Extra weight reduces play time impacts mobility and affects the general health of your cat.
Diabetic cat food science diet.
Giving insulin injections to cats is usually very easy.
If your cat is on the hefty side your vet may prescribe a therapeutic weight loss food to help your cat shed unhealthy pounds.
Cats can be picky eaters.
This diet is palatable tasty and contains the appropriate nutrients such as prebiotics and dietary fiber to keep the sugar levels balanced and control glucose spikes and dips.
Most cases of feline diabetes are similar to what is called type 2 diabetes in people which means that weight management and diet are major factors in the development and control of the disease.
Read on to learn everything you need to know about how to pick the best food for a cat with diabetes.
Here s what to consider when selecting a cat food for your diabetic cat.
A non diabetic cat can very safely handle the tough love 12 18 hours period of time without food that is often necessary to get them to change their diet but this does not apply to a diabetic patient.
While most cats can be converted to twice daily feedings some prefer grazing on food throughout the day which may work for some diabetic cats particularly those that are underweight depending on the type.
Diabetic cat food should have a few important features.
Even a little extra weight can lead to serious health problems.
Slowly increase the percentage of canned until the dry food is completely replaced.
Over a period of 7 to 10 days mix the dry food with a bit of canned.
Feeding a veterinarian recommended cat food with a consistent nutrient profile one that doesn t vary from batch to batch will help keep your cat s metabolism level stable so she can stay healthy.
Therefore switching a stubborn diabetic cat can be more difficult.
Every cat is unique and the same diet won t necessarily work for all cats.
We typically recommend feeding diabetic cats a measured amount of food twice daily at the time of insulin administration.
Losing weight helps the cat s body use insulin which lowers blood sugar.
How to switch a diabetic cat diet.
Along with frequent physical exercise choosing the right food plays a very important.
If you cat prefers dry food then move them to canned food gradually when moving to a diabetic cat diet.
A special diabetic diet will help your cat trim down and it can actually make the diabetes easier to manage.
Factors contributing to weight gain include age lack of exercise and overfeeding.
Glucose weight management 57 of the cat population is overweight 1.
Royal canin veterinary diet canned cat food is specially formulated to maintain healthy blood glucose levels in diabetic adult cats.
When your cat has diabetes it s even more important to feed the right cat food.