Stress or Dry Food?

I haven't been here in quite some time, probably 1.5 years, because you all were *so* great the first time! After reading your board (Fall 2008), I switched Big Kitty over to Fancy Feast and his sugars have been perfect, running in the 70's and 80's. So, what's the problem, you ask? Well, his silly human wanted to try dry food again... because of #1 - the cost, #2 - the smell, #3 - the mess! and #4 - I'm going away for a week and wet food spoils so easily. So, I read lots of labels and found Iams Healthy Naturals which lists chicken as its first ingredient, then chicken by-products.

BK did *really* well for the first week... glucose levels were running 75-95. THEN, my sister's dog came last Tuesday for 3 weeks of "camp". I noticed tonight that BK's water bowl was EMPTY... uh oh. So, I checked him and he was 330!

My question is, do you think it's the food, or the stress of the dog? or both?

If it's the food, is there ANY acceptable dry food that's reasonably priced and easy to obtain? While Fancy Feast did the trick, it's terribly expensive, messy (he flings the stuff everywhere) and spoils in the summer. I will be going away for a week at the beginning of July and am hoping to find an alternative since I don't have anyone that can check on him twice a day. I'll be lucky to get someone every other day.

As in the past, THANKS in advance! Your help will be greatly appreciated!

~Tracy and BigKittyRoid (age 14)

 

Tracy, there is no true way of knowing if it is the dry and the dog, or just the dog, unless you go back to canned and remove all dry right now. Isn't there a place you could board him? If he is going to need insulin again and you are going away and he is only going to be checked every other day, you do run a risk of him possibly getting sick and going into DKA. There are timed feeders with ice packs but you would still need someone to come in every day and check him and feed him again.

 

It could be either or a combination of both. Also, you'll want to prevent BK from getting into the dog's food as well (unless the dog is also getting low-carb wet food).

 

You can get Fancy Feast at Walmart now for 30 cents -- even less if you get a case with the dollar-off coupon.

laur

 

Well, I took his dry food away last night and fed him FF... this morning he was 141. I wish I was going to be home today to check his sugar later, but will when I get home. I will look into the ice pack feeder... also, I like the idea of freezing the food (from Lisa's site). I'll also look into a nearby cat hospital for boarding.

Laur, where can I get the coupon? The cans cost about 45-47cents here even on sale. He eats 3 cans/day.

And, thankfully the dog eats so fast and BK doesn't stand a chance getting into his food :lol:

 

Carbs are not the only important issue!

Hi Tracy,

Proper nutrition is the epitome of 'pay me now or pay me later'.

Please see my Feline Urinary Tract Health page linked below and at least read what is in the gray box at the top and look at Opie's pictures. He came very close to dying from a blocked urethra and that is one VERY miserable way to die.

Also note that in order to save his life....his vet bill was $4,350. That would have bought him a lot of canned food for his feeder who was worried about cost.

Regarding leaving a cat alone....it is my strong opinion that a cat should be checked on at least once every 24 hours. And the idea of a male cat on dry food being left alone....that really scares me given the fact that males are the ones that block due to their long, skinny urethra.

Of course not ever male cat on dry food blocks but enough of them do! Pay me now or pay me later.....and I would rather you keep your money! :smile:

 

If you don't like the smell of canned food you have a couple of options

You could try a different brand. For example evo 95% or wellness are both high quality brands and do not have that smell. They also co$e in 13 ounce cans that make it more economical too. At one point I priced it out and ounce for ounce these brands are better quality and cheaper than FF (at do cent a can).

You could also experiment with raw food. There are several premade ones that are good and don,t smell.

and to keep it all moist longer add water to the food. I typically add about 2-3 ounces per can. And you can freeze the mix. So you can serve fresh.and frozen. By the time the fresh is eaten the frozen will be thawed and ready for eating

Just renember you may not like the smell but kitty does!

 

Thank you! You all have been most helpful. I checked BK when I got home and is glucose was 85. So I will be returning the 7lb bag of dry I just bought and retrieving the FF cans once again.

Lisa, thank you for the urinary bit.... BK suffered from blockage when he was a little guy. I never truly figured the cause, but it all cleared up when I stopped giving him my cereal milk and switched him to Purina Urinary Tract dry food. Of course that food no doubt, contributed to his diabetes. BUT, your post reminded me of how terrible it was for him (and my pockie-book!)

Part of me thinks I was being silly for going back to dry, but part of me was really wondering if he was just transitional... we had just moved when he was originally diagnosed. I guess I just want to "see". Of course we just moved, again, a month ago, which probably didn't help matters, especially with a visiting dog.

SOOOO, lesson learned... I'll try not to get any more "smart" ideas! ohmygod_smile

You all are marvelous <3 Thank You