Adding back dry food/raw foods to diet?

Hello all, I'm new here and glad I found the forum! I have a 10 year old cat that was diagnosed last year. He has been doing great since his treatment started. When he was diagnosed I quickly found good info on feeding him Fancy Feast classic with a strict diet of that along with what is now 1/2 unit of lantus per day he he is pretty stable. Generally around 100-150 glucose (using an Alphatrak meter)

Unfortunately I am not home all the time due to my life right now and I really need to find a way that I can leave food for the entire day but if I leave canned FF it drys out and he won't eat it. I have been experimenting with the following:

1. Instinct chicken kibble. Grain free and I believe about 11% carbs which I think is actually comparable to most of the FF classics

http://www.naturesvariety.com/Instinct/ ... le/chicken

2. Instinct raw frozen food which is grain free and 95% meat, organ and bone

http://www.naturesvariety.com/InstinctRaw/cat/chicken

3. Young Again Zero Carb dry food:

http://www.youngagainpetfood.com/10brow ... Code=92100


Unfortunately he has no interest in the Young Again which is a shame because it wasn't cheap. He will eat the other two but doesn't seem as excited about it as the FF. Even though he was doing great with FF , I feel like these other options may be healthier because they are grain free and less processed and all natural etc unlike FF which is still mass produced processed food. I don't eat processed food and I don't want to give it to my cat. But since switching a couple of weeks ago I notice he's around 300 before his small lantus shot then he levels back out around 120-150 the rest of the day.

Just curious what other people are feeding their cats that seems to work especially options that are more stable to leave out all day without drying up like canned food. Thanks!

 

Here's the work around for leaving canned food out all day: use a programmable timed feeder, such as the PetSafe 5 compartment feeder and either add extra water to the food to prevent drying out and/or freeze canned food into chunks (use a silicone ice cube tray or small plastic cups) and put the frozen chunks into the feeder to slowly defrost :thumbup Since the frozen chunks will take awhile to soften up enough to be eatable, use straight-from-the-can food for the first meal or two and the frozen food for the later meals.

NV Instinct is 7% carbs. While it's low carb, dry food contains some kind of starch to bind the ingredients together and that starch may keep glucose levels high.

Young Again has been discussed on the board several times. It's a new food so there's not much data out there on how it may affect a diabetic cat.

The general feeling of this board is that if your cat will eat canned food, there is no reason at all to feed any dry food.

Raw food is actually great for all cats I would not leave frozen or homemade raw out all day, though. Harmful bacteria will grow in the food.

You can leave freeze dried raw out all day. Nature's Variety has freeze dried raw. It is not a complete diet but if you only intend to feed it as a snack/mini meal it is ok. Stella and Chewy's makes a 100% complete freeze dried raw diet. The nugget shaped one is kind of like crunchy kibble but a whole lot healthier. Any freeze dried raw food can be rehydrate in water but if you are going to leave it out all day, just leave it dry to prevent bacteria from growing in it and when you feed your cat a canned food meal, just add some extra water.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I did not know about the Stella & Chewy so I will try to hunt that down and try it. I had read about freezing the canned food so maybe I will try that.

 

here is where i buy stella and chewy;s

http://www.petfood.com/item/stella-and- ... od/498360/

if you sign up for auto delivery its cheapest, you can always change the delivery date.

i use this as a dry kibble substitute because my civvie is very stubborn and Maui likes it too.

 

You can find Stella and Chewy's, and other premium brands of foods, at an independent non-chain pet store/specialty boutique. Here's the Stella and Chewy's store locator: http://www.stellaandchewys.com/store-locator/index.php Buying online is always an option but shipping may be expensive.