Beni the three-legged, no-tailed, diabetic rescue cat

Hello to everyone. I adopted Benioff (aka Beni or Benny) from a local shelter in May 2018. He had a rear leg removed shortly after showing up at the shelter (in February 2018) and his tail was already missing. Then, they learned he was diabetic. So he remained at the shelter for months. I've never had a cat before, but I have a diabetic dog. And Beni (then named Captain Ahab) was on the same insulin (Vetsulin) as my dog. So, I decided to adopt him.

The shelter was feeding him Royal Canin Glycobalance dry cat food, so I continued that. But having read through the pages on catinfo.org, I want to switch him to wet cat food. And I will need to test his blood glucose at home while doing this since he has been on insulin since April. He only gets 1/2 unit twice a day and seems pretty stable. He doesn't mind the injections or any general prodding. He's quite a sweetheart, actually. So, I don't think pricking his ear for blood will be a problem.

I do have a question, though. It seems so overwhelming trying to determine what wet food to switch him to. At this point, I prefer to be able to buy him something at one of the local pet stores. He is not a picky eater and loves to eat. If I could get recommendations on wet foods - or at least pointed to a previous forum post with this information - I would really appreciate it. I tried searching the forum but was unsuccessful.

 

Welcome Jennifer and extra sweet Beni!

Many of us feed Friskies pate or Fancy Feast 'Classics' (pate). Stay away from gravies as that's where carbs are. Here's good list of carb count written by Dr. Lisa Pierson, DVM - goal is anything at or under 10%.

What a cutie he is! Look forward to seeing your posts over in our main Feline Health Forum

 

Welcome! How wonderful of you to adopt the little guy with all of those issues. His sweetness is your reward.

I feed my girls Weruva Chicken Frick A Zee. Weruva also has several others that are diabetic appropriate. Tiki Cat is another brand to consider. I have a link to the cat food database in my signature. It let's you filter by your desired criteria. Dr Pierson recommends starting with "protein minimum of 40, fat maximum of 50, carb max of 10, and for cats with kidney issues....phos less than 300".

 

Thank you Squeaky and KT and FurBabiesMama! I just ordered some Chicken Frick A Zee after looking through the database. I'm really hoping that I can get Beni off the juice eventually! He's a very healthy cat otherwise. Though, there is something going on with his eye - red in the iris and steroid drops aren't doing anything. I've got to take him to a specialist, but I live in a remote area and will have to travel a few hours to see one.

 

We have the same "problem" as you. We go looking for the unadoptable cats; one eye missing, behavioral issues that aren't issues at all, 28 pound cats that just want a warm bed. Kittens are easy, we mostly don't adopt "calendar cats".
The monster cat no one wanted, their loss, our gain. Good luck with Benioff.