Diabetic cat won't eat

[Linds2225]

We finally have my diabetic cats levels under control for the past week, all numbers have been around 150 or less. We have been feeding him a prescription wd low carb science diet food from our vet since end of November. He has always eaten it. He has never had any ketones or anything else wrong with him, but for the last 3 days he is barely eating his food. He's acting normal and his numbers are ataying good, but I haven't been able to give him his insulin for the past two days because he is hardly eating. His pooping is good so I know he's not constipated either. My vet is telling me we have to keep him on some sort of prescription diet food. Has anybody ever had this trouble, and thoughts on what I can do? Do most people kee their cats in prescription diet food from the vet? I'm so disappointed because we just got his numbers right and now he stops eating...

 

[Deb & Wink]

Time to take him to the vet. Or get an appetite stimulant for him. Not eating for more than a day or two or eating very little can lead to hepatic lipidosis.

Is the Hill's W/d the dry or wet food?

If you set up a spreadsheet and link it to your signature, we would be better able to see how Doobie is doing on the Lantus insulin.

When do you test?

No, most people here do not keep their diabetic cats on the prescription cat foods. We try to more closely mimic what cats would eat in the wild, <10% carbs, wet food.

Is Doobie overweight still or have other complicating medical conditions that would require a special diet?

 

[skinky44]

We finally have my diabetic cats levels under control for the past week, all numbers have been around 150 or less. We have been feeding him a prescription wd low carb science diet food from our vet since end of November. He has always eaten it. He has never had any ketones or anything else wrong with him, but for the last 3 days he is barely eating his food. He's acting normal and his numbers are ataying good, but I haven't been able to give him his insulin for the past two days because he is hardly eating. His pooping is good so I know he's not constipated either. My vet is telling me we have to keep him on some sort of prescription diet food. Has anybody ever had this trouble, and thoughts on what I can do? Do most people kee their cats in prescription diet food from the vet? I'm so disappointed because we just got his numbers right and now he stops eating...

My kitty is very sick and getting her to eat has been difficult.
Ultimately I had to syringe feed her. i mixed a pate with either water or catsure, wrapped her in a blanket kinda forced it in. there are videos on it. it's not pleasant, depending on the cat, but as the other poster said, you really can't go long at all w/ kitties not eating.

before attempting syringe feeding you can:
try nuking the food for a few seconds to get the wonderful aroma whiff
smelly foods or smelly liquids. like tune or juice from tuna/clam juice etc.
some people have had luck with boiling chicken and feeding that...

vets can prescribe appetite stims. maybe if you have a relationship w/ your vet you can request a script for an app stim *along* with an anti-nausea medication? if you have the funds though, and a good vet, always best to see them, if you can.

 

[Jill & Alex (GA)]

Check this out for some tips and tricks to get Doobie to eat:
Suggestions on How to Stimulate Kitty's Appetite

 

[Linds2225]

I will for sure do the spreadsheet tonight, we have him on 3 units of Lantus and his numbers have finally gone down. He still may be 1-2 pounds over weight, but he has been tested for everything and has no other medical issues the vet can find. Our vet is insisting we only give him the prescription food from the vet only because he is diabetic. But he for some reason does not want to eat it anymore. I did give him some wet and dry natural balance food last night which is what he used to be on and he did eat some of that. He is still acting happy and has energy just not eating as much as he used to, which is that because his numbers are better? I'm so confused on what to do, Because he is eating some and his numbers are still good, plus we haven't been able to give him his insulin for two days now.. Not sure if I need to listen to my vet and only give him his prescription food or not.

 

[Linds2225]

We had him on hills dry and wet food recommendations from the vet. Then my husband researched how you should do wet more than dry, but they stopped eating as much with just the wet, then stopped eating it all together. When we are at home with him all day we test every two hours, but when we are at work we test in the morning before we leave then twice at night when we get home. All numbers for the past week have been around 150 or lower. I guess we just never know when to listen to the vet or if they are just trying to sell you the prescription food they are selling. At the vet. I also asked my vet about how we can hopefully get my cat off of insulin and he said that hardly happens, he just wrote it off like we couldn't even try.

 

[Larry and Kitties]

I have had 15 diabetic cats and on only went into remission.

When and where were the BGs of about 15o measured? By when I mean how long after the shot.

