6/24 Dusty's AMPS 139

Status
Not open for further replies.
dustyboy4

dustyboy4

Member Since 2010
Can't believe Dusty has finally received some greens. Yay.
On a down note, not sure if the lower BG is the cause of Dusty not eating very well but to me he's not eating well.
Both Saturday & Sunday and again today he hasn't eaten very much. I'm used to seeing him eat 3 (5.5 oz.) cans a day and right now he's eating 1 to 1.25 cans per day.
Some of it I'm hand feeding him and he will take it from me, thank goodnes. Some I just hold his dish up to his mouth so he's not bending over trying to eat.
Sometimes I think his neck hurts him. He looks at the floor a lot instead of looking up. I know he's acting as if he's hungry because
he is still waking me up frequently during the night asking for food. Over the weekend I have pysically taken him to his bowl and shown him that there is still food in it but he
isn't very interested. He might take a couple of licks then quit. I'm trying to keep him hydrated so periodically I have given him water by syringe and he licks it right up.
When we go to the food bowl, he runs after me as if he just knows I'm going to put something good in the bowl other than what he has left. Then when I don't, he looks at me and I can see the disappointment on his face. I'm going to go by the grocery store this evening and pick up some cans of either the fancy feast or the frisky's low
carb canned food. I think I will mix just a little bit with his Purina DM and see if the flavor will entice him to eat. He desperately needs to gain weight.

I've been mixing water with his food for several days now to give him extra water. And as I said, he licks it right up, I think he thinks it's gravy.
Because he has such large, firm stools, and doesn't go very much at a time, for yesterday's evening meal I added 1/8 tsp mirilax in 1/3 cup water and mixed it with his food.
He licked the water right up and only ate some of the food. I'm not really sure how much of the mirilax he ingested, but I knew I needed to have him take more
water than he has been taking in the last couple of days. I've never tried the mirilax on him before and I'm not sure how he will react to it,
so I gave him extra water by syringe during the night. Hopefully he won't end up with loose bowels from it.
Since his BG is lower I am hoping that his kidneys won't pull the extra water off of him and he can get it into his intestines but all during the night
last night he used his LB, (about 4 times in an 8 hour period). The frequent LB use worries me that he could get dehydrated again. I'm not sure he has recovered fully from the dehydration from last weekend.

I cut .5 off of his insulin because of how little he is eating and yet his BG enters the low 100's over the weekend. Hopefully I haven't made a mistake in this, but
I'm not there to test him during the day and I know he isn't eating as much. I know he hasn't earned a reduction, but I worry about the low food intake.
I guess we'll have to see.

Everyone, have a great day.
 
Hi guys .. I'm sorry that dusty is not that interested in food .. it's always a scary thing, especially when it starts affecting their weight .. I wish I had some advice to pass onto you but unfortunately I do not .. just hang in there ..
 
Morning guys,I wish Lucky didn't eat so much almost 2 cans a day but still a big boy,I got worried the otherr day because he was low and didn't want food. You look like you have it together with him,Go Dusty :smile:
 
Elaine

Is he eating less than when his numbers were high or less than what he ate before he was diabetic? As numbers come down, you would expect appetite to decrease some but it shouldn't be less than what it was prior to FD.

It's possible he's just tired of the DM. I would try to get him on some of the lower carb foods that are out there. The FF classic pâtés are a good choice.

You can always take the dose back up if you need to. I would err on the side of safety and he's still getting alot of insulin.

I did a double take on the blue number. :-D
 
That blue is a welcome sight!!

I agree with Marje about the amount of food. Given how high Dusty's numbers have been, that may have been why he was eating so much -- the nutrition (i.e., glucose) wasn't getting into his cells. Instead, it was floating around in his bloodstream.

It may also be that his tummy is bothering him. If his neck or stomach are bothering him and he eats better if his food is elevated, can you find a box or something similar that will allow you to raise his bowl up to a more comfortable height?
 
