Q: How do I transition my dog or cat to a new food?

A: Most pets require 7-10 days to adjust to a new food because their intestinal tracts contain unique bacteria and enzymes that need to adapt to the proper digestion of a new food. It is recommended that dogs and cats eat a combination of dry and canned food every day. Their bodies are made of 75% water and they rarely drink enough water to support excellent hydration and organ function. I recommend that 25 to 50% of their daily calories come from canned food. You can feed it all at one time during the day or break it up into 2 meals…whatever is easiest for you.

Follow these guidelines for either dry, canned or preferably a combination of Halo food*:

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Q: My little munchkin, Mister Kitty, was just diagnosed with Diabetes. He is 14, and overweight. I have recently been enlightened about what pets are eating in most commercial foods, and had started to slowly shift their diet. (I have two cats). They started looking better—improved coat, muscle tone, energy and all.

Two weeks ago, Mister started drinking more water and urinating more. By the time I got him to the vet, (a week later, my vet said to wait because it could have been the heat), he had already lost one pound (17lbs to 16 lbs–he’s also large framed). She thought he looked so good physically that he could just really be drinking too much water because of the heat. But we did a full physical and bloodwork, and he was positive for diabetes. She prescribed injections of Lantus (glargine insulin) twice a day.

My vet is really busy, (but seems knowledgable), so hasn’t really talked to me much about the situation. Her assistant told me to not feed him your brand because of the carrots, peas and sweet potatoes in it. However, he is already looking so much better and losing weight, my hunches tell to stick to your program and get his weight down but I don’t want to do anything wrong and hurt him.

Is Halo okay for him? Is it okay to give him dry food throughout the day? The vet told me to leave just a little hard food down for him to graze on.

Sorry for being long-winded, but my vet just hasn’t had time to answer any of my questions. She is good, I like her, she’s just busy at this time of the year. Thank you very very much for your help, and I hope you have a wonderful day!

A: Thank you for your questions about Diabetes in cats. Hopefully Mister Kitty gets on the road to recovery with Halo right away!

Cats are very similar to people in that Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of the disease. This means that they are still able to secrete insulin but their body is just not responding the way it should. The most common reasons for this “insulin resistance” are: obesity, inactivity, other diseases (such as bladder infections, pancreatitis, etc), medication usage (such as steroids) and DRY FOOD DIETS. Cats are carnivores and really should be eating a high protein, low carbohydrate diet. Most dry food diets are moderately to very high in carbohydrates and it is felt that the long term feeding of these foods often lead to problems with obesity and the development of diabetes.

All recent diabetic research in cats indicates that the very best thing you can do for Mister Kitty is put him on a COMPLETELY CANNED FOOD diet. This canned food should be high in protein and low in carbohydrates—the Halo canned Chicken and Salmon varieties are best. The carbohydrates it does have should come from fiber-rich vegetables and not things like corn and white rice. The fiber-rich vegetables are complex carbohydrates and do not immediately turn into sugar. Dry food should not be left down for him to graze on–this counteracts the beneficial things you are trying to do. NO DRY FOOD!

The remission rate is very high for cats once they switch to all canned food–the majority of cats will revert back to being “non-diabetic” in the first 4 months after this switch…and many of them do it in just a few weeks. It is critical that you watch his blood sugar carefully during this time to avoid episodes of hypoglycemia (which can be fatal if undetected) from too much insulin. The best way to monitor this is with at-home blood sugar checks. Ask your veterinarian how to do this. Don’t be surprised if his requirements for lantus (glargine) insulin start decreasing right away.

I know your veterinarian is busy, but you have every right to her time as any other client. Your cat has a serious condition and one that can be REVERSED if managed appropriately. Be an advocate for him to get the best care possible.

Hope this information helps. You can also see my article Feline Diabetes: A New Look at an Old Disease

Good Luck
Dr. Donna J. Spector

When this blogger’s kitty was having gas issues, her pet store recommended Halo as a cure– and as you will read, it worked!

Click here to read blog.

We’re proud of our support for Freekibble.com and are thrilled when great media outlets like Catchannel.com are helping us get to our 200,000 meal goal to help shelter pets nationwide.

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“Meats of dubious quality and meals made from rendered protein sources, frequently of unknown origin” were discussed by Dr. Donna Spector host Tracie Hotchner on Cat Chat Radio last week. Tracie, author of both The Dog Bible and The Cat Bible, explains in her blog that “I switched my dogs to HALO kibble for life when I learned that Halo’s kibble is very high protein and made from meat fit for human consumption.” As with many of us who feed Halo, avoiding ingredients like chicken meal – which is legally unfit for human consumption – and using only lean muscle meat “was the ultimate dividing line” for the popular author and pet owner advocate.

Click over to read Tracie’s extensive account of the radio spot, including responses to listeners’ questions about meat meals.