Amps 212 - Not eating hardly at all

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David - coco

Member Since 2022
Sorry if this isn’t 911 worthy but Not sure what to do here. I was already going to reduce to 1u from 2u per the ps number and per my vet recommendation. Her shot was due at 7:35. She MAYBE ate a tablespoon but is pretty disinterested. She ate few few pieces of dry but was then disinterested. She’s even disinterested in freeze dried chicken, which is normally like crack for her. Should I skip the dose?

she’s been on metronidazole since Monday and has seemed better. But she did throw up this morning around 6:30 after pooping which was an issue earlier this week. Maybe she’s got some nausea?
 
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Is she on any anti nausea you can give her like Cerenia or ondansetron? Have you tried baby food and or tuna? 212 is a safe number to shoot however, if she’s not eating it could be a problem. No dka history right? You can give a token dose of 1/2 unit if you can monitor throughout the day, if not it’s best to skip. I would recommend getting a prescription for Cerenia and ondansetron too. Ondansetron is a human med so you can get it at any regular pharmacy today if your vet can prescribe it. And it’s safe for her to take both Cerenia and ondansetron since they work differently. Minnie was on ondansetron daily and Cerenia as needed. Once she’s taken the anti nausea you can also try an apetite stimulant, but you need the anti nausea first because nauseated cats won’t eat no matter what.
 
Ale & Minnie (GA) said:
Is she on any anti nausea you can give her like Cerenia or ondansetron? Have you tried baby food and or tuna? 212 is a safe number to shoot however, if she’s not eating it could be a problem. No dka history right? You can give a token dose of 1/2 unit if you can monitor throughout the day, if not it’s best to skip. I would recommend getting a prescription for Cerenia and ondansetron too. Ondansetron is a human med so you can get it at any regular pharmacy today is your vet can prescribe it. Once she’s taken the anti nausea you can also try an apetite stimulant, but you need the anti nausea first because nauseated cats won’t eat no matter what.
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No nausea meds at this point. No history of Dka that I’m aware of. How do you tell if it’s nausea or is it just a guess if they don’t eat? I know the throwing up was more than likely a result of straining to poop so not just randomly throwing up imo. When I first put her wet food down, she ate but only for like 30 seconds the. Walked away. When I try to put her back in front of the food, she licked for a second then walks away. Now she doesn’t even try. Not even treats
 
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Usually licking their lips or smelling the food and not wanting to eat means nausea, but as you know every cat is different. Then you try the meds and if it works, you know for sure. I think it’s important to have those in your tool kit when you have a diabetic cat since you know they need to eat so you can administer the insulin. I would get both and also ask for an apetite stimulant prescription.
 
Ale & Minnie (GA) said:
Usually licking their lips or smelling the food and not wanting to eat means nausea, but as you know every cat is different. Then you try the meds and if it works, you know for sure. I think it’s important to have those in your tool kit when you have a diabetic cat since you know they need to eat so you can administer the insulin. I would get both and also ask for an apetite stimulant prescription.
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I opened a can of Purina dm that was given to me as a sample and she licks the gravy but doesnt eat it. Not sure now what that means.
At this point I’m skipping the dose and I’m trying to get ahold of my vet to see about nausea meds
 
David - coco said:
I opened a can of Purina dm that was given to me as a sample and she licks the gravy but doesnt eat it. Not sure now what that means.
At this point I’m skipping the dose and I’m trying to get ahold of my vet to see about nausea meds
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Sounds like she’s nauseated. Minnie would lick the food a few times and then not want to eat. Don’t let them tell you you don’t need the meds. Push for the anti-nausea, if not both, at least one and also the apetite stimulant, which is either a pill or an ear ointment.

can I ask you to please remove the 911 from your post now? Thank you!
 
Ale & Minnie (GA) said:
Sounds like she’s nauseated. Minnie would lick the food a few times and then not want to eat. Don’t let them tell you you don’t need the meds. Push for the anti-nausea, if not both, at least one and also the apetite stimulant, which is either a pill or an ear ointment.

can I ask you to please remove the 911 from your post now? Thank you!
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How do I remove the 911?
 
If you can get a few jars of Gerber baby food. Turkey or chicken, just make sure it’s protein with no seasonings like onions in it. I always has that as a backup so I’d try that to see if she’ll at least eat something. It’s important for cats to not go longer than 24 hours without eating so I really hope you get those meds from your vet today!
 
