pancreatitis, ketones ?

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Tina and Gracie (GA)

Tina and Gracie (GA)

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Gracie's appetite has been pretty low the last few days. I have probably wasted close to 20 cans of food in the last few days.
I haven't tested Bg lately. I will get a PMPS number tonight when I gt home from work.

At what point do I worry? Ketone meter is still not here. It should be here today, or early next week.

She is eating, but not much. Water intake hasn't changed.
 
Teenuh said:
Gracie's appetite has been pretty low the last few days. I have probably wasted close to 20 cans of food in the last few days.
I haven't tested Bg lately. I will get a PMPS number tonight when I gt home from work.

At what point do I worry? Ketone meter is still not here. It should be here today, or early next week.

She is eating, but not much. Water intake hasn't changed.
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Some BG tests will be informative. I think you've said she won't tolerate any hovering near her litter box, right? Might be worth an extra effort to test for urine ketones.
 
Can you estimate how much she is eating each day? half a can? one can? two cans?

What about pooping and peeing? (oh, the things we talk about!)
 
She is averaging between 1-2 cans a day (3oz cans). She was at 3-4 cans + a strong appetite.

I haven't seen her poop since I cleaned the litter box yesterday. It doesn't mean she hasn't. I have seen and herd her pee.

I'm going home in about an hour and taking an extended break. I should be home for a few hours. I'll check the litter and the food dishes. I left out 2 bowls of food. Hopefully she ate something.
 
Just posted Bg. It is 56.

I see poop-so she’s going. So far no #1.

She hardly touched her food. Maybe ate a tbsp.

She did eat the couple dried salmon treats I gave.
 
If she's eating close to two cans of FF she should be fine - especially if she's getting some treats as well. Depending on age, size, and activity level, calories for an indoor cat can be around 190-280/day to maintain weight. Most of the FF pates are around 90 calories/can.

I'm sure that seems like a lot less though than how she was eating before! Do keep an eye on her weight of course though - if she's at a good healthy weight and starts to lose, then there is cause for concern regardless of the calories.

I don't know how your weather has been, but I've noticed that on days when my kitties are 'hibernating', they eat a lot less - so if it's unusually cold or windy, they just bury themselves in blankets for a day or two and don't eat as much.

If she's only eating one can/day, that's not enough and i'd keep an eye on it. It sounds like you're already trying different foods based on your comment about how many cans you've wasted recently. Have you tried putting treats in the food? Or sprinkling fortiflora on it? I've also heard parmesan cheese or tuna juice can be good for enticing a kitty to eat.
 
Djamila said:
If she's eating close to two cans of FF she should be fine - especially if she's getting some treats as well. Depending on age, size, and activity level, calories for an indoor cat can be around 190-280/day to maintain weight. Most of the FF pates are around 90 calories/can.

I'm sure that seems like a lot less though than how she was eating before! Do keep an eye on her weight of course though - if she's at a good healthy weight and starts to lose, then there is cause for concern regardless of the calories.

I don't know how your weather has been, but I've noticed that on days when my kitties are 'hibernating', they eat a lot less - so if it's unusually cold or windy, they just bury themselves in blankets for a day or two and don't eat as much.

If she's only eating one can/day, that's not enough and i'd keep an eye on it. It sounds like you're already trying different foods based on your comment about how many cans you've wasted recently. Have you tried putting treats in the food? Or sprinkling fortiflora on it? I've also heard parmesan cheese or tuna juice can be good for enticing a kitty to eat.
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You actually bring up a good point. It has been pretty cold here in Sacramento. I've actually had to use my heater every day this week.
Her weight hasn't gone down (like I wanted), but that isn't super serious right now.

She has not even had 1 can today, but she did eat 3 dried salmon treats.
 
Ah! I forgot she still needs to lose a little weight. Though eating less than a can is a little worrisome. Do you have anything that might entice her to eat more? (tuna/parmesan/fortiflora?) or even some of the medium carb food from the accidental order? I wonder if you mix some of that with the Classics if it might get her to eat. Just trying to figure out if she's really not eating, or if she's just chilly...or staging a food protest?

Do you have a heating pad or electric blanket you can leave on for her when you're gone?
 
Yes, she is a bit . . . fluffy. I can totally tell.

I left out a new can and a fresh bowl and she ate that. I just got home. She ate all but 2tbsps--definitely an improvement.

I have some of the higher carb food that I could try. Do you think I should try? I just used the last of my parmesan cheese the other day ( I need to go shopping).
I don't have any fortiflora. Is this something you think I should get?

I wish I knew what was going on. It could be a little bit of everything.

I do have a heating pad. I never thought about leaving it on.

I'm home now, and just plugged it in. I guess we'll see.
 
I leave an electric blanket on for the kitties when I'm gone for the day (I leave the heat in my condo lower when I'm not home) and they pretty much camp out on the bed until it turns off.

