When kitty won't eat for insulin dose

[AFinn]

My kitty won't eat for his night insulin dose, and my vet had told me if he doesn't eat within an hour, to skip the dose, so that's what I'll do and call the vet in the a.m. I'm just worried that that is not good for him since this is only the second day he's been on 3 units. Will he feel awful? What does everyone else do in this situation? Still new to all this.

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

My kitty won't eat for his night insulin dose, and my vet had told me if he doesn't eat within an hour, to skip the dose, so that's what I'll do and call the vet in the a.m. I'm just worried that that is not good for him since this is only the second day he's been on 3 units. Will he feel awful? What does everyone else do in this situation? Still new to all this.

Sorry no one got back to you sooner. If you are using vetsulin and your cat won't eat, you did the right thing not giving the insulin, especially when you are not home testing and you have only just started the insulin last week and you don’t know how he is reacting to the insulin. Three units is a large dose for a newly diagnosed cat. Vetsulin has a harsher onset than the gentler insulins such as Lantus and levemir, so you need to have some food aboard to counteract the insulin. Do you know why he wouldn’t eat? Does he normally have a good appetite? It is not good to miss doses of insulin so try and get him eating so you can at least give him some of the dose.

However, when you go out to buy the glucose meter, I would also buy a bottle of KETOSTIX which can be found at pharmacies and possibly Walmart for about $10. It is very important to check for ketones in the urine especially when your kitty has an infection such as the UTI Finn is being treated for, is not eating and is having to skip the insulin. The recipe for ketoacidoosis (DKA) which starts off as ketones in the urine is not enough food, not enough insulin and an infection or inflammation so please go out and buy the Ketostix as soon as possible. To test, collect a urine specimen from Finn, dip the test strip in the urine and follow directions as to when to read the result. I don't want to alarm you but this is something that can be avoided if you test for the ketones.
Please let us know how you go with it all.

 

[AFinn]

Thank you. I called the vet this morning and they told me to give him half a dose if he was just nibbling at his food so I did but then he barfed it up after I gave the insulin. Poor little guy. I gave him a few treats after he barfed, just so he'd have something in his belly. Hope it's enough.

Sorry no one got back to you sooner. If you are using vetsulin and your cat won't eat, you did the right thing not giving the insulin, especially when you are not home testing and you have only just started the insulin last week and you don’t know how he is reacting to the insulin. Three units is a large dose for a newly diagnosed cat. Vetsulin has a harsher onset than the gentler insulins such as Lantus and levemir, so you need to have some food aboard to counteract the insulin. Do you know why he wouldn’t eat? Does he normally have a good appetite? It is not good to miss doses of insulin so try and get him eating so you can at least give him some of the dose.

However, when you go out to buy the glucose meter, I would also buy a bottle of KETOSTIX which can be found at pharmacies and possibly Walmart for about $10. It is very important to check for ketones in the urine especially when your kitty has an infection such as the UTI Finn is being treated for, is not eating and is having to skip the insulin. The recipe for ketoacidoosis (DKA) which starts off as ketones in the urine is not enough food, not enough insulin and an infection or inflammation so please go out and buy the Ketostix as soon as possible. To test, collect a urine specimen from Finn, dip the test strip in the urine and follow directions as to when to read the result. I don't want to alarm you but this is something that can be avoided if you test for the ketones.
Please let us know how you go with it all.

 

[AFinn]

I called vet this morning and they told me if he doesn't eat much to give him half a dose. So 1.5 units. And if he doesn't eat at all, to skip it again. Just so worried. He's going back to the vet on Tuesday for another glucose curve so I'm hoping to speak to the vet in person. Wondering if I should get a second opinion, but I'm not sure if any other vet would be different.

Thank you. I called the vet this morning and they told me to give him half a dose if he was just nibbling at his food so I did but then he barfed it up after I gave the insulin. Poor little guy. I gave him a few treats after he barfed, just so he'd have something in his belly. Hope it's enough.

Thank you. I called the vet this morning and they told me to give him half a dose if he was just nibbling at his food so I did but then he barfed it up after I gave the insulin. Poor little guy. I gave him a few treats after he barfed, just so he'd have something in his belly. Hope it's enough.

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

I called vet this morning and they told me if he doesn't eat much to give him half a dose. So 1.5 units. And if he doesn't eat at all, to skip it again. Just so worried. He's going back to the vet on Tuesday for another glucose curve so I'm hoping to speak to the vet in person. Wondering if I should get a second opinion, but I'm not sure if any other vet would be different.

What are you wanting to get a second opinion about?
The general care of a FD cat or something specific?
If you feel you want a second opinion, go ahead and get one. Ring around and try and find a vet who has treated FD cats before and has had success with getting them into remission, recommends low carb wet food and is agreeable to home testing the blood sugars. I would also ask what insulin they prescribe.....insulins like Lantus and Levemir and Prozinc are more gentle and are great for cats.

If you go ahead and give the insulin when Finn is not eating much, try and get him to eat some food a couple of hours after the insulin was given or leave food down for him to snack on.
Do you know why he isn't eating? Is he nauseated or has he been like this since the FD diagnosis?
Have you been out and bought the Ketostix yet?