Pls help. Canned food for diabetes cat.

My cat Miko 12years old. Last week check bloodtest 18.9 & urine check confirm is Diabetes. In Malaysia only have Royal Canin dry food for diabetes cat. Insulin my vet said also have to order. I'm very worry my cat health. Please somebody know where can find canned food for diabetes cat and shipping to Malaysia.

 

Hi,

I'm in the US. I feed my diabetic canned cat food that I buy at the grocery store or at petfood supply stores. Your cat doesn't need to eat "diabetic-specific" cat food. The most important thing you are looking for is food that is low in carbohydrates, and that is usually found in wet cat food (canned) instead of dry food.

I don't know if any US equivalent brands are available where you live, but if you have canned food (preferable to dry), you can tell what is good by reading the list of ingredients. You are looking for meat as a main or first ingredient on the list, and for as few grains (rice) as possible.

You say you are worried, is your kitty sick, or, is he acting okay and just diagnosed diabetic?

Also, for future posts, I would encourage you to post on the Main Health forum because more people will read that page.

I will move your post but leave a copy here in the Supply Closet so you can find your post.

Best,
Pam & Layla

 

Hi Pam and Layla,

Thank you very much for your info. My cat now just diagnosed diabetic because he always thirsty, urinating more than usual,
always hungry and tired and also itchy skin until lost fur at some part of his leg and belly. Actually I'm new at this forum.
Can you please help me to post this message to Main Health forum? Thanks again.

 

At the very top of the main FDMB page, right under the FDMB Logo with the kitty picture,
it says "Board Index"...click on that.

That will take you to the Forum index page. Scroll down a bit.

Then click on "FELINE HEALH: The Main FDMB Forum".

Start a NEW TOPIC there.

 

What brands of canned cat food are available in your local pet store? We can start with that information and then help you find the right foods for your cat.

What kind of foods were you feeding before the diabetes diagnosis?

What kind of insulin did the vet say he was ordering for you? There are several different types of insulin available and honestly, the best ones for a cat are the human kind - Lantus (glargine) or Levimer (detemir). These insulins are available at any human pharmacy and many cats do very well on them. So much so, that they can become diet controlled and not need insulin after a while of using it.

If you do get one of these insulins, you will also need to use human syringes - which are U100, 3/10 cc, with 1/2 unit markings are preferable.

It is important that no matter what insulin you start with, that you start with a small dose such as 1 unit or less. Also, cats need to have insulin twice a day, in 12 hour increments. If the vet tells you to shoot a higher dose or only once a day, please don't listen, as that could be a huge mistake.

Are you able to go to a human pharmacy and pick up a diabetes testing meter? Any brand will work fine. You will need:

- meter
- plenty of test strips that go with the meter
- lancets (the little push pin like things that you will use to get blood)

Also pick up
- antibiotic ointment - typically found with first aid supplies - with pain relief will be fine
- ketostix or keto-dia-stix - found with diabetic supplies - this is used to test for ketones in the urine (don't worry, we can give you tips on how to collect urine to test) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketonuria


Could you give us some more information.

- What is the name of your cat?
- How was he diagnosed?
- Did the vet do a fructosamine test? or just a regular blood test?
- Any other symptoms - excessive weight loss, thirst, hunger?
- Is he walking on his hocks - meaning is your cat walking flat footed? does he need to stop and rest while walking from room to room? Is he having trouble jumping onto furniture?

If he is, then it's very possible your cat also has diabetic neuropathy. In most cases, this can be reversed, with diet, insulin and vitamin B-12 Methylcobalamin mixed into his wet food. Here is a sample of what this product is:

http://www.vitacost.com/NSI-Vitamin-B-1 ... lcobalamin

You should be able to find something similar locally. But please make sure you get this type of B12 as it is the only one that will help.

We will do all we can to help you and your cat through this process. There is a lot to learn, but in time it will all come together and start to make sense.

 

Hi theng,

I'm Malaysian, currently living in the US. Pam asked me to look in on this thread, but I'm afraid I'm not much help because I haven't lived there since 2000.

One of the better brands that we like to feed here in the U.S. is Wellness. I understand this brand may be available in SEA - see Wellness® Natural Food for Pets Goes Global With Southeast Asia Distribution. This site says to e-mail info at silversky.com.sg (remove spaces and replace 'at' with @) for info on Wellness retailers in M'sia. I do know some of the Wellness flavours are available in HK; there was a HK member in recent months who talked about seeing them at the stores.

