What is the best food for diabetic cats?

Answer 1

According to Dr. Lisa Pierson, at the catinfo.org website, and the Feline Diabetes Message Boards, at the felinediabetes.com website, the best cat foods (for diabetics and most other cats) are those CANNED or RAW foods meeting these criteria:

* No more than 10% calories from carbohydrate (see the binkyspage.tripod.com/canfood.html web page if you're in the USA, and the binkyspage.tripod.com/nonusfd.html web page, otherwise.)

* About even calorie split between protein and fat (as per charts above)

* Protein mostly from muscle meat, not vegetable or organ meat.

* Proper amounts of taurine, calcium, and other cat requirements

Diabetes is a disease intimately related to diet, so these recommendations are not just nice, they are crucial. The change in blood sugar depending on carbohydrate content of food is quite dramatic, and easily seen with a standard glucometer. See the recommended dosage survey and note the changes depending on diet at the felinediabetes.com/fdmbsurvey.htm web page

Answer 2

A high protein and grain free wet diet is the cornerstone for effective treatment of feline diabetes. Cats are obligate carnivores, and get all their nutrients from meat-based protein and have little need for plant-based protein - even more so with diabetic cats. Some owners even switch their cat's to a raw diet so they can better control what their cat is eating. A good quality wet food, however, can work just as well.

Probably the most easiest symptoms to spot in a diabetic cat is that it is always hungry, eats more, but loses weight anyway. Due to this, some organs will attempt to correct the problem (the kidneys, for instance), try to get rid of the excess glucose in the blood and go into high gear. They use a lot of water for this, so a diabetic will feel thirsty all the time and will drink a lot of water. This results in the cat urinating large amounts of dilute urine with sugar in it. Due to this, a high intake in water is essential. The easiest way to acheive this is by feeding wet food. Adding extra water to the food, if the cat allows, is also ideal.

The object of diabetes treatment is to control the blood glucose so it stays in (or near) the normal range. For food to be properly utilized, insulin must be available to convert the food into a useable state.

Diet is the most important part of treatment and some cats can actually be diet-controlled, in order control the blood-sugar levels. A high protein, carbohydrate-free diet is best for cats. Since cats are obligate carnivores, they don't have the proper enzymes to digest plant-based protein, so avoid any foods that use plants as the primary protein source. Vets may prescribe a dry diabetic diet, but these are typically much higher in carbohydrates than is recommended for a diabetic cat and will put the cat at risk for hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). In some cases, a change to a low carbohydrate diet may be enough to allow the cat to go into remission, or require a lower dosage of insulin.

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