? First time Lantus - Cat behaviour?

[Hedwig and Stef]

Hey,

I would really like to hear stories from folks about their first couple days on lantus or insulin in general? I'm trying to figure out Hedwig's behaviour as she has seemed a bit off all day. Ate like a pig when I was trying to sleep and then slowly was not into food anymore, which is a problem as all of her medications must be taken with food and she has fatty liver disease.

Her numbers aren't dropping dramatically low or anything at all and she seems comfortable enough, but even her usual love of gravy laden fancy feast isn't, well, tickling her fancy. That is a concern. We're a week into a months worth of meds and I am beyond financially screwed right now due to having lost my job caring for my injured boyfriend after his accident. There is no assistance in the state of Oregon and I'm truly concerned about what I may have to be dealing with.

Has anyone else had any difficulties getting their cat used to or noticed changes like food consumption or generally acting as if they don't feel super well. I would correlate it with the fatty liver, except it seems to be directly happening after shot time. It's really strange. I'll ask my vet in the morning too. I have to give her Clavamox in an hour and I can't tempt her to eat.

 

[Critter Mom]

Hi Stef,

Some cats can get a bit lethargic in the early days of treatment while their bodies are adjusting to receiving the insulin. Even after they've been on the insulin for a while some cats can get a bit sleepy for an hour or so after their injections. Once the cat has been on the insulin for a little while - and assuming that the dose is OK - their clinical signs and overall energy levels should improve. If protracted lethargy and poor mood continue it may be that the particular insulin in use may not suit the particular cat but a change to another insulin may work well. Here's a recent thread discussing this very phenomenon:

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/...orse-symptoms-not-due-to-hypoglycemia.153310/

Any joy yet with getting Hedwig to eat since the time of your opening post? (Kinda hoping the insulin onset might trigger an uptick in appetite.)

I have seen a number of cats here who get appetite wobbles in the early days of insulin treatment. See if Hedwig's showing any signs of nausea and let the vet know:

Nausea symptoms and treatments

I've lost a cat to HL so I know how worried you must be right now. If Hedwig is showing signs of nausea Cerenia can kick in faster than ondansetron but if Saoirse's experience is something to go by it's not quite as effective as ondansetron for relieving nausea symptoms. It can take a few doses for the ondansetron effects to fully kick in. (NB: Zofran, the branded version of ondansetron is hugely expensive in the UK so might be the same in the US. The generic ondansetron is much cheaper here (one tenth the price of the branded drug) so if you need it I recommend asking the vet for an Rx for the generic.) Do you have any appy stimulant for Hedwig?

Here's another link with ideas on how to get a cat to eat:

Persuading your cat to eat

Simple things like raising the bowl and/or warming the food can be a great help. Garnishing the food with a dusting of crushed treats (preferably diabetic-friendly ones) can help. The 'sleepy eating' trick is also a good one to try. Also try to see if she'll eat a small amount of food from your hand (very useful when trying to ensure that food with meds in it gets eaten).

Re the financial side of things check out the thread with financial assistance links on the FDMB FAQs subforum.

Be sure to post an update to let us know how you two are getting on. Fingers and paws crossed in the Shire for Hedwig to get the munchies.




Mogs
.

 

[Hedwig and Stef]

Hi Stef,

Some cats can get a bit lethargic in the early days of treatment while their bodies are adjusting to receiving the insulin. Even after they've been on the insulin for a while some cats can get a bit sleepy for an hour or so after their injections. Once the cat has been on the insulin for a little while - and assuming that the dose is OK - their clinical signs and overall energy levels should improve. If protracted lethargy and poor mood continue it may be that the particular insulin in use may not suit the particular cat but a change to another insulin may work well. Here's a recent thread discussing this very phenomenon:

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/...orse-symptoms-not-due-to-hypoglycemia.153310/

Any joy yet with getting Hedwig to eat since the time of your opening post? (Kinda hoping the insulin onset might trigger an uptick in appetite.)

