Sissy isn't wanting to eat again-a few concerns

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Mandy S

Mandy S

Member Since 2020
The last few days Sissy has decided she doesn't want to eat. We've gone through bouts of this before so it's not crazy unusual. Yesterday I went to the pet store and bought a few different things for her. She wouldn't the ones we tried. We try to follow only certain ingredients for her because of her food allergies, but today we got a couple other cans but they did have tuna in them and she ate some of that, but still not a lot.
If I can't get her to eat much today and she's still around 100 or under tonight, should I skip her shot?
I had forgotten we had some appetite stimulant left from when she got sick before her diagnosis and I put some of that on her in the night when I remembered it. I know it takes a day or two to kick in. I hope it helps.

We've been off the board, dealing with some stuff with family and helping with my grandmother so we held Sissy's dose for a lot longer than I normally would have at 1 unit. I decided to bite the bullet and try TR again when I did lower her dose. So we're only a few days into that dose but I'm wondering if that's why she's not feeling good. I noticed before when her sugars are into the green range she doesn't seem to act like she feels as good and I just wonder if that's her problem.
One thing I did notice today is that when she went to jump up on the bed she attempted it 3 times, got it on the 3rd, but that is highly abnormal for her! She doesn't seem lame in any other way or act painful or anything. Once when she stood up it seemed she lost balance for just a split second and corrected. I wonder if this is because she isn't eating enough? Other than that, she's been lying on her bed, or in one of the bedrooms...she's urinated, she has drank water...she just doesn't want to eat and she doesn't want handled.

The other day I took my dogs back to our old vet for their yearly exam and talked to him about Sissy. I can't do them all in one day so she was doing good, so I took the dogs. I told him I'd be making the appointment for him to do an ultrasound on her belly (as discussed in an older post...she has what they think is a fatty mass in her belly pushing her organs aside) and exam. I should have called yesterday to see if I could get her an appointment early this week, but Sissy has off days like this from time to time where she won't eat and then she's fine...I just figured we were on that path again and she'd perk up..but she's worse about it today. So Monday I will call for sure. He doesn't have ultrasound capabilities in his office, but there is someone that travels there for him and he said he can schedule that for her. I think that a lot of her issues might be from that mass pushing on her stomach or other organs. She's been doing so well, and I haven't had the money, it will be expensive. :/ I wish I had gotten it done sooner.

So any advice about tonight's shot or on her numbers or on any of the concerns here would be appreciated.
 
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Are you giving her anti nausea meds? That’s the most important thing to do when a cat doesn’t want to eat. The apetite stimulant will not work if she is and continues to be nauseated. Cerenia or ondansetron. Do you have any? If not, can you call the vet and ask for a prescription? It shouldn’t have to wait till the ultrasound. They should understand the urgency of getting a diabetic cat to eat
 
Aleluia Grugru & Minnie said:
Are you giving her anti nausea meds? That’s the most important thing to do when a cat doesn’t want to eat. The apetite stimulant will not work if she is and continues to be nauseated. Cerenia or ondansetron. Do you have any? If not, can you call the vet and ask for a prescription? It shouldn’t have to wait till the ultrasound. They should understand the urgency of getting a diabetic cat to eat
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I have one dose of Cerenia left. I didn't think she was acting nauseous. You can usually tell with excessive lip licking with her. I haven't noticed that this time. :/
Shoot, I should have thought of that before. Now the vet isn't open until Monday. :/
 
Aleluia Grugru & Minnie said:
Does she smell the food and then doesn’t want to eat?
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Well...yes. BUT...she does that with her food she's been eating the last few months. There are 5 or 6 different cans that I rotate daily. Those she's boycotting totally.
The cans that I got that are not part of her usual, (but contain things she might be allergic to) she will eat a few bites of those. Acts like she's going to chow down but just takes a few bites and she's done.
 
The last time I checked her she was back up to 179. Just a little bit ago she was out here and got in my lap and was purring and cuddling...now she's meowing like she might want some food. But we're in that no food time before I do her shot. It makes me wonder about her BG levels and where she feels comfortable. Or if the appetite stimulant is kicking in more? idk But I feel bad for her, she definitely acts like she wants to eat now. Also thinking she might be about to bounce since she's been running so much lower on her new dose that what she has been running for quite awhile.
 
