2/11/11 Choco ampb 193

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marleesan71

marleesan71

Member Since 2011
Just wanted to let you all know that Choco did finally eat on his own this morning! I popped open a can of Blue Tuna Temptation and it tempted his tummy. :O) When I left this morning, he had enough to munch on during the day and I also left him some boiled chicken. I have been wanting to weigh him because for a cat that has never been anything more than large, he has started feeling really boney. I pulled out the scale this morning and he has in fact lost a pound. He is now 16 pounds which is not horrible and I'm sure is due to his lack of appetite the past week. It's just hard seeing him this way because only 5 months ago he was 22 pounds. Because his BG was 193 this morning, I made the decision to only give him 1.5 units instead of 2.
 
Please check for ketones when you get home given that you reduced the dose.

Your SS notes that Choco has a cold. How much is he sneezing? If this persists, please talk to your vet. Any infection, like an upper respiratory infection, could cause ketones to appear.
 
That much weight loss I also wonder if you should schedule blood work to check on his liver. Make sure all is well. I'm sorry I'm really behind and don't know all that you and Choco are dealing with. Have you had blood work done recently? Sending hugs.
 
I actually just had a full senior profile done on him and that is how he was diagnosed with having diabetes a couple of weeks ago. Everything in his profile looked good other than his BG. I have not been syringe feeding but just kind of put it in his mouth and for the most part he will eat it. Sometimes he manages to spit it back out. I really don't feel like he's not eating because he doesn't have an appetite. I feel like he's just not enjoying the choices I've given him. I will just have to try different foods and see what he likes. I know I've found one at least so I'm really excited about that.
 
Cool, thanks for bringing me up to speed. I'm so glad you got the blood work done.

Have you tried chicken dust yet (pure bites freeze dried chicken crumbled into dust or tiny pieces) on top of the food?

If Choco was a dry food eater before diabetes, it may help to dry other things too like making it a bit soupy with warm water. This is how Maverick started eating wet food. He didn't like the texture of it.
 
Maria, how does the area around that tooth look? I know the vet said not to do a dental until his numbers are stable, but is the area red or swollen? Wondering if a tooth ache could be causing this. How is his stool, normal BM, constipated, runny?

Can you post what the T4 was from the bloodwork? Sometimes an older cat if the T4 is high normal it could still be considered Hyperthyroidism.
 
Where would I find the freeze dried chicken? I didn't see any at Petsmart last night. Jennifer, I'll look at his teeth when I get home tonight. I remember looking at them when the vet showed me and there was a little bit of redness but it didn't look that bad. I'm waiting on a call back from the vet to see if she thinks he might need to be on some antibiotics for his cold so I'll ask her how bad she thinks his tooth is. I will look at his blood work when I get home and post his T4 level. As far as his stool, he seems to be constipated. I asked the vet to feel his belly to see if he was backed up last Saturday when he was seen at my regular vet before we went to the ER and she said she could feel stool but it didn't seem that bad. He actually went while we were there and it was a little hard. I'll see if my vet wants me to try something for that as well.
 
Often the freeze dried treats are in the dog treats section. (Go figure!)

Many here use Miralax for constipation. You mix about 1/8 teaspoon, with water, into canned food.

Redness in the gums may be gingivitis. This kind of inflammation can raise BG numbers.
 
PetSmart has freeze dried chicken in the dog treat section. Some pieces are big so I just cut them to size. I use the small particles to sprinkle on the food if necessary to encourage eating.
 
I just talked to my vet and here's what she said:

For constipation-Try pumpkin and give fluids.

For sneezy/runny nose-Unless it turns yellow or green the fluids should help.

She said his one tooth that might have a cavity didn't really look that bad but we can certainly clean his teeth and remove the tooth if necessary in a few weeks. She understood my concerns but didn't think that his tooth was bad enough to be affecting anything dealing with his situation.

Here's the part I know you all will NOT LIKE:

She is suggesting that because I'm having a hard time getting him to eat and because he's lost another pound that I feed him hard food for a while along with the wet food. She suggested Science Diet FD or Purina DM but said that Wellness or Evo was fine as well.. I told her everyones input on hard food and she just feels that it's more important that he eat right now.

So what does everyone think?
 
Maria,

I completely get that your cat is not eating well and food trumps not eating, you see what I'm going through with Tucker, but with the ketones that came up so quickly, dry food scares me with Choco. While there are grain free options like what your co-worker told you about, any dry food does not have lots of moisture and any dry food would keep BGs higher.

I'm going to assume that Choco is ketone prone only because of his first reaction and going on that assumption I'd want to find a canned or raw food that Choco will love. If it were my cat I might even look at some grain free kitten canned food if that would get him eating. There are tons of grain free, low carb, high protein foods out there to try. Venita is sending you the forti flora, you could also try the parmesian cheese, I sent you the video on assisted feeding if you need to do that a little.

I'm no expert on Ketones so hopefully others will be able to help you more than I can, but I think right now it's important to maintain the lower BGs and for me that would mean not going to dry just yet.

Did the vet say to give fluids? I'm assuming again since you noted that for sneezy runny nose fluids should help. I've seen with my cats that fluids help overall and has helped get my cats eating again too. Pumpkin, I just wrote on Community that I store pumpkin by dividing into single servings, freezing in ice cube trays and thaw as needed, this way I don't waste half the can by letting it sit too long.
 
Hi: Pumpkin is 19.80 carbs per cup, that is 2.48 carbs per ounce approximately .1666 per teaspoon. Miralax is used by most of us, when necessary, and seems to work fine.

Dry food is as follows:

Science Diet SD 24 carbs
Purina DM 13 carbs
EVO 7 carbs
Wellness Core 11 carbs

Yes, Choco has to eat. Dry will drive the BGs up, will that have a good or bad influence on his DKA status? It will also linger in his system. Perhaps the above will help you make a decision.

Have you tried mixing chicken in his wet food? Tuna water? Just suggestions.
 
I hear everybody loud and clear. We will stick with the wet food. I'll just have to figure out what he likes and then it shouldn't be a problem. :O)
 
binks is a total rollover for the Friskies Pate canned...

and petco carries a freeze dried chicken product in the cat section made by Beefeaters (tho it's chicken)
called Freeze Dried Chicken Breast...got it when petsmart was out of the Purebites...

celi & binks
 
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