What Is the Best Food for Diabetic Cat?

Many cat owners feed their diabetic cats with special food formula made for diabetic cats. There are two types of food designed exclusively for diabetic cats – wet and dry form. According to some feline experts, a wet form is the most suitable food form for diabetic cats. But, they do not recommend feeding diabetic cats with dry food, even though it is specially tailored for them. Namely, dry food has a way too many carbohydrates that it should contain. Therefore, they recommend talking with a vet about a diet plan for a diabetic cat. Sometimes, feeding a cat half-cooked meat or raw meat can lead to remission. The best way to ensure that a cat will get enough nutrients from food is feeding him with 50 percent of animal based protein diet with a maximum 2 percent of carbohydrates. However, no matter how well we designed the diet plan for our diabetic cat, it is completely useless if a cat does not find it palatable. Diabetic cats need regular meals, served in proper times to keep blood sugar level at its optimum. Diabetic cats who skip their meals and reject food are exposed to a huge risk of a life-threatening condition of hypoglycemia. To find out more about what the best food for a diabetic cat is, the article “Feline Diabetes: The Influence of Diet” gives us the following suggestion.

The more common reasons for obesity and peripheral insulin resistance in cats however, are quite simple. An inappropriately high-carbohydrate diet in a carnivorous species coupled with low physical activity.? In order to understand how this occurs, we must try to understand the feline, their dietary needs, and what their bodies do not need and therefore turn into fat.

Cats are strict carnivores. This means that they must eat meat as the major portion of their diet. According to Kirk, Debraekeleer, and Armstrong, cats have “unique anatomic, physiologic, metabolic and behavioral adaptations to a strictly carnivorous diet.”? The feline is unable to synthesize certain amino acids, primarily taurine, that therefore must be consumed and can only be found in meat. Cats also require certain other amino acids and vitamins that are abundant in animal tissue.? Additionally, unlike many other species, cats break down protein to maintain blood sugar and have a limited ability to use carbohydrates, like starches and sugars, as a source of energy. Hence, they are readily stored as fat.? This is the reason why dry food, which requires a high amount of carbohydrate to achieve the nugget form, likely contributes to obesity and insulin resistance.

The best way to find out what food a diabetic cat should eat is to determine the causes of diabetes. Namely, a vet will recommend a different diet plan for obese cat and senior cat. Obese cats need a different diet and a different lifestyle to lose weight. Whatever the cause of diabetes is, they all need more exercise, significantly fewer carbohydrates and more protein in their diets. Having that in mind, it is not hard to choose the best food for a diabetic cat.