Cat begging for food

My cat was diagnosed to be diabetic last month. We had a “he wont eat anything” phase and now is on “i want only dry food phase”.
My vet insist to put him on strict Purina Dietetic DM dry food. With the instructions on the packaging that only 3/4c per day for a 16lbs cat.
He is literally begging me for more food! I try to divide the 3/4c in several servings so he can eat some but he is always hungry. I feel so bad for him and Im scared to give him more as it might messed his sugars.
He is also on 1U Prozinc every 12 hours.

My question is, is this normal diabetic cat behavior for him to beg for food? And is 3/4C dm food really just enough?

My cat is also a big water drinker- i refill his bowl about 3x a day and its always half empty when i do.

TIA

 

Yeah, their body isn't getting enough out of the food so they're always getting the signal that they're hungry and need to eat. And the dry food is going to make him much thirstier than wet food would.

I personally have an underweight cat so I cannot withhold food from him at all.

However , I don't know anything about that food you're using. I feel ok to keep feeding my guy because he's getting a very low carb wet food that I feel doesn't make his diabetes worse. I wouldn't feed him as much or as often if it were a dry food or a higher carb food. But that's just my scenario. Again, I don't know anything about that food.

I'm sure someone more knowledgeable will come along soon. In the meantime make sure to read the stickies/pinned posts, add info to your signature, and make a spreadsheet so everyone can see what's going on in order to give better advice.

Hang in there.

 

Hi and welcome to the forum.
Dry cat food with only a couple of exceptions is high in carbs. High carb and dry food is bad for cats because cats need 10% or less carbs and they need wet food which has 78% moisture compared to 7% dry. They need the moisture for their kidneys and because diabetic cats often get dehydrated.
But if you have been feeding dry food, giving insulin and not testing the blood sugar levels, it is not safe to just change over to a wet diet without monitoring the BSLs. This is because changing from dry to wet food can have a drop of up to 100 points in the BSL and you may find that the dose of insulin needs to be lowered.
Are you testing the BSLs? If not it would be a very wise move to think about doing it. It is not hard (we can help) and you will not only be able to see if the insulin is working well, you will be keeping your kitty safe.
You do not have to keep feeding the dry food that the vet is insisting you do. Just say the cat won’t eat it. He can’t argue with that. Wet food such as fancy feast pates or friskies or Weruva cats in the kitchen cans just to mention a few are low carb and are far better for diabetic cats. But please don’t change over if you are not testing the BSL. We can help you there too.
Yes he will be starving because if he has high numbers the nutrients in the food are not being properly utilised. If he is not overweight let him eat what he wants at the moment.
But the best things you can do for your cat are:
Start testing the BSL
Ditch the dry and change over to low carb wet while monitoring the BSL.
Feed him what he wants at the moment.
He needs plenty of water if his BSLs are high and he is eating dry food. Dry food will make him drink a lot more than wet food because of the water content of high foods.
Keep asking lots of questions. We are happy to help.
Bron

 

There is a wet food version of Purina DM that is 6% carbs. So, if you want to stay on a 'prescription' food that your vet approves of, you could at least ask for that instead of the dry. There are foods that are even better than that that are not 'prescription', if/when you are ready to explore that. Catinfo.org has a lot of info about feline nutrition. If you have not checked it out yet, I recommend that you do.

Wet food has a lot less calories than dry, so if you were feeding him the wet, you could give him a lot more without worrying about giving him excessive calories. The additional moisture in the food is so much better for him, too. A lot of us even add a little extra water to wet food. I know the transition to wet food can be hard, but it is possible. You might try sprinkling some crumbled up PureBites freeze dried chicken on top of the food to add some crunch. My Mia doesn't touch her food until I do that. If you feel that you absolutely must incorporate some dry food, I would recommend Dr Elsey's Clean Protein Chicken which has 4-5% carbs.

Like Bron said, it is important that you start home glucose testing before a diet change since going to a lower-carb diet can lower glucose significantly. (That alone lets you know that low-carb wet is so much better for them!)

