Darn guy.. kitty wont eat

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occhi

occhi

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Well now Dude has decided he doesn't want to eat. He didn't eat last night, he didn't eat this morning. We're gonna test him probably when we get home from work but I can't make him eat. Darn cat. So that you guys dont have to ask again, he gets one unit of Prozinc in the morning an at night (when he eats), his last reading was 401 but that was right after his last huge meal. I'll post his numbers as soon as I get them. BTW hes acting perfectly normal. He's bright eyed, he's playing, he's sociable. Its weird. We do leave DM (MD? I can never remember) out for him to graze on but I haven't actualyl seen him eating that either.

To top it all off my poor dog hurt his leg :( poor sweetie.

tmjn
 
Re: Darn guy

unfortunately it's critical that a diabetic kitty eats so that they don't develop complications like ketoacidosis, hypoglycemia, or hepatic lipidosis so i wouldn't let him go more than a day or day and a half without eating.

soooooooooooo, first, maybe edit your subject line in the first post to include something about "need tips to get kitty to eat?" or something of that nature because the guys and gals have a ton of suggestions.

it's not unusual for a kitty to snub the prescription foods after a couple days sooooo, perhaps try his old food to see if that's the case. orrrr, if there's a store close enough to run and get some of these, pick up a few cans of

Friskies Turkey & Giblets, Special Diet Salmon, Poultry Platter, Country Style Dinner,
9Lives Super Supper
Wellness canned anything I think
Fancy Feast Turkey & Giblets Feast, Gourmet Chicken Feast

and of course, all meat baby food too.

you could try warming any or all of that up just a bit in the microwave as that brings out the odor more

tuna, or use tuna juice to flavor the cat food

and of course, there's syringe feeding. you water the canned food down into soup and using a needless syringe (preferably a big one), you syringe a little at a time into their mouths, making sure not to choke them.

that should be enough to start with and i'm sure others are typing at the same time sooooo :-)
 
Re: Darn guy

Like Cindy said, a lot of kitties will eat the p-scrip food for a couple of days, then refuse to eat it any more. Bob did the same thing with Hills' M/D canned. I continued to feed him the M/D dry. A few days later he was diagnosed DKA. Not eating is someplace you do not want to go anywere near.
On the brightside, if any of the foods that Cindy listed are favorites (or will become favorites) of Dude, then your problem goes away.
It is encouraging that you say he is otherwise acting normal. To me, that probably means you won't have to resort to syringe or force feeding. It's just matter of finding a flavor or two that he'll eat and like.
If you click on the "binky's" link in my sig, you can go to the canned food charts to look at the carb values of all the canned foods. Pick something 7% or less and give it a try.
Let us know what kind of numbers you get when you test him later...

Carl
 
Re: kitty wont eat

hi! editing subject line(at the time he was just a darn guy, now he has me worried)

so its not the scrip food he wont eat, its FF Classic, I was hoping he was nibbbling on the MD but i dont think so.. we just got him to eat some turkey cold cuts (low sodium if it matters) and after about a table spoon he stopped. we tested him 5 mins after that and he is at 254. hubby is tryimg some tuna now. i'm afraid to shoot him. he is very sluggish and wouldnt even stand to eat.
 
His number isn't terribly high, but I don't like that he is acting sluggish and won't eat. Have you tried the standard stuff? Like heating the wet food in the microwave, sprinkling with Parmesan or bonito flakes or tuna juice? You can also try putting some food on your finger and hand feed him for awhile until his appetite picks up.

It seems like his appetite has been off for a while. Have you considered syringe feeding?

Are you testing for ketones? Kitties who won't eat are at risk for DKA.
 
I hadnt thought abou syringe feeding no. i've never heard of that actually. we are not testing for keytones. i guess i need to get some strips and start catching pee in a spoon :P he did have ketones when they first diagnosed him but they went away.

at this very moment dude has eaten what he normally does so we shot him.

*sigh*
 
Good news that he ate. I definitely would test for ketones on a regular basis if he is not eating well.

