Diet For a Diabetic Cat - Tips That Can Help Your Cat Right Now

A diet for a diabetic cat can have a positive and immediate impact on the health of your cat. There are two dietary options, with one have considerable better results than the other, although both can be effective.



For a time, researchers have been testing a diet that is high in fiber against one that is low in carbohydrates and high in protein. Recent studies have given the edge to the low carbohydrate diet.



Diet for a Diabetic Cat - Why a Low Carbohydrate Option?



Low carbohydrate diets best resemble a diet that a cat would find in the wild. If you think about a cat eating a mouse, it is all protein and fat. Because of this your cat''s body does a good job of breaking down the "meat" and fat of the mouse into component parts. Your cat naturally doesn't know how to handle large amounts of carbohydrates.



Selecting a Low Carbohydrate Cat Food for a Feline Diabetes Diet



Canned foods have fewer carbohydrates than canned foods. Determining the carbohydrate content is tricky, since you need to deduct from 100% the % of water, protein, fats and fiber. Even then you are probably underestimating the carbohydrate impact. Canned foods to consider are prescription diets such as Purina DM or consider Fancy Feast.



Diet for a Diabetic Cat - Homeopathic Supplements



If you are a believer in homeopathic or natural medicine, there are several ingredients and minerals that have human clinical support for helping with problems such as maintaining the correct level of glucose (sugar) in the blood. These ingredients include Vaccinium myrtillus (Bilberry) and Chromium picolinate.



Switching Your Cat's Diet



When switching to a diet for diabetic cat, you should do so gradually. If you cat prefers dry food, gradually mix in canned food over a 7 to 10 day period. If you cat will tolerate a faster switch, then by all means do so. Canned food also has more moisture, so your cat will be in effect "drinking more". This in and of itself is a good thing and will help to avoid other dietary problems.



Will a Diet for a Diabetic Cat Help?



When switching to a low carbohydrate diet, over 50% of cats have shown some improvement in the amount of insulin needed. A large number will be able to stop taking insulin all together.



Note that it is very important to monitor your cat's blood glucose level during the dietary transition. Since the diet will reduce the amount of insulin needed, your cat's dosage will need to be decreased to avoid complications from too much insulin. Discuss the impact of change with your veterinarian and be sure to monitor the blood glucose level daily to avoid problems.

The Right Diabetic Dog Food May Reverse Diabetes

If you change to the right diabetic dog food, you stand a chance of reversing the diabetes. Yes, you did read that correctly. No, I'm not telling you porkies. This may be dependent on the length of time your dog has had diabetes, and the treatment he has had. Although these factors are less important than the overall health of your dog.



I can be confident in making this claim because it is usually the food causing the diabetes in the first place. If you remove the cause, the effect goes away. What passes for dog food in the highly lucrative pet food industry is nothing short of shocking. Shocking because it is nutrient poor, so you're starving your dog.



Shocking because it often contains harmful filler such as sugar, which goes a long way to creating diabetes. Shocking because the claims on the label about being 'preservative free' are normally a blatant lie. How else can the indefinite long shelf life be attained? Shocking because the synthesised and isolated 'nutrients' will do nothing at best, and create havoc at worst.



By making the simple switch to feeding your dog a wholesome, raw, quality, home prepared diet, you will probably cure the diabetes. Wild dogs, the ancestors of your domestic dog, hunt and scavenge. Their food is raw, though not necessarily fresh. It contains muscle meat, organ meat and bones in the perfect proportion.



Don't ever be fooled by the exaggerated claims made by those who profit by the claims. No processed dog food can come close to the natural diet of wild dogs.



Holistic veterinarians around the world are claiming enormous health benefits when dogs are fed a quality, raw, balanced diet. It can cure not only diabetes, but other serious and chronic conditions such as infertility, leukemia and cancer, too.

