My cat has been diagnosed with diabetes and she's not on insulin. The Vet has her on hills w/d. That has been working really well and has brought her levels to just slightly above normal we have been monitoring her levels every week,we call in our report to the Dr. and he's very pleased. We had over night company this week and because she's afraid of strangers she spent most of the week hiding and not eating(this is her typical behavior when people come to visit). Now that they have gone she still won't eat much and today when we checked her levels they were at 42. The Dr. said if her levels get too low give her some canned food to get her levels up she doesn't like canned so we have been force feeding her. It's been about 30 minutes since we last gave her some canned. She's alert wondering around somewhat wanting attention and drinking water but still doesn't have interest in food. My husband just left for work and I thought we should have checked her levels again but he didn't and now I'm all by myself and I'm scared to death.
blood sugar low
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squeem3
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pippysmom said:
No worries
42 for a cat NOT on insulin is actually a great number :thumbup Normal non-diabetic numbers are about 60 to 150 mg/dl, though some cats can test as low as the 40s.I take it that you are testing blood glucose levels at home? If so, that's great :smile: I wouldn't force any more food. You can test blood glucose levels few more times for the peace of mind if you want. How have her numbers been ever since you started testing? How often are you testing?
You don't need to feed the W/D. It's very high in carbs (think lots of sugar for diabetics), the ingredients are pretty junky, and it's expensive. Many commercial canned foods can be fed instead. Someone will post that info for you soon.
How was your cat's diabetes diagnosed and how long ago was that? Was your cat showing classic symptoms of diabetes? Or did the vet do a quick in-office blood test, saw the high number, and announced diabetes? Many cats get so stressed out at the vet's office that their blood glucose level will skyrocket.
She won't eat canned food I'll take a little and put it on her mouth and she won't even lick it off.He has her on w/d because she also has kidney problems. She's 13 and was showing the classic signs of diabetes, weight loss, excessive drinking and urination and two of our other cats started showing the same symptoms at the same age. It's been two months since she was diagnosed and she's been doing really well on the w/d. She isn't drinking as much and has stopped the excessive urination.
ohbell
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Have you always had a problem with the w/d canned? perhaps another type of canned? what did she eat before?
When my civvie slappy girl stopped eating, i had to dropper feed her for weeks. I used a/d from the vet and she is 15-16 and NEVER ate wet. Now, she is 100% wet, eats on her own, but............she wont eat ANYTHING but a/d. She does not need this anymore and is doing fine. She hates change and doesnt like anything but a/d now. I have just this week, started mixing f. feast chicken - 1/2 tsp with her a/d - 2 to 3 tsp and putting it in a magic bullet w/ water and dropper feeding her every night to transition her to f. feast as I cannot afford 1.80 per can of a/d. I am hoping for results but I know that I must be patient and not try to fast as it will frustrate her and might make her tummy eeeky. If I try to put some on her mouth, she will sit there and NOT ever lick it off...poor thing.
They are stubborn that way and I cannot just wait it out, as she would never eat again - tried that before.
Good luck w/ your baby girl
When my civvie slappy girl stopped eating, i had to dropper feed her for weeks. I used a/d from the vet and she is 15-16 and NEVER ate wet. Now, she is 100% wet, eats on her own, but............she wont eat ANYTHING but a/d. She does not need this anymore and is doing fine. She hates change and doesnt like anything but a/d now. I have just this week, started mixing f. feast chicken - 1/2 tsp with her a/d - 2 to 3 tsp and putting it in a magic bullet w/ water and dropper feeding her every night to transition her to f. feast as I cannot afford 1.80 per can of a/d. I am hoping for results but I know that I must be patient and not try to fast as it will frustrate her and might make her tummy eeeky. If I try to put some on her mouth, she will sit there and NOT ever lick it off...poor thing.
They are stubborn that way and I cannot just wait it out, as she would never eat again - tried that before.
Good luck w/ your baby girl
LynnLee + Mousie
Very Active Member
agree, without insulin you don't have to worry about her hypo'ing on you.
fwiw, if the w/d is giving her numbers in the 40's, other symptoms are gone, and it's working for the kidney issues, i don't think that's a big issue right now today, especially if she'll eat it. yes, ideally, wet would be better but perhaps that could be worked on if her glucose levels start getting too high again.
also fwiw, her glucose levels could be lower simply because of the not eating due to the company. her appetite may return as soon as she calms down and realizes the company is not taking her place in the house
fwiw, if the w/d is giving her numbers in the 40's, other symptoms are gone, and it's working for the kidney issues, i don't think that's a big issue right now today, especially if she'll eat it. yes, ideally, wet would be better but perhaps that could be worked on if her glucose levels start getting too high again.
also fwiw, her glucose levels could be lower simply because of the not eating due to the company. her appetite may return as soon as she calms down and realizes the company is not taking her place in the house
LynnLee + Mousie
Very Active Member
fantastic! something is better than nothing. here's hoping she keeps eating
Well the vet seems to think that Sabrina's problems could be because of not eating or drinking much while we had company he said being off her feed for four days probably threw off all her levels. Her blood glucose was high but not high enough to cause concern she was extremely dehydrated so dehydrated they barely got enough blood to do a work up. Her blood work showed her kidneys are worse so bad in fact the numbers were off the chart so her gave her a vitamin b12 shot and subcutaneous
fluids and we are to give her subcutaneous fluids twice a day for the next week and bring her back. However if she still doesn't want to eat we have to bring her back before then. She's alot perkier than before has drank alot more since she's been home but still no interest in eating. I have a monster migraine and can't stop crying. My husband forced me to go out today this is the first time I've left the cat since Wednesday. When we came home she was fine. This is really a tough one for me she's barely left my side for 13 years and I don't know what I'm going to do when she passes I can't even think about it.
fluids and we are to give her subcutaneous fluids twice a day for the next week and bring her back. However if she still doesn't want to eat we have to bring her back before then. She's alot perkier than before has drank alot more since she's been home but still no interest in eating. I have a monster migraine and can't stop crying. My husband forced me to go out today this is the first time I've left the cat since Wednesday. When we came home she was fine. This is really a tough one for me she's barely left my side for 13 years and I don't know what I'm going to do when she passes I can't even think about it.
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Carl & Polly & Bob (GA)
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Sabrina is picking up on that stress too. I know it's really hard, but try to hide that from her. If you need to cry (everyone does!) leave the room. Take a couple steps back from "it".
The sub-q fluids will help a great deal. My kitty, Bob, was severely dehydrated at the beginning. After a couple of treatments, he was like a new cat. His appetite picked up soon after that. If she is still drinking a good bit, you might try adding a little bit of warm water to her canned food too. Make her some "mush". It might make the food more smelly, which might attract her to it. Sometimes a bit of parmesan cheese sprinkled on top will help. Apparently, the worse it smells to us, the better it smells to them :smile:
Carl
It's been almost a week since we started giving Sabrina subcu fluids. she's made an almost complete recovery. But she still won't eat much on her own. She eats about an ounce or two of food a day or her own and we hand feed her through a syringe 6 times per day. She's not interested in any brand of food regular or diabetic. She hates canned food.
Any suggestions?
Any suggestions?
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