Cat not eating

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corteza

Member Since 2014
Hi,

Today is not a good day for my 14 year old cat. I posted a previous topic about prescription diet versus FF and now I need help with another issue. My buddy just isn't eating today. I can tell he has no energy and even when I gave him his favorite, which is tuna, he just licked up the juice. My cat is on oral meds for a couple of weeks now and I have changed his diet over to FF. Yesterday I tried him on vet prescribed Hills m/d canned and he ate it, not all, and today nothing. Not sure what to do. Or is it okay if he is like this for a day? confused_cat
 
Your previous post included "Took his blood and it is higher than before.?
Just how high?
Can you get the ketone strips that test the urine for ketones? You may be able to get them from a human pharmacy. Ketones are the results of high BGs and other problems.
http://www.felinediabetes.com/ketones.htm
I would stop the pills and syringe feed if necessary for the short time.
 
Not sure where you are from and what measurements you go by but he was at 29 mmol/L which is high. This is about 522 mg/dl. Really wanted to avoid injections as I am not sure if I can do it and he hardly has any skin to pull up. He has only been on the orals for a couple of weeks and has just started his diet change. But I am thinking I may have to go the injection route to save him??
 
Things to try, singly or in combination:
Active play - triggers the hunt, catch, kill, eat behavior
Parmesan cheese sprinkled on the food
Warming the food up to baby bottle temp - releases smell, which helps with appetite
Forti Flora, though it is usually sold through a vet's office or online
Finger feeding - put a bit on a finger, and offer it
Picking up the food, stirring it, and presenting it again ... repeatedly.
 
Thank you so kindly. He is resting at the moment and is due for his meds. When he stirs I will try some of your suggestions. I am wondering if his stomach is upset with all the changes in food as he is very gassy which is quite unusual for him. Praying and hoping he will pick up tomorrow.
 
Did you change gradually? Sudden food changes are notorious for causing GI upsets - food refusal, vomiting, or diarrhea.

If you think her stomach is acidic and that is causing upset, 1/4 of a 10 mg Pepcid AC (not Pepcid Complete), may help with that. It takes about 20 minutes to work if it is going to work.
 
He had been receiving Tuna a couple of times a day but not huge amounts. Yes, switching completely to wet was somewhat sudden. I have also been trying to find which flavor of FF he likes and he seemed to switch from one day to the next...maybe that was my fault? Yesterday, I actually bought the Hills canned from vet and gave it to him and since then he isn't eating. But I have tried to compensate by offering his favorite tuna and FF but he won't touch it. I suppose if his stomach is upset even his favorite food won't help. I am so worried though that he is progressively losing energy and will to eat. Unfortunately I do not have any prevacid. Being a newbie with this is somewhat overwhelming. Never really thought I would deal with a diabetic cat...but he has given me so much love and comfort to see him like this is frightening...I love him so!
 
corteza said:
Thank you so kindly. He is resting at the moment and is due for his meds. When he stirs I will try some of your suggestions. I am wondering if his stomach is upset with all the changes in food as he is very gassy which is quite unusual for him. Praying and hoping he will pick up tomorrow.
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The change in food can cause problems. If he is feeling nauseous then this can be helped with water. I don't know if you are able to encourage him to drink? Or maybe carefully syringe water into the side of his (side to side not aimed down the throat, do it as slowly as you can). This can help a little or syringe feeding watered down food (get it really mixed up with the water and again slowly syringe feed).

As has been mentioned high blood glucose and no food or insulin can be a heading for problems. Are there no pharmacy's open in the big supermarkets in Canada? Do any pharmacy's open on a Sunday? Does your vet have an out of hours advice line? If so I would be inclined to call it.
 
Yes, I was thinking about the syringe and will probably try it. If he indeed refuses water and food throughout the next few hours there is an emergency number I can call. Again, I am hoping it is just a stomach problem at the moment. I live in a very small rural area and do not have the luxuries of the bigger cities in terms of bigger supermarkets, longer pharmacy hours, etc. Thank you for your suggestion.
 
Yes a rural location does make it more awkward. :sad:

I think the I immediate concern is dk as someone else has already pointed out. If this is suspected (or the conditions right for it to occur-no food, high blood glucose, inflammation) then it should be treated as a medical emergency. As you say try to get some food or water into him (ideally food) and see if that kick starts things but I wouldn't leave it too long.

If it is a stomach thing (or pancreatitis) unless that resolves quickly I would still call the vets as you could end up with the same issue anyway. If a cat feels nauseous or begins feeling sick then cerenia or ondanestron can help overcome this and encourage eating.

Besides being lethargic is your kitty sitting on the meatloaf position, licking his lips a lot, walking up to food and then walking away?

In the long term it is not a good idea to leave a cat with high blood glucose so unless the food change or oral meds have brought him down into normal numbers then you should probably discuss insulin with your vet. I know it is overwhelming at first, I was where you are just over a month ago but now it is part of our daily routine and worth it to see remi feeling better. There are many people here who can hold your hand with this, you won't be alone

Best wishes

Sarah
 
I am in the uk and so it's late here and I need to go to bed. I think i would go back to one of the fancy feast cat foods if the problem started after to changed to hills and try watering it down enough to syringe feed but you will need to keep that up.

Do you home test his blood glucose and if so what are his current readings? I wonder if you can actually buy the ketostix from a normal store in Canada, I guess not.

I just want to say keep posting updates here and others can continue to offer support but if nothing changes soon then I think a call to the vets is the best option. Whatever it is you want to catch it and treat it as early as possible.
 
Sometimes an appetite stimulant helps. Saoirse had major difficulty eating after the changeover to wet food and the insulin treatment. She has done very well with a combination of ondansetron for nausea and cyproheptadine for appetite. The cyproheptadine also seemed to help her tummy discomfort (opinion based on improvements in her clinical signs when she was taking it).
 
Hi

I was wondering how things were going. Have you managed to get your kitty to eat yet?

Best wishes

Sarah
 
Hi, thanks for checking in. He had a very small amount this morning but nothing since. He just finished following a laser light, so he does have some energy. Sure suprised me! He is also drinking of course water. Last night I phoned a vet on call as I wanted to know what signs to look for in case things were to have gone badly. I could not believe what she told me! I am still angry about it. She said that she would have to do a lot of test and that would cost a lot of money and I might want to think about putting him down! Where was the compassion? Anyway, as I am sitting here he has come up for some cuddling and is purring, so? I also put some parmasean on his food. Maybe he just doesn't need a whole right now if he is recovering from stomach upset from prescription food. Anyway, hoping for a better day and I wish you a wonderful day as well! :smile:
 
What a unsympathetic vet. :shock:

I am glad he is a little perkier however I still think that if he hasn't started eating his normal amount by tomorrow morning I would make an appointment with your vet sooner rather than later. It really isn't good for a cat not to eat and you need to try to understand why that might be and how to overcome it.

Also I don't think the oral diabetes meds are recommended in the long term so I would ask your vet about prescribing a long lasting insulin like lantus or levemir. Once you get in the swing of it it isn't hard to manage and the joy or seeing your cat get back to their old self is more than worth it and maybe with luck they can become diet controlled.
 
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