You’d think but it’s not always the case. Think of when you feel that way, you may be able to tolerate a broth but not real food. It’s much the same for cats. That’s why I mentioned baby food. Minnie would manage to eat that even when she was nauseated and not eat her regular food. Tuna too sometimes. It’s all about degrees and the intensity if it
 
Diane Tyler's Mom said:
Can you put in your title Date, then Coco then AMPS 212 in front of Not eating hardly at all. I hope you can get the ondansetron and cerenia from the vet :cat:
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Hi Diane, on main health we don’t need to have the same subject line as the L ands L forum. We don’t need date and AMPS etc.
The subject line just needs to be relevant to the problem in the thread. :)
 
Ale & Minnie (GA) said:
You’d think but it’s not always the case. Think of when you feel that way, you may be able to tolerate a broth but not real food. It’s much the same for cats. That’s why I mentioned baby food. Minnie would manage to eat that even when she was nauseated and not eat her regular food. Tuna too sometimes. It’s all about degrees and the intensity if it
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I definitely second the idea of pure meat baby foods (Gerber Ham being the silver bullet) and also Hill’s AD food that most cats will eat.
 
David - coco said:
Thanks found it.

she keeps licking the gravy of another food but won’t actually eat the food itself. Has no interest in her normal food, dry food or freeze dried treat. I just don’t get it, I would try ink if it was nausea she would refuse everything
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Those are classic nausea symptoms. Lots of lip licking, licking gravy and walking away, sniffing and walking away, tooth grinding, etc.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
I haven’t read all the posts in this thread yet, but if she has CKD then it’s probably nausea. Do you have any recent BUN numbers? I have had CKD cats who needed and did very well on daily Cerenia and Ondansetron that can be given twice or thrice a day.
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Great point about CKD. Bobo is on stage 2 as well and he’s on ondansetron daily now because he gets nauseated too. But the last time he wouldn’t eat, I took him to the vet and he was b12 deficient. Once he got a b12 injection, he started eating fine again. I mean within hours. Have you checked for that lately? Bobo is on daily b12 now as well. Lastly, if she’s dehydrated, that could also cause loss of appetite.
 
Ale & Minnie (GA) said:
Great point about CKD. Bobo is on stage 2 as well and he’s on ondansetron daily now because he gets nauseated too. But the last time he wouldn’t eat, I took him to the vet and he was b12 deficient. Once he got a b12 injection, he started eating find again. Have you checked for that lately? Bobo is on daily b12 now as well. Lastly, if she’s dehydrated, that could also cause loss of appetite.
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Absolutely right. Good point. Although some sources say have their B-12 levels checked first. I always used to give b-12 with my Sub-q fluids but it’s also a very easy sub-q injection like an insulin injection.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Absolutely right. Good point. Although some sources say have their B-12 levels checked first. I always used to give b-12 with my Sub-q fluids but it’s also a very easy sub-q injection like an insulin injection.
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Honestly, the vet gave him a shot because I told her he wasn’t on it. So it was a bit of a guess. He didn’t get tested because he wasn’t on an empty stomach and the test requires that. Then, the not eating happened again in less than 2 weeks. I gave him a b12 shot at home and again he started eating in less than 3 hours. So that pretty much told me beyond doubt that lack of b12 was the reason. Even with the daily b12 pill, he still needed a shot once a month at first. Now the pills alone are doing the job
 
Hi sorry for not updating, been a long day. Took her in and they basically think it is/was a flair up of whatever is going on in her gut. Just not sure why it keeps coming and going (normal poop one day or two then diarrhea the next) and throwing up right after pooping. Suggested it's probably has something to do with the diabetes still not under control. This was the first time of pretty much complete loss of apatite though. They did test and ketones were NEGATIVE. They gave her a shot of Maropitant for nausea and sent me home with Mirtazapine for apatite stimulant. She's still on the metronidazole as well. She ate better tonight but still showing some signs of not feeling well. Hopefully tomorrow morning she'll feel a little better. She rested most of the afternoon and evening. I didn't get sent with any more of the anti nausea meds because apparently they're all in pill form and there's no way she'll take a pill unfortunately.

As far as food, cats are so hard to read. She's been eating this pate style KD food since September without issue. It wasn't until the week of 12/5 that she started having diarrhea for 4-5 days. I did however switch wet foods for two days as I had ran out of the regular food so I figured it was from that. Coincidence or not, she was then diagnosed with diabetes on 12/13. Since then, she's seemed to slowly lose interest in this food over the last few weeks. She would just eat less and less and I would have to working to get her to eat more, I would have to pick her up and put her back in front of the plate several times to try and finish most of it. Maybe a sign of slight nausea all the time? I thought it had something to do with the flavor so I switched that and seemed a little better last week. But she still just is acting like she's losing interested in the food and I cant tell if its the flavor or maybe texture. When her apatite is good and she's being picky with the pate food, she still has interest in eating if I give some dry food or treats, so it leads me to thing its the food But as you know, its so hard to read cats. I don't know if she's associating the food with not feeling well, so she's avoiding it? I don't know if its the way I'm serving it, I just smear it on a plate and usually heat it up a little. Sometime I'll add a little water as well. But like I said, she has just slowly lost interest in eating most of it and it takes working to get her to eat most of it. But her stomach I don't think has been right for while either.

