8/12, Bell, AMPS 189, +2 179, +4 187, +6 190, +9 214, PMPS 252, +1.5 221, +4 209

[Seth&Bell]

Yesterday

Bell continues to lose her appetite at the lower numbers. She wouldn't eat during the night (she usually eats small meals every 2-3 hrs), which triggered her bilious vomiting syndrome and she threw up bile a couple times. I tried all my tricks to get her to eat - Fortiflora, different types of food, etc, but she refused them all and then went to go lick any plastic she could find . She acts like she is hungry but when she sniffs her food, she has no interest. She lets me know this by trying to flip her food plate over, which is cute during the day but not so much at 2 AM .

But on the bright side, I did get her to eat some food before her AM shot, which I was really stressed about. She continues to stick to the relatively lower BG ranges. I can tell a big different in the amount of urine in the litterbox, so it makes me feel good to have her below the renal threshold for glucose in her urine. We march on!

 

[Seth&Bell]

 

[Staci & Ivy]

Yesterday

Bell continues to lose her appetite at the lower numbers. She wouldn't eat during the night (she usually eats small meals every 2-3 hrs), which triggered her bilious vomiting syndrome and she threw up bile a couple times. I tried all my tricks to get her to eat - Fortiflora, different types of food, etc, but she refused them all and then went to go lick any plastic she could find . She acts like she is hungry but when she sniffs her food, she has no interest. She lets me know this by trying to flip her food plate over, which is cute during the day but not so much at 2 AM .

But on the bright side, I did get her to eat some food before her AM shot, which I was really stressed about. She continues to stick to the relatively lower BG ranges. I can tell a big different in the amount of urine in the litterbox, so it makes me feel good to have her below the renal threshold for glucose in her urine. We march on!

I’m sorry she doesn’t want to eat. That’s a struggle.
Maybe post a question in your title so you can get some advice to help this situation?
And love her pretty pic today

 

[Seth&Bell]

Bumping for a question:

I know multiple people have noted their cats didn’t feel well at lower numbers at first. Anyone have experience with a cat losing their appetite at lower BGs? If so, how long did it take them to adjust and eat normally at those lower numbers? Thank you.

 

[Staci & Ivy]

Bumping for a question:

I know multiple people have noted their cats didn’t feel well at lower numbers at first. Anyone have experience with a cat losing their appetite at lower BGs? If so, how long did it take them to adjust and eat normally at those lower numbers? Thank you.

@Wendy&Neko @Sienne and Gabby (GA) @tiffmaxee

 

[Seth&Bell]

Just an update. She ate some food this morning. This afternoon she tried to turn over any dish with food offered to her . She would not have any of it. I tried all the usual hits and none were appetizing. I can tell she is hungry because she runs to her food bowl like she is excited (before turning her nose up at any food). She also tries to lick any plastic bag she can find, which she normally does when she is nauseous from the bile build up of not eating.

I gave her 2.5 mg of famotidine (1/4 of a 10 mg pill) this afternoon, when she wouldn't eat, to try and combat the bile and nausea. At AMPS +9, I opened a fresh can and she ate a little less than 1/4 of a can, which is good! The morning's successful feedings were all fresh open cans as well, sigh. So it seems when she gets like this, she won't touch anything that is not an unopened can... She only eats a small amount at a time every 2-3 hours, so I feel really guilty about wasting all that food. When she is feeling more normal, she will gobble up all the leftovers with no problem. This afternoon I tried feeding leftovers cold, partially warm, with fortiflora, with and without a bit of water, and even microwaved for a bit. All got the dish flip . The real challenge is at night, since I have been using an automatic, rotating feeder with an ice pack, which as worked out really well. But she won't touch that in this state.

My main concern is getting her to eat during shot times, which is really stressing me out. What should I do if I can't get her to touch any food at her normal shot times? She's been gradually rising all day, so her numbers indicate that she really needs the shot, but I know the guidance from this forum is that cats really need food in their system to process the insulin, and it is inadvisable to shoot a full dose without food on board. I'm not comfortable with shooting and then trying to get her to eat because she's shown that she can refuse food for quite some time.

 

[tiffmaxee]

I don’t think her bg is so low as to make her feel a lot different. When were her labs last done? Do you have a copy? Her behavior sounds like she might be nauseous. Was she a good eater before fd? Did you have to change her food?