Your other option is probably to see if any of the brands fed by Australia and NZ members are available in M'sia. Since ANZ is closer, there may be a regional or local distributor. There are several ANZ members here, maybe some of them will chime in on what foods they feed. I think we may have had a S'porean member once, and another from Thailand (who had difficulty finding food too) but I don't think they posted frequently. Where in M'sia are you? S'pore retailers may be an option too if you're closer south, or if you have friends who travel there frequently.

Re: insulin - what insulin does your vet plan to put Miko on? I'm surprised he said you have to order it. We've used two insulins in the last four years and they're both human insulins. I'd have thought you would be able to walk into a pharmacy like Guardian and purchase it? (I don't know for sure, never tried to order insulin back home). Or perhaps talk to a doctor instead of a veterinarian on where best to get the insulin, if your vet has already told you the name of it? (eta: I'm not implying you should start insulin without your vet's knowledge. Once you find a source for it, check in with your vet or with this board on dosing, testing, etc).

Hope this helps.

Choy-Foong & Meowzi

 

Thanks so much for all your kindness & info. My vet said Miko should try the pills first. If the pills does not respond then need to inject insulin. Miko yesterday have blood and urinalysis test. The test results are all normal but the blood glucose level is very high. Miko also need to take antibiotic for urine bag inflammation for a week. I live in Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia. I find a lot vet center & cat food supplier at Malaysia, they didn't sell canned food for diabetes cat such as Purina dm and Hill's m/d. Now I give Miko eat dry food - Royal Canin for diabetes cat. May I know can I feed Miko with Hill's a/d or Natural balance canned food? The nutrition label wrote Low-Carb..... Thanks again for your help.

 

i have a feeling those pills are called glipizide and they are not really good for a diabetic cat. if your cat is so wild that you can't pick him up then sometimes they are the only option. if your cat is easier to handle, it is better to have insulin shots. glipizide can actually make a cat a permanent diabetic. we've found here that many cats do not need to stay on insulin once they are on a low carbohydrate diet and insulin for a short time (not all cats tho).
so if you can switch to insulin you will give your cat a better chance at not being diabetic forever. no promises, but a much better chance. lots of people here use glargine (lantus) or levemir insulin. can your vet give you that for your cat?

there is no need to use special diabetes food for your cat. what we use here is low carbohydrate canned (wet) food, preferably under 10% carbohydrates. if you look on janet & binky's page (http://binkyspage.tripod.com/canfood.html), you can see lists of canned food and the amount of carbohydrates and other nutritional information. check under the new and old canned food tables for all the varieties we've collected information on. i only saw one variety of natural balance (premium) on the list but maybe another one on the list is available at a store near you. you don't need to buy food from your vet such as a/d or d/m. regular low carb food is better.

if you can't find any low carbohydrate varieties on the list locally, check the ingredients on your wet cat food label and try to avoid food that has grains like rice or corn (or flour) in it. try to make sure meat (like chicken or turkey) is the first ingredient and do not feed any fish varieties more than twice a week (they are not good for kitties more often than that).

if you check the Health Links on this board you'll also see a discussion of nutrition and transitioning a cat from dry food to wet. the list on transitioning from dry to wet can also be used to transition a cat from one variety of canned food to another in case Miko only likes the kind of cat food that isn't good for him.

other thing to remember is that water is very important for cats, especially diabetics. it helps to mix a few spoons of water into his food each time to make it more soupy.

hope this info is helpful.

 

Thanks you for all your kindness & info. I will try my best to find low carb canned food for my cat. Today I use the glucose meter to testing Miko blood glucose level and the result is lower a bit 17.6 mmol from last two days that is 19.6 mmol. Will check his blood glucose each day. My vet said that need to finish all the antibiotic first then will begin the oral medication. Thanks again.

 

What a cutie!!!

Please be careful with the oral medication for diabetes though- as a previous poster mentioned, it can make your cat diabetic FOR GOOD.... You might want to try and see if your vet will try the shots first. There is a HUGE success on this board with getting diabetic cats under control that way.

Good luck!

 

if the oral medicine you're talking about is glipizide (ask the vet) and you haven't yet given it to your cat, PLEASE DON'T GIVE IT to him. please get the kind of insulin you can inject instead. lantus (also called glargine)
and levemir (also called detemir) are great insulins you should ask for. i'm guessing your vet will be able to write you a prescription for one of them. humans use those insulins, too, and normally they're available at the pharmacy, not at the vet office.

glipizide can cause permanent diabetes. it is really only useful for feral (wild) cats you can tempt with food but not touch. (it's basically better than nothing for wild cats, but if you have a pet cat you are better off injecting regular insulin like lantus or levemir.)

believe it or not, many of us have found that we get even closer to our cats when we inject them with insulin, so please don't be worried about giving injections. at first i always gave my cat a treat when i tested her blood sugar or injected her, so she started looking forward to that and now comes to me when it's shot time. many many people here have had the same experience.

