Hello - New to Diabetes --Questions about Diet...

Hello More experienced Diabetic cat owners!

I just brought my 4 year-old, 9lb cat Petey home after 4 days at the vet. He was diagnosed with DK and severe pancreatitis. He seems to be doing well now, though he's on a bunch of meds, including 1 unit of Lantus twice a day, of course.

My question is about diet. The vet prescribed FF or Hills M/D. I looked up the Hills and it looks like it's recommended because it controls weight gain. This is not a concern at all for Petey, who's slightly under-weight, if anything. I also don't want to give him FF because he had an allergic reaction to other cheap cat foods in the past and I don't want to risk throwing his system off balance, esp. now.

SO, I'm wondering if it's ok to keep feeding him what I was giving him before he got sick, which was Wellness wet and dry food. I looked at Janet and Binkey's cat food chart and saw that Wellness is low carb (4-11% of cals, decent for protein (30-40% of cals) but kind of high on fat (50-60% of cals). If my cat is slim, fit, and young, should I be concerned about the fat content? Also, he's not at all compulsive about eating dry food, which I was in the habit of keeping out (I have 2 other cats, one of whom barely eats any wet food). So, similarly, should I worry about him eating dry food from time to time in between wet food feedings if he's generally a skinny cat?

Please advise!

P.S. I haven't gotten a home monitor yet, but I plan to ask the vet about that tomorrow, so whatever food I end up getting, I can make sure Petey's blood sugar is stable.

Thanks!
Emily

 

IOt is good that yo want to home test.
Most of us here test or cats blood glucose at home using a human meter. We test before each shot and periodically between shots. We record our reading and other info in a spreadsheet. See:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/...te-a-ss-and-link-it-in-your-signature.130337/
As yu seem to know a low-carb canned is best. No reason for a prescription food. Here is a list of commercial low-carb canned and it includes the low-carb FF varieties. I would not be concerned about the fat content

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/shortcut-shopping-list-all-8-or-less-updated.117688/

Here is a link to home testing blood sugarshttp://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/

 

Hi Larry - thanks so much for your response and the info regarding home testing. I'm on it!

Take care,
Emily

 

Also check out my signature link Secondary Monitoring Tools for some other assessments which you may find helpful to evaluate your cat, compiled from members here.

 

I will, thanks so much!

 

Hi Emily, welcome to you and Petey. Glad he's home & doing better! Dry food is not recommended for our sugar cats, but Wellness wet food is an excellent choice. Another good food is Natures Variety, but you may want to post in Health and ask about food since Petey had severe pancreatitis.

 

Another really good food option is Weruva. I use it all the time for Squeaker. http://www.weruva.com/truluxe-nutrition.php

 

Hi Emily,

I'm very sorry to hear that Petey has had a bout of pancreatitis. My Saoirse has chronic pancreatitis and there are a number of other members with kitties in the same boat. If there's anything we can do to help you with that, just let us know.

Here are two links for you that I have found particularly helpful:

IDEXX Pancreatitis Treatment Guidelines

Nausea Symptoms & Treatments (from Tanya's Site)

It helps to feed small, frequent meals. Simple things like raising food and water bowls are helpful, too. Some cats with pancreatitis are more sensitive to fat, but there is no hard and fast rule here; you just need to find out what will agree with Petey. Also if you need to make changes to food, meds, supplements, etc., it can be best to just change one thing at a time and then to do so slowly. I see BJ has pointed you in the direction of her secondary monitoring info. Secondary monitoring is particularly helpful when looking after a kitty prone to pancreatitis. If you keep a journal for Petey it will build up into an invaluable reference source for you should you ever need to backtrack to something that worked before. (See Saoirse's spreadsheet for an idea of what it can be helpful to record; the link's in my signature.)



Mogs
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Hey there - sorry for the late response, but thanks so much for your advice. It's very helpful!

 

I'm also here late, but wanted to chime in!

Hills MD, both canned and dry, is too high in carbs for diabetic cat. The only prescription diet that is ok for diabetics is Purina DM canned. However, it's pretty much the same thing as Fancy Feast, so you're better off with a cheaper, commerical food that's low carb canned with better qaulity ingredients.

Bandit has a history of pancreatitis as well, and he is sensitive to high fat foods. I feed him a combination of varous Weruva flavors (Paw Lickin' Chickin/Chicken Frickasee/Funk in the Trunk/Steak Frites) and Wellness Core wet flavors (turkey & duck/chicken, turkey, & chicken liver/Lamb & Venison), and that seems to work well for us.

Just keep in mind that switching the diet may lower insulin need, so you'll definitely want to home test as you're changing things slowly.

Good luck! When you have time, drop on by the Lantus form and check out the stickies there. There's a wealth of information that talks about how Lantus should be handled and dosed, and lots of experienced folks! It sounds like you're certainly on the right track.