Diagnosed a week ago, not eating

[Auntiemom]

My 10 y/o Snowbelle was diagnosed 6/28/17 after a few weeks of increased drinking and urinating. She also had a 2 pound weight loss in a year. BG was high 300's with ear stick, in 400's when blood drawn. She was given regular insulin in vet's office and started ProZinc 2 units at home 6 hours later, went home without a meter but with an appointment for a week later. I realized right away she was on the wrong food for my now diabetic kitty (Hill's c/d dry since cystitis a few years ago). I started transitioning her the next day to Purina chicken and/or turkey. She scarfed it down the first few days while it was still mixed with the Hill's. The vet thought the change in food was a good idea. She vomited a couple of times once she was exclusively on the Purina. The night after her follow-up appointment she was wailing, pooping, and vomiting for over an hour. I was concerned that the cystitis was back but all the symptoms seemed to stop after a couple of hours. I checked her BG and withheld her food for 6 hours, until the usual AMPS. Now she is resistant to eating. I put her back on half Purina mixed with half Hill's. I tried putting the Purina in one dish and a tablespoon of Hill's in the other. I tried baby food chicken in broth. She ate a few mouthfuls, but when I tried putting in on top of her regular food she just licked a little of it. She did eat most of the wet food during the night last night. Only ate a few mouthfuls of breakfast Purina a a few pieces of Hill's kibble. Tonight I tried Fancy Feast chunky chicken feast in one bowl and the "irresistible" FF grilled chicken and cheddar cheese in gravy in the other. Nothing. I just gave her a jar of baby chicken in broth again to see if she'll eat it. One thing she will eat is her testing treats (1-2 @ testing, 5-10 when on low side at bedtime) but she can't eat a diet of them alone. Does anybody have any other ideas? I have been checking her BG throughout all this and have been withholding her insulin a lot. Vet is a great guy but is of the belief that the insulin should be given and now he is on vacation for 3 weeks. Backup vet is a large national chain and I just don't want to go that route unless I absolutely have to do so. They're great but I am recovering from two $4000 bills in the past year for my dogs. Sorry this post is so long but I just don't know what more to do. I will work on her SS now but I wanted to get this posted.

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

Have you tried putting a little food on your finger (or spoon feeding) her? Sometimes that can make a difference

Warming it up a little can help too...a few seconds in the microwave or just adding a little warm water to the food to make a "gravy"

You might try something other than "poultry" foods too....she may have developed an aversion to the chicken/turkey flavors when she was sick.

If she's not eating anything, you may need to get her to the vet.....not eating for 48 hours can cause fatty liver to develop and that's really expensive to treat and not always successfully.

You might try a little Pepcid (famotidine)....1/4 of a 10mg tablet about 20-30 minutes before food, or ask your vet for some Cerenia or Ondansetron (for nausea/vomiting) or she may need an appetite stimulant like Cyproheptadine or Mirtazapine (but if she's nauseous, you don't want to give an appetite stimulant on top of nausea)

 

[Kris & Teasel]

started ProZinc 2 units at home

The usual starting dose is 1 unit twice a day.

I started transitioning her the next day to Purina chicken and/or turkey.

Did you check to see that these are low carb - under 10% carbs?

The night after her follow-up appointment she was wailing, pooping, and vomiting for over an hour. I was concerned that the cystitis was back but all the symptoms seemed to stop after a couple of hours.

This is odd behaviour. It's possible it was a reaction to the food change but it might also have been unusual symptoms of low blood glucose.

I checked her BG

What was the number?

Now she is resistant to eating.

There are many things that can cause this, including pancreatitis - not uncommon in diabetic cats. There's a quick test the vet can do that gives a yes/no answer and the therapy is supportive care - fluids, antinausea meds, appetite stimulant, pain meds.

1-2 @ testing, 5-10 when on low side at bedtime

What do you mean by "on the low side"? Are you referring to BG? If so, what number is a low BG for you?

