Diabetic cat not eating prescription dry food. Now what!?

I'm a wreck since Butch has been diagnosed with diabetes!! Vet said to give him Royal Canin Glycobalance dry cat food only. He doesn't seem to like it and barely eats it. The food is left out so he can eat when he wants. He's hungry and not really liking this stuff. Butch is also on 2 units of insulin twice a day. I have another problem with his brother, Gordy. How and what do I feed Gordy who doesn't have diabetes!!?? I've just left the dry diabetic cat food out for both cats. neither really like it. Vet said the dry food is expensive to feed Gordy it, too, and I should have Gordy get a blood test to check his kidneys since the high protein dry Royal Canin could cause kidney disease if Gordy had kidney issues. Here's the thing, Gordy is skitterish!! I wouldn't be able to get him to the vet. .....so what do I do!!?? How do I feed my diabetic cat and my skitterish cat? I'm ready to just put down a plate of Fancy Feast for both of them. I am so stressed out, not sleeping, crying and just a mess trying to care for my 2 cats. I am also a single household and leave for work at 5am and get home at 4pm. I have alot of other questions but let's start with the feeding of my 2 cats. What do I do?

 

Welcome! If you post on the main health forum more people will see it. In a nutshell, though, feeding canned low carb food is best and it can be grocery store brands like Friskies or Fancy Feast, pates only no sauce or gravy varieties. ALL dry food the vet sells is too high in carbs, regardless of what you're told. Also, 2 units of insulin twice a day might be too high a dose for a newly diagnosed diabetic kitty. Best (safer) starting dose is 1 unit twice a day.

When you post on the health forum, include the following:
1. what insulin you're using for Butch;
2. whether you've been told/taught to test blood glucose at home;
3. if you're testing, what glucose meter you use.

Others will join in and might ask more questions. This is a great place to get advice and support at this very upsetting time. We CAN help.

 

Welcome! I'm new too and was very stressed out early on. But asking my questions here (and getting helpful/supportive responses) really helped to ease my mind and lower my stress levels.

As for food, my vet recommended a Rx wet food, but also provided a list of over-the-counter (OTC) foods that would work. I bought some Fancy Feast classics, because they were on the list provided, and I'm also feeding two cats, so it was easier to switch them both to the same OTC food (rather than the Rx wet food) to start.

The home page of this site has lots of helpful information/articles. Here's the link to the "Diet" page:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/diet.htm

Within most forums on the message board, you will find *stickied* posts full of helpful information too. The "Health Links/FAQs" is a good forum:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/health-links-faqs-about-feline-diabetes.14/

A link to a similar list of approved OTC wet foods can be found here:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/dr-lynnes-wet-food-shopping-list.12846/#post-161133

Hope this helps! I can speak from experience that this can seem very overwhelming at first. Maybe try to focus on learning more about one thing at a time? I've been reading and re-reading articles and posts for the past week. It's starting to make more sense to me now. Be patient with yourself and your kitties... You are learning something new.

 

This food is 27% carbs which is FAR higher than any kitty should eat let alone a diabetic kitty.

If you look at the ingredients "corn gluten meal, barley, wheat gluten, tapioca" are all listed in the top ingredients. All of these are sources of carbohydrates, which no kitty requires in their diet, diabetic or not.

https://www.royalcanin.com/products...e-glycobalance-dry-cat-food-4.4-lb-bag/488844


Unfortunately many vets have been brainwashed by the pet food companies into believing that prescription food is better than commercial food. As you can see by the ingredients list there is nothing special at all about this food. A good wet low carb food such as Fancy Feast classic pate or Friskies pate (NOT the Indoor Cat with the green lid) or 9-Lives pate are much lower in carbs and are just as good or better a quality as the Glycobalance.

High protein does NOT cause kidney disease. Kitties are obligate carnivores and require high levels of animal protein. The old school way of doing restricted protein has long ago been disproved.

 

Hi Linda welcome to you and Butch. As the others have said, the dry prescription diet is very high in carbs. The best food for both your cats is a low carb canned food, so if they like Fancy Feast Classic, you can feed that. The only thing I'll add is, if you change Butch's diet to a low carb food, please learn to home test his glucose because the switch can lower his glucose by 100 points and then the 2 units could be too much and you'd risk a hypo. Please come to the Main Health Forum and tell us more about Butch.