Definitely wants food...she's floor surfing trying to find dog hair to eat. :/ I just tested her and she's up to 187...I gave her a couple little freeze dried chicken pieces. She's sitting on the footstool staring at me. She's got about 40 minutes till shot time. I'm really happy to see her out here complaining and getting sassy. I hope she actually eats when I give her the food in a bit.
 
Well...she was 179 for pmps. She turned her nose up at her food. I squeeze shredded some of the freeze dried chicken on top and she ate it off the top getting bits of food with it...so I did it again and she ate just a little bit. But not anywhere near what she usually does. I'm going to give her that last dose of cerenia just to see if it helps...if so I think lasts 24 hours so that should get us some time before the vet opens to get more Monday.

Ahh...as I was typing this she came back and is eating more of her food! Yay! I might hold off on the cerenia a bit. I'm going to reduce her insulin tonight because I really don't know if she will continue to eat tonight or not.
 
It didn't last. She barely touched her food through the night. I ended up giving her that last cerenia pill and more mirtazapine around 2am. Our time.changed at 2 so it was technically 3am. Oh how I hate time changes. This morning she acted like she was really hungry...he pmps was 196, She scarfed down her treat and I shredded another on top of her food...she started eating. I gave her the normal shot and she ate a few more bites and walked off. I was like seriously! She drank, came back ate another few small bites then went to her bed. I sat out a few food options on her ice pack food tray and she's been in there eating. She's eaten about half of one of them. So that's a big improvement but not where I want her.

She did this food refusal thing really bad right before her diagnoses. She wouldn't eat or drink lost weight was throwing up...she's had little bits of it here and there...but this is almost like a full on boycott. The food that she's eating today is the food she got tired of and refused to eat a few months ago. The food from now she's boycotting. So I need to start reading labels again. I can't find a variety of food that has limited ingredients. She gets tired of them all and just will not eat. The bad thing is the shipment from chewy with almost 80 bucks worth of food just came right before she decided she's not eating it. Ugh.
Idk though if its that she's tired of it or just doesn't feel good and she's eating the other because it's different and more enticing to her.
She's so frustrating. I love her so much but she makes me crazy. Lol
 
All of these sound to me like symptoms of being nauseated. That’s exactly how Minnie acts. She looks around for food and will even ask for it then doesn’t eat it. Sometimes she’ll take a lick or even a few bites and nothing. I know it’s nausea because within 30 minutes of taking an ondansetron she’ll eat. I’d strongly suggest you get her on an anti nausea med for a few weeks at least to see if it makes a difference. I really think it will. The con of Cerenia for me is that you have you’re on 5 days and off 3 days. Ondansetron works much better for Minnie because she can be on it daily and long term.
 
Mandy S said:
It didn't last. She barely touched her food through the night. I ended up giving her that last cerenia pill and more mirtazapine around 2am. Our time.changed at 2 so it was technically 3am. Oh how I hate time changes. This morning she acted like she was really hungry...he pmps was 196, She scarfed down her treat and I shredded another on top of her food...she started eating. I gave her the normal shot and she ate a few more bites and walked off. I was like seriously! She drank, came back ate another few small bites then went to her bed. I sat out a few food options on her ice pack food tray and she's been in there eating. She's eaten about half of one of them. So that's a big improvement but not where I want her.

She did this food refusal thing really bad right before her diagnoses. She wouldn't eat or drink lost weight was throwing up...she's had little bits of it here and there...but this is almost like a full on boycott. The food that she's eating today is the food she got tired of and refused to eat a few months ago. The food from now she's boycotting. So I need to start reading labels again. I can't find a variety of food that has limited ingredients. She gets tired of them all and just will not eat. The bad thing is the shipment from chewy with almost 80 bucks worth of food just came right before she decided she's not eating it. Ugh.
Idk though if its that she's tired of it or just doesn't feel good and she's eating the other because it's different and more enticing to her.
She's so frustrating. I love her so much but she makes me crazy. Lol
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I know how you feel! Zoe not sick NOT diabetic...regularly refuses to eat the food she scarfed the week before. Serious hair pulling time! Ive tried just about every food out there she does the same thing. She started eating Weruva. So like ay good mommy I bought her a ton of the different styles...Its all sitting in the corner with "Shelter" written on the bag.
I think restarting the appetite enhancer is something you need to do. Maybe a different one than Cerenia.
 