 

[Staci & Ivy]

Just an update. She ate some food this morning. This afternoon she tried to turn over any dish with food offered to her . She would not have any of it. I tried all the usual hits and none were appetizing. I can tell she is hungry because she runs to her food bowl like she is excited (before turning her nose up at any food). She also tries to lick any plastic bag she can find, which she normally does when she is nauseous from the bile build up of not eating.

I gave her 2.5 mg of famotidine (1/4 of a 10 mg pill) this afternoon, when she wouldn't eat, to try and combat the bile and nausea. At AMPS +9, I opened a fresh can and she ate a little less than 1/4 of a can, which is good! The morning's successful feedings were all fresh open cans as well, sigh. So it seems when she gets like this, she won't touch anything that is not an unopened can... She only eats a small amount at a time every 2-3 hours, so I feel really guilty about wasting all that food. When she is feeling more normal, she will gobble up all the leftovers with no problem. This afternoon I tried feeding leftovers cold, partially warm, with fortiflora, with and without a bit of water, and even microwaved for a bit. All got the dish flip . The real challenge is at night, since I have been using an automatic, rotating feeder with an ice pack, which as worked out really well. But she won't touch that in this state.

My main concern is getting her to eat during shot times, which is really stressing me out. What should I do if I can't get her to touch any food at her normal shot times? She's been gradually rising all day, so her numbers indicate that she really needs the shot, but I know the guidance from this forum is that cats really need food in their system to process the insulin, and it is inadvisable to shoot a full dose without food on board. I'm not comfortable with shooting and then trying to get her to eat because she's shown that she can refuse food for quite some time.

Awww poor Bell. The dish flip. She does communicate with you, doesn’t she?

How has she been later this afternoon? Any better with the famatodine at work?

I hope she will eat her meal for you so you can give her shot. Sending you good vibes for a good appetite

 

[Seth&Bell]

I don’t think her bg is so low as to make her feel a lot different. When were her labs last done? Do you have a copy? Her behavior sounds like she might be nauseous. Was she a good eater before fd? Did you have to change her food?

I'm fairly sure there is some correlation to her BG but I could very well have the causation flipped around, if what is causing her to lose her appetite is also driving her numbers lower. This has happened 3 or 4 times since starting her on insulin and has always come after a day of sustained blues and/or greens.

She had labs done mid-June of this year when I noticed she was losing weight. They flagged the high BG and something liver related (I'm really sorry I don't remember the details of this particular number ). I don't have a copy, but I can ask them for one. She has a fasted liver panel scheduled for next month, which is something I am dreading since going without food is so hard on her...

Her behavior definitely lines up with nausea, and her not eating because of that compounds with the BVS, which makes the nausea worse... Poor girl.

I did change her diet with FD, she went from a mix of kibble (Epigen 90 and Petcurean Go) with some Stella and Chewy freeze-dried raw food once a day. She was never a good eater with the kibble. I frequently had to coax her to eat before the bile built up on her empty stomach, because she had a tendency to wait until she was really hungry, gobble up a lot lot of kibble and then throw it up immediately. I was already using an automatic feeder which fed tiny amounts like 8 times a day. The vomiting right after eating has improved a bit with switch to LC wet food, but still happens if I'm at work and can't remind her to eat. I think I broke the rules when I switched her, I didn't ease her into the fancy feast pates at all. She actually had almost stopped eating any kibble so I was just feeding her the Stella and Chewy with a bunch of water. Then I found this message board and tried a bunch of LC wet food and the only thing she liked was the fancy feast pates, which she's been eating for about a month now.

 

[Seth&Bell]

Oh and I forgot to mention that I have started her on a multi-strain probiotic with s boulardii on the advice from folks here. That's hard to get in her when she won't eat, but her appetite has been really good before the last few days, so I've got about 1.5 weeks of that in her system (it has been helping her recover from the diarrhea from the antibiotics she was on for an anal gland infection). I have also been giving her slippery elm bark twice a day when she will take it.

 

[tiffmaxee]

Have them run a SpecfPL to test for pancreatitis when you bring her in if not back to normal. Do you have ondansetron? I would try it to see if the nausea goes away. It would be a good idea to get a copy of the labs from last time and start requesting every time a test is done. Then you can see patterns.