I'm not sure. Tomorrow morning we see an internist so hopefully I can get some answers on a few different things.
 
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Suzanne & Darcy said:
Those are classic nausea symptoms. Lots of lip licking, licking gravy and walking away, sniffing and walking away, tooth grinding, etc.
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She used to eat almost the whole plate in one moment but she's slowly eaten less and less. Then I have to pick her up and put her back in front of the food several times to finish most of it. Do you think this is a sign or symptom of nausea as well?
 
David - coco said:
Hi sorry for not updating, been a long day. Took her in and they basically think it is/was a flair up of whatever is going on in her gut. Just not sure why it keeps coming and going (normal poop one day or two then diarrhea the next) and throwing up right after pooping. Suggested it's probably has something to do with the diabetes still not under control. This was the first time of pretty much complete loss of apatite though. They did test and ketones were NEGATIVE. They gave her a shot of Maropitant for nausea and sent me home with Mirtazapine for apatite stimulant. She's still on the metronidazole as well. She ate better tonight but still showing some signs of not feeling well. Hopefully tomorrow morning she'll feel a little better. She rested most of the afternoon and evening. I didn't get sent with any more of the anti nausea meds because apparently they're all in pill form and there's no way she'll take a pill unfortunately.

As far as food, cats are so hard to read. She's been eating this pate style KD food since September without issue. It wasn't until the week of 12/5 that she started having diarrhea for 4-5 days. I did however switch wet foods for two days as I had ran out of the regular food so I figured it was from that. Coincidence or not, she was then diagnosed with diabetes on 12/13. Since then, she's seemed to slowly lose interest in this food over the last few weeks. She would just eat less and less and I would have to working to get her to eat more, I would have to pick her up and put her back in front of the plate several times to try and finish most of it. Maybe a sign of slight nausea all the time? I thought it had something to do with the flavor so I switched that and seemed a little better last week. But she still just is acting like she's losing interested in the food and I cant tell if its the flavor or maybe texture. When her apatite is good and she's being picky with the pate food, she still has interest in eating if I give some dry food or treats, so it leads me to thing its the food But as you know, its so hard to read cats. I don't know if she's associating the food with not feeling well, so she's avoiding it? I don't know if its the way I'm serving it, I just smear it on a plate and usually heat it up a little. Sometime I'll add a little water as well. But like I said, she has just slowly lost interest in eating most of it and it takes working to get her to eat most of it. But her stomach I don't think has been right for while either.

I'm not sure. Tomorrow morning we see an internist so hopefully I can get some answers on a few different things.
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@Bron and Sheba (GA)
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
I haven’t read all the posts in this thread yet, but if she has CKD then it’s probably nausea. Do you have any recent BUN numbers? I have had CKD cats who needed and did very well on daily Cerenia and Ondansetron that can be given twice or thrice a day.
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Her last blood work was done on 12/12 and the BUN says it was 25. How do you give the nausea meds? I found out it only comes in pills and I've tried pills before and its impossible to give her pills.
 
Vomiting after pooping can be IBD….in my experience anyway. Not saying it is that but my kitty did that.

An appetite stimulant is no good if there is still nausea present. The injection of cerenia should last 24 hours
I would ask the vet you are seeing tomorrow about zofran ….it can come in wafer form and you would just have to put it on the tongue. It’s an antinausea medication.

Maybe she has an aversion to the food as she is associating it with nausea…that can happen.
If I were you I would give her whatever she will eat at the moment, even if it’s not diabetic friendly because eating is more important that what she eats at present.
 
David - coco said:
Her last blood work was done on 12/12 and the BUN says it was 25. How do you give the nausea meds? I found out it only comes in pills and I've tried pills before and its impossible to give her pills.
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I have one cat that is easy to pill and another who is not easy.
I put her on my lap, hold her by the scruff of the neck, have the pill in the other hand and open her mouth with a finger and put the pill in and close her mouth and stroke her neck and encourage her to swallow. Put the pill into the back of the throat so she can’t spit it out.
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
Vomiting after pooping can be IBD….in my experience anyway. Not saying it is that but my kitty did that.

An appetite stimulant is no good if there is still nausea present. The injection of cerenia should last 24 hours
I would ask the vet you are seeing tomorrow about zofran ….it can come in wafer form and you would just have to put it on the tongue. It’s an antinausea medication.

Maybe she has an aversion to the food as she is associating it with nausea…that can happen.
If I were you I would give her whatever she will eat at the moment, even if it’s not diabetic friendly because eating is more important that what she eats at present.
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They did an ultra sound and ruled out IBD at this time. Also didn't notice an mass or anything. She strains when she poops and I think its the straining that causing the vomiting. But why she's straining is the question. Vet said its likely from inflammation from whatever is going on in her gut. Because the vomiting only seems to happen after she has a diarrhea type poop. If its a regular type bowel movement, I don't think it normally is followed with vomit.
 