Mandy S said:
It didn't last. She barely touched her food through the night. I ended up giving her that last cerenia pill and more mirtazapine around 2am. Our time.changed at 2 so it was technically 3am. Oh how I hate time changes. This morning she acted like she was really hungry...he pmps was 196, She scarfed down her treat and I shredded another on top of her food...she started eating. I gave her the normal shot and she ate a few more bites and walked off. I was like seriously! She drank, came back ate another few small bites then went to her bed. I sat out a few food options on her ice pack food tray and she's been in there eating. She's eaten about half of one of them. So that's a big improvement but not where I want her.

She did this food refusal thing really bad right before her diagnoses. She wouldn't eat or drink lost weight was throwing up...she's had little bits of it here and there...but this is almost like a full on boycott. The food that she's eating today is the food she got tired of and refused to eat a few months ago. The food from now she's boycotting. So I need to start reading labels again. I can't find a variety of food that has limited ingredients. She gets tired of them all and just will not eat. The bad thing is the shipment from chewy with almost 80 bucks worth of food just came right before she decided she's not eating it. Ugh.
Idk though if its that she's tired of it or just doesn't feel good and she's eating the other because it's different and more enticing to her.
She's so frustrating. I love her so much but she makes me crazy. Lol
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A cat not eating or drinking and vomiting means something. There’s always a reason because it’s not normal. I think getting that ultrasound is important. It should help rule out confirm IBD or pancreatitis. I’d also ask for the pancreatitis blood test to be done. Ruling that out should help with diagnosis.
 
jt and trouble (GA) said:
I know how you feel! Zoe not sick NOT diabetic...regularly refuses to eat the food she scarfed the week before. Serious hair pulling time! Ive tried just about every food out there she does the same thing. She started eating Weruva. So like ay good mommy I bought her a ton of the different styles...Its all sitting in the corner with "Shelter" written on the bag.
I think restarting the appetite enhancer is something you need to do. Maybe a different one than Cerenia.
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Remember that Cerenia is anti nausea not an apetite stimulant. And an stimulant will not work if the cat is nauseated. The nausea needs to be addressed first.
 
Aleluia Grugru & Minnie said:
The con of Cerenia for me is that you have you’re on 5 days and off 3 days.
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Not true, it can be taken daily as long as it's needed. The on/off thing used to be what was thought, no longer true. In fact, you can give both ondansetron and Cerenia. They target different nausea receptors. Cerenia is better if there is vomiting, but ondansetron works better in some cases of nausea. Neko was on both Cerenia and ondansetron daily. You also have to make sure you are giving a good enough dose, some vets under dose it.

I agree with Ale that the ultrasound is a good idea.
 
Wendy&Neko said:
Not true, it can be taken daily as long as it's needed. The on/off thing used to be what was thought, no longer true. In fact, you can give both ondansetron and Cerenia. They target different nausea receptors. Cerenia is better if there is vomiting, but ondansetron works better in some cases of nausea. Neko was on both Cerenia and ondansetron daily. You also have to make sure you are giving a good enough dose, some vets under dose it.

I agree with Ale that the ultrasound is a good idea.
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I didn’t know that. I know it can be combined with ondansetron. Are vets still saying 5 days on and 3 off? When Minnie was prescribed it about 2 year ago, they were. Just curious thanks!
 
I'll call the vet Monday and see if we can get in. She's not eating as well as normal today but she has eaten.
My stupid spreadsheet keeps going to view only on my phone. It never used to do that and now it's constant. So I have to wait till I get on the computer to update her numbers. It's a royal pain. I don't know what I'm doing, if anything, to make it keep doing that.
 
Mandy S said:
I'll call the vet Monday and see if we can get in. She's not eating as well as normal today but she has eaten.
My stupid spreadsheet keeps going to view only on my phone. It never used to do that and now it's constant. So I have to wait till I get on the computer to update her numbers. It's a royal pain. I don't know what I'm doing, if anything, to make it keep doing that.
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You have to access your spreadsheet through Google Drive.
I hope you find the solution to Sissy's eating problems. :bighug:
 
Mandy S said:
I'll call the vet Monday and see if we can get in. She's not eating as well as normal today but she has eaten.
My stupid spreadsheet keeps going to view only on my phone. It never used to do that and now it's constant. So I have to wait till I get on the computer to update her numbers. It's a royal pain. I don't know what I'm doing, if anything, to make it keep doing that.
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I'm having the same problem with my ss as well. Started yesterday afternoon. I am accessing it through drive app on phone still view mode tonight.

