Soon after I adopted the zoftig Samantha, I took her to my vet for a routine exam. The vet talked about the fact that unlike dogs and humans, cats are considered obligate carnivores (i.e., meat has to be the mainstay of their diet), adding that the worst thing to feed them is grains, particularly corn, wheat and soy. She suggested that I switch my cats to a no-grain diet because they don’t need grains and all they do is contribute to feline obesity, which can then lead to diabetes.  

Diabetes, types I and II, are both common in cats.  Up to 70% of cases of diabetes in cats are type I and about half are type II. Type I is also known as insulin-dependent, with destruction of the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. Type II, non-insulin-dependent, features insulin resistance and dysfunction rather than destruction of the insulin-producing cells. Obese cats have a particularly good chance of getting type II diabetes. 

Among my five cats, three are fairly hefty and two are thin. They have differing food preferences, i.e., Tao and Karma eat kibble almost exclusively with only occasional forays into the world of wet food. Matilda prefers wet and adores raw chicken liver, but will chew kibble in a crunch. Circe eats a little of both. My new cat Samantha likes wet and kibble, and lots of it, thank you very much. 

Now, cats are conservative creatures. They don’t like change. They would probably have voted for McCain/Palin in the last election. My cats notice the difference when I move a lamp to another table. So daring to change the diet they’ve grown accustomed to is a major deal. So it’s not like I wasn’t aware of the dangers of certain foods and over-feeding. But like many cat guardians, I aim to please them because they’re not willing to alter their preferences. However, now that they’re all seniors, it’s time to do a little dietary coercion on my part. 

With that in mind, I also need to consider that not every pet expert agrees with my vet about the proper diet for domesticated felines, and in fact, there are various schools of thought on this issue. Some cat guardians swear by a vegan or vegetarian diet for felines. As a vegan myself, I once considered going that route, but decided against it because it didn’t seem fair to impose my personal ethical standards on my cats. 

Here are some of the possible diets recommended if diabetes is diagnosed or anticipated. Dr. Richard Pitcairn, a holistic vet and co-author of my well-worn copy of “Dr. Pitcairn’s Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs & Cats”, recommends a home-made low-fat diet with meat, dairy, vegetables and whole grains. And another holistic practitioner, Dr. Shawn Messonnier, in his comprehensive book “Natural Health Bible for Dogs & Cats” recommends a natural diet of meat and fish, egg, adding tofu, rice, pasta, potato, and veggies if the cat accepts them, for the added fiber and nutrients. The allopathic vet Delbert G. Carlson in “Cat Owner’s Home Veterinary Handbook”, in stark contrast to Pitcairn and Messonnier, suggests that obese cats be given a Hill’s brand prescription diet and actually recommends dry over wet food, with not too much fiber or too little fat. 

Clearly, the jury is still out on the exact carbohydrate requirements of cats, although nobody would argue that having a fat cat is a good thing. My own feeling is that cats have been living with humans for at least 10,000 years, and so their bodies have gradually adapted to what humans feed them, including commercial cat food, veggies, fruits and grains. And I can’t help but notice that whenever any of my cats goes outside, one of the first things she does is swallow some grass (which is not always barfed up later). 

Be that as it may, my vet seems to be convinced that the best of all worlds would be to get cats to eat only wet food, because dry kibble necessarily contains more carbs (and grain) than wet food. But realizing that that’s an impossibility in my particular household, all I can hope for is their acceptance of fewer carbs and higher-quality whole grains. So for now I’m following the Middle Path. I’ve started experimenting with no-grain canned and low-grain kibble. These products are more expensive than the standard supermarket fare and are usually only available at PetsMart, Petco, or other specialty pet supply stores. One way to save money is to buy the smallest bags and cans available in case your cats reject them. And if you also have dogs, you can feed it to them because they’re not such fuss-budgets about food and it’s classy stuff. 

I’ve been feeding my cats PetsMart’s house brand, Authority kibble, for years, and they all like it, but it’s not particularly low-carb. There are many brands out there to choose from, but you must read labels to make sure that what you’re getting is really low-grain or no-grain (or at the very least doesn’t contain corn, wheat or soy).  Whole grains like brown rice, oatmeal, and barley, and white and sweet potatoes, carrots, parsley, blueberries, cranberries, flaxseed, alfalfa and kelp meals are often included in low-carb premium kibble and canned foods. Some will argue that that’s because cat food companies are just trying to lure consumers with a product that sounds like something they themselves could eat, while others suggest that these plant-based ingredients serve the purpose of providing fiber for the digestive tract.  Go figure. 

At any rate, the low-grain and no-grain kibble brands I’ve been experimenting with are Blue Buffalo’s Spa Select (chicken and brown rice); Wellness obesity formula, and Nature organic kibble, with mixed results. Some of it has been totally ignored, some has been eaten and barfed up, and some has fulfilled its purpose. So the experiment continues. 

I’ve also been testing a variety of canned products, such as Pet Guard, Wellness, Natural Balance, Nature, Brandon Farms (surprisingly, I found the latter organic brand at the supermarket) and Wellness. For years I’d been feeding them mostly Friskies because it was the one brand that all of them would eat, even my finicky mostly-kibble cats. They also enjoyed Trader Joe’s canned cat tuna (which is straight tuna) and to a lesser extent its other canned cat foods. And here’s a thriftier canned choice that I wasn’t aware until recently. It seems that certain varieties of Fancy Feast are low-carb, and also contain no wheat gluten, and are quite acceptable for an anti-obesity, diabetes-prevention diet. Thanks to www.felinediabetes.com for the listing:

Tender Beef Feast (brown label color)

Tender Beef & Liver Feast (magenta)

Tender Beef & Chicken Feast (red)

Gourmet Chicken Feast (dark pink)

Turkey & Giblets Feast (olive green)

Tender Liver & Chicken Feast (orange)

Chopped Grill Feast (kelly green)

Flaked Fish & Shrimp Feast (true blue)

Savory Salmon Feast (orange)

Flaked Ocean Fish Feast (pink)

Tuna and Oceanfish Feast in Aspic (teal label)