Some people advocate homemade cat food in response to the criticism that commercial cat food is made with cereal filler that doesn't provide a healthy and balanced diet. Cats need a diet containing vitamins, minerals, fat, water and protein. These nutrients are essential for chemical reactions within the body, for growth and maintenance of the body and for various structural body tissues. For those cats with special dietary needs, it is important that those needs become the primary focus in selecting cat food.
Food Sources
These nutrients can be obtained from natural cat food, organic cat food, home made cat food or commercial cat food. No matter the source, it is important that your cat receives the proper quality and quantity of nutrients in his diet. Home cat food, made up of the proper amount of nutrients, can be as beneficial as any high-grade store brand. However, pet food manufacturers use the basic minimum nutritional requirements established by the Feline Nutrition Expert (FNE) subcommittee of the Association of the American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO). Some of these pet food manufacturers produce quality pet food specific to certain needs, including diabetes.
Diabetes
Though the typical cat food is high in protein to match the diet of wild cats, it also has a higher carbohydrate content. Diabetic cat food has a lower content of carbohydrates. Diet and exercise will help diabetic cats and in the case of obese cats, may reverse the onset of diabetes. Diet can play an important part in diabetes, since this disease is caused by the imbalance of glucose (sugar) in the body and the insulin the body uses to break down the glucose. Food intake and metabolism, which can be increased with proper exercise, can affect diabetes.
Homemade Cat Food
Preparing homemade cat food can be difficult, time-consuming, laborious and possibly inconsequential. Attaining the proper quantities of nutrients is the most difficult part of all. It is recommended that the preparation and use of any homemade cat food be supervised by a veterinarian in order to guarantee a properly balanced diet. For example, a diet with raw meat may be high in protein, but can cause toxoplasmosis or salmonellosis. A cat diet deficient in taurine, protein, Vitamin A, niacin and fatty acids can produce dire consequences. The same holds true for diets containing large quantities of fish, which can result in steatitis or yellow fat disease (vitamin E deficiency). All-meat homemade diets deficient in calcium can cause hyperparathyroidism or a mineral imbalance in the calcium/phosphorus ratio.
Typically diabetic cats should be on specialized veterinarian-approved diets to guarantee nutrient requirements are met, whether that is achieved with specialized high quality commercial cat food or homemade cat food.