Hiya,
I wanted to give you my experience on this. My old cat Tiss was diagnosed with fulminant diabetes at age 14 a couple of months ago, she went into a crisis, got hospitalised, nearly died and then pulled back from the brink. All withing 14h of being a bit unwell. Uuurgh. However, the upshot was the vet told me to blind dose her with 1IU unit of insulin twice a day and leave it at that for care. It was the worst advice ever, as she reacted very badly to insulin and became hypo at the slightest whisper of it. I had to under dose her or she went clinically hypo. Anyway, I was terrified of damaging her, so went on and joined this forum:
http://www.diabeticcatcare.com/forum/index.php
The woman in charge of this site is a vet who specialises in cat diabetes, she'll do a skype consultation for a fee. But she's put all her experience on the site in what is referred to as the "College of knowledge" to show you what to do when etc....You have to apply to join he site to go on their forums, but it was a life saver for my Tiss. She was in grave danger from hypos from the insulin, so I had to get her under control.
So following their advice I took control of her diet...wet food only as dry contains too many carbs. They say wet food MUST be below 10% carbs, high in protein (over 50%) and about 20-40% fat. But to get them under control the carbs need to be 8% or under. I did blood tests on Tiss, and even on insulin she was still out of control. The very night I started her on 8% carb food (high protein and fat) her BG dropped 9 points to almost normal. It had never dropped till that point. Within 4d she was within normal ranges and OFF insulin!!! She stayed that way for a month, but in the end we had to get her put down due to lots of other issues. I saw that she was under control from her lack of constant drinking and the excessive amounts of wee in her box went down to normal. There are lots of useful videos on youtube regarding taking blood drops from a cat's ear in order to do a BG test. I'm happy to help if you decide to go down this route. Getting her under control made a huge difference to her health and happiness for the short time we had her after her diagnosis. Once she was off the insulin and BG under control she looked so much happier and alert.
Good luck, and happy to answer any Qs if you have any.
Heather x
Here's a list of foods vet approved in the UK for high protein (animal only, no veg protein), proper fats levels and low carb for all cats, not just diabetic ones.
At the Supermarket:
The following food labels show no vegetable or tapioca or sugars on them:
SHEBA - Tender Terrine with Salmon = 3.88 % carb
Sheba Tender Terrine with Beef = 3.9%
Sheba Adult with Beef in succulent jelly = 4.1%
Sheba Adult with Cod in succulent jelly = 4.1%
Toplife Chicken Dinner-tetrapak – 8.8 % dry matter carbs, made in conjunction with Bozita, at Asda
The following foods are below 10% carbs, BUT contain vegetable matter in some form - either Derivatives of Vegetable Origin or vegetable protein extracts and/or various sugars/glucose :
FELIX – Senior mixed selection in Jelly – Pouches - Lamb, Rabbit, Tuna, Trout, Beef, Chicken, Turkey, Salmon = 8.8 % carbs
HiLife Essentials Turkey & Giblets 85g can – 2.3 % dry matter carbs, Asda
HiLife Essentials Salmon Pate 85g can - 2.3 % dry matter carbs, Asda
Hi Life Petit Pates are now discontinued (Oct 2012) Replaced with Hi Life Tempt Me - available in Salmon and Tuna, Chicken and Duck, Turkey and lamb - 4.5% carbs
Protein 11.0%, Fat Content 7.0%, Crude Fibres 0.5%, Inorganic Matter 2.5%, Moisture 78.0%.
SHEBA - Tender Terrine with Turkey and Chicken = 3.88 % carbs
SHEBA – with Salmon in succulent Jelly - looks to be two different recipes in the shops, 6.6 % and 4.1 % dry matter carb content
SHEBA - Desire – Fish Fillets in Jelly = 3.1 % carbs
Sheba Alu Tray Cuts In Jelly Chicken 100G = 6.66 % carbs
SHEBA - Tender Terrine with Rabbit and Chicken = 8.94 % carbs
SHEBA - Tender Terrine with Duck and Goose = 8.94 % carbs
SHEBA WITH CHICKEN – MEATY CHUNKS = 8.5 % carbs
Felix Foils - 100g - Fish Selection in Jelly - Turkey & Smoked Salmon, Tuna & Trout, Cod & Haddock. - 5.8 % carbs
FELIX – As good as it looks – (pouches) favourites selection in Jelly - Chicken, Beef, Tuna, Salmon = 6.5 % carbs
FELIX – Senior Fish Selection in Jelly – (pouches) Tuna, Salmon, Trout, Sardine = 7.5 % carbs
Felix As Good As It Looks Senior Pouch Mixed Variety in Jelly Cat Food 100gm 12 Pack = 7.5%
Gourmet Gold Senior Pate – Beef, Ocean Fish, Liver, Turkey = 7.66 % carbs
Gourmet Gold Pate - Turkey, Ocean Fish, Liver, Chicken, Beef = 8.2%
Waitrose Fish Selection in Jelly: Carbs = 2.8%
Ingredients: Meat and animal derivatives (14% of the relevant fish), Minerals, Various Sugars, Oils and Fats, Derivatives of Vegetable Origin
Waitrose Organic Tender & Tasty Terrine Rich in Lamb: Carbs = 5.3%
Ingredients: Meat and animal derivatives (14% lamb), Minerals, Various Sugars, Oils and Fats, Derivatives of Vegetable Origin
The following foods contain tapioca, or tapioca starch:
Hi Life Perfection Tuna and Seafood Can = 3.00 % carbs
Composition:
Tuna Wholemeat (min.50%), Mixed Seafood (min.6%), Tapioca
Pets at Home Seriously Good Chicken with Beef – 80 grams = 2.77 % dry carbs
Ingredient(s):
Chicken (min. 45%), Beef (min. 4%), Tapioca Starch
Pets at Home Seriously Good Cat Pouch - Meat Selection 6x85g = 3.03 %
Ingredient(s):
Chicken Flakes in Jelly Chicken Flakes (min. 49%), Minerals, Tapioca Starch.
Chicken Flakes with Liver in Jelly, Chicken Flakes (min. 45%), Liver (min. 4%), Minerals, Tapioca Starch.