Am I Losing Midnight?

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ada1994

ada1994

Member Since 2015
I'll start off by saying I'm new here and my 14 year old (estimate, we don't know how old he was when we got him) Midnight has had diabetes since July of 2013. See, Midnight has a bit of a story. When we found him, he was in deplorable condition. He was completely emaciated, and showing severe symptoms of diabetes (urinating a lot, drinking a lot, constant hunger). We brought him to the vet and he was then diagnosed. It took six units of prozinc twice daily for many months to regulate his sugar and put weight on him. After 3 months, he went from a starving six pounds (he has a very large frame) to a healthy 13-14 pounds (he fluctuates). His sugar slowly started getting lower along with his insulin dosage, and we had him down to only 2 units for a while, which he was doing well on. Then things took a turn for the worse. We recently moved to a new apartment, and Midnight refused to eat even a drop of food. He has been depressed since we got here and didn't even bother exploring at all. So we of course skipped insulin for a few days thinking it would do more harm than good as he wasn't eating. Our vet told us he would come around to eating. After skipping 5 shots, Midnight's sugar was back up to 388! That's the highest it's been in a year, despite not eating. Our vet told us to force feed and follow up with three units of insulin. After 3 days, his sugar is normal, but symptoms are worse. He will barely move, is falling over when he walks, and still refuses food (although he ate a few treats today). He is not even bothering with the litter box, he just goes wherever he is laying and has a constant "sick" smell. He will occasionally pick up his head only to look around the room in a daze. Last night, when I tried to stand him up on all fours, he just fell on his side. We rushed him to the vet this morning and they are keeping him through tonight and running tests. He did start walking a bit at the vet (though very funky-like). The vet has ran blood tests and tells me everything looked normal except potassium and electrolytes which he contributes to not eating. Is the vet not listening? I don't think this is just stress from moving. Could not eating cause all these issues? I am scared for his life and feel like I am being treated like a child when bringing my concerns to the vet (I am 20). Is there something this could be that blood tests wouldn't show? Am I overreacting?
 
Not eating for a couple of days can lead to bad problems. The potassium (high? low) and electrolytes being out can cause problems. Low potassium results in loss of muscle use and will cause problems walking inappropriate urination.
Has the urine been tested for ketones?
 
Stress can bring on a pancreatitis flair. These can be extremely painful for a cat (or human) and can stop them eating, drinking and moving. When remi had a bad flair he would not move at all, just sit in the meatloaf position and would pee where he sat. His fur looked terrible,etc.

Did they test for this specifically? It is not an inhouse test and has to be sent off to an IDEXX lab- if it were my cat I would ask for a spec fPL test to be carried out.

Was the liver levels okay?
 
Liver is okay, vet is going to give me an update in the morning. They will be testing for ketones. Potassium was low. So this all could be from not eating?
 
Well it could be if he has pancreatitis it is so painful he has stopped eating and then his levels have got out of wack or something else stopped him eating but certainly a cat who doesn't eat for a few days can become very unwell (such as hepatic lipidosis) if you add in the lack of insulin then you are running the risk of ketones and other imbalances. He is at the best place for the medical treatment.

Key is finding the underlying cause of the inappetence. From what you describe it sounds like he is in pain (disinterest in the world, not moving, seeming depressed) and I really would investigate the possibility he might be having an acute pancreatitis flair.
 
I will be sure to mention it to my vet in the morning. It almost seems like a balance thing to me though? He just falls over. It's his rear legs only. At one point he was laying on his side moving his front legs in a walking motion and moving his head back and fourth. He is acting...confused.
 
I am sure the vet will get to the bottom of it. Maybe he is just very dehydrated and stressed from the move and things have gone out if balance as you mentioned. Will be thinking of you both and am sending healing vibes.
 
I'm sending healing vines, too. I wish you the Best Of Luck in getting a good vet that can help you get Midnight through this. I'm glad his liver values are okay. That's a big concern when they don't eat.
I know how scared you must feel, so I'm sending ((hugs)) to you.
 
Also ask your vet for an appetite stimulant. Until then, you may need to force feed Midnight. Mix some of his food with water until it is soupy. Use a syringe to feed it to him. He needs to have food in him.

I had to do this when one of my cats stopped eating for a few days. Even the little bit of food you feed with the syringe helps.
 
Update on Midnight:
He is doing MUCH better since being with the vet for a day. They had to syringe feed him, but he is looking much better! He is still a bit weak and wobbly, but very alert and actually eating a small amount on his own (more like licking the gravy). We do have to continue force feeding though. The vet says once his potassium is back up he should be walking better. Only thing I've noticed is that despite only losing half a pound, his spine and hips are protruding like crazy! He is not underweight by any means at 13 pounds, just bony? Is this just from muscle loss?
 
When remi was not being treated for low potassium he very quickly became boney and lost muscle tone. This changed once his levels came back up.

Are they giving him and anti nausea medication? When he comes home you really want to have some of that on hand so that you know he will carry on eating.
 
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