Feeding help needed

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Linda & Elvis

Linda & Elvis

Member Since 2018
Elvis won't eat more than a mouthful of food every two hours. She was diagnosed yesterday with a bg of 525 at the vet's. She's 18, and for more than a month has been suffering from possible IBD, or maybe lymphoma, with diarrhea that's just recently gotten better. Friday her appetite dropped, and I wound up feeding her by hand every two hours through the night. Saturday morning we went to the vet, she got fluids which seemed to make her feel better, and last night she got 2 units of Lantus.

Last night was the same - she asked for food every two hours, only ate a small amount each time.

I gave her the Lantus again this morning because she ate a tablespoon or two of watered down wet food (she will only eat wet if it's soupy) and a few Temptations treats.

Her behavior hasn't changed - she's been napping, just got up and wanted food but turned her head away from the wet, and ate a few treats.

I'm exhausted, and I'm scared for her - she's been through so much already and lost so much weight.

I have not tested her because the meter I got from the vet had expired test strips. I went to two vets in the neighborhood that are open today & neither had strips to sell me.
 
Is it possible she’s nauseous? If so ask the vet about an anti nausea med. if she’s not nauseaous, maybe an appetite stimulant. I have a sick kitty right now that wouldn’t eat. I opened so many cans trying to entice him, then finally found one he likes and he’s eating it up, so maybe try some other foods. Here are some other suggestions that may help
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/suggestions-on-how-to-stimulate-kittys-appetite.130770/
If not, you could try syringe feeding. Sometimes that helps get them going.
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/

ETA forgot one
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/the-liver-shake-for-sick-cats.30432/
 
I think she is - the ways turns her head. I wish I'd gotten medication yesterday! Off to the store to get more brands
 
Has she been a dry food cat for most of her life? If so, it's going to take time to move her over to a wet diet. Any cat definitely will not change their eating habits over night and it's often the most frustrating part of caring for a diabetic cat.

There also isn't anything necessarily wrong with a cat eating frequent small meals, so long as you know they're getting the right amount of calories. An 18 year old cat won't need as much food as a younger cat. And it's okay to give Lantus even if they only eat small amounts. It's not a harsh insulin that needs to be curbed with food like Novolin. So try not skip injections. 500 is really high and it will be in her best interest to get that down ASAP
 
Butterball said:
Has she been a dry food cat for most of her life? If so, it's going to take time to move her over to a wet diet. Any cat definitely will not change their eating habits over night and it's often the most frustrating part of caring for a diabetic cat.

There also isn't anything necessarily wrong with a cat eating frequent small meals, so long as you know they're getting the right amount of calories. An 18 year old cat won't need as much food as a younger cat. And it's okay to give Lantus even if they only eat small amounts. It's not a harsh insulin that needs to be curbed with food like Novolin. So try not skip injections. 500 is really high and it will be in her best interest to get that down ASAP
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I won't skip injections, but I did give her only 1 unit instead of 2 last night and this morning, because I was worried about her eating so little. i won't be home today to watch her. I hope that was the right thing to do
Years ago I switched her sisters from dry & wet to wet exclusively (with dry as a treat, I'll confess) but Elvis refused to eat wet. Our compromise was watering it down until it's soup - she'll lick it up like that. But she'd never eat enough of it so I let her have dry food on top of that. And now I'm just worried because she's lost so much weight , and is dealing with another condition as well.
 
Dramatic weight loss is a symptom of hyperglycemia. She will put it back on once she's regulated

It's going to take quite a bit of patience and practice to get an 18 year old cat off of dry and onto wet. I'm still having occasional struggles with 13 year old Rocky months after his diagnosis when I switched him to all wet. I would just try every kind of food you can until you find something she agrees with. All different kinds of textures and flavors. Have you tried feeding her some deli meat or chicken or something? Give her some extra protein and something to stimulate her appetite. Sometimes I have to sprinkle some dry into Rocky's wet when he's' being stubborn
 
Elvis & Linda said:
Really? 3 years? these say 2015.
I bought another meter yesterday but couldn't get the strip to go with them - if the alphatrak strips could work ill try them now
Click to expand...
If you have control solution you can test them. I've had 3 or 4 year old strips(human meter) from unopened containers that fell within range of the test solution. There's actually a lot of YouTube videos on the subject.
 
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