What other medical conditions does he have? I see he has some heart enlargement but why can't he feed himself? There must be something rather significant to cause him to drop like this. I am a "newbie" on this site and am trying so hard to understand what a lot of kitties are going through but I am always confused. I have no doubt that you try your best and Toeby is lucky to have you.
Is IBD Irritable Bowel Syndrome? I'm glad to see your boy came up a little.
Hi - Summer? (I'm never sure when the cat has a person's name like your Susie does, I think?)
Toeby can feed himself just fine... he was diagnosed in November with possible Inflammatory Bowel Disease... which is not the same as Irritable Bowel Syndrome in people, but sort of related.
In the last couple years he was prone to vomiting, and in the fall, some bouts of diarrhea, and his intestines feel what the vets call "ropey" - it could be a bunch of things.
We put Toeby on a steroid (Prednisolone) and it helped him immensely.
It also unfortunately brought on diabetes - something I was warned could happen, and that I was testing for sporadically.
He is now on a different drug, but one that is still a kind of steroid... it's not as well known for causing diabetes, apparently, so I am hopeful.
My biggest issue with Toeby is just that he is almost 16 and has been a grazer all his life, so getting him to eat on command is not easy unless it is tasty high carb food, which of course, is a no-no.
Eating small meals over time, in my opinion, is not a bad thing for diabetics, but feeding the curve means I have to get him to eat snacks so I am working on that.
I was quite pleased with his readings today, as he has gone much, much lower.
Discovering a good number at +4 made me wonder how low he was at +2 or +3, but that is hindsight, and I can't do anything about it after the fact.
He was feeling great at supper time.
Laura