Diet and Feline Diabetes

carolina · Sep 18, 2012

Ok, here is another thread about the effects of diet on our feline friends' health....
Obesity has been increasing, and one of the diseases linked to it is diabetes.
Many believe diet is partially, if not largely to blame for this serious condition.

Do you have :hugs:

or had

a diabetic cat? If so, how was its diet PRIOR to being diagnosed with the disease?
I am looking for Diabetes only - not only obesity. I know there are cats who are obese and will never be diabetic, and there are diabetic cats who are not obese.

Please do answer though, if your cat was obese or not at the time of diagnosis.
Any additional comments are welcome!!

Thanks!

sugarcatmom · Sep 18, 2012

Aztec had been fed Science Diet Lite kibble

for most of his 9 years before his diagnosis, but he wasn't obese. In fact he was hardly overweight, maybe just a pound or 2. His brother, on the other hand, was indeed obese (same diet). But Egypt didn't get diabetes. Instead, he died of IBD at the age of 11.

On a feline diabetes message board, it's shocking how many of the diabetic cats there were fed SD Lite, or Hill's C/D.

carolina · Sep 18, 2012

Sugarcatmom said:
Aztec had been fed Science Diet Lite kibble for most of his 9 years before his diagnosis, but he wasn't obese. In fact he was hardly overweight, maybe just a pound or 2. His brother, on the other hand, was indeed obese (same diet). But Egypt didn't get diabetes. Instead, he died of IBD at the age of 11.

On a feline diabetes message board, it's shocking how many of the diabetic cats there were fed SD Lite, or Hill's C/D.

I am so so sorry for the loss of both your babies :rbheart:

otto · Sep 18, 2012

My mother has a cat with diabetes. He is 10 years old, morbidly obese, and always has been. We think he has a feline version of prader-willie syndrome. He's always been fed both canned and dry. Now my mother's vet of course wants him on some "prescription" kibble junk. Mom is smart though. She wants to feed him all canned now, no dry at all, and I advised her to feed him the low carb Fancy Feast classics. However I warned her she would have to cut out all dry, and put them all on the FF, because Mikey is a fiend for food, and my mother is old, slow and arthritic, she won't be able to keep him out of the other cats' food. She has nine cats, none of the others are obese, including Mikey's two litter mates.

Slightly off topic, but it just....bothers me so much how many cats I know that are overweight or downright obese. In most cases, the people don't even think their cats are fat. Or they have vets who tell them it is "normal for an indoor cat to be a little chubby". I know it's not easy to keep some cats at a healthy weight, I have one who would be huge if I let her. But gosh, so many people don't even TRY. They think "fat cats are cute". Ugh!

kittylover23 · Sep 19, 2012

otto said:
My mother has a cat with diabetes. He is 10 years old, morbidly obese, and always has been. We think he has a feline version of prader-willie syndrome. He's always been fed both canned and dry. Now my mother's vet of course wants him on some "prescription" kibble junk. Mom is smart though. She wants to feed him all canned now, no dry at all, and I advised her to feed him the low carb Fancy Feast classics. However I warned her she would have to cut out all dry, and put them all on the FF, because Mikey is a fiend for food, and my mother is old, slow and arthritic, she won't be able to keep him out of the other cats' food. She has nine cats, none of the others are obese, including Mikey's two litter mates.
Slightly off topic, but it just....bothers me so much how many cats I know that are overweight or downright obese. In most cases, the people don't even think their cats are fat. Or they have vets who tell them it is "normal for an indoor cat to be a little chubby". I know it's not easy to keep some cats at a healthy weight, I have one who would be huge if I let her. But gosh, so many people don't even TRY. They think "fat cats are cute". Ugh!

Totally agree with you there, Otto! People don't realize how feline obesity can have such an effect on their health. Cookie is getting a little chubby (not obese, I just noticed she's getting a bit of a belly) so I'm putting her on a diet and lowering her calorie intake. My kitties are both young (1yr and 16wks) so I want them to have the best start in life.

sugarcatmom · Sep 19, 2012

Carolina said:
I am so so sorry for the loss of both your babies

Aww thanks! But Aztec is still going! Never would have thunk it, but despite diabetes, CKD, HCM, and arthritis, he's still truckin along. Even had a dental a few months ago.

otto said:
Or they have vets who tell them it is "normal for an indoor cat to be a little chubby".

Or they have vets that put the cats on "diet" kibble, and then they go from a little chubby to morbidly obese in no time.

catsallaround · Sep 19, 2012

My guy is diet controlled diabetic. If he eats dry for a few days it will spike-One of my cats is a thief and Ben will take advantage of an open bag).

He gets Friskies Liver and Chicken or Turkey and Giblets mainly. He has had past urinary issues so no fish at all.

