Diabetic cat not eating

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nhlady

Member Since 2014
Help! My diabetic 13 year old cat has decided to stop eating. Very distressing.

About a month ago, I had him at the vet because he wasn't acting right. He was staggering around the house one morning when I woke up. The vet checked him out and said he was dehydrated and his blood sugar was too low. They kept him for the day, gave him fluids (charged me $260.00) and sent him home. Unfortunately, I discovered that night that he evidently ate some holly berries (yikes), vomited all over our basement and probably felt like crap.

Anyway, the past two weeks have been fine. He's getting 4 units of Novulin N, twice a day. All of a sudden, Monday night he didn't want to eat. He didn't eat on Tuesday and so far hasn't eaten today. He's otherwise acting ok but I have NOT given him insulin since yesterday morning. I have not called the vet.

I have tried to entice him with everything I can think of but no luck.

He is urinating in his litter box but no bowel movements because he hasn't eaten.

Any suggestions?? Thanks so much!
 
First, you want to be sure this is not ketones. Does his breath smell like nail polish remover? If so, he has to go to the vet. (Ketones are usually caused by an infection, not eating and high glucose levels. He likely has two of these, if not an infection. ) Do you have ketone strips and can you check his urine? Is he dehydrated? When you pull up his skin, does it stay up?

He might be constipated and not want to eat. I guess I would work on the eating issue first, but if you can't get him to eat very soon, he definitely needs to go to the vet. Try putting some food on your finger and see if he will lick it off or put some on his mouth or feet. Add warm water. Heat in the microwave till stinky. Add a treat or some parmesan cheese on top. (These suggestions assume you are feeding wet food.)

I know you didn't like your vet, but all of these issues are potentially dangerous and deadly. Is there an ER in your area? Would you feel more comfortable taking him there?
 
Thanks so much for answering. No, I have to way to check for keytones. My vet doesn't even have me checking his sugar levels. He has been getting the 4 units of Novulin N since July of 2013 without any problems at all.

Other than his visit to the vet two weeks ago, he's been fine. I just don't understand why he's stopped eating. I've offered every variety of canned cat food that I have, along with his normal dry food.

I will try some milk and maybe some "people" food tidbits to stimulate his appetite. Since he loves coffee, I'm going to offer some of that to him. As far as I know, he isn't drinking either.

We do have any emergency vet care center here but I'm afraid of the cost. Maybe it's just Oliver's (my cat) time to go? I don't know...
 
You test for ketones with ketone strips, available at any drug store, just like humans use. You stick it in his urine stream.

It is of course your decision to make. There are lots of things you could change to improve his diabetes and probably life in general - feeding wet low carb food, hometesting, changing his harsh insulin to a milder type - but the not eating and no bm trump everything. And they are potentially fixable, but probably need a vet to diagnose what is going on.
 
Sometimes tuna is tempting (packed in water) or meat baby food (with no spices; Beechnut usually has several flavors that are just meat)
 
I'm really not "heartless" so don't want you to think that of me. But, he is old and this is so very sudden for him. I'm not giving up here, just looking for some answers that won't cost me another arm and leg.

I'm off to try out some new food enticements for him right now.

Thanks!
 
Thanks, Wendy. Just tried canned chicken and he did lick a bit. Gave him my cup of coffee and he drank some. I know, weird huh? I've also put out some canned food that I didn't give him earlier. After drinking the coffee, he went and curled up in his basket.
 
My cats go crazy with PureBites, they're freeze dried beef or chicken morsels that have no carbs and are pure meat. You can find them at most pet stores. Does he like cat grass? A little cat grass could get his system moving, just not too much or he'll throw up!
 
