Recently diagnosed - food options

Status
Not open for further replies.
N

NutellaDad

Member Since 2023
My 14 year old cat was recently diagnosed with diabetes. My vet wants to try a month of glipizide before deciding if she needs insulin shots, and also said I should switch her food to Purina Pro Plan DM. I did this, mixing in her usual food (Fancy Feast grilled tuna in gravy) at first, and she seemed to do well, and a day or two later switched to just the new food. For about a day, she ate it all, but then decided she no longer wants it. Every time I put it out she just sniffs it and walks away. I've added back in her usual food and she eats it fine. She's certainly been hungry as she's gotten very vocal when I've tried to get her to the new food, as well as have tried some different Fancy Feast variants that I read were lower in carbs, such as flaked trout and flaked tuna, not in gravy, but she refuses to eat those as well. This morning I picked up a couple cans of the natural tuna in gravy and she's eating it, and I'm going to continue using her usual tuna as well just so that she eats. In the mean time, I did order a case of the regular purina pro plan DM (I had originally ordered the savory select version) and will see if she takes to that.

While I wait for that and to hear back from my vet, I wanted to look into how the grilled tuna in gravy compares to the natural tuna in terms of health for a diabetic cat. Any suggestions/tips/resources? Thank you.
 
Hi and welcome to the forum. There is no need to feed prescription foods. You just need to feed low carb 10% or under canned food.
Have a look at this FOOD CHART
Fancy feast pates are good and there are plenty of others to choose from.
Please do not let the vet prescribe glipizide. It will only stress the pancreas more and will not do any good. Ask the vet to prescribe insulin now…either Lantus or a biosimilar one or Prozinc. Don’t accept vetsulin or Novolin insulin. If the vet won’t prescribe insulin I would find anther vet who will.
We have lots of information here for you and we can help you in lots of ways to manage your kitty.
Bron
 
I saw that chart but the natural tuna in gravy isn't listed. The grilled tuna in gravy which she usually eats is above 10% carbs but as of right now those are the only two I've tried that she'll actually eat. I will try a ocean whitefish/tuna pate, but she's never taken to pate foods the few times I've tried in the past when I first got her.

She's been on glipizide for a week as of now, though with the food issue causing additional stress there's no way to tell what it's doing either way.
 
The bigger issue is that glipizide may burn out your cat's pancreas (i.e., pancreatic amyloidosis). Diabetic cats can go into remission. In order to do so, they need to get their pancreas working again. The American Animal Hospital Assn only recommends glipizide if you refuse to administer insulin. This is a link to the AAHA guidelines -- see p. 6. The AAHA recommends either Prozinc or glargine for the treatment of feline diabetes.

Many cats get tired of DM. The ingredients are not wonderful -- especially given the cost. I'd also point out that despite it being "prescription" food, there is nothing prescriptive in it. In fact, the pet food manufacturers lost a class action suit for calling their food prescription. The DM used to be called diabetes management. It's now called dietetic management. As long as your cat is eating a low carb diet, you're in a good place. We regard low carb as less than 10%, although most members will feed their cat a variety of food that's in the neighborhood of 5%.
 
I gave her a can of the fancy feast ocean whitefish and tuna pate at lunch, no carbs according to that chart, and she did it eat, so for now I'm going to give her that. Bringing her to the vet on Thursday. Thanks for the fast replies!
 
Likely going to start her on insulin tonight. I still can't get her to eat any of the different foods I've tried. I wonder if once the insulin kicks in she'll be more open to other options but as of now the Fancy Feast grilled tuna in gravy that she's always eaten is all that she'll even pick at. I tried Artemis tuna in gravy which has half the carb content according to those charts and figured the same protein/gravy combination would work but nope, she won't touch it.
 
NutellaDad said:
Likely going to start her on insulin tonight. I still can't get her to eat any of the different foods I've tried. I wonder if once the insulin kicks in she'll be more open to other options but as of now the Fancy Feast grilled tuna in gravy that she's always eaten is all that she'll even pick at. I tried Artemis tuna in gravy which has half the carb content according to those charts and figured the same protein/gravy combination would work but nope, she won't touch it.
Click to expand...
My cat is recently diagnosed so I am no expert like this individuals. I returned the bagged purina DM and I'm returning the cans tomorrow. My cat won't eat it either. He is only interested in the fancy feast. I'm getting the classic pates. He doesn't like all the flavors either, so we are wasting food at this point, but it has to be done. Important to get them to eat. My cat was in bad shape so he was prescribed an appt stimulant. I'm picking up anti nausea tomorrow because someone from this forum suggested. May take that into consideration. While it is hard to not trust what our vets are saying, it is important to listen to these citizens that have dealt with for years. Take all of this info into consideration when making decisions for your cat. These individuals don't have an agenda other than to help our cats. I would not delay on insulin either.
 
NutellaDad said:
Likely going to start her on insulin tonight. I still can't get her to eat any of the different foods I've tried. I wonder if once the insulin kicks in she'll be more open to other options but as of now the Fancy Feast grilled tuna in gravy that she's always eaten is all that she'll even pick at. I tried Artemis tuna in gravy which has half the carb content according to those charts and figured the same protein/gravy combination would work but nope, she won't touch it.
Click to expand...
What insulin did you get?
 
I took her to a different vet this past weekend (on the recommendation of the assistant at my usual vet). Did get her started on Vetsulin, so far showing mild improvement. Her main issue lately has been almost nonstop meowing and howling. Her first night on insulin she calmed down, though it started up again the next day. He said one u at first, but wants me to do 2 for the next few days and bring her back in Thursday.

The main thing right now that I can't figure out is that she's being very weird with drinking water - this has been ongoing to some extent throughout this whole ordeal. I've tried different bowls, different cups, sometimes she'll drink if I hold something right up to her, but other times she won't. Each time I've taken her to either vet they've said she's dehydrated and given her subcutaneous fluids and vitamins (though yesterday he said she was looking a bit better). Yesterday he also gave my purina hydracare to try - although she has yet to touch any of the water I've put it in (or a separate bowl of straight water either). I'm not sure what else to try with getting her to drink.
 
She's been on 3 units now for the 4-5 days and has shown great improvement. She's no longer crying all the time, acting more like her usual self. Back on the food she's always been on since that's all she'll eat but with this dosage today her blood sugar was at 116, when it was 350-450 when first starting the insulin. She's still being strange with drinking - I got a PetLibro fountain but she's just ignoring it, and won't drink from any of the bowls either, all she'll drink from is the bathroom sink - so I've been leaving that on a low drip. Not sure what made her only want that water - she also keeps choking/sneezing afterwards because of the weird angle it's certainly getting up her nose... why are they so strange!?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top