He was always a tad overweight but never huge. Though in last year he has a different look to him as he is getting o-l-d-e-r...

He is not flat on his sides they dip in a bit and there is a bit of a saggy belly.

carolina · Sep 19, 2012

Sugarcatmom said:
Aww thanks! But Aztec is still going! Never would have thunk it, but despite diabetes, CKD, HCM, and arthritis, he's still truckin along. Even had a dental a few months ago.

OMG I am SO sorry for my stupidity :anon: ! :hugs:

minka · Sep 19, 2012

Who was fed raw and still ended up with diabetes????

minka · Sep 19, 2012

otto said:
Slightly off topic, but it just....bothers me so much how many cats I know that are overweight or downright obese. In most cases, the people don't even think their cats are fat. Or they have vets who tell them it is "normal for an indoor cat to be a little chubby". I know it's not easy to keep some cats at a healthy weight, I have one who would be huge if I let her. But gosh, so many people don't even TRY. They think "fat cats are cute". Ugh!

This might be the biggest pet peeve of my life. I try to explain to people that they are causing their cat's misery (in the nicest way possible

carolina · Sep 19, 2012

Minka said:
Who was fed raw and still ended up with diabetes????

I think it was Sugarcatmom's Aztec - he ate Science Diet (kibbles for most of his life..... but then the years before his diagnosis he was eating 50/50 raw and wet..... I think that's the one..... :nod:

carolina · Sep 19, 2012

Minka said:
This might be the biggest pet peeve of my life. I try to explain to people that they are causing their cat's misery (in the nicest way possible

minka · Sep 19, 2012

Carolina said:
I think it was Sugarcatmom's Aztec - he ate Science Diet (kibbles for most of his life..... but then the years before his diagnosis he was eating 50/50 raw and wet..... I think that's the one..... :nod:

Oh okay. I was going to say that if a kitty got diabetes eating an all raw diet, my faith in it would be a bit crushed...

Carolina said:
Yeah......... I feel pretty bad about this one..... My Bugsy is an obese kitty :anon:
He is a VERY large cat - he is not the 12lb regular cat - granted..... But still
The diet that made him REALLY blow up was Royal Canin HP - I should known - that diet has NO meat He got to be a whopping 20lbs 8oz
His vet was NOT nice with me on his last consut though - which I appreciate :nod:
He is on his way to his goal weight - 16lbs...... Slowly but surely he is losing..... He has lost over 3lbs on raw, now on to the 4th and final. From there his vet will assess him and see if he needs to lose more. Looking at him, I think he has a couple more to go - I think he would be good at 15lbs. We will see!

Don't be too hard on yourself. It happens to the best of us. The important thing now if you're on the right track. And on raw! That's the best thing ever! :clap:

When I first started Grim on his diet, I thought he would be a 14lb cat. He seemed to have a large frame under all that fat. And he IS tall. It wasn't until I went away to Cali for two weeks that I noticed. He would tower over every cat my family owns. However, 14lbs came.. and he was still too big. And now here he is at 13lb 10oz and I still think he could lose another 2lbs.. He might be an 11lb cat!
Who knows what kind of cat is under Bugsy... only time will tell; it's like a mystery to solve!

carolina · Sep 19, 2012

Minka said:
Oh okay. I was going to say that if a kitty got diabetes eating an all raw diet, my faith in it would be a bit crushed...
Don't be too hard on yourself. It happens to the best of us. The important thing now if you're on the right track. And on raw! That's the best thing ever!
When I first started Grim on his diet, I thought he would be a 14lb cat. He seemed to have a large frame under all that fat. And he IS tall. It wasn't until I went away to Cali for two weeks that I noticed. He would tower over every cat my family owns. However, 14lbs came.. and he was still too big. And now here he is at 13lb 10oz and I still think he could lose another 2lbs.. He might be an 11lb cat!
Who knows what kind of cat is under Bugsy... only time will tell; it's like a mystery to solve!

You will meet Bugsy..... He is a large breed..... Male Ragdoll - the boy is a giant.,... But yeah.... he IS also fat....
I didn't have many options before.... I had to feed what I could to make him 1/2 healthy, anything else made him terribly sick

Now, thank GOODNESS for raw :clap:

I can have him healthy AND lean! :clap:

I hate His begging face though - poor kiddo - breaks my heart! :lol3:
Thank you :hugs:

sugarcatmom · Sep 19, 2012

Minka said:
Who was fed raw and still ended up with diabetes????

