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

The Mighty Leaf!

TEA!

Scott and Bethany gave me a bunch of tea things for Christmas. I've been enjoying them immensely!

First, this great little personal teapot w/built in cozy cover by Degrenne.
I took it to work, where I'm handling it with care because I had NO idea it was $89!

They also got me a white infuser mug for loose leaf tea.

And...a box of a hundred of Decaf Earl
Grey tea in the wonderful silky bags (no paper aftertaste, yay!)

Along with all that, four bags of loose leaf tea. Two were the decaf earl grey. I already got Earl Grey, you say??? There is NEVER enough Earl Grey!

The other two were African Nectar (a rooibos blend) and Mayan Chocolate Truffle. I've always loved rooibos and this was just wonderful. The Mayan Choc. Truffle is to die for!

Interested in teas?
www.uptontea.com
www.themightyleaf.com

New Year

Well, here we are in 2012 and we seem to be off to a better start.

Bethany bought Xander two dual nerf swords for Christmas. They unscrew so you can either use it in each hand, or have it together as a two bladed long weapon. He's been getting great exercise for a change working out attacks and defenses every day until he's in a complete sweat. It's good to see him working out so enthusiastically.

She also just came home yesterday with a floor style punching bag, and it looks like both of them are excited about using it. He liked it so much that she's getting him some protective gloves to use.

As for me, I'm resolving to use that Zumba program more. Ashley wants to do some buddy walks, so we'll be getting more exercise ourselves, which is good, since our jobs mostly have us at the desk.

Recipe: Pan Seared Tuna w/Pepper

Tonight's dinner: Fresh Tuna courtesy of Mike Robbins.

Cut into steaks.
Marinated in teriyaki and sake. About 30 minutes.

Pan seared in olive oil, coated heavily with coarse ground pepper.

For the last few minutes of cooking, poured in a little of the marinate and let it boil off. Re-peppered the top of the steak after I poured on the marinate.

Side of fresh green beans from Pop's garden, steamed, with a lil olive oil and salt. YUM!

(photo found on web, just representing the peppered tuna)
I ate mine before I thought about posting it, lol

Animals an' things.

Life...keeping me busy, which is a good thing I guess.

Puff, our adopted kitty, has gone diabetic. Diagnosed a few months ago. I've learned out to test her with a glucose meter, which I was doing twice a day. She was getting insulin twice a day, but currently her numbers have dropped lower, so I'm only giving her one dose a day now. Changing to a protein diet appropriate to a carnivore was the ticket. Minimal carbs. No veggies. It's possible that in time, she'll go off the insulin entirely!

Mojo the shiba inu must have been feeling left out. He's developed a problem with conjuctivitis in one eye. Medication has helped, but it's been stubborn about clearing up.

Risa...I was just posting in another blog about her. An incident that happened several years ago. I'd never realized until that happened that "crawling away to die" isn't just an expression.

Several years ago my labrador had a bad reaction to Rimadyl, and was vomiting severly. We didn't realize this at first. She was sick in the morning, seemed fine when hubby checked on her in the afternoon, but when we got home, I found multiple spots where she'd been sick. And no sign of the dog. Risa is usually right by the door when someone arrives. No dog. Didn't come when called. Searched the house, couldn't find her. Panic. I sent the kids outside to search the street, thinking maybe she'd somehow slipped out during the afternoon. While they did that, I searched the house again. Finally found her, in my daughters room where she never goes (except for an occasional forage run to see if there are any snacks in there).
She'd climbed up on the bed, then gone off the other end into a corner that only had about 12 inches of space between the end of the bed and the wall, where my daughters stuffed animals got piled when she slept. Risa had wedged herself down into the pile. This is a 90 lb lab. She was in pulmonary distress due to dehydration and the medication. We rushed her to the ER and thankfully, she recovered.

If she'd had outside access to woods...we never would have found her in the same scenario. She'd hidden herself away to die.

Another favorite, this one remixed by the artist himself, just for Trueblood. Cry Little Sister "Bloody Swamp Version" by G Tom Mac



I've always loved this piece and normally, I don't like remixes, but this one is a stunner. Just fabulous.

A very bluesy rendition of Radiohead's "Creep", as performed by a homeless man. I sat here with tears rolling.

Mustard sings Creep from Rex Kramer on Vimeo.

From this post:
http://thenorthelevation.blogspot.com/2009/12/listen-homeless-man-covers-radiohead_17.html