Diabetes, Diet and The New Cat

"The smallest feline is a masterpiece."
- Leonardo da Vinci

Having discovered through Puff's developing diabetes that her lifelong diet was, to put it bluntly, crap, I'm now extremely concerned with the diet for our new cat when she arrives. I want her to be as healthy as possible for as long as I can. YourDiabeticCat.com and DiabeticCatCare.com: If your cat is diabetic, these are GREAT support groups, especially DCC!

This is an Indian Creek Bengal. She's a brown  spotted hybrid cat. She won't be home with us until sometime in April. We get to meet her officially on Monday. I'll probably go nuts with a kitten drool-y blog post then.

So. A healthy, balanced diet. Low carb, good protein. Should be easy, right? Aarrgh!

There are a gazillion (yes, I know that's not a real number, lol) cat foods to choose from!

CANNED

Processed dry food = BAD. Almost all of them are loaded with grains of one kind or another.
First thing I learned in the YDC and DCC forums was to avoid them all. I've eliminated a lot of choices right there. http://diabeticcatcare.com/nutrition

Too many Fruits and Veggies = Bad. A lot of canned foods are overloaded with these, which sounds great and balanced for a person, but for a carnivorous animal, it's too much of a good thing. Carnivores do not chow down massively on fruits and veggies. More foods off the list. I'll allow for a small amount for vitamin content, figuring that a cat in the wild would get this much from it's prey's stomach. Gross, but true. Again I'm looking for a good, healthy balance.

Made in USA = A MUST. I don't want food manufactured in foreign countries. You'd be surprised how many there are once you read up on it. We have standards here that aren't enforced in other countries, and I want that. http://www.petfood.aafco.org/IngredientsMakingPetFood.aspx
There have been some serious illnesses and deaths. Look up pet food recalls for more information.

So...as far as canned foods go, I've narrowed it down to Before Grain, by Merrick.
The cattery lists this as one of their recommendations along with Wellness (too many veg/frts) and Weruva (Thailand), but I read up on them all, as well. I was considering B.G. kibble as well, because it's the best ingredient mix for dry that I've seen, but even with a healthy cat, I want to try and avoid the kibble.


RAW

I've read much about RAW diets, especially as recommended for the hybrid cats. I'm reluctant to go full out homemade raw because of the difficulty in balancing the diet so that all essential nutrients and vitamins are covered. There are some good quality commercial raws out there.
 
I'm concerned that some of the processes to make these safe to eat or handle might also be damaging to the natural probiotics in the foods. More reading to do still. I'm leaning towards Honest Kitchen to supplement the canned food.

Biggest factor may be, will my cat eat ANY of it?

Treated Raw:
The cattery recommends/uses Blueridgebeef.com I'm a little leery of the "charcoal process" I'll have to read up on that some more before I try this out.

Dehydrated:  Honest Kitchen has the best reviews. http://www.thehonestkitchen.com/products/cat-food/

...are gently dehydrated (not canned, baked or extruded) and are served with a high moisture content, which is optimal for cats’ digestion and urinary health. We only make 100% human grade cat food, and production takes place in a human food facility.

Freeze Dried: 
 http://www.grandmalucys.com/artisan_chicken_fish.html 
  Grandma Lucy's might be a little potatoe heavy according to one review, I'll have to try it and see.

Some helpful reading (starters):
Feeding Your Cat: Know The Basics of Feline Nutrition
http://www.holisticvetcenter.com/pet-food.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raw_feeding
What's Really In Pet Food?
Dr. Zoran's article on carnivores