 

Thank you chriscleo & Weather Girl . My cat MIKO haven't start the pill yet. I will discuss with my vet. Thanks so much and appreciate.

 

Dear all members, can i feed my cat Miko with Fancy Feast roasted succulent chicken canned food? I checked online that chicken & turkey meat are good for diabetes cat. Is it true? In my country Malaysia, I cant find any pets store are selling Hill's Prescription m/d & Purina dm canned food. Other brand like Solic Gold & Natural Balance canned food, i notice that the ingredients have Brown Rice included. I also notice that Fancy Feast flavor canned food are different from US. Can i choose other flavor like tuna ,salmon, crab & shrimp for diabetes cat? PLEASE ADVISE.



Thank you

 

As you are learning you don't need to buy the prescription foods. Also you want to limit fish and seafood flavors to one or twice a week.

When I get to work I will look closely at this label. For now my question is does the product contain gravy? Is it a solid mushy pate like or does it have chunks or pieces in it.


In the US the roasted tends tpo be higher carb and good to keep in the hypo tool kit.
What other fancy feast choices do you have.

 

Hello Hillary & Maui,
In Malaysia Fancy Feast have 9 flavor. I choose only Roasted Succulent Chicken for Miko. Can i choose other flavor like tuna ,salmon, crab & shrimp for diabetes cat?

FANCY FEAST® ROYALE can variants : http://www.purina.com.my/product/fancyfeast.htm
•Tuna Banquet with Whole Prawns
•Tuna Whitemeat Supreme
•Tuna & Snapper Delight with Prawns
•Yellow Fin Tuna with Whole Shrimp
•Whitemeat Tuna Affair with Seafood Strips
•Virgin Flaked Tuna
•Tender Chicken in Seafood Sauce
•Roasted Succulent Chicken
•Seafood & Chicken Medley Glazed in Tuna Jus

Thanks.

 

I cannot see the ingredient list for any of them. And the pic. You took I cannot read the label. So here is my suggestion. Read the label if it contains. Wheat, rice, corn or any grain products, do not buy it. If it does not and has no gravy in it then I think it should be ok. I am tryiong to locate someone out your way (well in AustraliaY as I believe this is where FF royale is made and they may have a. Better idea of which ones are considered low carb.

I will send a pm to ally And myrtle. And also monique and spooky - she is in germany but seems to have a good idea about the international options.

How are his bgs so far?

Of course another way to tell if these are low carb is to test his bgs one hour after eating. If they spike then wait another hour test again and see if it drops and how much.

 

As far as I can tell this Royale is what in the US is sold as the Fancy Feast White Label varieties either classic or roasted. My guess would be it is an acceptable choice (probably not 100% grain-free) but still a low carb food. I try to choose foods that have no sugar (can't belive how many catfoods out there ilst sugar on the label!) no plant-by-products, no artificial color/flavor/ perservatives, and I avoid types with sauce or Jelly as these usually contain caramel (another word for sugar) and or "thickeners" which are basically things like corn-starch. Even without knowing the exact calorie values etc. most canned foods that don't contain sugar or starches (main ingredients are meat, meat by product, oil and fat, minerals and water are generally going to be acceptable for a diabetic and are far better than any dry food and most prescription Vet foods.

I would stick with the chicken types and feed the fish ones just occasionally. There is a lot of talk that consuming to much fish can have negative effects on thyroid and kidneys. In addition fish tends to be addicting for some cats and they will begin refusing other flavors expecting fish every meal.

 

Hi there!
I doubt I can be of much help from New Zealand, but would very much like to help if I could.
I don't currently have a cat, so I am a bit out of touch with cat food. However, I will go to my local supermarket in my work lunch break and see if I can see the FF Royale.
I don't know if you can buy the Australian-made Whiskas, with a purple label? There are 2 or 3 good varieties for a diabetic cat - they have "loaf-style" on the cans. So - that is NOT the ones in gravy.
In NZ we have "Chef" cat food, and as far as I know some varieties are low-carb. But you probably can't get it in Malaysia! Neither I nor any other NZ member has been able to find out the exact ingredient lists!! The good ones (I mean, they are very meaty, so I presume they are not full of fillers and they have no gravy) are Chef Classic Beef and Chef Chunky Chicken and Chef Jellymeat. My cat loved these better than any other brand, and she did well on them.
Apart from Fancy feast/Purina/Hills, we don't stock many US varieties here.
My cat would NOT eat the Hills M/D, and I was glad to find it wasn't very good, anyway.
As I said, I will have to check the supermarket later today, but will get back to you on FF Royale if it is there.
Good luck, Theng, and you have come to the right place!

