Did I handle this correctly? (Skipping an AM dose, no food at PM shot)

[Seth&Bell]

Last night Bell ate most of her food, I gave her a shot, and she proceeded to throw up all her food to the point where it was just bile. I could not get her to eat anything after that, she just seems disgusted by any food. I stayed up with to make sure she was ok and her numbers didn't go too low. At +6 she was at 178, from a 253 PMPS, so she seemed ok. She finally got some food down after that.

This morning her AMPS was 120. I stalled for 20 minutes and measured again at 121. Since I didn't have any data indicating she was on the rise so I didn't feel comfortable giving any amount of insulin.

I am trying to get her ketones measured but it has been hard to catch her since she is urinating less (this is good and most likely due to her lower numbers recently). I think the vomiting is most likely a hairball she needs to get rid of (some of the bile had a clump of hair in it). She seems to be good otherwise, but I am keeping a close eye on her.

I hate skipping a dose because she was making good progress recently. Anything different I should have done here?

 

[Seth&Bell]

Update: she just threw up her morning meal, so I definitely think skipping the shot was the way to go.

 

[Seth&Bell]

Just to update this. Bell’s numbers predictably went back up today without the shot , but better safe than sorry.

Her appetite came back full force with those high numbers, which has been a pattern for her. She seems to feel pretty crummy (low low energy, low appetite, hides under the bed) when she gets some consistent blue numbers. I know that has been the experience for many folks here, at least until their cat adjusts to the new norm. Has anyone experienced the vomiting episodes with lower numbers with a new cat on insulin? I’m trying to gauge if this is something I’ll have to deal with in the future or if it is most likely some other factor. Really hated skipping that dose and resetting.

Thanks all.

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

No, a cat shouldn't be vomiting just because they're on insulin or their blood glucose is too high or too low.

If hairballs are a problem with your cat, you might want to try adding egg yolk powder to her food. You can learn more about it in this article about how to deal with hairballs. I made my own egg yolk powder using the instructions from that site not long ago. It's not at all hard but even though you bake it at a low temperature, you might not want to heat up your house unless it's a cool day!