How long will it take for a meat diet to improve the health of a diabetic cat?
So my friend’s biscuit-fed cat finally got diabetes. I think I’ve convinced him to switch it to an all-meat diet, but he wants to know how much it will actually help, and how long before it’ll make a difference. Anyone got any experiences to share?
Chosen Answer:
A low carb diet can often “cure” diabetes or at the very least, lessen the amount and/or frequency of insulin. If you start early after the diagnosis, around 80% of cats can be cured. It’s not as effective if the cat has been diabetic for some time. Sometimes you’ll have the cat back to normal in as little as a week. All cats are a bit different and some may take longer. Good luck!
http://www.yourdiabeticcat.com/
A low carb diet can often “cure” diabetes or at the very least, lessen the amount and/or frequency of insulin. If you start early after the diagnosis, around 80% of cats can be cured. It’s not as effective if the cat has been diabetic for some time. Sometimes you’ll have the cat back to normal in as little as a week. All cats are a bit different and some may take longer. Good luck!
http://www.yourdiabeticcat.com/
A high protein diet will help lower the glucose level. There are alos high protein dry foods for diabetic cats. I have found good results with either wet or dry after about 6 weeks BUT If the cat is on insulin already, be sure to check with the vet before changing the type of food or quantity fed as the cat may need less insulin and become hypoglycemic if adjustments to the insulin are not made
Only the vet can tell where the cat’s sugar levels are. If this cat is on insulin already you have to work in conjunction with the vet. If this cat is still untreated, you’re not going to know how well he’s doing.
There’s a list of foods to feed, canned, that are compared side by side, online. Google ‘janet and binkys list’ and you’ll find it. Look for the food with LOW carbs and LOW fat but HIGH protein. You can add some raw meat to the diet, but unless you’re getting a commercially prepared raw diet the cat won’t be able to get all the nutrients and vitamins needed from just raw meat–it’s only muscle meat and doesn’t contain everything since it’s not the entire carcass.
Experiences can be shared with diabetic cat owners — go over to YahooGroups and type in ‘diabetic cat’ in the search field and you’ll find at least two VERY good groups over there.