Hard food

Hi all: It's Sylvia and George. George has been on 1U, bid, of Lantus since Nov. 23rd and is doing great. Overnight, I put two bowls of Tiki dry and Orijen dry (with very small amounts in the bowls). George does not even like hard food. I believe my other cat, Bailey, eats it. Is it important or necessary that George have ANY DRY FOOD? Thanks.

 

Hiya

I will tell you what my and Gustav and Simba's story was when Simba got the diabetes in 2006.

Both of them were rescued as babies by me when young, and Gustav was born with Leukopenia and already early on as young Gustav's kidney creatinine could become slighty elevated off and on, so to stave this off and offload Gustav's kidneys he had to eat kidney friendly food and yes I did give Gustav both the wet and dry Hill's k/d food.
Simba on the other hand got a sensitive stomach with throwing up three times a day, therefore needed stomach friendly food and he also got that from Hill' i/d wet and dry food.
And I had to food police especially Simba at their eating time, laying on the kitchen floor by them to stop Simba to venture over to Gustav's plate, push him away and eat his food.

This routine we had done for 11 years, since 1997, when Simba then at being 10 years old got his diabetes in 2006.
And living in Nordic Sweden, there wasn't really anything low carb adapted food also geared to diseases to get hold off and buy, so actually when the Hill's more diabetic friendly wet and dry food m/d came, it was a bit of a saviour for me and Gustav and Simba.

Simba did get to eat a litte m/d dry food But I weighed each piece and calculated what it would give in carbs and in blood glucose raise and thus insulin raise too, before I let him eat a few m/d dry food grams..

But then I was also diligently home testing. Just so you know That the entire equation of their wellness needs that.

Start with weighing the dry food. Then calculate its carbs. And home test George's blood glucose so you see how much of the dry food he is eating.

 

Hi Sylvia and George
All cats are better without dry food. Personally I would get rid of the lot and stick to wet food.

Would you like to set up a SS and start entering your BG data in it?
Here is the link. If you have any trouble ..just post and ask for help
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/suggestions-on-how-to-stimulate-kittys-appetite.130770/

Also if you could set up your signature, that would be very helpful to us when we help you. It will appear at. The bottom of all your posts and will tell us about George.
Here I see the link
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/editing-your-signature-profile-and-preferences.130340/

 

Sylvia, if you want to give them wet food to eat under the night time, you can try this old trick, if you have an ice cube freezer tray of plastic.

Fill each ice cube cube with wet food. Then put it in the freezer to freeze. And when you go to bed you take loose as many frozen wet food cubes as appropriate and put on each ones food plate/bowl. That portioned frozen wet food cubes then thaws by itself after a while so the cats get a fresh wet food night snack.
I hope you understand what I mean and how it works.

 

I would encourage you to read the website on feline nutrition by Lisa Pierson, DVM. Unlike most vets, she has devoted a considerable amount of time to the study of feline nutrition. In a very brief summary, she makes two important points. Cats are obligate carnivores -- their bodies cannot process plant matter (including cellulose which is in most dry foods). All they need is meat and preferably muscle meat not by-products. Second, cats have a limited thirst drive. In the wild, their primary source of hydration is their prey. Dry food has very little to no moisture content. This latter point is particularly important for diabetic cats. Diabetes is very hard on the kidneys. Water is very good for the kidneys. Cats who are on a dry food diet typically have a more difficult time maintaining their blood glucose numbers below renal threshold.