When a diabetic pet cat cannot regulate the blood glucose levels, proper care and treatment can give the cat a lengthy and comfortable life. One of the things you should be very careful about is the food for diabetic cats.
Food for diabetic cats should include high protein and grain free wet diet. As the cats are obligate carnivores, they get all the nutrition from meat products and they depend very less on plant based products.
One of the easiest symptoms to find that a diabetic cat exhibits is always feeling hungry. Usually diabetic cats will eat more but lose their weight. Because of this, most organs will try to correct the condition and try to get rid of the excess glucose in the blood. For this, cats drink more and more water and feel thirsty constantly, which results in the greater amount of urine with sugar in it. So, it is essential to consume large amounts of water. You can do this by feeding your cat with wet food. Even you can add some additional water in the food for diabetic cats.
American Animal Hospital Association suggests that the food for diabetic cats should contain 45% of the metabolizable energy from protein and less carbohydrate.
Here are the things to consider when giving the food for diabetic cats:
- High protein and less carbohydrate diet is best suitable for cats.
- Cats don’t have proper enzymes to digest plant-based protein as the cats are obligate carnivores. So, don’t feed your cat with any food that includes plant based products.
- Consider including small amounts of raw or slightly cooked beef, chicken or organ meats. Supplementing the diet with meat can increase the protein content without adding the carbohydrates.
- Some veterinarians may prescribe dry diabetic diet, but it is higher in carbohydrate levels than the recommended diet for diabetic cat. Carbohydrate rich foods can keep your pet at the risk of hypoglycemia or low blood sugar.
- A low carbohydrate diet can be helpful for the cat to go into remission; hence, may need a low insulin dosage.
- Feed your cat with small and frequent meals in order to stabilize the cat’s blood sugar levels. Also, meal-feeding helps to control the portion sizes and monitors the food intake. It particularly helps with the overweight or underweight cats.
- Canned food for diabetic cats is highly beneficial as it is higher in protein levels and lower in carbohydrate levels. Canned foods contain higher amounts of meat, less starches and fruits and very less or no vegetables. Fruits and starches can increase the blood sugar level, so they should be avoided.