 

[Seth&Bell]

Awww poor Bell. The dish flip. She does communicate with you, doesn’t she?

How has she been later this afternoon? Any better with the famatodine at work?

I hope she will eat her meal for you so you can give her shot. Sending you good vibes for a good appetite

You are so kind to be checking up on me, I know you have a lot of you own stress going on with Ivy.

The famotidine actually seemed to help a bit with the bile buildup. I had to leave her for a 3 hour stretch with just a bit of food in her system, and I didn't see any vomit with just bile when I got back. She also didn't seem to be going after the plastic or doing her lip licking like she does when she is about ready to throw up.

She ate before her shot tonight! 1/3 of a can of fancy feast. So I was able to get that in her. But the bad news is that her BG was 252, so that correlates with her appetite coming back once she gets in the mid-200's. But like tiffmaxee mentioned, I may be wrong on what is going on with her appetite in relation to her numbers.

 

[Seth&Bell]

Can I give 1/4 of a 10 mg pill of famotidine twice a day? Or should I limit that to only once a day?

 

[Seth&Bell]

Have them run a SpecfPL to test for pancreatitis when you bring her in if not back to normal. Do you have ondansetron? I would try it to see if the nausea goes away. It would be a good idea to get a copy of the labs from last time and start requesting every time a test is done. Then you can see patterns.

I will ask them to email me the lab results, and grab copies in the future. I do not have ondansetron, I can ask my vet about it if it is something I need a prescription for. Thank you tiffmaxee

 

[Seth&Bell]

I'll try to read up on pancreatitis, I'm not very familiar with that, outside of it being mentioned in a few threads here in relation to FD.

 

[Staci & Ivy]

You are so kind to be checking up on me, I know you have a lot of you own stress going on with Ivy.

The famotidine actually seemed to help a bit with the bile buildup. I had to leave her for a 3 hour stretch with just a bit of food in her system, and I didn't see any vomit with just bile when I got back. She also didn't seem to be going after the plastic or doing her lip licking like she does when she is about ready to throw up.

She ate before her shot tonight! 1/3 of a can of fancy feast. So I was able to get that in her. But the bad news is that her BG was 252, so that correlates with her appetite coming back once she gets in the mid-200's. But like tiffmaxee mentioned, I may be wrong on what is going on with her appetite in relation to her numbers.

I’m so glad she ate tonight. And it sounds like the famatodine helped her to feel better so she could eat.

I agree with Elise, get a prescription for Ondansetron and keep it in the house. You can get it at your local pharmacy and it shouldn’t be expensive (same med as Zofran, a human medication). There’s lots of posts here about dosing for our kitties for nausea.

 

[Staci & Ivy]

Can I give 1/4 of a 10 mg pill of famotidine twice a day? Or should I limit that to only once a day?

I’m not sure of dosing, do you know Elise? @tiffmaxee

 

[Seth&Bell]

Another data point here: Bell is now scarfing down the leftover cold food that she completely rejected earlier today. Her PMPS +1.5 was 221.

 

[tiffmaxee]

I’m not sure of dosing, do you know Elise? @tiffmaxee

I’m not sure about that. It hasn’t been used as much as it used to be. I have only used it for ckd cats in the past.

This may not be pancreatitis.it was just a thought I always check. Max’s ALT did rise with it and it’s common with fd cats. There are lots of causes for nausea. You mentioned liver issues and that can cause it. I’d just see if you can get rid of the nausea and if things return to normal.

 

[Seth&Bell]

I really appreciate all the suggestions, Elise (I’m Seth btw). You’ve given me some new avenues to explore for getting Bell feeling better. Grateful to you and Staci for walking me through this today. Bell is eating and feeling better tonight (yay)

 

[Staci & Ivy]

I really appreciate all the suggestions, Elise (I’m Seth btw). You’ve given me some new avenues to explore for getting Bell feeling better. Grateful to you and Staci for walking me through this today. Bell is eating and feeling better tonight (yay)

Hi Seth, Very glad to see Bell was feeling better last night!! Glad Elise could give you her thoughts. She’s so knowledgeable

I hope the appetite is much better today