We got our sample with aquarium gravel. Oliver didn't pee with an audience. So we put aquarium gravel in a clean litter box, put him in the room with it and waited. The gravel doesn't absorb the pee so you have time to get a sample.
 
oh wow thats interesting. we have three other cats. that would make it hard yes? i suppose we could lock him in the bathroom til he goes. he doesnt seem to mind peeing when i am in there but i can already see the look on his face when i bring a spoon in there. he already thinks we have lost it.
:lol:

i need sleep. i will check this thread tomorrow in case anyone else has ideas.
 
the sluggishness and not standing to eat bothers me too. i'd definitely get some ketostix tomorrow and start testing him for those too. any kitty with them in their history should be tested fairly regularly and moreso when they are showing symptoms similar to what you are describing.

not sure if i saw mention of this but ketostix are in the diabetes section of the stores, alongside lancets and lancet devices and meters and test strips. they kinda work like a pregnancy test, stick them in pee and watch them to change colors :-)
 
they are fine for diabetics as far as carbs go. they are not nutritionally complete though and are meant to be a treat or snack, which i think the package says something about that if i remember correctly. but i think for now, if he'll eat it, let him have some. something is better than nothing at this point and maybe if he takes to those, you could use them as a topping on something else to get him to eat more nutrients
 
If he hasn't eaten, and he'll eat the FF appetizers, then go for it. I don't know what the carb content is, but I think they're less than the Grilled varieties. Maybe medium carb. I couldn't find them on Janet & Binky's food charts.
I think it's very important that your cat eat, right now. Have you gotten a ketone test?
How is your cat acting, today? A ketone test is VERY important, as is getting your cat to eat.
 
so we had to take him to the emergency. you all were rights its ketones. he will have to stay for at least the night i hope no longer. thanks for all the help.

tmjn
 
Sending healing vines and feel better real soon vines, to your Occhi, and hugs to you. Keep thinking possitive thoughts.
My cat is a DKA survivor, so I now how scary it can be.
 
you guys are really sweet thank you. Dude still isnt eating so they may start syringe feeding him in a couple of hours. they also gave him an appetite stimulant though so they may not need to do that if we can just get him to eat. The Vet said we could bring him some tuna so we'll do that right quick. They also said that his phosporous and potassium were way too low. I think I have read of people here supplementing their cats with that. Naturally we'll ask the vet about it also but I'm curious from your point of view how this works.

tmjn
 
I'm glad they are working on getting him to eat.
My kitty wouldn't eat the whole time he was at the hospital, and so he came home with a feeding tube, which he soon dispensed with once he got home and started eating on his own. Feeding tubes save lives, so if it comes to that, go for it.
 
his levels may be too low due to the ketones, so I'd hold off on that topic just yet

ketones take a combo of factors, including insufficient food, insufficient insulin and or infection so please have him checked for infection.

just becaues a cat doesn't eat doesn't mean you don't shoot insulin, it means you have to be cautious. high bgs need insulin, and if you don't shoot and the cat doesn't eat, then ketones can pop up. Syringe feeding a watered down plain meat babyfood or canned food provides needed nutrition so you can shoot. A cat who doesn't eat is also at risk for liver issues.

My cat is very picky about foods, so I always have a variety on hand.

Please ensure that your vet doesn't let your cat go too long without syringe feeding ok? is he on fluids? are they giving him any insulin?
 
Hello Jen and Squeak,

Dude is on fluids, they are giving him insulin, they are going to syringe feed him unless we can get him to eat in the next hour I believe. Right now both of us (me and hubby) are stuck at work. He is trying to get away to take some food but people wont leave him alone. I wouldnt be surprised if they haven't already done syringe feeding. BTW, thanks for the advice about shooting whether he ate or not as long as his BG calls for it. We have only recently started testing so we feel we can do that now. I will make sure we don't miss another insulin just for lack of food. We now have probably 20 different kinds of food we can try with dude so i'm hoping this wont happen again anytime soon. We'll start ketone testing also.
 
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