I have been checking her BG throughout all this and have been withholding her insulin a lot

Are you withholding insulin because her BG numbers are too low? What range of numbers do you mean? If this is what's happening her insulin dose has to be reduced.

There's a lot you can do yourself to get your kitty under better control. We can help but we need BG data over time to give advice. The not eating is a major concern and needs to be addressed ASAP. A diabetic kitty who isn't eating and getting insulin regularly is at risk of getting diabetic ketoacidosis. Any kitty who isn't eating is at risk of developing hepatic lipidosis.

 

[Catdaddy87]

Sam had eaten dry food her whole life and wanted nothing to do with wet food. She got syringe fed wet food when she had some issues and that was what it took to get her eating wet food. Occasionally I have to put it on my finger and get her to eat from her bowl still but she is finally eating wet food on her own. It's like she didn't recognize it as food at first. lol

 

[Veronica & Babu-chiri]

First of all welcome!!

Does he accept his dry food ? or is he not accepting any food? Still vomiting?

I think that the most important thing is that he eats you may even try to give him some boiled chicken or tuna ( I'll leve this option till the end because they do tend to get addicted to it and is hard to take it off later on)

 

[Auntiemom]

Thank you for all your responses. We had a family emergency last night unrelated to the kitty and this is the first chance I have had to get back online. I just finished Snowbelle's spreadsheet and hopefully it is loaded correctly. No, no vomiting since 7/7 and that was just a small amount of froth. The Pepcid and Cerenia are both excellent ideas that I had not thought of. I have both for one of my dogs (and just got a new supply of the Cerenia before the vet went on vacation). The good news is...she ate a whole meal, not just picked at it. Last night after I posted she finally ate almost an entire jar of baby chicken and broth. Only 70 calories and 7 gms protein but it was a start. This morning @ 4 AM she was her usual early-bird self walking on my head to get to the window where she pawed at the blind until I pulled it up for her. I checked her BS then: 175, and gave her FF Classic chicken 3 oz. She didn't eat it right away, but it was all gone by 10 AM. I put out another dish of it for her but the dog on steroids and special intestinal diet decided to leap up to the top of her crate where we now feed the cat and she ate the entire meal in seconds. Grrr. Going out to the store now to buy more of this magical food! Thank you all again. I will be needing advice about the insulin dosage. Vet initially started her on 2 units ProZinc 6/28/17 but did agree to decrease it to 1.5 units BID during her follow-up visit on 7/5. He would not give recommendations as to when to hold or adjust based on low BS, nor did he want her to get just 1 unit and see how she did on it. I have not given it at all if Snowbelle's BS is lower than 200, or if she has absolutely been refusing to eat. At other times I have given her 1 to 1.5 units based on her BS. I'm not sure if I am doing the right thing and would greatly appreciate your advice. You people are amazing!

 

[Kris & Teasel]

Post every question/concern you have on this forum so we can start helping you.

 

[Ashley H & Gizmo]

He would not give recommendations as to when to hold or adjust based on low BS, nor did he want her to get just 1 unit and see how she did on it. I have not given it at all if Snowbelle's BS is lower than 200, or if she has absolutely been refusing to eat. At other times I have given her 1 to 1.5 units based on her BS. I'm not sure if I am doing the right thing and would greatly appreciate your advice. You people are amazing!

I would ask your vet what his ideal range for Snowbelle is. Gizmo's vet did not offer this information to me when we went for our follow-up to learn how to give injections and check BG levels...I had to ask. Granted, his range is quite wide 100-250, but if his levels are below 100 I withhold insulin for fear of hypoglycemia/death. However, I made that decision based on a million things I'd read here and my own common sense...When I told the vet I had withheld his dose, they confirmed that I had made the right choice. AND I now have much more thorough instructions from them on how to dose depending on his BG and whether or not he's eaten.

Just keep advocating for Snowbelle and you'll get the info you need!