CANNED FOOD

Coming back to these boards after a long absence I see alot of you prefer canned food. My question is since the diabetic cats have to have food out at all times do u just leave out the canned all day long or do u feed both canned & dry? Sorry if this seems like a stupid question!

 

People here free-feed the canned food. Unregulated diabetics are always hungry so they should have food available at all times. Frequent small meals seems best for most cats. You can use a timed feeder and/or freeze canned food into chunks.

Few people here feed dry food. Dry food is one reason why many cats end up diabetic. If dry must be fed, use a grain-free dry such as Wellness CORE or Innova EVO and limit the dry to a very small portion of the diet. If your cat readily eats canned food there is no reason to also feed dry.

Not all canned foods are suitable for diabetics. Many are too high in carbs. Canned foods that are under 10% carbs are best. You can use the food charts: http://binkyspage.tripod.com/canfood.html and http://binkyspage.tripod.com/nonusfd.html Look for foods that have a number 10 or less in the carb column. I'm not sure what brands other Canadian members feed but you can try Fancy Feast since it's widely available.

Edit: Just saw your other post. 15 units of insulin is a HUGE dose Don't change the diet in any way just yet. Doing so may result in your cat becoming hypoglyecmic (very low blood glucose level). Learn how to test your cat's blood glucose levels at home first. It's possible that your cat is constantly rebounding on that huge insulin dose. Once you get the right insulin dose (and perhaps even a new insulin. There are others out there that are better than Humulin), you can work on the diet.