Bentley diagnosed 2 days ago

I've been spending a lot of time reading up on this disease the past few days. Many thanks to all that have been to helpful with other's questions, it has helped me learn a lot. I signed up for the FB page too.


One topic I haven't come across (yet?) is feeding in a multi cat house with elderly cats. I have 3 other cats, 2 are 18 years old the other is 5. I worry about changing the diet of the old cats and would rather not since they are doing fine. They get kibble that is out all day. The vet wants me to feed Bentley a certain amount of DM food twice a day then return for a recheck. She wants me to pull the kibble that everyone else eats so he can't get to it. I guess they are to eat when he does? I'm sure they will get along nicely when that happens (not).


The good news is they all get a little of the Friskies pate in the morning as a treat, maybe a third of a can between the 4 of them. Been doing it this way forever. Today I gave Bentley a third of a can in hopes of filling him up so he doesn't eat much kibble.

So I guess my question is how do you all manage with elderly cats around. Bentley has a ways to go to before his DM is under control but I don't want the old kitties to have to be subject to much if any change.

Off to the store now to stock up on supplies. Meter, strips, syrup, etc.

Thanks for any advice.
Cathy

 

Skip the kibble... It's not good for any of them. The Friskies pate you are already feeding is a perfect choice. No need to spend money on the DM food. There is no advantage to the dm food over the Friskies. Most of us feed fancy feast classic or Friskies pate foods.

 

Welcome Cathy and Bentley! I agree with Janet, the only caveat being that if your older kitties have any decrease in their kidney function you may want to find a low carb food that is also low in phosphorus. Fancy Feast and Friskies are high in phos

 

True. Weruva or Tiki Cat might be good options

 

Thanks for your responses and I truly appreciate them. I get the kibble isn't such a good thing now but am on the fence about changing the elderly cats' diet. A huge learning curve going on right now.....lol....

 

I understand your hesitation if your older kitties are doing well on that food. I have multiple cats some of which are kibble addicts. It took me awhile to work out a routine where they could get their kibble fix without Colin getting any. I also switched them to a low carb kibble, so that if he did find a spilled kibble it wouldn’t affect his blood sugar. Of course it’s up to you what you feed, and if you choose to keep with the kibble you will probably just need to give Bentley more insulin than if you go with all low carb. Also most of us feed several times a day rather than just twice, so that helps with cats that are used to free feeding.

 

Thank you Sharon, your response was very helpful . Is there a low carb kibble that you can recommend?

 

Hi and welcome!

If you read Dr Lisa Pierson's great catinfo.org site, you will learn why all your cats would benefit from moving to low carb wet food to whatever extent is possible. And she gives lots of advice on how to transition from kibble. You should at least try to make wet food most of what they eat, with just small amounts of dry on the side. It is also simpler if all your cats can eat the same diet.

Two low carb kibbles are Young Again, available I believe only through their site, and Dr Elsey's cleanprotein which is also available at chewy.com. My cats are all happy with the Dr Elsey's dry food.

 

In addition to the young again zero and dr elseys, I leave out little Epigen 90 for my non diabetic cats . I think it's like 9%