 

Thank you all for your replies! What you said makes sense and I appreciate it.
Now, for the testing- Im so scared to even think of trying. The giving of insulin is hard and terrifying for me, I couldnt imagine testing. But if you can all help me try, please please do. I would love some info on that so I can start.

Where do I get the testing meter and strips? Can I use the tester for humans or is there anspecific one for cats?

 

There is a lot of helpful info about testing here: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/ (That link is from this page that has helpful links about many things: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/index-health-links-faqs.194624/)

I use the AlphaTrak 2 pet meter, but by far the majority of people here use human meters because the strips are so much cheaper. There are a lot of posts about meters if you want to do a search and read through some. You could also start a new thread asking specifically for meter recommendations and testing advice. People may not see it here in your post about food.

 

Testing can be hard for the first time, and even the next few but then it gets ridiculously easy. Mine can honestly take 15 seconds. Max. My meter stores last few readings which is handy.
My spreadsheets are testament to what a difference home testing makes. And no I'm not suggesting as much testing as the new one.

Give treats! Scritches and snuggles!

 

When they're so hungry is a good time to transition to wet food because they're so hungry they usually eat anything. It's so much better for them and easy to find low carb brands that you'll need for long term regulation and hopefully long term remission.

 

"If he is not overweight let him eat what he wants at the moment."

So if underweight they can eat all they want? Mine eats a can of Pro Plan DM AM and PM and she seems hungry all the time and underweight and feel bad not being wanting to give her more thinking it may mess things up. I dont meant to intrude on Neko's thread.

 

Yes, you can feed them as much as you want just make sure they don't get overweight and if you're home testing you just have to make sure they don't eat 2 hours prior to testing and injecting I believe. That's because it'll throw off your reading. It won't mess anything up, keeping food away from them is not part of the plan.

 

I would recommend buying a human test meter

 

Thank you! Oh my poor baby she could have been eating but know I know I can give her more. Before Diagnosis she was just shy of 15lb. Now she is barely 12 if that and you can feel all her vertebrae. . Quite heartbreaking.

 

Sheba got thin after diagnosis but regained her weight and muscle mass. It will take time. Getting the BSLs under control will make a big difference.

 

Just stopping in to say hello to you and sweet Neko, from the caregiver of one who was named Neko.

Also correcting some misinformation here. You might want to read this discussion on Feed Kitty as Much as They Want? Short answer is no.

 

Obviously, you do not want to feed unlimited food to a cat. Obesity is not healthy. But you do not have to stick to two meals a day, and if your cat is losing weight below their healthy weight, they need more. Most of us find it best to feed multiple small meals each day (doing this is in line with AAHA recommendations). It is helpful to determine how many calories per day your cat should be getting. There are a few formulas around, but a common one is 20 calories per 1 lb of healthy weight. Based on that, if your cat should be 12lbs, they should get about 240 calories a day. As I mentioned in an early post here, wet food has a lot less calories than dry. So, if you are feeding wet food, you will be able to give your cat more food for the same calories.

 

How long did it take for you to get Sheba's numbers under control? and how long for her to regain her muscle mass? I am currently am not seeing an end in sight and my Sapphire is wasting away I have been doing a lot of reading and read about hyperadrenocorticism and wonder if may that may be what is causing all this. WE have not been able to get her number under control and apparently this condition mimics uncontrolled FD . I will discuss getting her tested at her appt this coming week. I was also thinking of changing her insulin from Vetsulin to Lantus.

 

If you can switch to wet low carb wet food like Fancy Feast, Friskies or even wet Purina DM you'll see a significant change in her numbers, so much so that you need be home testing because she'll need less insulin. My cats have wet food out all day and night, they're fit and lean, they self regulate how much they eat. I know it's hard for some cats to regulate how much they eat and will eat so much they throw up mostly due to early food experiences and competing with other cats for food. You just have to judge how much she can eat and let her eat. You just have to make sure she doesn't end up a 20lb cat! LOL