 

[Dusty Bones]

My cat went into remission after just one week. Switched to Fancy Feast, no dry what so ever, started him on insulin (Lantus), home testing and made sure he got plenty of exercise to stimulate his appetite. We're blessed that he's still in remission after more than a year. He's still only eating Fancy Feast and I still test his BG every two or three weeks just to make sure all is good. You need a low carb wet food, good insulin, and home testing to get him regulated and maybe even into remission. If you switch to wet food you'll see his BG drop dramatically so make sure you're home testing! Most vets are still misinformed and have no clue how to treat diabetic cats. All the info and support you need is here on this site.
Have you tried PureBites to help him eat? Freeze dried chicken breast that cats can't refuse. No carbs and you can find them at most pet stores. Feed as a snack or sprinkle on his wet food.

 

[kallima_butterfly]

Switched to Fancy Feast, no dry what so ever, started him on insulin (Lantus), home testing and made sure he got plenty of exercise to stimulate his appetite. We're blessed that he's still in remission after more than a year. He's still only eating Fancy Feast and I still test his BG every two or three weeks just to make sure all is good. You need a low carb wet food, good insulin, and home testing to get him regulated and maybe even into remission.

Hi There...I try to feed my cat Fancy Feast Pate but my store only brings in 3 kinds. However there are lots of gravy ones, grilled and delectable and fillets....what kind do you fee Dusty ? Just Pate?

 

[Dusty Bones]

Hi There...I try to feed my cat Fancy Feast Pate but my store only brings in 3 kinds. However there are lots of gravy ones, grilled and delectable and fillets....what kind do you fee Dusty ? Just Pate?

Yes, I just feed the pate style or as Fancy Feast calls them Classics. They're the only ones low carb, the gravy ones are high carb. You can also try Friskies pate style if you can't get the Fancy Feast. Another choice would be to order them online through Petco. They offer free deliver in the US, their food is usually on sale, and with a rewards card, you get $5 coupon for every $100 you spend. Do you have Petco in Canada?

 

[kallima_butterfly]

Yes, I just feed the pate style or as Fancy Feast calls them Classics. They're the only ones low carb, the gravy ones are high carb. You can also try Friskies pate style if you can't get the Fancy Feast. Another choice would be to order them online through Petco. They offer free deliver in the US, their food is usually on sale, and with a rewards card, you get $5 coupon for every $100 you spend. Do you have Petco in Canada?

Thanks. I knew the gravies were to high and we do feed friskies but my store seems to stock only the seafood kind which can cause blockages in males Im told so I try to stay away. I don't know about Petco but we do have a Petland and a Petsmart. They are both an hour and 1/2 away from me. Petland does not ship food and Petland on line doesnt carry either kinds.

 

[Linds2225]

We started feeding him just the wet food science diet and after 2 days his numbers went from being in the 300/400 range to the hundreds. It's starting off usually in the mid 100 before we give insulin then dropping to low 100 after. We had also bumped his insulin intake from 2 units to 3 units four days before that. So we couldn't tell if it was the wet food doing it or just the insulin boost. Our vet told us it had nothing to do with just doing wet although my husband will disagree with all the research he has done. I will have to try the freeze dried chicken breast to help. We took him in this morning for him not eating, vet said he was wheezing a little and he has a tooth that might be bothering him so they took X-rays and put him oncyproheptafine for lower airway disease and appetite stimulation? Hopefully this will help. How do you know your cat is in remission, do you stop the insulin and monitor his levels?

 

[Deb & Wink]

Which Science Diet are you feeding? If it's the Hill's W/d or M/d, we find that many cats get tired of the flavor after a bit and refuse to eat it. That's why we suggest other choices like the Friskies or Fancy Feast pate styles.

You may want to post over in the Interest Support Group for Lantus (glargine)/Levimir (detemir). You are getting low numbers in the mid 100 to low 100 range already and I think you could use the guidance that the experienced folks over there can provide you. You really should set up our standard formatted spreadsheet and link it to your signature so people can help you out. Your kitty may be headed for remission and may be getting too much insulin.

Our vet told us it had nothing to do with just doing wet although my husband will disagree with all the research he has done.

We are with your husband. There are over 300 kitties over in the Lantus/Levimir forum who have successfully gotten their cats into remission with the right amount of insulin, a low carb food, and home testing.

It's not specifically the wet vs dry food that helps our diabetic kitties so much. It's the fact that there are so few low carb dry foods but many more wet food choices that are low carb. We try to mimic a cat's natural food intake, which would be low carb/high protein.

My Wink was the first cat my vet practice had ever seen go off the insulin and become diet controlled. He's been OTJ (off-the-juice, insulin being the juice) for almost 2 years now. We went against the vet advice and switched him from the high carb Hill's W/d to low carb wet food. Didn't take long after that for him to decide he'd had enough of the insulin and was OTJ quickly.