Ale & Minnie (GA) said:
David, how is Coco doing? Were able to connect with the vet yesterday?

I meant to ask what was she taking the metronidazole for? Was she having diarrhea?
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There’s an update above. The week of 12/5 she got diarrhea then was proscribed the metronidazole on a Monday 12/12. Then don’t know if it’s coincidence but was diagnosed with diabetes on 12/13. But diarrhea is back.
 
For those who want to know an update. We had our internist appointment yesterday. We had them do full exam and full blood panel, including checking her pancreas. Unfortunately those important test are being sent out and wont know possibly for a couple weeks. The in house tests they did do looked good according to the doc. She barely art enough last night to give a reduced dose. This morning, she ate next to nothing and had to skip at the advice of the vet. We are now on standby because if she doesn't eat again tonight and have to consider skipping the shot again, we will need to go to the ER. The nausea meds and apatite stimulant haven't worked to this point. It seems we have an underlying issue that's making her not eat or so nauseated that even the meds aren't working. Could be in for a long night.
 
David you need to be very careful with a kitty that is not eating and you are skipping doses of insulin.
There is a real danger of ketones starting to form in the blood when this happens, and this can lead on to DKA if not addressed.
The recipe for DKA is not enough insulin, not enough food and an infection or inflammation in the body.
I think if she is not eating I would still give her some insulin.
I am going to tag @Wendy&Neko about the amount of the dose if she won’t eat.

Is she eating at all on her own…..I would let her eat whatever she wants at the moment…don’t worry if it is not low carb. Eating is more important than how many carbs at the moment. Even dry food is ok at the moment.
What are you doing when she won’t treat. Have you tried syringe feeding her?
SYRINGE/assisted feeding link
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
David you need to be very careful with a kitty that is not eating and you are skipping doses of insulin.
There is a real danger of ketones starting to form in the blood when this happens, and this can lead on to DKA if not addressed.
The recipe for DKA is not enough insulin, not enough food and an infection or inflammation in the body.
I think if she is not eating I would still give her some insulin.
I am going to tag @Wendy&Neko about the amount of the dose if she won’t eat.

Is she eating at all on her own…..I would let her eat whatever she wants at the moment…don’t worry if it is not low carb. Eating is more important than how many carbs at the moment. Even dry food is ok at the moment.
What are you doing when she won’t treat. Have you tried syringe feeding her?
SYRINGE/assisted feeding link
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She seems interested in eating at times but is short lived, just licks for a few seconds and walks away. Wet and dry food. I tried like 4 different foods yesterday and same result. I now have hills ad we’re going to try as well as some friskies and baby food as a last resort.
 
You tried baby food too right. You may need to syringe feed. I’ve had to do that before and it’s best to do it and keep them safe. Did they discuss a feeding tube with you?
 
Ondansetron is the better anti nausea medication in my experience. It comes in injectable, which can make it easier to give. Also, Cerenia (maropitant) injections can sting. The upside with Cerenia is it lasts 24 hours, ondansetron does not.

Do not skip insulin if she's not eating right away. Insulin does more in the body than combat the carb in their food. When Neko wouldn't eat, I still fed her full dose, as long as I was sure I could get 2/3 of her required calories in her. But I helped with assist feeding when necessary.

Look at the links Bron has given. Syringe or assist feeding can be really helpful. If they get a little food in their tummy, it can make them feel better and they'll often start eating on their own. And maybe don't try the DM, many cats get tired of the taste. A/D or Royal Canin Recovery wet foods from the vet can both be assist fed, and some cats find them quite appealing. Whatever you assist feed it is best not to offer them to eat. Some cats develop food aversions to food they are assist fed. I had a foster kitty who went off of all foods containing chicken after I needed to assist feed Recovery for a couple weeks.
 
David, can you let us know what anti nausea they gave her? Did they test for b12 deficiency and/or give her a b12 shot? If she hasn’t been on any type of b12 supplements, that could be a reason given the CKD. Was she dehydrated, did she get fluids? I hope you’re able to syringe feed and she starts eating again
 
I'm inexperienced, new to the forums, and don't have very helpful advice, but...
I just wanted to give you my support, because I've been going through very similar experiences with my boy. It's so hard when they're sick and you're desperate for answers, but everything seems like a dead end.

When he's having a bad digestive episode, I've had a little success with getting Nox to eat a lick or two of a churu squeeze treat, then offering a small amount of regular food on a spoon. He won't eat a full meal that way, but he'll usually have a couple of bites at a time, at least. Sometimes it seems to stimulate his appetite enough that he'll eat more; and even if it just more of the churu treat, I'd rather he eat something than nothing.
 
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