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** MSTie24 ** Cat food advice needed
Your FFC reminded me that I wanted to ask you a question about cat food for our diabetic 9 year old feline.
MSTie24:
(after trying only crappy Hill's Science Diet...aka what every vet seems to think is the fvking gold standard even though it's absolute garbage)
Our cats have never eaten wet food. We've tried several different kinds and they sniff at it, maybe have a taste but it otherwise goes untouched.
FWIW We used to feed the cats IAMS. The vet told us to switch to Science Diet weight control - 1.5 years later Mocha has diabetes. So now I'm not sure how much to trust the vets food recs.
Please share your advice & pet food knowledge!
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Re: ** MSTie24 ** Cat food advice needed
Butting in...
i'm can't type out a worthwhile response right now, but check out this site to get you started (until MSTie stops by): https://www.petfoodratings.net/cattable.html and for SD specifically https://www.petfoodratings.net/cats.html#SD
I'm sure Shane can help with the best ways and brands for migrating to canned food. I was going to mention that we used to feed Hill's Prescription Diet until the vet told me that they get a sort of commission for recommending and selling Hill's and Iam's at their store. She told me not to buy them, though.
My cats loved dry food (and still do), but I was able to move them to canned food, slowly. I started with Fancy Feast while researching others (sadly, I also read stories of FF recalls/deaths [mostly the ocean white fish, I believe], so we got off that quickly). The vet had said she didn't care what kind of wet food as much as getting off dry (early signs of possible kidney issues and pre-diabetic). We moved to a combo of Wellness canned and Natural Balance canned. Shane also has me starting them on some raw, mixed in, too.
Best of luck with it!
Photo by J Shelton Photography
Married 10/5/08 | 2 yrs of TTC, tests, procedures & a m/c | IVF #2 =James!
*Warning- super long*
Hey! I saw this earlier but haven't gotten a chance to post back til now. So the long and the short of it is that most traditional vets (unless they call themselves natural, holistic or homeopathic you can be pretty sure they're traditional vets) get very little in the way of nutritional training. And what they do get is usually lectures by people from companies like Hill's (makers of Sci Diet and Rx diets), Iams and Purina (Purina also makes vet diets) or textbooks authored by people at said companies. And there is some debate as to whether or not vets actually get kickbacks from selling these things, but they usually at least get free food for their own pets and regular visits from reps. Vets are awesome people and this is in NO way a slam on them. Just that they're really busy in practice with keeping appointments (and in school having to learn so many different things) that they don't have time to really study nutrition. Holistic vets generally make that a focus, which is why I usually trust their food advice. But traditional vets are to nutrition what your general practitioner is to human nutrition- you'd see a nutritionist/dietician for your own stuff, right? Same with pets. BTW I would like to stress that I do not offer advice as a substitute for *qualified* veterinary advice, and my knowledge is based on years of study and work in the field, concentrating on nutrition, but I certainly don't know all or pretend to.
There's my preamble. Now, on to the diabetes. Just like in people, feline diabetes is an inability to correctly regulate sugars, and the biggest sugar culprit for cats is carbohydrates. Since cats are obligate carnivores (they can eat non-meat, but it's not necessary or ideal) they have an especially hard time with grains and starches, and diabetes has really come on strong since most cats eat a partial/totally dry diet, unfortunately. The good news is for dry loving cats, you can start reducing the carb content by switching to a grain-free dry food. My favorite choice would be Orijen, which is 80% meat, 20% potato, fruits and vegetables. Other grain free choices include Taste of the Wild, EVO, Acana (made by the same company as Orijen but with a lower meat %), Merrick Before Grain, Wellness CORE, Nature's Variety Instinct and Solid Gold Indigo Moon. That will definitely slash your carb content a LOT from the weight control formula, which are almost always extremely grain heavy in all brands. So that's thought A.
Thought B is working to get away from dry food entirely and onto canned or even raw (if you're comfortable with that, and I realize not everyone is.) Something like 60% of insulin dependent diabetic cats can actually quit insulin (under vet supervision, natch) after going onto a high protein/low carb canned only diet. But of course, you have to have cats that eat it! To accomplish that, some tips:
1. If you normally free feed dry food, stop. Cats actually don't eat this way naturally and 2x meals a day is more in line with how they are designed by nature to eat (gorge and fast rather than graze), *and* it helps create pickiness. Why would they try something new when the old favorite crunchies are available?
2. Once you get on two meals a day (if not already), get em hungry. The trouble with diabetic cats is they do need to eat 2-3 small meals per day to keep sugars in line, so you can't skip a meal to really prime them, as you could with a nondiabetic cat. Instead, when you start seeing signs of hunger at the normal meal time put down the new food and hope that hunger will help become a good motivator.
3. Try a wide variety of canned foods in different textures, flavors and consistencies. Ideally you want something free of all grain and by-products, but if the only thing they'll even look at twice is stinky Nine Lives or whatever, then start there. Inexpensive grocery brands make up for a lack of good ingredients with a lot of added stink, which is what cats really respond to more than flavor.
4. Bribery! Add some toppings to the canned to make it more enticing. Dried bonito fish flakes, freeze-dried chicken (aka kitty crack), tuna juice, etc. all make nice toppings. I also am a personal advocate for the effectiveness of the "chip and dip" method. Dip a kibble into the slightest bit of canned, feed. Repeat several times, then sprinkle more kibble on top of the food and see if they go for it. The canned can become an acquired taste this way.
5. If you want to try raw, you can either mix it into canned once you're solid on that (what Lexi is doing), or try it plain. Some cats respond better to this than canned, although that's less common than the usual "WTF is this??" reaction that you see a lot.
I would encourage you to consider a second veterinary opinion. Just like with humans, a second look is never a bad thing. C's getting fussy and need to get put to bed, but I will PM you later with the names of some vets I really like and who would be able to give you great advice on treating the diabetes in a more natural and gentle way- but just as effectively, of course. Also, here is a great link to get you started: https://www.catinfo.org/?link=felinediabetes Dr. Pierson is awesome and a great resource. I find her writings to be interesting and very helpful. OK, off to bed for C but I will send you that msg later, and let me know if you have any more specific questions. Oh! Actually, can you PM me what neighborhood you live in? That'll help me pin down some vets/places to visit for more info and samples.
TTY later on!! 