Marje - He's eating less daily than the last 3 years daily which has always been so much more than before he was diagnosed with Diabetes.
I know I could put his food on a box, but I don't want him to push the dish off the box. I have one dish that might work, it has a rubber bottom. I'll see about it when I get home. I think the pet store is where I've seen lifts that raise the food for older animals that would include dishes that have some sort of lip on them that will sit down in the (what should I call it?) device. I can picture what I'm thinking about and have seen them so I bet I can find one there.

Marje & Sienne, what you've said about the decrease in food is exactly what I've been thinking and I do hope that is what is going on. Dusty seems to have more energy. The running to get to the food dish is one indication. I hope it will increase to where he will start jumping again. He quit jumping about 3 weeks ago now. I also think he's tired of the DM. He's gotten real finicky about it and it has been going on for some time now.

I'm hoping for good numbers when I get home this evening and a good appetite so I don't worry so much.

Thank you all for the support.
 
Yes Taz likes to hump guess I'm his possession he was bottle feed use to lay around my neck put nose in my armpit and the back foot would start going, he has started moving down then when I push him off he gets really mad and does this weird meow at me. mol :smile:
 
What beautiful numbers for Dusty! He must be feeling so much better now. :-D

Good luck in the food hunt for Dusty. The feeding guide on the website for Purina DM says 1 3/8 can a day for a 10 lb cat, so he's not far off now. I notice a huge difference in Neko's appetite when she gets out of those yucky reds and pinks.

If you're not sure how much Mirilax he's getting, one trick some people use is to sprinkle it in something appetizing like a bit of pure meat or squash baby food that you know he'll eat.
 
FWIW, Gabby hated DM and Gabby will eat pretty much anything. It's really not a good quality food. Frankly, Fancy Feast is better quality. Wellness is a whole lot better quality and you'll end up paying less for Wellness than you do for DM. I know you have concerns over Dusty's GI system. Personally, I think the better the quality of the food, the less problems you may have but, every cat is different (ECID).

I would try raising the dish before out and buying a new stand. I would try using some kind of rubber bumper to keep the dish in place, like the kind that are used at the bottom edge of a picture frame or between the glass and base of a coffee table, that you can find at a hardware store. They are cheap and it will let you know whether buying a raised dish is necessary.

If Dusty stopped jumping, there may be an issue with diabetic neuropathy. You may want to order Zobaline. It's a form of methyl B-12 (methylcobalamine) that's formulated specifically for diabetic cats. It can really help to resolve problems with neuropathy.
 
Dusty quit jumping about 3 weeks ago. He went to jump on my night table next to the bed, didn't make it and fell on the carpet. I know amoung other things it embarrased him. I don't really know if he had neuropathy or not. He doesn't walk on his haunches at least, but I can only assume that he does have some because of all the recent very high BG numbers. Since Sunday, he has started to jump up on the sofa next to me but before he can get going he stops. He puts his front paws up there but doesn't complete the jump. I'm not sure totally if it's his self confidence, that he is still weak from being dehydrated and just doesn't have the energy yet or if like I can only assume it's some neuropathy.

Sienne, the product you have mentioned Zobaline, for neuropathy. Do you have a suggestion where I can find it, does it need a prescription (hope not). Do you think I can just give it to him without a diagnosis? I keep thinking it probably wouldn't hurt to try him on some of it. Personally, I don't see how Dusty doesn't have some neuropathy. If it's not that then it's he's so skinny that his muscle tone is not there right now. I would think any form of B-12 would help build his immune system.

Thanks again for the encouraging words and helpful tips.
 
Zobaline is available through Amazon. It's not prescription -- it's over the counter. Methylcobalamin is a B-vitamin. You can't overdose Dusty on it since it's water soluble. Anything that his body doesn't need, he'll excrete. Another possibility is that Dusty is experiencing some arthritis. There is an over the counter product, Cosequin, that can help with arthritis. You can find it on Amazon, PetFood Direct, Entirely Pets, or any number of other sites. Your vet is probably the best person to determine if the issue is arthritis.
 
Hi Elaine,
Thank you for the visit.
I'm glad Dusty ate well tonight too :-D
I hope you will find a solution to keep his appetite and energy up.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top