out small frozen chunks if they're not going to be home. That way, as it thaws, she'll be able to graze a little bit during the day.

 

When Jack was diagnosed with diabetes in February, I got rid of all kibble and switched all five of my cats to canned food, mostly Fancy Feast in the beginning. I had a couple of chunky cats, and they slimed down just from taking the dry food away and switching them to wet. Dry food is high in carbs. Removing dry and giving Hobbes Fancy Feast will help to bring her BG down.

 

FF, friskies Pates, Veras, and blue

 

Let's go back to the numbers:
She weighs 18 pounds. So, to maintain that, her body wants 20 x 18 = 360 calories per day. That's roughly 4 cans of FF per day, 12 ounces worth. That's what her body wants, because biologically speaking, losing weight means you are not getting enough food to maintain yourself, and if that keeps happening, you starve and die.
We know that 18 pounds is too heavy, and not good for her health. So, of course you want to get her to lose some weight, which means reducing her food, her daily calories. But by cutting her down to ONE 3 ounce can a day, you have cut her to 1/4th of her usual daily food! Imagine if suddenly you were only given one quarter of your usual food at meals. And that's all, no snacks, no seconds, just 1/4 of what you were used to eating. Of course you'd be starving all day!
You have accidentally put her on a crash diet, which isn't healthy, either. Very rapid weight reduction has many health problems, too.
At 2 cans, total of 6 ounces, a day she is getting half the food she is used to. Still a huge reduction in food and still a crash diet.
3 cans a day, 9 ounces, is 3/4 of the calories she is used to eating.
Better to reduce her food little by little, slowly pulling back on how many ounces a day she gets (think weekly, not daily) so that she loses weight at a controlled, moderate rate, than putting her on a crash diet, which can cause all kinds of other health problems.