Just checked again now its working again.
 
Not sure whether this is of help to any of you but I'm able to edit spreadsheets on my tablet so Google UK's sheets service is working. Maybe a Google US issue for those having problems?

ETA: Tablet's running latest version of Android OS.


Mogs
.
 
Mandy S said:
I'll call the vet Monday and see if we can get in. She's not eating as well as normal today but she has eaten.
My stupid spreadsheet keeps going to view only on my phone. It never used to do that and now it's constant. So I have to wait till I get on the computer to update her numbers. It's a royal pain. I don't know what I'm doing, if anything, to make it keep doing that.
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Even if you can’t get in, the vet should be able to give you the prescription if you explain that you want to rule out nausea given the symptoms. I didn’t have to go in since my vet was seeing Minnie on a regular basis. I got the ondansetron prescription called in for me at the local pharmacy
 
I got onto Google drive from the laptop and added in the numbers, usually that will fix the problem with it on my phone, but not this time. It's been going on for several weeks. I made a post about it tech support page when it started happening. I hope whatever the problem is it gets figured out. I like being able to just add it from my phone right there when I do the test.

Sissy has eaten a lot better today. Not normal but a lot better! I really think it's the combo of Cerenia and Mirtazapine. But that should wear off sometime in the early A.M. So hopefully the vet will just let me come pick up meds. The only problem is we haven't had the new appointment with our old vet. We saw him for 20 years or so though before we moved and now that we're back to him, he's seen the dogs, but not her. I doubt he will let me get it without seeing her. So my other option is eating humble pie and calling the old vet who I haven't interacted with for a couple months. She sent an email requesting access to Sissy's ss on Sept 2nd and I never responded because I intended to not go back there and to start with our old vet once we got back to him. I imagine since it's been so long since she's seen her that I'd have to make an appointment there too, but maybe not. She might just want access to the ss to see how she's doing. She won't like it though. lol It's not what she wanted me to do dosing wise. But I might try her first.
 
Mandy S said:
I got onto Google drive from the laptop and added in the numbers, usually that will fix the problem with it on my phone, but not this time. It's been going on for several weeks. I made a post about it tech support page when it started happening. I hope whatever the problem is it gets figured out. I like being able to just add it from my phone right there when I do the test.

Sissy has eaten a lot better today. Not normal but a lot better! I really think it's the combo of Cerenia and Mirtazapine. But that should wear off sometime in the early A.M. So hopefully the vet will just let me come pick up meds. The only problem is we haven't had the new appointment with our old vet. We saw him for 20 years or so though before we moved and now that we're back to him, he's seen the dogs, but not her. I doubt he will let me get it without seeing her. So my other option is eating humble pie and calling the old vet who I haven't interacted with for a couple months. She sent an email requesting access to Sissy's ss on Sept 2nd and I never responded because I intended to not go back there and to start with our old vet once we got back to him. I imagine since it's been so long since she's seen her that I'd have to make an appointment there too, but maybe not. She might just want access to the ss to see how she's doing. She won't like it though. lol It's not what she wanted me to do dosing wise. But I might try her first.
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If your numbers are reasonable she wont have anything to argue about. I say IF because there is no info on the sheet that I could see.
 
jt and trouble (GA) said:
If your numbers are reasonable she wont have anything to argue about. I say IF because there is no info on the sheet that I could see.
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You can't see my sheet? It should be there. I just put in the last couple numbers from today...it should be there back to when we started on 8/4.

Can you please check again and tell me what you think of her numbers?
 
I tried redoing the link in my signature, but it is still opening to the template and you have to hit sheet 1 at the bottom to see it. This is so frustrating. It didn't used to do that I don't believe. Nobody ever mentioned it before.

What if I delete the template? Will it mess everything up?

Okay, there is a tab there that says labs....I never made a labs tab...where did that come from??
 