Wasn't Aztec, he was the "dry with wet as an occasional treat" option. He got diabetes when he was 9 (he's 19 now) and had been fed predominantly kibble up to that point. Sad that it took a major illness for me to take a closer look at what I was feeding my cats. I started researching diet and gradually switched him to all canned (took many many months as he was a bonafide kibble junkie and it's really tricky converting a cat on insulin to something they're reluctant to eat). After that, I started introducing raw. I would feed him 100% raw but he has to have constant access to food so I leave canned out for him to nibble on. He gets raw meals twice a day.

There are some cats that do develop Type 1 diabetes (most have Type 2 even though they still need insulin injections) at an early age, regardless of diet. Steroid use can also be a factor, so high carb dry food isn't the only cause of diabetes, but it is the biggest one.

carolina · Sep 19, 2012

Sugarcatmom said:
Wasn't Aztec, he was the "dry with wet as an occasional treat" option. He got diabetes when he was 9 (he's 19 now) and had been fed predominantly kibble up to that point. Sad that it took a major illness for me to take a closer look at what I was feeding my cats. I started researching diet and gradually switched him to all canned (took many many months as he was a bonafide kibble junkie and it's really tricky converting a cat on insulin to something they're reluctant to eat). After that, I started introducing raw. I would feed him 100% raw but he has to have constant access to food so I leave canned out for him to nibble on. He gets raw meals twice a day.

There are some cats that do develop Type 1 diabetes (most have Type 2 even though they still need insulin injections) at an early age, regardless of diet. Steroid use can also be a factor, so high carb dry food isn't the only cause of diabetes, but it is the biggest one.

Yeah.... That's a big fear of mine with steroids..... Which is why I try so hard to stay away from it :nod:
I am glad Aztec is still with you :heart3: specially with all the health issues - it shows everything you are doing right :hugs:

And yes.... Sometimes unfortunately it takes us reaching almost the bottom to really making a drastic change to the better..... It took me.... Thank goodness it seems I still had time :cross:

I am curious now too to know who is the kitty..... Did you mark the same thing you mark here for Aztec in the other thread too, for CRF? There is a raw there too, that showed up about the same time.... Which is why I assumed it was you, from your comment in there :dk:

Willowy · Sep 19, 2012

Oh okay. I was going to say that if a kitty got diabetes eating an all raw diet, my faith in it would be a bit crushed...

I'm going to point out that not all disease is caused by diet. Sometimes your pancreas or kidneys just don't work right and it doesn't matter what you eat/don't eat. Of course diet does have a huge impact on these kinds of diseases most of the time. . .but not always. Sometimes it just happens.

catsallaround · Sep 20, 2012

My guy was fed raw ALONG with dry/wet. Maybe other would have been better....Day I had meat out for a meal I would give everyone some but Ben had eaten raw only years ago(urinary issues) so he was more into it and I would vut up extra for him so he got it about daily. He is just a dry food junkie. any brand anytime...

My dog is raw fed and Ben by his own choice is not. I really don't want to mess with a good thing though I believe raw is better. He is thriving and at moment urinary issues have been under control for years and sugar only spikes during times when workers are on street(ripped up parts for a few days then came back) or loud parties back neighbors have rarely.

sugarcatmom · Sep 20, 2012

Carolina said:
Did you mark the same thing you mark here for Aztec in the other thread too, for CRF? There is a raw there too, that showed up about the same time.... Which is why I assumed it was you, from your comment in there

On the CRF poll, I selected both "100% wet" and "raw". Aztec eats about half raw and half canned, which I technically think of as an all "wet" diet. Here's the timeline, to hopefully clarify the confusion: Aztec ate kibble for 9 years, then develops diabetes, so I switch him to all wet food. After 8 years of diabetes (eating wet - canned and raw, no kibble - the whole time) his kidneys start declining. So for the other poll, his diet prior to CRF was wet, but for this poll, his diet prior to diabetes was kibble.

carolina · Sep 20, 2012

Sugarcatmom said:
On the CRF poll, I selected both "100% wet" and "raw". Aztec eats about half raw and half canned, which I technically think of as an all "wet" diet. Here's the timeline, to hopefully clarify the confusion: Aztec ate kibble for 9 years, then develops diabetes, so I switch him to all wet food. After 8 years of diabetes (eating wet - canned and raw, no kibble - the whole time) his kidneys start declining. So for the other poll, his diet prior to CRF was wet, but for this poll, his diet prior to diabetes was kibble.

ohhhhhh ok! Thanks for clarifying!
:vibes:

For Aztec!

Diet and Feline Diabetes

PRIOR to being diagnosed with Diabetes, your cat's diet was (for most of its life)

Dry/Kibbles

Dry with wet as an occasional treat

75% Dry / 25% Wet

50% Dry / 50% Wet

25% Dry 75% Wet

100% Wet

Raw

Balanced Home Made

Table Scraps

Other - Please Explain

My cat WAS Obese

My cat Was NOT Obese

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