When cats suffer from diabetes, they have to follow a specific diet, just like human diabetics. Commercial cat food for diabetes can be very expensive. However, if the right criteria are followed, dietary cat food can be made at home and is much cheaper and often even healthier.

 

Carbohydrates are the cause of diabetes in cats and they cause health problems in a cat suffering from diabetes. Carbohydrates must therefore be restricted. The cat should not be given food that contains maize meal, as this is particularly high in carbohydrates. Other cereals should also be avoided. It should also be noted that cats are carnivores and do not need vegetables or grains to be healthy.

Cats need a lot of protein. Red meat should be used in abundance when putting together homemade cat food. Unseasoned meat can be cut into cubes so that the cat can bite into it easily. The meat can be fed raw or cooked. However, bacteria can form in the meat if it is fed raw. So if you prefer to cook the meat for your cat, you should cook it in the juices of the meat and give it all together. Juicy meat also tastes better to a cat.
Poultry and fish are also good sources of protein and add variety to your cat's diet. This should also be unsalted and unseasoned. Industrially processed meat is not suitable as cat food.

For more fibre, you can mix some vegetables into the food. Broccoli or peas can be cooked and chopped in a blender so that they are better digested in the cat's stomach.

The food used for homemade cat food should always be fresh. However, you can prepare larger quantities and freeze them in portions.

For a healthy diet, the cat needs no more than one cup of food divided into two portions. As cats can be very picky, you need to try out different types of meat at the beginning until you find out which types of home-made food they like. The only important thing is not to fall back on ordinary cat food, as the additives in normal tinned food are harmful to a diabetic cat.