You need to get him eating, or he could get fatty liver disease.
If it were me, I would go get the ketone test strips and stalk that litter box, attach your leg to it (that's a joke), so you can get a urine sample and test it. If no ketones, then that is great! I'm saying this because J.D. is a DKA survivor. Diabetic Ketoacidocis can be fatal, but a lot of cats can survive it. I believe I have heard that it is very painful as the blood turns acidic. J.D. had it when he was 10, and is now 19. 13 is not that old in a cat (maybe in his 60s in people years). J.D. was admitted to a Veterinary University Hospital. The costs were way way way less than you would ever spend for a human in the same situation.
I am hoping and praying that your cat does not have ketones.
Just as important, you need to get some food into him. Even if it's dry kibble, or his favorite high carb food, he needs to eat. Can you syringe some watered down food into him? Here is a very good video on syringe feeding. You just want to go very slow, and only get the food into the side of his mouth, so he doesn't breath it.
Of course, we would also suggest that you learn to home test his blood sugars, if you could pick up a glucometer while you're out getting the ketone test strips, we can help you with that.
Most important right now, getting food into him, and testing for ketones.
I wish you The Best Of Luck. Hugs.
 
When my girl wouldn't eat a few weeks back, I gave her 1/4 a 10 mg. tablet of Pepcid. You can dissolve in water and shoot in the back of your cats mouth. It helped Gypsy. Not sure if it will help but might if upset stomach is the cause. Good luck! Let us know how it goes.
 
Novolin is a harsh insulin that hits hard and lasts about 6 to 8 hours.

If he isn't eating, that could be sending him into dangerous lows.

An inexpensive human glucometer, test strips, and lancets is all you need to test your cat and keep him safe and monitor his health. Many of use a WalMart ReliOn Confirm or Prime as they have inexpensive test strips and require small blood drops.

See my signature link Secondary Monitoring Tools for additional assessments you can make r ex dehydration checks.
 
In addition to what BJM said about the Novolin N, 4 units of the Novolin is a lot for a kitty.

How much does your cat weigh?
 
Thank you all for your comments. I took Oliver to the vet this morning and he stayed the day in the clinic to be watched. His first blood test this morning was 348, way too high considering he's not eating. They gave him an IV to get fluids into him. Early this afternoon, they gave him 2 units of Novulin (1/2 his regular dosage) and his sugar crashed down to 20. Yikes! They force fed him a bit to get the numbers up but they're coming up very slowly. I picked him up after work (to save on a $600.00 hospital overnight bill) and will try to get more food down him tonight, even if it means with a syringe.

The vet explained that for whatever reason, Oliver is becoming "unregulated." He's been doing well for over 18 months and now things are going haywire. The possibility exists that I may need to change his insulin to something different. This would amount to a bottle of insulin now costing $100.00 vs the Novulin which costs $30.00 per bottle. I don't know that I can afford that.

Oliver goes back to the vet for the day again tomorrow so they can keep an eye on him. If nothing much changes by tomorrow, I think it might be time to think about letting him go. This will be a difficult decision for me.

Oliver weighs about 11 pounds. Someone on the board asked me that thinking that 4.5 units was an awful lot. The 4.5 units are what he's been doing well on for the last 18 months.

Oliver is now sleeping on the bed. He threw up on the way home. Poor guy!

Thanks for all your thoughts and suggestions. They've been appreciated.
 
About a month ago, I had him at the vet because he wasn't acting right. He was staggering around the house one morning when I woke up. The vet checked him out and said he was dehydrated and his blood sugar was too low.
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You said this earlier in this post. The fact that his BG (blood glucose) was too low a month ago and again at the vet indicate the dose is not correct.

Insulin needs change over time. The 4.5U of Novolin that he was receiving may be too much for him now.

Early this afternoon, they gave him 2 units of Novulin (1/2 his regular dosage) and his sugar crashed down to 20. Yikes!
Click to expand...
If half his normal dose, caused him to drop to 20, then it's very likely he is being overdosed.

Are you home testing?

Where do you live? country, state/province, closest city would be helpful to know.

Cats are unique in that they can heal their pancreas and start producing insulin again on their own. This may be what is happening with Oliver.
 
Novolin lasts about 6-8 hours in the cat and good control may require giving insulin every 8 hours.

If 2 units dropped him into hypo starting with a glucose of 348 and dropping to 20, you definitely need to reduce the dose. (348-20 = drop of 328 on 2 units. May get drop of 160 on just 1 unit.)

I would suggest dropping down to 1 unit and testing him AT HOME to see how long the insulin lasts in him and how low it takes him.

Then either pick up all food at +6 hours after the shot or try three times a day dosing based on the home tests.
 