The 1200 Diabetic Diet Plan - Eating Right

On average, you will probably be eating between 40 to 55 percent of your total daily calories in the form of carbohydrates. A 1200-calorie diabetic diet plan gets 50% of its calories from carbohydrates, 30% from fat and 20% from protein; so it would contain 600 calories from carbohydrates. That translates to 150 grams of carbohydrates, where 1 gram equals 4 calories, or just about 10 carbohydrate exchanges or choices for the day.



Keep in mind that this is an average. Some people with diabetes may find that a lower percentage of carbohydrates offers them better control.



With regards to the 1200-calorie diabetic diet plan, many people find this program constructive and effective. However, it is still recommended that you talk to your registered dietitian first before you start on any type of diet plan. A registered dietitian will work with you and help you understand the meaning and concept behind carbohydrate counting or carb counting and the diabetic exchange system. These two methods are commonly used to obtain the 1200-calorie objective.



Carb Counting



Even if you follow your meal plan to the letter, you are still going to find that certain foods will give you a bigger spike in glucose levels than expected. You may also find that other foods you expected to pump up your readings barely bump the meter. That is the individual nature of diabetes.



For this reason, carb counting is an invaluable tool in figuring out the amount of carbohydrates given in every meal and eventually helps you understand the possible effects of such amount in your blood glucose levels.



Carb counting involves calculating the grams of carbohydrate eaten in a given meal. In theory, regulating carb intake means controlling your blood glucose levels.



Match Your Diet To Your Needs How many carbohydrates you eat in a given day depends on your unique caloric, medical, and lifestyle needs. An active teenager will have a greater carbohydrate requirement than an inactive adult.



So for instance, if you want to use 1200-calorie diabetic diet plan, be sure that you fit into one of the following categories: (a) your body build is medium and you do not exercise much, (b) you are a small or medium person who wants to lose weight, or (c) you are a small person who exercises a lot.



Again, the first step in establishing a carb-counting plan to achieve your 1200-calorie diabetic diet plan is sitting down with a registered dietitian who will discuss your medical history, eating habits, lifestyle, and medication routines, and come up with a plan for how much carbohydrates you should be eating and when they should be consumed.

Choices versus Grams



There are a couple of different variations on the carb-counting theme to achieve 1200-calorie diabetic diet plan. Basic carb gram counting is simply calculating the actual grams of carbohydrates consumed and ensuring they do not exceed a pre-established limit. Another popular method is carb choice.



Since a dietary exchange of starch or fruit carbohydrates is equivalent to 15 grams of carbohydrates, many dietitians use the "15 grams per serving" value as a "rule of thumb" in teaching carb counting, especially to those patients who are already familiar with exchange lists. Each 15-gram serving is called a "carb choice," and instead of establishing a total number of carbohydrate grams for the day, you will work with your dietitian to determine a total number of carb choices.



This method works well with 1200-calorie diabetic diet plan. For example, for those who want to achieve 1200-calorie diet, it is recommended that you take 10 servings of carbohydrates in a day. These servings will be subdivided into different meals of the day.



For example, you may take 2 servings of carbohydrates at breakfast, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, and dinner provided that you do not take any carbohydrates for the evening snack. When applying carb counting, keep in mind that 1 carb choice or 1 serving is equivalent to approximately 15 grams of carbohydrates.



The choice method may not be as exact as calculating carbs strictly by the label, since it involves a certain degree of estimation, but it is close enough for most people. Talk to your dietitian about the method that works best for you.



Dietary Exchanges



Dietary exchange system has three food group types represented in the exchange lists: the carbohydrate group, the meat and meat substitutes group, and the fat group. Each list within each group contains food with a similar carbohydrate, protein, fat, and calorie content.



When you sit down with your dietitian, she will work with you to specify a certain number of each type of exchanges for your meals based on your 1200-calorie goal. Hence, you can think of dietary exchanges like trading cards. Any food on a particular list can be swapped with another on the same list.



Indeed, this 1200-calorie diabetic diet plan has soared in popularity thanks to medical media icons who have painstakingly demonstrated and explained the good effects of such diet programs. However, the jury is still out on their long-term safety. If you would want to try this type of diabetic diet plan, talk with your registered dietitian and your doctor about a safe approach that is right for you.