[Annissa]

Well, cheaper than I thought it was going to be...by far!

I found a retailer and went to get some about an hour ago. $8 and change for a six pound bag! That's excellent! Purina DM cost $17 for a five pound bag. Bil-Jac was slightly less than DM. Tonight I'll find out how Sabby likes it and keep a close eye on his blood glucose, just in case. Chicken soup doesn't appear to have any more carbs than Bil-Jac. All in all, I'm pleased.

 

[kittygirl04]

I bought a trial size to see if my kitties liked it. They did the usual taste test, but didn't seem too excited about it. I hope your cat likes it, though. I also thought it was fairly cheap considering it is a good food.

 

[Annissa]

That's why I started a topic on it. I expected it to be as much or more than DM. If I can buy Sabby top-of-the-line food inexpensively, I'll do it!

He loves the taste, btw. I mixed the rest of the Bil-Jac and Eukanuba with the Chicken Soup and he eats around the old food to get to the new.

He doesn't appear to be hyper-glycemic, but I think he's developing a bladder infection, probably unrelated to food...so off to the vet for us, I guess.

 

[drjean]

Chicken Soup

If your cat is diabetic, you will probably need to stick to DM (or the new Hill's m/d), or else go to all canned food. A diabetic simply cannot have regular dry food. DM and m/d have only 15% carbs (most canned food has 10% or less), regular dry foods have 30-60% carbs. (You can guesstimate this by subtracting all the listed percentages on the package for protein, fat, moisture, etc. from 100%). Fiber is a carbohydrate. Chicken Soup is about 35% carbs.

High carb dry food is the major cause of feline diabetes (proven now in many studies including several of Dr. Deb Greco's)--controlling dietary carbs is essential. Think "CATkins Diet." What you spend on better food, you will save many times over on vet bills! It's an investment in your cat's future health. (I've got several articles on feline health and nutrition on my website if you're interested, including "Why Cats Need Canned Food," "Feline Obesity" and "Feline Diabetes Basics": the free article library is at http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.php?action=library .)

I'm not knocking Chicken Soup--as far as dry foods go it is fine (every cat I know LOVES it). But if you have to feed dry food to a diabetic cat, please stick to the prescription diets, they are really worth the extra money, and your cat will eat less because they are more nutrient-dense with protein and fat.

Cheers,
Dr. Jean

 

[kitkat]

I changed my cats over to Chicken Soup and they love it. Plus it's a fairly good price even though only one pet place around here carries it. :wink:

 

[Annissa]

Thanks, Dr. Jean!

I had to stop feeding dry DM because of the smell; it was really, really horrible. I'm going to take Sabby back to the vet for a checkup on his blood glucose (I don't do home testing) and to check for a bladder infection (he's been peeing a large quantity lately). I'll check out the canned DM or see if I can get m/d.

 

[drjean]

chicken soup

Yeah, DM doesn't smell very good, does it! LOL!

Don't blame you for not wanting to do home blood-testing, but have you thought about home-testing for urine glucose? Pretty easy and inexpensive. While not as accurate as blood, it will still give you a ballpark estimate of his overall glucose metabolism. You can get "Ketodiastix" at any drug store--100 sticks for about $10. Since diabetic cats pee a lot, it is usually easy to get a little sample! I recommend checking once a week, as well as any time he doesn't seem to be feeling well or is vomiting.

If he's been eating regular dry food, I would expect his glucose regulation has gone to you-know-where. Until he's been carb-controlled for a while, don't get too upset about readings that you might get now. He'll stabilize once he's back on the diet track.

Cheers,
Dr. Jean

 

[Annissa]

It's been a while since he's had a blood test. I usually go by the coloring on his coat. I know that's weird, but when he's not feeling well, his coat gets darker. I think I'll try those strips. I have to go to the drugstore and get more syringes anyway.

I've had him on dry food his whole life (he's now 14). When he was younger he didn't like canned food. Wouldn't touch it. He was diagnosed with diabetes about a year and a half ago. My vet and I discussed food and I decided on dry DM. She also gave me the option to go with Eukanuba because, according to her, it was high on protein and low on carbs. Since he wasn't a huge fan of Eukanuba I've been comparing the contents with other brands. Chicken soup was the third I've tried. Because I don't fully understand the nutrition labels on pet food I've been going by the percentages.

A few weeks ago I bought Sabby two cans of Fancy Feast. He really sucked down the salmon kind, but wasn't too interested in the seafood medley. So I think he's gotten over his aversion to canned food, but it'll take some experimentation. Of course, if we drop the dry food and go with canned I'll be running the risk of hypoglycemia. I'll discuss all this over with my vet. I'm a little apprehensive about going because my old vet has moved and I'll be trying out a new one.

Thanks, Dr. Jean. I really appreciate your help!

 

[ForJazz]

Annissa I just wanted to add that if you do end up switching to a wet food diet after speaking to your vet, I'd strongly suggest not feeding him fancy feast or friskies or 9 lives or anything like that. It's like feeding your cat mcdonald's every day. It's a low quality food that really slacks on nutrition. I'd suggest going to a pet store and finding a food like Wysong or Wellness. There are others that are good too. Check out the ingredients list, and look for a food that lists a real meat as the first ingredient, instead of "chicken byproduct, turkey biproduct," etc. Chicken meal, or turkey meal, etc. (as found in Iams and Science diet) as a first ingredient is definitely better, yet not as good as real meat. Just take this into consideration for Sabby's sake -- wouldn't want that cutie getting anything less in nutrition than he deserves.

 

[Annissa]

Thanks, ForJazz. The Fancy Feast was a sort of Christmas present for Sabastion. I was looking for a food that had little to no wheat or corn in it. I was actually impressed with the ingredient list in the salmon variety.

I've been searching the web for Wellness' website. I can't seem to find it (maybe they don't have one?). I'd like to see if any stores near me carry it. Does anyone have a link?

The folks on the Feline Diabetes Message Board seem to like Wellness canned food a lot, but a month or two ago there was a big hubbub about Wellness adding brown rice to the recipe. A BIG nono for diabetic cats. I haven't been there for a while. I think I'll go check back and see if that was sorted out.

 

[drjean]

wellness

Wellness is made by Old Mother Hubbard, (www.oldmotherhubbard.com/). According to them, the rice thing was a test batch that was "accidentally" shipped for distribution but was never intended to be sold. Supposedly it was only the one batch and the problem was immediately resolved.


Cheers,
Dr. Jean

 

[Annissa]

Thanks, Dr. Jean. I was able to find a store that carries it and it happens to be right next to my veterinarian!

 

[Aimee]

Good luck with the Chicken Soup. We fed it to our dogs for a few months and thought it was excellent. We had planned on switching our cats onto it but our favorite feedstore went out of business (thanks Super Walmart :? ) and no other store nearby carries it regularly. However, we thought it was a wonderful food for our dogs and would gladly feed it again.