Feeding Tips for Cats with Diabetes

Feeding Tips for Cats with Diabetes

Diabetes mellitus is a condition where the body does not produce enough insulin to handle blood glucose levels. If you thought only humans developed diabetes, you cannot be more wrong. Pets, especially cats, are prone to diabetes because of a lazy lifestyle, lack of physical exercise and the food that their owners feed them. If your cat is overweight or obese, the risk of developing diabetes is high. Here are some diet tips for cats with diabetes mellitus. By the end of the article, you will know how to choose healthy food options for your cat.

  • Choose canned food over dry food
    One of the major diet tips for cats with diabetes mellitus that pet owners should follow is to reduce the amount of carbohydrates in their meal and add a lot of proteins to it. In fact, experts suggest that you limit carbohydrates to less than 10% of their entire meal. The problem with dried food is that since they are concentrated, they contain relatively larger amounts of carbs when compared to canned food. You can help your cat if you avoid buying dried food and pick canned fresh food for meals every day.
  • Try out different flavors and variants
    Serving a protein-rich meal to your cat is not enough as it is crucial to ensure that the cat eats the food. Being hungry can bring down the blood sugar levels drastically, which can prove dangerous. To ensure that your cat does not skip meals, offer different options for food and identify the flavors and the brands it prefers. This way, you can prevent low blood sugar and weight loss.
  • Control the portion sizes
    Another useful diet tip for cats with diabetes mellitus is to always control the portion size. For cats that are obese, weight loss will play an important role in reducing blood glucose levels to normal. You can talk to a vet and identify the calories the cat needs to facilitate weight loss and then start managing the portion size for every meal.
  • Check the nutritional content
    Many pet owners check the carbohydrate content on a food pack and if it is low, choose it for their pet. Though the carb count has to be low, the nutritional content of the food matters too. The best diet tip for cats with diabetes mellitus is that the more nutritious food you offer, the better the body will fight diabetes. Ensuring your cat gets healthy food also improves their muscle mass and extends their lifespan.
  • Consider good fibers
    Meals with fiber content can help some cats to successfully reduce their blood sugar levels. You can talk to your vet about this and create a diet plan.

Do make a note of these diet tips for cats with diabetes mellitus and try to follow them. With regular exercise and controlled portions of healthy food, your cat can beat the disease and live a healthy life.