If she's eating again, I wouldn't use the HC food. Especially since her numbers went up so much with it. But if she won't eat for a cycle, and then refuses food at the 2nd cycle, it might be worth trying just a little to see if you can get her going.

Fortiflora is just one option. If parmesan works for her, no need to buy something extra. Technically Fortiflora is a probiotic, but my understanding is that it doesn't work very well for that, so I just use it when Sam won't eat - as a flavor enhancer.

Sooooo good to hear that she ate last night! Hopefully that will continue!
 
I generally leave the heat lower in my apartment too. I think I left it at 70 this morning. I usually go a little lower, but I didn't today.

I think she is food protesting. I planned on not going home today (I'm at work until tomorrow 8am), but I forgot some stuff for work, so I'm going to end up going home today at some point (so time consuming).

When my alarm first went off this morning I fed her. She took 2 bites then jumped off the counter.
I went back to bed for another 30 minutes and she was still acting like she was hungry. At my second alarm, I got ready and left out an additional 2 bowls out (1-3oz can for each bowl) and fresh water.

I waited for my coffee to finish brewing and she literally took a bite out of each one and ran off. I added some dried salmon treats to her first dish (the one I gave her earlier in the morning) and she ate the treats, but not the food.

I also left the heating pad on, on the couch.

For all of this less eating crap she sure isn't losing any weight.
 
You only have one cat? You can get those plastic can tops for about a buck and leave the extra food in the refridgerator. Cat appetites are triggered by smell, so it helps if you warm the food for a few seconds in the microwave.
 
My cats would probably eat cardboard if I put forti-flora on it...but I wouldn't say it's necessary. You just gotta find out what works best...and sometimes toppings aren't really the best idea since they can decide they only want food with that on it. I use it sometimes, but I try not to do it too often so they won't expect it.

I'd just keep an eye on it for now. See how she does, and go from there.
 
Ha. Gracie will eat my Amazon cardboard boxes if I leave them out without flavor. o_O

Yes, I love that she likes those dried salmon treats thanks @Djamila , but I don't want her thinking she gets those at every meal, or to think she can trick me.
 
Did you ever try the homemade food? My kitties finally gave up on canned food altogether. They reached the point where they would lick the extra juice off the top and that was it. Or Primal? I feel like they should pay me for how often I recommend their food...but my kitties really like it and it was a huge help in getting them to transition to raw. Could be she just doesn't want Fancy Feast anymore.
 
Whenever you do decide to make it, just don't use steak. I had an extra steak a few weeks back and decided to make a little batch just for snacks. But now that's the only flavor Sam wants. When I put out turkey or chicken he looks at me like I've completely disappointed him. :oops: Apparently Sam has expensive taste!
 
LOL! Sam would be an expensive dinner date.

Does he prefer it raw or cooked?

I feel like I'm splurging if I get calamari at a restaurant when I go out with friends. Steak would make me feel like royalty. Haha
 
Neither kitty will touch cooked. So raw for both. Lots of folks feed cooked though if you’re more comfortable with that. The directions are a little different though, so make sure you read for whichever you decide.

And yes, he always seems to want whatever is the most expensive or hardest to get.
 
Djamila said:
Neither kitty will touch cooked. So raw for both. Lots of folks feed cooked though if you’re more comfortable with that. The directions are a little different though, so make sure you read for whichever you decide.

And yes, he always seems to want whatever is the most expensive or hardest to get.
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Nothing grosses me out. I'll use gloves.

Only thing that grosses me out is seeing the dead cats in our lab at school that we will be dissecting. Who the hell picked cats?!?
 
I do partial cooked (I follow Dr. Lisa's recipe). We surface bake the chicken and livers so that we can kill off any surface bacteria and since we leave it out for them. More than likely completely raw is fine...most people do that and I've never heard of it being an issue...we just worry too much and with the heat in AL in the summers it's probably best to have it baked a little beforehand. :)
 
I like your thinking Rachel. Bacteria is everywhere! I could tell you horror stories from my Microbiology class. I always feel infested with germs after leaving--even after washing my hands.

I think I might try both. I like the idea of raw, only because in the wild that is what they would eat. Ultimately, Gracie gets to decide. She is the boss.
 
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Ketone testing kit arrived. Sadly, the strips made it to me, but the actual device was delivered to someone else in my apartment complex. I sure hope someone really needed it more than Gracie.

Company is sending me another one out.
 
Teenuh said:
Ketone testing kit arrived. Sadly, the strips made it to me, but the actual device was delivered to someone else in my apartment complex. I sure hope someone really needed it more than Gracie.

Company is sending me another one out.
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If it was addressed to you it would have been nice for the other recipient to get it to you somehow, wouldn't it? o_O
 
I'm hoping they do. It was "signed for by the resident" allegedly at 11:30a. I was home all morning and most of the day.
I just hope someone really needs it. :rolleyes:
Apparently someone is testing for ketones.

. . . but we know who someone isn't.
 
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