Owning a cat comes with a lot of benefits and is extremely rewarding for both you and your feline companion. But alongside the joys of cat ownership comes a lot of responsibility for their well-being. After all, your cat cannot use words to verbalize how they feel, and they cannot take themselves to the doctor to seek medical attention.
As high as one percent of all cats are known to be diagnosed with feline diabetes, although the actual incidence of feline diabetes may be higher and unreported. Even more cats may be in the prediabetic stage, with a diabetes diagnosis pending.
One of the best things you can do for a diabetic cat is keep a close eye on what they eat. This can include preparing their food from scratch so that you can have maximum control over the ingredients used.
Homemade Diabetic Cat Food
The good news is that there are lots of recipes available for homemade diabetic cat food, recommended by vets and leveraged by cat owners as go-tos to ensure the best care for your cat.
1. Turkey Burgers
This recipe is extremely flexible, which means you can incorporate whatever vegetables are in-season and what you have available. Take a pound of ground beef and two eggs in order to keep protein levels high; this can help with maintaining steady blood sugar levels. Cook them over low heat in a skillet, along with mixed vegetables (avoiding onions and garlic, which are toxic to cats). Feel free to add in some crushed eggshells and butter in order to further expand the nutrient profile.
2. Bone-In Beef Meal
Combine four pounds of beef with bone, fourteen ounces of chicken heart, seven ounces of chicken liver, two cups of water, and four egg yolks in a grinder or blender, and roughly mash them up. Feel free to add in psyllium husk powder, salmon oil, vitamin E, and vitamin B according to your cat's weight. Keep this mix in the fridge and use up within a few days.
3. Kitty Stew
Place one whole chicken, 2 cups of rice, several stalks of celery, several unpeeled carrots, a couple of squash and a couple of zucchini, a small broccoli crown, a few green beans, and a cup of water in a stew pot. Cook the pot until the chicken falls off the bone. Place the food into a blender and purée. Freeze individual bowl-size portions in small freezer bags.
4. Chicken and Rice Diet
This meal can be easy on the GI tract, and so it works particularly well for cats with digestive issues.
Take half a pound of cooked chicken breast, one hard-boiled egg, one half-ounce of chopped clams one-third a cup of cooked brown rice, four teaspoons of butter or oil, and a dash of salt. Serve immediately, or refrigerate. Add in supplements as per your cat's health recommendations.
5. Tuna Diet
For cats that love seafood, this is a fantastic option to give them food they love while also keeping them healthy. Again, a high-protein diet is key to maintaining their diabetes.
Combine four ounces of tuna, one hard-boiled egg, and one tablespoon of canola oil. That's it; that's the entire meal! Again, you can add in nutritional supplements as needed to meet your cat's health needs.
Make An Appointment for You Cat Today
If you have concerns about your pet, whether they are a diabetic cat or an animal with other health concerns, go ahead and request an appointment with one of our staff today. We can review their diet and their health, from doing baseline physicals all the way through troubleshooting any specific issues.