? Trying to find the magic food

Have questions about finding the right food.

What is the importance of the Ash content in kitty's food?

How do I know the right food for my kitty who has diabetes and also has pancreatitis?

How does fiber or adding pumpkin factor into it?

Does adding raw diet food to wet food help my kitty to be more healthy?

What about adding digestive enzymes?

Someone mentioned yesterday in another thread that frustration abounds. That's what I'm feeling about the food. Would love your help and advice.

 

Can I occasionally feed high quality tuna with no garlic, onions or salt? Certainly not as a regular diet but just once in a while.

 

Yes, tuna is fine as an occasional treat

 

@Carol & Murphy has a kitty with FD and pancreatitis. Maybe she’ll have some suggestions

 

Hi Jean - I can only tell you my experience with Murphy - who has diabetes and also chronic pancreatitis -
Of course, every cat is different but for Murphy: I avoid any food with carrageenan and try to avoid the gums (ie guar gum) as much as possible. At first, I tried to find novel proteins (quail, kangaroo, venison, rabbit, etc). I do try to limit any kind of fish to once or week or so. So the brands of food I use are: Rawz, Koha, ziwipeak, Nature's Logic, Nature's Variety Instinct, tiki cat, Nulo, Dr. Elsey's and his favorites: Sheba perfect portions and Nutro. I am always in the hunt for new brands, as he develops food aversions very easily. I agree with Chris that tuna in water is fine every once in a while. For Murphy, he gets daily cerenia, and digestive enzymes added to every meal - I have read that digestive enzymes decrease the work of the pancreas by providing protease, lipase (the enzymes the pancreas would normally release) I also give ondansetron whenever he is "off" his food and seems nauseated, and an appetite stimulant as needed. Of note, and I hesitate to write this here, when he is having a true flare and seems very nauseous, he won't touch any wet food and I have to give him just a bit of kibble - I use Wysong's Epigen90 and sometimes just a few pieces seem to settle his stomach and he will then eat at least some of his wet food.
It's really trial and error and what works one week will not work the next week. I find the key is to offer a different food every day. I'd love him to eat raw, but he won't touch it. There's a good website that covers pancreatitis - ibdkitties.net - take a look there. They also have an active facebook page (ibdkitties). I hope some of this helps Pretty Girl (she is definitely that).

 

Thanks @Chris & China and @Sharon14!

@Carol & Murphy, thank you! This is really helpful. I've also started avoiding carrageenan and gums and also trying to find food that is only sourced in the US and is preferably non-GMO.

I appreciate the info about the different brands of food you're feeding, about the digestive enzymes and about the website that covers pancreatitis. Thanks again.

 

We're all in this together, my friend. I notice you are feeding Nature's Logic - that's one of the very best foods - I wish Murphy would eat it

 

Thank you, thank you!

I'm so glad to know you think Nature's Logic is one of the very best foods - I had come to the same conclusion but appreciate knowing that you think the same!

I hope your Murphy will start eating it as well. Only my diabetic kitty, Pretty Girl, really eats it very well. Her twin - not diabetic - Sweet Pea will eat it somewhat but doesn't really care for it very much. My other 2 cats won't touch it with a 10 foot pole. I am pretty persistent though and will not give up easily!

 

Hi.. Just jumping in with a curious question. I see Natures Logic is recommended and it does show low carb count on Dr Lisa's food page. But, when I read the ingredient list of canned chicken it contains high carb fruits and veggies: apples, apricot, cranberry, blueberry, and carrots. I originally passed on this product due to these specific ingredients. Perhaps there are miniscule amounts which do not impact carb count?

I did just email Natures Logic to ask for the carb count.

I am also looking for alternate canned foods. I would not want to eat the same thing everyday!

 

So . . . I've known about Dr. Lisa's food chart for a while now. I first found Nature's Logic by Googling cat food without carrageenan. I went to their site and read about the food and really liked what I read - very high quality food with no synthetic crap & sourced and made in the US. So I emailed them about the analysis and this is what they sent me -



In reply to my question about which food would be best for my diabetic kitty, she said "Truly any of our canned diets would be ok for your cat with diabetes and pancreatitis. If I were to recommend just a few, I would definitely recommend the beef as it is our lowest in carbs and also lower in fat, our sardine as it is also low in carbs and our lowest in fat, our rabbit is the next lowest in fat but a tad higher in carbs, though not a high level of carbs." She said the difference to get to 100% is moisture.

Last week I saw Nature's Logic on Dr. Lisa's chart and sent a screenshot to the lady at Nature's Logic to ask about it. She said none of the information matches what they show for the foods except for calories per can. So . . I wasn't too sure what to think about that but I like the food and chose to believe the manufacturer. In spite of some of Pretty Girl's numbers, once she started eating this food she began looking and acting better than she has in years. So we'll see how it works out for her diabetes. I read several product reviews where people said it helped their kitty get in remission from diabetes.

Hope something here is helpful.

 

Just a couple days ago I read that Fancy Feast has a high phosphorus level - I don't remember where I read it or if it was a good source - maybe it was here. Anyway that might explain why Pretty Girl's numbers remained super high while I was feeding her Fancy Feast. I don't know.

 

Nature's Logic doesn't use any artificial supplements for vitamins and minerals - that's probably why apples carrots etc are listed as ingredients. I usually look to make sure there are no starches in the first 6 or so ingredients.

 

Following my emails with Nature's Logic, I got on their email list. Last week I received a general email from them that said this -

Last Friday the announcement that the FDA is investigating a possible link between certain diet ingredients and DCM (Canine Heart Disease) was publicized. Diets in cases reported to the FDA frequently listed potatoes or multiple legumes such as peas, lentils, other “pulses” (seeds of legumes), and their protein, starch and fiber derivatives early in the ingredient list. These ingredients are more common in diets labeled as “grain free”. We are reminding every inquirer that all Nature’s Logic line of products do not contain any potatoes, peas, lentils or their derivatives.
​

This may also be related to why apples, carrots etc are in the ingredients list.

 

Here's the New York Times article about that - I read it last week
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/24/...l?smid=nytcore-ipad-share&smprod=nytcore-ipad

 

Thank you for sharing.