Constipated diabetic cat

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CarliandMoxy

CarliandMoxy

Member Since 2019
Hello friends,

New member here. Going through a bit of a rough spot with my cat right now and need some advice/reassurance.

Cat - 16 year old long haired female. Named Moxy. A diabetic with previous remission. Eats chicken pate classic from Fancy Feast 3 times daily with occasional soft chicken treat or tuna. Takes 2 ProZinc units at breakfast and dinner and a half teaspoon of lactulose mixed in with food due to chronic constipation. 4 months ago had wellness check with vet as we moved and he did blood work and determined she was getting the "perfect amount" of insulin. Cat fears vet and has never been able to do a glucose curve. I do home test periodically.

This weekend, Moxy ended up having pretty dry stool and stopped eating as much. This is typical of when she starts getting constipated. I knew I needed to syringe her lactulose instead of mix with food, but because of how difficult it is, I waited another day to see if it would resolve itself. That day we ended up having to evacuate our house due to a severe storm and flash flooding. We were able to come back soon, but putting her in the cat carrier is always so stressful for her because she thinks she is going to the vet.

She hasn't ate much since Sunday and because of that, I gave her a half dose yesterday with monitoring and none today as she is straight up refusing food. She is drinking, not an abnormal amount, and is resting, but it is clear she had a lot of stool to pass. I did syringe feed her lactulose today and we should have a BM by tomorrow.

If she doesn't BM by the time I get home from work tomorrow, we will go to the emergency vet. Should anything change, my husband will be here with her. However, I stress so much when she doesn't eat much and gets these constipation bouts. I worry about her so much and I just want her to be okay. I worry that even one day of not eating but no insulin will cause her to die or something.

She is still greeting us when we walk into the room and drinking water and peeing in her litter box. But, she is uncomfortable. We have been down this road before and I know if I take her to the vet prematurely we will slow this entire process down because it absolutely terrifies her. I wish lactulose didn't take so long to work... I know the amount I put in her food as "maintenance" doesn't end up getting eaten completely since she rarely finishes a meal.

Anyone been through this? Does this plan sound okay? Sorry about my anxiety.

Thanks a million.
 
Was able to test her and it was 452. Yikes. I decided to syringe feed her a full syringe of chicken pate and water and then give her two units. I know she isn't eating much, but I am trying to figure out what is worse... DKA or a potential hypo. She got 2 units of ProZinc. Thoughts?
 
https://felineconstipation.org/ is your best bet for options.
Slippery elm bark (SEB), canned pumpkin (not the pie filling) are some of the things that can be used.

You will have to continue to test hourly and syringe watery food into her tonight until you are sure she is not going to go low.
Here is what to do in case Moxy's numbers drop low:

It would help tremendously if you could set up a spreadsheet with any previous numbers you have. No one can safely give dosing advice if there is little to go on.
 
How are things going?
Poor Moxy!
I know how frightened some cats are at the vet. Sheba used to turn to stone at the vet.

You could regularly add a teaspoon of plain boiled pumpkin mashed with the food twice a day along with the regular constipation medication. It is good for constipation and diarrhoea and will add some fibre.

Does Moxy have a history of DKA? If so can you add that to your signature please as it can make a difference as to what we advise.

Don’t let her go more than 24 hours without food as cats need to eat every day otherwise they can get hepatic lipidodis which is very serious. If she’s not eating I would syringe feed her well before the 24 hours.
 
Hello all,

We have tried pumpkin in the past and she refuses to eat her food even when some pumpkin is mixed. I did some syringe feeding last night. She is clearly nauseated. She has never had DKA.

She still won't eat this morning and hasn't passed her stool yet. We just moved to this area and I have found a vet with good ratings that makes house calls. I'm going to give them a call. I think is she had something for nausea, she would eat. It is evident that she wants to as she becomes interested when I put food near her.

I hate that I have to go to work and my husband has to deal with this. I'm the med giver and I wish I could be here. But he calms her a lot, so maybe it is a good thing because I'm a ball of nerves right now.

Not giving insulin this a.m. because of the eating issues.

I'll keep you all posted. Thanks for the advice.
 
CarliandMoxy said:
Hello all,

We have tried pumpkin in the past and she refuses to eat her food even when some pumpkin is mixed. I did some syringe feeding last night. She is clearly nauseated. She has never had DKA.

She still won't eat this morning and hasn't passed her stool yet. We just moved to this area and I have found a vet with good ratings that makes house calls. I'm going to give them a call. I think is she had something for nausea, she would eat. It is evident that she wants to as she becomes interested when I put food near her.

I hate that I have to go to work and my husband has to deal with this. I'm the med giver and I wish I could be here. But he calms her a lot, so maybe it is a good thing because I'm a ball of nerves right now.

Not giving insulin this a.m. because of the eating issues.

I'll keep you all posted. Thanks for the advice.
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If she's that high I wouldn't not give insulin. Maybe reduce the dose and give 1. I sure hope she can poop soon. Since you are assist feeding anyway, add a little pumpkin to the syringe.
 