 

No, no FF Royale in NZ.
Just the FF varieties that I am sort of familiar with from the past, though I see the label is a bit different - I think we have more flavours available here though.
As far as supermarket-supply cat food goes, as well as Whiskas & Chef & FF (and cheap "house brands"), we have little cans of "Dine" cat food the same size as FF, but it's made in Thailand and I don't know exactly what's in it because the label is vague! :?
The more specialised cat foods such as Hills, we can only get from pet food stores or vets.

 

out of that list the roasted succulent chicken looks the best (don't see ingredients for it tho). you can serve the seafood varieties too (the ones that don't have sauce, gravy, corn, wheat, flour, or rice as ingredients), but no more than twice a week if possible because they are not healthy any more often than that.

my attitude is, your cat is better off with canned cat food than dry food, and the low carbohydrate varieties (the ones that don't have grains like rice, wheat, corn; or any kinds of gravies or sauces listed) are better.

i know it is a lot tougher without the same variety of foods as you see here in the united states, but the best thing is to read the label, make sure it has a muscle meat listed as first ingredient (chicken or turkey are best), and try to avoid anything with rice, corn, wheat, flour, or sauce/gravy. if you can't totally avoid grain, try to make sure it is near the end of the ingredient list.

 

Dear all members,

Thank you very very much for all suggestion and information. I will try my best to find more and good food for miko.
Thanks again everyone :smile:

 

This might help:

FANCY FEAST Royale is an indulgent treat you’ll love to give your cat. If you demand the best for your adorable feline, look no further. Not even the fussiest felines will argue with the irresistible taste of this truly sumptuous range.

Available in 12 Flavours:

Virgin Flaked Tuna
A succulent blend of bite sized pure white tuna flakes.

Roasted Succulent Chicken
Roasted strips of moist and flavoursome chicken in a savoury jelly.

Fine Flakes of Tuna
A delightful combination of lightly textured tuna in jelly

Yellow Fin Tuna with Whole Shrimp
Delicious servings of shrimp nestling within sumptuous flakes of pure white tuna.

Seafood & Chicken Medley Glazed in Tuna Jus
A delicate balance of tuna and tender chicken enhanced with flavours of the ocean

Tuna Flakes Fusion with Whitebait in Tuna Jus
Soft flakes of tuna garnished with whitebait in a tempting tuna jus.

Tender Tuna Tossed with Whitebait
Tender, savoury compote of finely flaked tuna and whitebait.

Whitemeat Tuna Affair with Seafood Strips
Hand shredded fine flakes of white tuna with julienne strips of seafood.

Tuna & Snapper Delight with Prawns
Large meaty chunks of tuna complemented by fillet of snapper and prawns.

Tuna White Meat Supreme
A tempting blend of fine tuna and snapper morsels in a firm and flavoursome jelly.

Tuna Banquet with Whole Prawns
Fresh shredded tuna fillet complemented with succulent prawns.

Tender Chicken in Seafood Sauce
Succulent chicken slow-cooked in a rich and nourishing seafood jus.

http://www.petfood247.com.au/epages/pep ... ts/CF14110

And this: http://www.fancyfeast.co.nz/cuisine/fancy-feast-royale Looks like it may be a new product in NZ.

 

Sooooo... we do have this down here, then! confused_cat

I'm guessing it is to be found in a different supermarket chain than the one I looked in the other day when I said we don't have it here.
Thanks for the info!

 

Hi. My cat is 9 mos into diabetes I learned alot on Purina.com & called them. Fancy Feast Classic is a better store brand cat can food it has higher protein & less carbs. Kibble believe it or NOT 9 Lives Essentials matches Rachel Rays dry cat food

 

Hi theng
I'm from Singapore and I feed my diabetic cat burp wet food. Do you have pet lovers centre in Ipoh? Cos I know they have shops in JB and KL. If u can find the shop in Ipoh u can buy this brand. Besides this, I feed them fancy feast classic. I do believe your supermarkets will have them. I definitely have seen them in JB.