Hi Courtney, sorry to hear about Kismet's health issues.
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Originally Posted by pennydreadful
My vet insists organic, canned wet foods are just a fad, and says that he should stay on the Hills w/d dry.
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Your vet is seriously out of touch with recent feline diabetes treatment protocols. W/D is about as old school as it gets and was even losing favour way back when my cat was diagnosed, almost 10 years ago. I guarantee that if I'd been feeding it, Aztec would not still be alive. So absolutely disregard anything your vet has to say about diet because they clearly haven't kept up with any reading on the subject.
https://www.aahanet.org/library/diabetesmgmt.aspx
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Diet therapy goals and management
Optimize body weight with appropriate protein and carbohydrate levels, fat restriction, and calorie control.Weigh at least monthly and adjust intake to maintain optimal weight.
Management goal of weight loss in obese cats: 1% to 2% loss per week13 or a maximum of 4% to 8% per month (hepatic lipidosis risk is minimized with the recommended high-protein diet).
Minimize postprandial hyperglycemia by managing protein and carbohydrate intake. Feed a high-protein diet (defined as >45% protein metabolizable energy [ME]) to maximize metabolic rate, improve satiety, and prevent lean muscle-mass loss.14-17This is necessary to prevent protein malnutrition and loss of lean body mass.
Protein normalizes fat metabolism and provides a consistent energy source.
Arginine stimulates insulin secretion. Limit carbohydrate intake.18-21Dietary carbohydrate may contribute to hyperglycemia and glucose toxicity in cats.
Provide the lowest amount of carbohydrate levels in the diet that the cat will eat.
Carbohydrate levels can be loosely classified as ultralow (<5% ME), low (5% to 25% ME), moderate (26% to 50% ME), and high (>50% ME).22
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http://www.veterinarypracticenews.co...onfidence.aspx
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Scherk and other veterinarians say that in the past five years, there have been a number of changes in the way feline diabetes is managed. For instance, these days there’s a greater emphasis on diets lower in carbohydrates rather than higher in fiber.
“We recommend a high-protein, low-carb diet,” says Brianceau. “It’s important to understand that as obligate carnivores, cats have very different needs from those of dogs.”
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“Diet in conjunction with earlier insulin treatment has resulted in more cats being better controlled than was previously the case,” Scherk notes.
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http://feline-nutrition.org/health/w...a-diabetic-cat
http://petdiabetes.wikia.com/wiki/Low-carb_diet
http://www.catinfo.org/?link=felinediabetes
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Originally Posted by pennydreadful
I will not be going back to Wellness since I suspect that may be what triggered the allergic asthma attacks, but was wondering if perhaps there is a better alternative out there.
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A much better alternative would be a raw diet. You'd have significantly more control over ingredients and it would be ideal for both the asthma and the diabetes. If that's not an option, look for a canned food without chicken or fish, grain-free, and maybe a novel protein like rabbit, duck, or venison. Nature's Variety, some of the newer Wellness flavours, Ziwipeak, are a few suggestions off the top of my head.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pennydreadful
I've switched his litter to Feline Pine (a low dust, all natural litter.)
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Some cats have problem with pine litters. Not saying that's the case with Kismet, but you might want to experiment with other non-scented litters like Blue Buffalo's walnut-based one, or something paper-based.
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Originally Posted by pennydreadful
He is still having asthma attacks, though.
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http://feline-nutrition.org/health/a...-feline-asthma
Quote:
Originally Posted by pennydreadful
She told us we don't need to do at home glucose testing, but some of the literature I've read recommends ear pricks. What should I do?
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You should check out these links and teach yourself how to home test Kismet:
http://petdiabetes.wikia.com/wiki/Ho..._blood_glucose
http://www.felinediabetes.com/bg-test.htm
You don't need the vet's permission. Just another thing she's out to lunch on. Given that 3 units twice a day (what kind of insulin?) is actually quite a large dose to start out with, I would start home-testing ASAP, and
for sure before you make any diet changes.