Does Anyone Here have a DIABETIC Cat?

[Texas Sandman]

Fancy feast is, in fact a good food for a diabetic cat. The "classic" varieties are best. But you still have to read the label! Just remember that cats are obligate carnivores. So if you see them sticking grains, carrots, peas, other vegetables in the thing, it's not good for the cat. Many of the ff "classics" don't show these baddies on the labels. They're basically just meat, some juices, occasionally some guar gum to help it stick together & that's it. There's absolutely no basis for saying ff is a bad food, or you're cat is still hungry because he needs more "good food". My own cat's blood sugars have become infinitely more manageable since I switched to puree fancy feast from the (very expensive) and full of carbs combo of hill's a/d mixed with gerber's baby food. But for a while he was very ill, completely anorexic, and the fact he would even eat that saved his life (he spent 2 1/2 weeks with a feeding tube getting purina dm down it 4X a day until he threw up the feeding tube!). Many foods he wouldn't touch for a long time. Started eating baby food, then 1:1 with the hill's a/d (horrible sugar control) & now to the purina classic chicken feast, which I puree into a milk shake (without that step he'll suck the juice dry & leave the rest behind!). Now his insulin requirement is down to 0.5 units 3X per day and I'm tightly controlling him on that regimen with sugars in the 90-160 range.

My goal is to get my cat off insulin altogether, and that may yet happen. But it does require keeping tight control for a period of time, and that means checking it 3-4X a day & giving sliding scale insulin. Labor intensive. But many cats particularly recently diagnosed ones like mine can apparently do that. Takes a time commitment, though.

Back to your point. Polyphagia (ravenous appetite) is actually, a symptom of poorly controlled diabetes (along with polydipsia, polyuria, etc.). Either get your pet to the vet for another glucose curve, or buy a glucometer, take matters into your own hands & do it yourself.

Here's a useful site:

[url=http://yourdiabeticcat.com/]YourDiabeticCat.com - Helping and Preventing Feline Diabetes[/url]

Good luck!!!

[Sockie man]

I have a diabetic cat who is on royal canin diabetic wet and dry food. I want to make the switch to fancy feast classic. Is there also a dry food to use with the wet as I give him a small can of the royal canin wet and a 1/4 of the dry royal canin. He is on two units of lantus which is extremely expensive. I've heard that fancy feast is just as good if not better than the royal canon and much less expensive.
Thank you

[tone867]

3 oz can every 12 hrs with the shot and then 1.5 oz on a timer set to go off in middle of day between the shots is what I do.