I am not home testing. The vet never suggested it because he's been doing well the past 18 months.

We are in Loudon, New Hampshire.

I have just watched videos on how to syringe feed and I'm ready to give it a try. Picked up some very good tips.

By the way, no insulin for Oliver tonight, obviously.

Again, thanks for the input.
 
Ah, Louden NH, up north of Concord NH. Thanks for letting us know. You're about 1.5 hours north of me. I thought from your user id you might be somewhere in the Granite State. ;-)

We have taught many people how to home test over the internet, if you are interested. We feel home testing is one of the best ways to keep your kitty safe. We can give you a shopping list of supplies if you are interested?
 
Hi Deb: You must be in MA, correct?

I just syringe fed Oliver a bit of food and it went amazingly well. I was pleasantly surprised. He didn't eat much (about a half of a syringe full) before walking away but I don't want to overwhelm him (and I want him to keep it down). I mixed up his wet food with warm water to the consistency of a milk shake. I will try again in an hour or so.

Home testing is something that I wouldn't be opposed to doing. I guess I need to see what tomorrow brings first.

You are a peach! Thank you.
 
Try to keep giving him some food all through the night. Also, you may want to syringe feed some flavors that he previously did not like, as if you syringe feed one of his favorites he may not want to eat it willingly after assist feeding it to him.

I wish you The Best Of Luck. We have seen a lot of miracles on this board. Fingers crossed your kitty is one of them.
 
Yes, I'm in MA, up in the Newburyport area on the north shore.

Keeping our fingers crossed for Oliver and hoping the syringe feeding assist helps him to feel better. Hope the not eating is a temporary thing. It's so stressful on us when our kitties won't eat and to me it sometimes feels like we are torturing them when we need to force feed them. I had to force feed one of my kitties a few years ago for weeks. Never easy, but it usually doesn't last long and then they get better.

Please let us know how he is doing tomorrow. We'll be here to help support you in any way we can.

Hang in there and take care.
 
Just so you know, the $100 insulin the vet is talking about is probably Lantus and that should last you six months if you keep it in the fridge. Or you can buy pens individually in some places for $25. Its also a much better insulin and may help to get him regulated since Novolin really isn't good as you have found!

On another note, my Tiggy stopped eating for a few days because he was dropping too low too much. He had gone into remission. I really would recommend home testing.. I mean if he dropped to 20 at the vets while being in a strange stressful place, you got to wonder how much lower he would go at home.

Wendy
 
Update on Oliver:

First of all, to those of you who have shared so much with me, a heartfelt thank you.

Oliver again spent the day at the vet's office so they could keep an eye on him. They managed to feed him nearly 1/2 can of cat food via syringe. He didn't fight it like he did yesterday. His sugar count has stayed consistently around 200 today and the vet was pleased. He is home with me for the weekend. I need to continue the syringe feeding and don't need to give him any insulin. He will go back on Tuesday to have his blood checked but doesn't have to say.

My hope is that he will start eating on his own this weekend. He's acting fine, and has acted fine all through this. He purrs for me, comes to me for petting and in general won't keep his eyes off me. He's always been "my" cat and really doesn't care about my partner.

I'm feeling better than I have these past few days and am hopeful.

The vet indicated that there is a possibility that he might not have to go back on insulin. Just a possibility.

The last time he was at the vet, it cost $260.00 for the day. My bill for the past two days was only $142.00. Can you believe that? I thought I was going to faint over the bill for the last two days and nearly fainted because it was so low! Ha.

My vet did indicate that they can put in a feeding tube, if necessary. My reply to her was "My mother had Alzheimers and at the end the nursing home wanted to put in a feeding tube. I told them no. I would say the same for Oliver."

So, let's all hope that it's a good weekend and that Oliver perks up and starts eating on his own.
 
Thanks, Deb.

I think Oliver is doing better too. I did read the article about feeding tubes, thank you. I guess I'll have to deal with that issue, if necessary.

I wish for you a terrific weekend. Stay dry, warm and happy.
 
Awww so glad to hear it! Hope Oliver continues to improve. Don't forget to take care of yourself. It's tough on us mama beans when we have sick kitties. Do something nice for you this weekend.
 
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