Hello all,

Gosh, you guys got me through an emotional might last night. We are blessed to have a vet that makes house calls here and they came this morning, took blood, gave her an enema, onboarded some antinausea and subcutaneous fluids, and it took me coming home and feeding her for her to eat, but she is popping and eating! Oh I'm so so so happy.

Thank you all from the bottom of my heart. I have a lot of litter and poop splotches to clean up, but she is mending!
 
I honestly am dreading the rainbow bridge day and I'm not sure if I can handle it. It will be as difficult as losing my father to be honest! She is my child as I cannot have children. We don't treat her like a kid... Well, we kinda do.
 
Moxy ate about half her food and got a full 2 units of ProZinc 2.5 hours ago and just tested and she is 192. I feel comfortable getting a good night's sleep tonight. I do wish she was hungrier though.

Anyone had to do an enema with a cat before? Do you recall when normal appetite returns?

Thanks again. I wish I had known about this place when Moxy was first diagnosed.
 
CarliandMoxy said:
I honestly am dreading the rainbow bridge day and I'm not sure if I can handle it. It will be as difficult as losing my father to be honest! She is my child as I cannot have children. We don't treat her like a kid... Well, we kinda do.
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What a beautiful kitty Moxy is, a little fluff ball. I also think about the rainbow bridge
I have 2 males they are brothers. In the past a long time ago I had to put 2 of my cats to sleep. I was a mess. I look at these 2 right now and can't imagine losing them.
I think we all treat them like they are our children, probably better.
 
My cat had to have an enema when he got severely constipated a year ago. He bounced back pretty quickly and was obviously feeling better afterwards and started eating again. However he was also 3 at the time so that might be a factor.
 
All,

This morning we tried putting food out for her. She wasn't interested. We tried tuna. No interest. Then she went to the bathroom and I thought I saw some blood in her urine. I worry her kidneys are shutting down.

My husband is calling the vet first thing and asking about the blood work and giving an update. I don't want to see her in pain like this. I'm so upset.

I wouldn't prolong her life if it isn't just constipation. I'm not inhumane. Has anyone had this happen? Again, she is 16.
 
Blood in the urine could well be a UTI or FLUTD, both very treatable.
I would be surprised if it was her kidneys shutting down.
She may be a bit nauseated and that is who she isn’t eating. She may need an anti nausea medication.
Try some Parmesan cheese sprinkled over her food
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
Blood in the urine could well be a UTI or FLUTD, both very treatable.
I would be surprised if it was her kidneys shutting down.
She may be a bit nauseated and that is who she isn’t eating. She may need an anti nausea medication.
Try some Parmesan cheese sprinkled over her food
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She is definitely nauseated. She has barely eaten in 4 days. They gave her antinausea meds yesterday but didn't give us pills. My husband handled it all since I was needed at work. This is just the worst feeling not being able to help her.
 
Miralax will do wonders. I had Dusty on Miralax for several years because chicken FF would clog him up. You just have to adjust it to get the right amount, some days his stool may be too soft others too hard but either way it kept him regular. Since switching to Weruva cat food he doesn't need it anymore. The food has so much moisture in it that he has really nice poops.
 
All,

Moxy is in the hospital. Home vet came and gave another enema. We felt we needed another opinion. Here is the blood work. Anyone here good with blood work? Please help. We can't help but think we are about to lose her.
 
What is the vet's interpretation of these results? I've seen some fairly dire looking results from blood tests, but the key is interpreting the various different numbers to determine what might be wrong. I do think with those results, Moxy should be hospitalized. I learned after unexpectedly losing a cat who was in the hospital to say goodbye before we leave the house when kitty has something potentially serious going on. Sending healing energy to Moxy.

PS. That file has personal info; at some point in the future you should delete the attachment.
 
Gypsy's Parent said:
What is the vet's interpretation of these results? I've seen some fairly dire looking results from blood tests, but the key is interpreting the various different numbers to determine what might be wrong. I do think with those results, Moxy should be hospitalized. I learned after unexpectedly losing a cat who was in the hospital to say goodbye before we leave the house when kitty has something potentially serious going on. Sending healing energy to Moxy.

PS. That file has personal info; at some point in the future you should delete the attachment.
Click to expand...
Thank you.

Vet just called and said before they do anything, we need to talk.

We go in an hr.
 
Consider taking notes with pen/paper at the vet. I'm always frazzled and upset and taking notes is one way I make sure I get all the info correct once I am home.
 
Hello all,

She was in kidney failure. Vet felt it was most humane to let her go.

Moxy crossed the rainbow bridge about an hour ago. We are so so upset.

Thank you all for your advice. I appreciate it very much.
 
Moxy's BUN and creatanine levels were many times over the high end of the scale. Acute kidney failure ended similarly for the cats I know who were diagnosed with it.

My condolences on the loss of Moxy. 16 years is a good run for a kitty. I consider every day after 15 to be a gift. You gave her 16 wonderful years of much love and spoiling and loved her enough to say goodbye. She lives on in your memories.
 
Our sympathy. It's a tough thing to do. It's tempting to hang on as long as we can but only if the cat has good quality of life and isn't suffering. Maybe cats do not have our sense of time. I can understand the thought it is just as well not to prolong the inevitable. Letting go will come to all of us sooner or later. Sixteen is a long life! Blessings.
 
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