Hello everyone! New to this forum and new to cat diabetes. My 6 year old maine coon was diagnosed with diabetes about 6 months ago. Since we had him diagnosed and started with insulin shots (2 cc’s morning and night) he has been back to his normal self… still craving food and adorable. The past couple of days however he has seemed almost depressed, not eating as much, and lays beside his water and food bowls. This morning he barely ate a thing (I bribed him with a 3 kitty treats and he did eat those). I was unsure of still giving him insulin or trying to force feed him as well. Currently his diet consists of ¼ cup of dry food and ½ container of wet canned food that was prescribed for diabetic cats by his vet. Does this happen to diabetic cats? Should I be at the vet already? Am I worrying too soon? Thanks for any help/assistance. I am so glad I found this board!
Depressed kitty or diabetes problem?
- Thread starter KristenL
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LynnLee + Mousie
Member Since 2009
i assume you are not testing glucose levels at home? nor ketone testing? if no to both, i'd consider a vet visit fairly quickly. today if at all possible simply because of the ketone possibility. what you describe is often what i've seen described here in kitties who have ketones.
are you at home with kitty? if so, can you smell his breath? does it smell at all like nail polish remover? if so, vet asap.
it could be something else of course, i.e. infection for example, and should be figured out quickly because an inappetant diabetic cat can develop all kinds of complications, like hepatic lipidosis or the ketones i mentioned.
are you at home with kitty? if so, can you smell his breath? does it smell at all like nail polish remover? if so, vet asap.
it could be something else of course, i.e. infection for example, and should be figured out quickly because an inappetant diabetic cat can develop all kinds of complications, like hepatic lipidosis or the ketones i mentioned.
Thanks Lynn. Correct, we are not home testing blood glucose levels or ketones. Unfortunately I'm at work now but will try the breath smell test when I arrive at home. We've been close to hipatic lipidosis before (it's what lead to his diagnosis initially) and don't want to experience that again!
Thanks again, I'm reading through some other posts here to try and get up to speed as quickly as possible.
Thanks again, I'm reading through some other posts here to try and get up to speed as quickly as possible.
KristenL said:
Welcome to the board.
LynLee is right; if you are not home testing, you have no idea if the insulin is working or not, and if you are not testing for ketones, then it may be an idea to go to the vet.
Home testing is really the only way to know if the insulin you are giving is working or not. You could be giving too much insulin or not enough insulin, or the insulin could be fine, but your cat is sick.
Once you have had the vet check your cat, it would be a good idea to home test if you are not testing already. You can use a human blood glucose meter from any pharmacy, the Relion is a good one and most economical, and just a poke on the edge of the cat's ear is all you will be doing. Just like the vet may test your cat's BG at the office, you need to do the same thing at home, just like human diabetics do before they give shots. When you pick up a meter, test strips and lancets, to test your cat, also pick up a container of KETOSTIX so you can test his urine for ketones.
The food you are feeding, dry food, not good for diabetics as it raises their BG numbers and cause the need for more insulin. Many cats are diet controlled and do not need insulin.... just by changing the diet. It's important to know that unregulated cats will be much more hungry than other cats because the diabetics are not capable of extracting what they need from the foods until regulated. One of my cats was eating around 30oz a day but once regulated, he was down to 6-10oz of wet food.
What insulin are you using? You mentioned 2cc for the dose but not the insulin. There are a variety of insulins that people use in their cats, and they are dosed differently, so it would be helpful to know the one you are using.
ETA: it would be great if you could pick up a meter on the way home? The Relion is a good, and you can ask the pharmacist for help to make sure you have all you need before heading home. You could test his BG and post what number you got.
He'll be going to the vet first thing in the morning (not possible to get there tonight) for a check. We're looking in to home testing options now as well as better/different food options. Also, I don't have the type of insulin off the top of my head, but will look in to it. Thanks blue!
KristenL said:
That's OK if you don't know the insulin name right now, you can post when you get home.
If you can get the testing supplies on the way home, people here can help you get going with the testing, and any troubles you have, there will be others who had the same problems but have solutions for you.
One of many videos on home testing:
Testing on cat’s ear
BJM
Member Since 2010
Insulin is measured in Units, not CCs. I really hope you mean 2 units!
One CC = 1 millileter = 40 units of a U-40 insulin such as ProZinc or 100 units of a U-100 insulin such as Lantus.
What insulin are you using?
Please see my link Secondary Monitoring Tools for information on urine ketone testing; pick up the supplies asap to test for these. The lethargy could be due to ketones or it could be due to hypoglycemia or even due to other illness)
One CC = 1 millileter = 40 units of a U-40 insulin such as ProZinc or 100 units of a U-100 insulin such as Lantus.
What insulin are you using?
Please see my link Secondary Monitoring Tools for information on urine ketone testing; pick up the supplies asap to test for these. The lethargy could be due to ketones or it could be due to hypoglycemia or even due to other illness)
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