If your cat has feline diabetes, it should be fed gently. It’s like treating people. And most importantly, you should be able to easily test the cat’s blood sugar at home. Talk to your vet about the home test kit. It is not feasible to take the cat to the vet every time a test is needed. If your vet recommends this, I’m going to look for people who support home testing.
The nutritional content of many cat foods on the market and the information on the label vary widely. The continuous improvement of animal nutrition means that you are faced with an almost confusing choice. This does not mean that you have to buy the most expensive food for your cat. However, this means that you must learn to read the label and understand the meaning of the label. And if you can’t find the information on the label, you should research it further online.
Diabetic cats‘ diets should contain less carbohydrates and proteins than normal cat food. This is probably the most important thing to do. This is used for “wet food”, cans or sachets. Because the carbohydrate percentage is too high, you will have to stop feeding dry cat biscuits. Some studies have shown that up to 50% of diabetic cats fed a high-protein and low-carbohydrate diet can remove insulin.
I highly recommend that you change your cat’s eating habits at least within a week to get them used to new foods. You should mix some new food with the food that cats usually eat and then slowly increase it. Once your cat has enjoyed eating most of the new food, you can stop adding the old food. You can of course feed your cat a home cooked diet, but you can talk to your vet about the best way to do this.
If your cat is used to a dry biscuit diet, or can eat her during the day for herding, you should also taper off this diet for a while. I suggest taking the cookies after breakfast and only leaving them for about an hour in the afternoon. Some cats can develop diarrhea if their diet changes. This should be resolved within a week. If you are concerned about this or any other cat behavior, please contact your veterinarian.
When making changes to any part of a cat’s life, the cat’s blood glucose level should be closely monitored. This includes changing diet or exercise. I am a diabetic, and every time my doctor changes medications, I test before and after meals for at least a week, until I am happy that my body is stable. If you are learning how to use insulin for the first time, consult your vet before changing the dose.
Exercise is also crucial for cats with diabetes. Start playing with cats before or after meals every day. This helps lower blood sugar to an acceptable level and also helps prevent cats from becoming overweight or obese.
If your cat has been diagnosed with diabetes, you need to keep it as healthy as possible. This may mean it should be more confined to indoor life so it has little chance of infections from other cats, worms, fleas, etc.
Proper diet and exercise can control diabetes in cats. Today, there are specific diabetic cat foods on supermarket shelves. You don’t have to buy the most expensive brands, but higher quality food usually means healthier cats and fewer visits to the vet. Talk to your vet about what’s best for cats with diabetes.