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Mandy S said:
Can you hit sheet 1 when it opens and see if you see anything? I need to read about pancreatitis. I don't know much about it.
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Pancreatitis is very common and especially with diabetics. If mild people just say their cat just doesn’t seem right. Nausea and inappetence are often the only symptoms. You mentioned needing to give her cerenia and an appetite stimulant which is why I thought it could be her problem. If a mild case it’s treated at home by treating the symptoms. The vet can test for it using the SpecfPL blood test. It only is positive if pancreatitis is active so you would not have her tested when feeling good.
 
Mandy S said:
I tried redoing the link in my signature, but it is still opening to the template and you have to hit sheet 1 at the bottom to see it. This is so frustrating. It didn't used to do that I don't believe. Nobody ever mentioned it before.

What if I delete the template? Will it mess everything up?

Okay, there is a tab there that says labs....I never made a labs tab...where did that come from??
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Mandy, if you could give me editor access to your SS, I can fix it for you. I will send you a PM on how to do that :-)
 
tiffmaxee said:
I just successfully opened it by hitting sheet 1. She’s looking really good. Don’t change a thing. At least we can see the bg numbers. I will tag Bhoma to help fix it. The labs tab has always been there. @Bandit's Mom Hi. Will you please help Mandy fix her ss? Thanks.
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Well, that shows how observant I am...never noticed the labs tab. lol

I won't change anything. I backed off her dose last night because she wasn't eating. I think it was a good decision. She didn't really start eating until after pmps today. I think the meds are starting to wear off now though because she's backing off the food. Hoping we can get in the vet tomorrow, or at least get more Cerenia until we can. I think she's looking great right now too. She had pretty ugly numbers there in the morning before we increased. But this beautiful blue all across is nice. lol
 
I called and got a refill on her Cerenia from the vet she had been seeing. They didn't ask to see her first so I was glad. I made an appointment with the new vet on Friday. (which is really our old vet from before we moved) She's eating almost back to normal. The only thing is that she missed her last feeding in the auto rotation early this a.m., which she does from time to time and she then woke me up crying for food almost an hour before time for her shot. I didn't get her food because of being close to pmps so she went into my daughter's room and threw up bile on the carpet. It is ALWAYS in my daughter's room on the carpet. o_O Which she does sometimes if she misses a feeding or it's delayed. I gave her a little piece of freeze dried chicken to hold her off. She was I think 166 for pmps so she got her normal dose and some food and she ate normally. I think we're over the hump. I bet @tiffmaxee was right about the pancreatitis. She does this occasionally, but hasn't for quite awhile. I think I acted faster with her this time than the last because I recognized what was happening and new not to wait to see if she'd start eating. I think I might call both vets and see which one it would be cheaper for the ultrasound...if it's where we've been, getting it there before switching to the vet I like. They told me it was a fatty tumor most likely. I've noticed she's developed some other fatty tumors, kind of long and small up along her ribs under her arms. So maybe the big one is fatty too, but it could be making her uncomfortable if it's pushing on organs. Poor Sissy Kitty.
Thank you all for talking me through this round with her.:bighug:
 
tiffmaxee said:
Hi Mandy. If she’s feeling better I wouldn’t rush to make a vet appointment. Why does she need an ultrasound?
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Beginning of May we ended up in the ER because she wasn't eating, hadn't been eating and was really sick. All her labs and everything were normal, but they said she has a large mass in her belly pushing her organs aside. They said it looked like a fatty tumor and weren't really concerned about it. So jump a couple months to the end of July, we moved to the cat specialist vet and she suggested at some point getting the ultrasound to see just what it was doing to her organs and if it was crowding her stomach causing some of her feeding issues. Plus it's the only way I guess they can know for sure it's a fatty tumor and nothing else? Both of her siblings died of cancer, one pancreatic, the other lung...so I guess they suggested it because of that also.
Plus I have to establish her again with our old vet or he won't call in meds or anything for her since it's been a few years since he saw her. :/ Indiana won't allow him to dispense meds if it's been over a year. I assume it's like that everywhere though.
 
In that case definitely get an ultrasound BUT, if there is any way possible get it done by a boarded radiologist. It can make all the difference. Max received one by a traveling vet that recommended exploratory surgery before the pancreatitis. diagnosis. I went back to my internist who had another done by a radiologist and it was normal. He never needed surgery. Max was 12 at the time and lived to 19. Never had any mass or cancer. I’ve heard many such stories.
 
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