Thursday, December 7, 2017

Tucker's New Numbers: the Diet Aspect

Several readers of this blog have commented about Tucker’s diet. Roberta and Kari mentioned Purina DM food, which is probably what the Trout Towne Tabbies were thinking about. I actually have that brand of food for Parker, my diabetic foster-cat, and Tucker likes it, too. But each cat presents me with a problem in regard to its serving.

I am trying to reduce the cats’ weight, and while Tucker does not like soft-food as much as hard, Parker does, and this gives me an opportunity to diminish his poundage by feeding him just low-carbohydrate soft-food, which of course entails the elimination of the Purina DM kernels from his diet. Tucker, on the other hand, would not eat enough soft-food to keep him going (I don’t really want to starve him to make him lose weight), so feeding him the Purina hard-food would not pose a dilemma - for him, I would not need to consider weaning him off the hard stuff. But, unlike Parker, who is kept alone in the library while I am absent - he is still having a few issues with the other beasts - Tucker is among the other cats all the time. This means that I cannot isolate his food for him. And the others do like the taste of the Purina DM. Josie finds favour with it and, being the dominant diner in the household, would consume most of what I leave available.

The challenges of a multi-cat home are great in number, as many cat-fanciers know first-hand. Even if I had enough rooms to keep them all separate while I was absent, I wouldn’t do it, as feline interaction is, I think, both beneficial and, to varying degrees, enjoyable for a cat. So I will continue to work on a practicable plan. In the meantime, I will try to ensure that neither of the diabetes boys suffer unduly because of their condition. I learn more about it all the time, and hope one day - probably immediately before my demise - to have the answers.

19 comments:

  1. We could never get Angel and Chuck to eat in separate rooms; they'd grown up together and ate together for 13 years...putting one in a separate room to eat only their food or medicine never worked. They wouldn't eat, unless together. We got creative, and for years Angel received stool-softener even though she didn't need it, but her brother did! The vet assured us that it wouldn't harm her. You will figure it out, and Rome wasn't built in a day, so they say. You can do it!

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    1. Angel must have wondered why she was having such an easy time in the litter-box!

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  2. dood...we hope dad can get sum thin werked out two....diet onlee wood bee a grate alternative ta shotz....yur profile shotz awesum by de way ....manee thanx again cat father for playin along in de codd mother saga ....♥♥♥♥♥ we troo lee apurreciates it!!

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    1. Unlike the Codd Mother saga, the diet battles of these beasts are an on-going story - and not as entertaining!

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  3. Should have known you would have tried this food before. You are fast becoming our resource person for handling feline diabetes at home. You are right too much food restriction -will cause loss of muscle mass.Loosing muscle mass is not good. You may enjoy this article by Lisa A. Pierson DVM called Feline Obesity: an Epidemic of Fat Cats. Rather interesting!

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    1. I will look that article up. Dr Pierson is the one whose chart I rely on to tell me the carbohydrate and other ingredients of my cats' soft-food. She must be a well-regarded authority.

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  4. dinner time with a house full of cats is certainly a challenge. I do hope poor Tucker's health remains stable. You have such good observations on managing feline health issues.

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  5. Not a lot of fun, I'm sure, but it sounds like you're doing everything you can for your babies.

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  6. Dealing with special diets in a multi-cat household is always difficult. But you're giving each cat outstanding care and love, and that's the most important thing.

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  7. I don't have the same issues as thankfully, none of the cats have restrictions. I do, however, feed Sasha separately. At 17 he eats much more slowly than the other two and if I feed them together Saku and Sheldon push him out of the way. Brats!

    When Silas was alive he had to eat a special food but he wanted what the others were having. He even figured out how to open the cabinet I had hidden theirs in so he could get at it. I felt so sorry for him, but when he ate their kibble he always threw it up.

    You're obviously doing all you can to keep Tucker and Parker healthy and happy!

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    1. Poor Silas. My main worry is actually Cammie, who can't seem to have anything without eventually becoming allergic to it, the poor girl.

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  8. Granny was catsitting by a family that had three cats from which one had diabetes. They bought three special cat feeders that worked on a chip, so the kitty with diabetes couldn't eat from the other kitties and the others couln't eat his food. It's a solution, but to bad, it is a very expensive one too. Hope you find something to solve the problem :) Pawkisses for a Happy Weekend :) <3

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  9. Diet is such a hard thing. Even though poppy is an only cat i still find it hard with her. She has a fancy feast around 5pm when I get home. The rest of the time she has biscuits to graze on. If I restrict her biscuits, she will complain the whole time. She goes to them every couple of hours, so if she has none overnight she spends all night keeping me awake telling me off. I refuse to starve her to keep her weight down.

    She hates diet biscuits, and will refuse to eat them and cry for days until she gets her normal biscuits back.

    She did lose a lot of weight when she had to go to a cattery for 6 weeks when we moved, but I am sure that was because she was left with only a few biscuits each day. Within 4 months of being home it was all back on, and in fact she was bigger than ever.

    Good luck to you John. It is a tricky task.

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    1. I can never bring myself to reduce the cats' food to a level at which they are hungry all the time. Cats don't have a lot of different kinds of fun in their lives; however much we do for them, food is a big part of life's enjoyment to them. As you write, it's tricky trying to do what's best for our beloved pets.

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  10. Special meals in a multi-cat household can be vexing. Luckily I work at home so can give Buddy Budd his dry while watching the crew and maybe giving them a bit as a treat. They still watch for an opening and their amazing stealth and lightning grabs of a mouthful amaze me.

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