I have seen a number of cats here who get appetite wobbles in the early days of insulin treatment. See if Hedwig's showing any signs of nausea and let the vet know:

Nausea symptoms and treatments

I've lost a cat to HL so I know how worried you must be right now. If Hedwig is showing signs of nausea Cerenia can kick in faster than ondansetron but if Saoirse's experience is something to go by it's not quite as effective as ondansetron for relieving nausea symptoms. It can take a few doses for the ondansetron effects to fully kick in. (NB: Zofran, the branded version of ondansetron is hugely expensive in the UK so might be the same in the US. The generic ondansetron is much cheaper here (one tenth the price of the branded drug) so if you need it I recommend asking the vet for an Rx for the generic.) Do you have any appy stimulant for Hedwig?

Here's another link with ideas on how to get a cat to eat:

Persuading your cat to eat

Simple things like raising the bowl and/or warming the food can be a great help. Garnishing the food with a dusting of crushed treats (preferably diabetic-friendly ones) can help. The 'sleepy eating' trick is also a good one to try. Also try to see if she'll eat a small amount of food from your hand (very useful when trying to ensure that food with meds in it gets eaten).

Re the financial side of things check out the thread with financial assistance links on the FDMB FAQs subforum.

Be sure to post an update to let us know how you two are getting on. Fingers and paws crossed in the Shire for Hedwig to get the munchies.




Mogs
.

Hi Mogs!

Thank you so very much for the information. No one really told me the possibility that she may actually get nausea from Lantus. I wondered and that could make some sense. I actually do remember reading that thread, now that I'm re-reading it. I'll finish scouring it. Hedwig isn't too bad, I'm monitoring her like mad. So far it's like she gets food and her shot and then she crashes out a couple of hours. The evening seems a little harder initially but after a few hours, she perks up and meows at who knows. Perhaps, given all the meds and stuff... I also feel like she's being a bit traumatized by this whole ordeal. Hedwig is literally in every way so spoiled and I spoil her. Despite having a small needle, she feels it and I think perhaps she's a little confused to why I have taken a liking to what I am sure she views as torture. I feel tortured too, I don't know that she's quite so aware of that tho...

Hedwig did eat. Finally. In fact she's had about 7 oz of food since around 2 ish. I do recognize a pattern she has going on, so I shouldn't be too surprised. As you had an HL kitty too, I am sure your little one probably had some similar ideas perhaps? She eats in the middle of the night/wee morning hours with no problem, is in fact rather adamant about this whole gonna be fed thing. That's one. Also, she'll eat more in the morning in general up until around midday. Her meds had helped her appetite uptick initially, but I do suspect the addition of the whole insulin deal is making things a bit more, unappealing. Initially with ursodiol she looked as if she was going to be sick.

As for last night it was like witnessing that first day on ursodiol. I've never had her turn her nose up at as much as she did last night when I was trying to get food in her for clavamox. I've tried treats and everything, when she doesn't want it, she just doesn't. Her 'Princess Cat' collar could not be more fitting for her. Really. I may ask the vet for an appetite stimulant when I am there today. I haven't wanted to do anything more than I have to due to just simply having not much in the way of funds and honestly we start our 'med spread' at 9 am and it ticks on through the day ending at 12.30 am. I feel awful having to add anything else to the buffet unless absolutely necessary. Adding that no one bills here either, making it that much harder since all of her medications at this point total around or a bit more than 500$. It's also terrifying, I have no idea what I will do in an emergency right now.

With your little HL kitty, what were you having to do? Was she also on a load of meds? How did it all work out?

I have not tried any anti-nausea as she's been pretty good thus far (I am VERY lucky my cat tolerates nearly all medications so well, so far). I suspect if a medication is actually expensive in the UK, I wouldn't even be able to get it here. Cheap, the vial of Lantus was 300$. Which up until I lost my job was a bit under half my pay for the month. Her Ursodiol was 50$ on the generic side of things. The US is crap when it comes to medications, big pharm makes big bucks and runs a good chunk of this country. I do miss living in France for this reason. Here, well particularly right now in Portland, unless you are rich, good luck affording anything. It's pretty awful.

Anyways, thank you for asking/advising and checking on her. I suppose it's all in getting this down. Apologies for the lengthy reply, I'm tired.