Vet put my cat on keto

(Allie) #1

My poor old lady cat has had three dental surgeries in the last year. Now she has a nasty flare up of stomitis and vet says it can be helped by a very low carb diet so big changes to make for her, and she’s a fussy eater :grimacing:

(Gloria) #2

How old is she? Did your vet make any suggestions? What are you feeding her now?

When I went grain free about 3 years ago, I decided to also get my cats grain free. My old lady cat (she will be 17 in a couple weeks) has had multiple weird health issues and autoimmune problems almost all her life, including stomatitis from when she was 3. She only has her canines and a few small teeth left. Now she will only eat Fancy Feast (classic–which doesn’t seem to have as much grain/gluten as some of the others recipes). My new vet thinks her current diet is why her kidneys still are staying relatively stable.

I have been wondering if it is grains that contribute to Chronic Kidney Failure in cats. Since people can get kidney failure associated with diabetes, I wonder if carbs/insulin more readily affect cats kidneys instead of them becoming diabetic.

Hope this wasn’t too much of a digression. I have been musing about these things for a while. I recently had to fire a vet because he told me cats had a dietary carbohydrate requirement because they preferentially burned glucose and that I shouldn’t spend my time looking up things on the internet except to find recipes to cook for my cat.

If you are into geeky science, take a look at this paper. Cats left to their own devices will shoot for macros of about 52% protein, 36% fat, and no more than about 13% carbs.

(Allie) #3

She’s thirteen and only has her two bottom canine teeth left, all others had to be removed. She has a mix of different foods, she likes the ones with gravy and soup type foods. Vet suggested some brands to try and I got some this afternoon but she’s not impressed at all. I’ve tried her on raw food too but she doesn’t like that either. Poor girl can’t chew anything so really needs liquids that she can just lap at. I’ll keep trying as it really is affecting her quality of life and that’s not good at all.

(MooBoom) #4

My Tonk Ollie has the same condition, I’ve been preparing a raw diet for him since he got diagnosed (12 mths ago). I tried the prey model raw (frankenprey) method- awesome except for when he’s really hungry and wolfs it down then pukes it up :roll_eyes:
So we got an electric mincer that can handle bones (not cheap- $500 AUD) and mince the raw food- no puking since making that change.
Most importantly- we have a healthy cat whose condition is controlled.

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(Allie) #5

That’s great :grin:
I’ve tried my Magick with raw and she won’t have it. She tries to eat things but as soon as there’s any need to try and chew she screams in pain and runs away, then won’t try that thing again :pensive:

(MooBoom) #6

Poor girl :anguished:
The mincing might be your best option then? Ollie wolfs his mince down- no pain.

(Allie) #7

It’s raw mince I tried her with :pensive:
Don’t know what to do for her but will keep trying… :heart:

(Mary) #8

Try whirling whatever raw food you give her in a small blender with a bit of water or broth. Make a sort of slurry out of it.

(Allie) #9

I’ll try it :blush:

(MooBoom) #10

I had to wean my guys off dry and onto wet, then onto raw over a period of months.

I did that by sneaking tiny bits of raw food with their ‘normal’ food so they got used to it slowly, then gradually increased the size of the chunks and quantity until they recognised it as their normal food and would eat it solo.

Good luck!