Diabetic friendly cat food

[eybic]

Helloooooo,

My cat was diagnosed with Diabetes a couple of months ago. He seems to be doing ok on the insulin jabs but he doesn't show much interest in the Royal Canin diabetic wet food, he just licks the gravy off and leaves it which is a shame as he does like his food. I've substituted his evening meal of the wet food for 2 Pollock fillets which he loves but I was wondering if anyone in the know is aware of any diabetic friendly wet food/ alternatives I can give him for his breakfast, I'd considered giving him some more pollock but am worried he'll be missing out on some vitamins/ minerals.

I'd love to give him a raw food diet but am concerned at needing to do blood tests and adjusting his insulin without the vet being involved, they suggested white fish for his evening meal which I've done but I'm having real trouble getting in to discuss it with them due to work hours and the poxy M25.

Any suggestions welcomed.

Thank you.

[bexVN]

Pvd DM is thought to be a great diet for diabetics. The wet version is expensive but very very low in Carbohydrate and can reduce the insulin dose significantly.

The changeover to this diet should be slow to give the body time to adjust. There is dry DM but it is better to feed wet or at least a combination with the wet being the greater portion.

[Swervin_Mervin]

Go to Zooplus and look up the Animonda Diabetes.

Our cat was diagnosed way back in Feb and we elected not to go down the insulin route. He wasn't overweight, despite being 6kg, I'd add! The vet gave him 3 months and said it wasn't worth him having his booster jabs which he was due at the time. However, he's just had to go in for his jabs because the old bugger is still going!

We've been managing him on a diet of the above Animonda, tinned Felix (non-gravy), and every night he gets a bowl of offal with a tiny bit of duck fat. He's on 4 meals a day with some non-carb biscuits inbetween (Milly's Kitchen for info - £5 a tin from Waitrose).

Tbh though, you should be fine even if you stick to traditional canned wet food. The main thing is cutting out carbs.

[bexVN]

Great for your cat but it is not true that the OP cat should be fine on a carb free diet alone (though would be good if it did). It depends how early the diabetes was diagnosed and how badly the pancreas is functioning.

Lily's kitchen/ applaws are definitely other foods that can be tried (under your vets guide) but blood tests will be needed to see if the insulin can be stopped altogether if not hopefully reduced.

[Swervin_Mervin]

bexVN said:

Great for your cat but it is not true that the OP cat should be fine on a carb free diet alone (though would be good if it did). It depends how early the diabetes was diagnosed and how badly the pancreas is functioning.

Without wishing to stray off the OP's topic, why would they need any carbs at all? And, more crucially, where would they get them from in a natural diet?

[bexVN]

Swervin_Mervin said:

bexVN said:

Great for your cat but it is not true that the OP cat should be fine on a carb free diet alone (though would be good if it did). It depends how early the diabetes was diagnosed and how badly the pancreas is functioning.

Without wishing to stray off the OP's topic, why would they need any carbs at all? And, more crucially, where would they get them from in a natural diet?

Sorry, manic day at work yest, no chance to reply! Even in the wild cats do consume some carbs all be it a much lower % (via food in intestines of their prey), however they are able to utilise it so it is not all bad to have it in their diet, the problem arises with the amounts in commercial food. It is very expensive to produce cat food without the use of carbs (hence why PVD DM wet is costly). Basically a good quality commercial food will have 30% carbs a cheap one upto 70% (a big difference)