Natural Balance dry

I am now feeding NB Original Ultra dry to my cats. The carb count is 35. There is some grain brown rice, barley and oatmeal. The other NB is the Limited Ingredient which is Pea and Duck. The carb count on that is 40. My question is: Is it better to have the carbs come from the grain or peas? I absolutely hate feeding dry but it is the only option due to finances. Each time I feed, I feel like I am harming them now. The first day or two they chowed down on the food, now they act like "oh, this stuff again". I am so afraid of diabetes that is why I am paranoid about carbs. I have lost one to FD because the vet never told me to take him off the dry. Now another has it and I feed him wet seperately. After being on the diabetic cat site, the fear of carbs and grain is instilled in my mind! That is not an irrational fear IMO. What are your thoughts on the carb deal? I think my husband thinks I am obsessed with this, but these are my buds who I have loved for many years. I am sooooo torn. Thanks

I can so relate to what you're saying! My Bailey is also diabetic and I know the best thing for him and all my other cats is to feed all wet food, but with 19 cats the cost is prohibitive. Bailey can be diet controlled, but he also has Inflamatory Bowel Disease (IBD) and my vet said to add some dry back into his diet because it doesn't seem to matter how much wet food he gets, he just isn't gaining weight. I have been giving him Nature's Variety Instinct dry, which is grain-free, and limiting it to twice a day. They use tapioca as a binding agent and it doesn't affect him as much as say, potato. This has halted his weight loss, and he is slowly gaining more muscle mass. I tried the Natural Balance Green Pea and Duck and his BG went through the roof! If I have the Nature's Variety available for 1 hour in the morning and 1 hour at night his BG will generally stay under 200 if I test him 2 hours after eating and will be in the low 100's at pre-shot. His AMPS is usually in the 70 to 120 range, so of course no shot is given.

Having lost one cat to FD and living with another would tend to make you feel a bit obsessive about the food you give them. All we can do is try to make our best, informed decision given the resources we have to work with.

Anyway, that's my experience with finding and using low carb dry. For him Nature's Variety Intinct is the best I can find in the dry and the cost is comparable to Natural Balance where I shop.

Good luck to you and let me know if you find any other dry food possibilities.

there is someone else out there going through the same crazy thing. I might try your food suggestion at some point. Do you know how to figure out carbs? There is a fantastic site where you just type in the guaranteed analysis and it automatically calculates it for you. Go to www.scheyderweb.com/cats/catfood.html. 19 cats...bless your heart! I controlled my cat Goofy for a time on diet only. Certain flavors of 9 lives is also acceptable for diabetic cats (wet food that is). I am just hoping and praying every night they won't suffer any ill effects. I still seperate Goofy and give him wet FF. He has acclimated quite well, and knows the drill of going in the other room when it's time to eat. The others don't follow and I close the door till everyone is done. A hassel to be sure but I'd do anything for my buds. Thanks for the info and I admire you for your devotion to your gang!

Thanks for the kind words and for the great link. If I can't find a food on Janet and Binky's list I just look at the ingredients and avoid the ones I know really affect Bailey.

All of my other cats are pretty good at eating whatever I feed them (sometimes they are not so eager to eat the Wellness I've noticed) and if Bailey refuses food then something is seriously wrong. I just have to be really careful with Baby, who has CRF. She is really limited in what she can have without adding phosphorus binders in her food. Our vet doesn't think it's necessary at this point as her numbers actually went down at her last check up in May (phosphorus, BUN and creatanine). But she is getting bored with the same ol' same ol'.

What flavor of FF do you give Goofy and what kind of wet food do you give your other guys? We were separating Bailey when he was first dx, but after as he started feeling better he really didn't like it so now we feed them all the same wet he gets. And I did get some 9-Lives today. They all loved the Liver and Bacon.

Isn't it so sweet the way they adapt? When it's time for testing we just need to call for Bailey and he is right there. Anyway, hang in there and try not to stress too much. I pray every day for my cats, too and I'll add yours to my prayers.

You say Baby has CRF. What about protein? My vet has always told be as they get older, less protein is the best as it is hard on their kidneys. Oh man, there just is no perfect answer is there? The FF I give my guys is from the "yourdiabeticcat.com list: These all begin with "Gourmet"...teder beef feast, tender beef and liver feast, tender beef and chicken feast, turkey and giblets feast, tender liver and chicken feast, savory salmon feast, cod, sole and shrimp feast, ocean whitefish and tuna feast, seafood feast, chicken feast, chopped grill feast, flaked fish and shrimp feast and flaked ocean fish feast. Although I hear that too much fish is not good for cats. My guys like the beef feast alot. My cat Farley V who passed last September from sudden death due to I don't know what. Possibly his FD and the fact the vet never told me to take him off dry. I would just say his name, he would come in the kitchen and jump on the table and stand in the position for his shot. He would get down and go back to his buds. Amazing since he would have to be sedated to see the vet! So Goofy gets FF wet or nine lives wet, all the others get dry Natural Balance. They hopefully will be ok on that dry junk. I still believe in all wet all the time, but if I keep spending so much on wet, I won't have anything for vet bills. I had a cat that died at 22 years old who had nothing but the cheapest dry his whole life. Basically no major health issues. Go figure. Take care!

I have no Diabetic experience other than via others and discussions with my vet .. but I do have CRF experience and QUALITY of protein is the key not Quantity... do a quick search on here and you will find loads of info often with links ...