big problem

I fed tuna to my diabetic cat during the ride across the US moving. I did this because I had to KNOW he was eating to give him a shot, and as stressed as he was he wouldn't eat anything else.

When i got down here he immediately started begging for it constantly. I tried only giving him 1/4 tablespoon and only during shots but he's stuck.

He begs for it ALL THE TIME even though he has both custom mixed sooupy 'fancy feast classic' and hills prescription diet for dry.

he eats SOME of the other but not much.

I have to figure out how to get him off. is it possible I could start mixing in some sheba tuna? or something else that has the texture? tuna isn't good for him and I have to stop this before it gets out of hand.

Thanks!

 

I have read that some kitties can become addicted to tuna and will demand only tuna, so you have a "tuna junkie." Have you tried just using the tuna juice (from cans in water not oil) on other foods? And gradually start reducing the amount of tuna in his food. He isn't getting all the nutrition he needs from straight tuna. I think Fancy Feast Naturals has a tuna variety, they are listed as 0% carb on Dr. Lisa's food chart: http://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf

 

Kinda funny, and yeah...kinda not. You could mix a little of the other food in each day, over time increasing the percent. Our cats love tuna too, but it is a rare treat and they like other food.

 

You could try adding dry tuna flakes on top of the canned food. That was what I used to convert one of my dry food junkies to canned. You can find it in pet stores. Or you can buy it at specialty aisian food stores. It is much cheaper there. Look for bonito flakes.

 

No I haven't tried this but it's a very good idea. i'm going to try this first. Thank you!
Honestly it's not JUST tuna he eats, he does resign himself to eat the fancy feast and hills, but he begs 24/7. it used to only happen when I opened the fridge but now it's all the time, everywhere and it's making me not want to be around him which stinks because he's by far my best friend.

Yeah this is similar to what Yong suggested. i'm going to try that. I have to do something before he stops eating all other food completley.
it also concerns me because he's VERY hard to test. i'm lucky to get a sample after 2 days trying a couple times a day. so if he keeps eating tuna I'm afraid his glucose is going to go too low. isn't that a concern?

 

Are you home testing with a meter? I don't see a Spreadsheet set up or meter listed in your signature. If he's just eating tuna, it's like a zero - trace carb diet and I see he's on 9U of insulin. So this could effect his numbers significantly.

Here's an article I found which talks about a couple things that can happen if a cat is strictly on tuna. Also, the importance of stopping him from becoming a real tuna junkie: http://blog.petmeds.com/1800petmeds/is-tuna-bad-for-cats/

 

No i'm testing him. I don't have a chart. i'm lucky to get a sample every 3 days and when i try he hides for a day.
His tests are about 190 to 210 at injection, and at 6 hours post they're between 86 and 100

 

Wow nice numbers. If he continues eating more tuna, I would definitely monitor him just to make sure he doesn't go too low at his nadir.

 

Agree with Yong. Sometimes cats will go low, and we can't predict it. I have seen too many hypos on this forum. Now I wouldn't dream of dosing Leo unless I tested him first.

 

I know Jeff. it stresses me every day. Another thing that stressed me. A few days ago I think the needle either came out, or went right through the pinch because I felt a bunch of liquid. I couldn't get him to let me test him at all, so i stayed awake worrying. Before I got control of this he was getting so high he'd have seizures. There is nothing I can think of that stresses me more than him having another. they are so violent and the poor little guy would wander around meowing loudly and sniffing everything for hours after. I think he thought he was gone.
Then it would take him a few days to get back to normal. it broke my heart

Thank GOD i got control and no thanks to my old vet. They had me convinced he was epileptic. I had him for 2 glucose curves and they had me giving him 4u in the morning and 2u at night. So he still had seizures. At this time i couldn't test him AT ALL.
I took him to a different vet for another curve a week later? 10u in the morning 10u at night and the seizures stopped. Course by now he was addicted to the phenobarbital which made him loopy and quiet.
Took me a month to wean him off.

ugh i get so mad

 

BINGO.
I stopped at walmart on the way home and got 5 of the tuna flavor of this (there's something else in it too)

When it was time for Wilbur's shot I didn't get the tuna, i got this stuff and put it in the bowl i normally put tuna in. he dove in and didn't think twice.

unfortunately he just licked it to death, but he did come back and eat some. He did the same thing to the Fancy Feast Classic pate I get for him. But i'm pretty sure i could just use that hand blender I got for the pate on this tuna stuff and make a disgusting soup out of it and he'll eat it.

This is WONDERFUL!

Thank you!

Tonight he hasn't been following me around begging. I didn't give him the whole thing, only about half. but this is a winner!

this is what I got. Please tell me it's what you meant

https://www.chewy.com/purely-fancy-feast-tender-tongol/dp/103819

 

I truly sympathize with you. I've been thru it too. Frankly I think most of the humans on the forum have too.

Leo still pesters the crxp out of my for food. That food you just got, looks good. One trick with ear testing - I always associate it with food. Leo always knows that food will follow. It took awhile to setup that association. First it was with carb treats. Later, just regular fancy feast (classic). Plus it helps to have experience. I can test him in less than 15 seconds, and sometimes in 5 seconds.

 

Yup, that's the one I was talking about . He get's a healthier tuna fix and more nutrition he needs

 

Look on Amazon for bonito flakes it's much cheaper and human grade, much better for your cat

 

Any update @johnt ?