My cat has diabetes. Can I feed him an all-meat diet, raw or cooked?

High protein. low carb diets such as royal canin diabetic or hills m/d are very effective in helping to regulate blood sugar and oreventing glucose spikes in diabetics. If underweight, a highly digestible intestinal diet can also be helpful until body condition is restored.

Hi there and thanks for posting on Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. If Farafero is only eating cooked or raw meat as a diet, he is really missing out on other nutrients, vitamins, and minerals that would be beneficial for him, especially as a diabetic. I would recommend a more balanced diet such as the diet formulated by Hills (Called W/D) or Royal Canin (Glycobalance) you may purchase from your veterinarian. Also, I would try and avoid the raw chicken necks and other raw meats. Raw meats can make cats and dogs ill from being exposed to bacteria in the raw meat and if Farafero has dental and gum disease, the chicken neck may be painful for him to chew on. I hope this helps and best of luck to you and Farafero!

The best food for a cat with diabetes and urinary issues will always be a canned food diet. For diabetics, we try to keep their carbohydrates low. This is only possible with a canned food. I am attaching a link below to a list of canned foods which lists the carbohydrates (which are often not on the label). In general, I try to keep my diabetic patients in the 10-15% carbohydrate range if possible. http://binkyspage.tripod.com/CanFoodNew.html Good luck! I hope that was helpful. Thanks for using PetCoach.

It is very important for diabetics to eat a consistent diet each day in order to match insulin prescription to energy intake and demand. You should discuss your concerns with your vet as a new diet may require adjustment of her insulin requirement but if they will not eat the diabetic food then an acceptable, tasty alternative (preferably high protein and low carbohydrate) should be found as soon as possible!

I would recommend to cut them very gradually over two or three weeks time and do the same with food. This will allow his organism to adapt and maintain appetite (so you can give insulin).In the long term Metabolic food (Hills) (low carbohydrates and higher protein content) should be preferred. Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

Dieting in cats can be very difficult, not least because fasting/low energy intake, especially in overweight cats can trigger liver problems. Given her mobility and ability to lie down is affected I strongly recommend you enroll Nina on a healthy pet weight management program - most vet clinics offer these free of charge so her body condition can be monitored and expert nutritional advice on both the best types of foods and also volume to be fed can be calculated. Just reducing volume of her ordinary food will result in increased hunger and may also mean she is not receiving enough of the nutrients she needs. Given her young age a full health assessment to rule out any medical causes would also be recommended.

Hello and welcome to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. That sounds like a great diet. Just make sure the meat is cooked (not raw) and no bones (cooked or raw). Increasing the exercise helps as well. If Ceasar is not currently active increase the activity slowly to prevent injury. Best of luck with Caesar!