Help-- my newly diagnosed Cat will not eat

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Dusty09

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My cat was diagnosed with Diabeties Monday and got to come home after 4 days at the vet clinic (which is closed on weekends), but now he will not eat. I've tried all his favorites, plus treats, plus what I'm eating. He just isn't interested in food. I'm supposed to give him insulin twice a day after he eats, but do I go ahead and give the shots even though he is not consuming much of anything? I'm afraid I'm loosing him.
 
Can you tell us what kind of insulin and how much was prescribed?

Have you tried baby food? SOmetimes they need some jump starting to eat. If you have any little medicine syringes around that you could squeeze some in their mouth it'll get them going. You can ask for those at any pharmacy. Look like this:

http://www.calvetsupply.com/product/Syr ... no_needles

If any vet around, even an ER is open you could go ask for a force feeding syringe. You could puree some canned food and mix it with water to get that down to a consistency to syringe.

I also suggest highly learning to homestest. We have lots of videos and pictures under the Hometesting tips thread. You can do that with any human glucometer. I use the relion micro from Walmart because of price and ease of getting the strips.
 
I had used baby food in the past on another cat, but am scaried of the sugar content in the baby food. Should the insulin shot be given on schedule as instructed? :YMSIGH:
 
Dusty09 said:
I had used baby food in the past on another cat, but am scaried of the sugar content in the baby food. Should the insulin shot be given on schedule as instructed? :YMSIGH:
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Turkey, chicken or lamb baby food has no sugar in it. Again, what is the insulin and how much was prescribed? I would be leary of shooting insulin to a cat with no food and you having no experience BUT you said the cat was at the vets four days. Do you know did they say there were ketones? Do you have any of the notes from the vets? This information is important. Please let us know

1)What kind of insulin
2)How much and how often were you told to give it
3)did the vets keep the cat to treat ketones?
 
Dusty09 said:
I had used baby food in the past on another cat, but am scaried of the sugar content in the baby food. Should the insulin shot be given on schedule as instructed? :YMSIGH:
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Some of the larger baby food companies now have what they call "natural" baby foods that do not contain surgar. Look at the label, and try and avoid not only sugar but also salt, and onion or garlic.

Also, I agree with Karen, shooting without food and without hometesting to determine the BG levels is risky business. Please do provide us information on what type of insulin you have, the amount you've been told to give, and whether or not your kitty had ketones.

Hang in there! We're here to help you and your kitty!
 
I have to go out for a while. Please try to find that info. Just look at the insulin vial and the instructions to let us know about the kind and dose. I'll try to alert some others. If your kitty had ketones, depending on the insulin you may be able to shoot a little but really we need this info to help.
 
Hi and welcome.
I see some are trying to help. Do you have any more information you can
gives us.
We do not want you to lose your baby either.
When did he last eat and when was his last insulin?
Are you familiar with testing his blood glucose levels?
 
I brought Dusty home from the Vet Friday (9/17/10) at 5:00p.m. and he seemed perky and alert. Vet told me to feed him between 6:00 - 7:00 and give him his injection of PZI U40 (6 units) after he ate. Dusty didn't want to eat his regular food, but kept acting like he was hungry. Nothing I tried seem palatible to him( They fed him his own Hills Prescript C/D while at the Vet). Finally at 7:30 after coaxing and making him like wet food off his paw, I gave him the injection. He slept a little and roamed around all night. Thought it was just part of being back home, but he kept acting hungry. At 6:00 this a.m. I tried his regular food again, and again, and again. He would take just 1 or two bites and then leave. Got about 2 teaspoons of cooked chicken in him and then gave the shot at 6:45. But all day he has refused food, and just sleeps. Don't know if I should give the next shot at 6:30 as scheduled or wait until tomorrow morning to see if he will start eating (got baby food and several other wet foods to tempt with).
 
6 units twice a day is an huge amount of insulin. Cats are not diagnosed by weight as are dogs- our protocol is to start at 1 unit twice a day. It is possible that your kitty is in the middle of a hypo: viewtopic.php?f=28&t=15887 Please go wake him up and let us know if he is acting strangely at all.
 
Dusty, my cat used Idexx PZI before it was discontinued and 6 units twice a day seems like ALOT of insulin to give a newly diagnosed cat. Did/Does Dusty have other health issues? I'm going to post in the PZI forum and ask current users of this insulin to take a look at this thread. I'm sure they will have alot of great information for you. In the meantime, if it were my cat and he hadn't eaten much and I didn't have the ability to hometest, I wouldn't shoot 6 units of insulin.
 
I'm wondering if his blood sugar is too low right now, 6U is a lot for a new dx kitty. Do you think you could go to the pharmacy and get a glucometer and we can help you test his blood sugar?

Question to others posting on this thread - would any of you think maybe a little karo or syrup? I'm really not sure.
 
I haven't used PZI for so long, I really don't feel comfortable talking much about it. I have posted asking for experienced PZI users to take a look at this thread. Hang in there, Dusty...help is on the way!
 
I would be reluctant to suggestion syrup until we know more. I am anxious to hear if he is just sleepy or has other symptoms. Sure would be nice if she could get a bg level right now.
 
OK some good info! I'd still like to know if the vet said there were ketones if you have that information but with what you have so far given us:

6u PZI is a pretty high dose BUT if he is/has been on a dry food that may be part of the problem. Does he normally eat just dry?? I would venture an opinion that at home, he may be on way too high a dose because cats in a strange environment will "stress" sending blood sugar higher than it would be at home. I would not want to shoot that high of a dose, particularly on no eating. The only way I know for you to figure out really where you are at with dosage is to go out and buy a glucometer and learn to test at home. Some people do not want to do that, but it will be the only way to take out the guess work of what is going on. While you are there, I would look for ketone strips, which you can dip in urine to see if ketones are present. I know there are blood sugar urine testing strips but these will only tell you if there was a lot of sugar in the urine *hours ago* not what is happening now. Better than nothing but not that helpful for determining a present course of action. Most likely your vet did not address hometesting but it is more and more common, it CAN be done with regular human meters and getting a set of numbers over a period of 12 hours will be your best source of information on what is happening.

I would vigorously pursue getting him to eat. Get baby food. Get a force feeder syringe like I talked about earlier. Does he like canned tuna in water or canned chicken or deli chicken? Pick up one of those deli chickens for your dinner and see if the cat will eat it. I recently had great success with a friend's anorexic cat with bacon bits. It helped tremendously to get her eating wet food again, putting bits on top of the wet food. Is there anything he goes just nuts for? Get some and try to get him eating.

I hate to say anything about not giving insulin because it's not always best to give *no* insulin, but I sure would back off the dose especially with the limited food intake. The tricky thing about learning insulin is giving too much can 1) bring blood sugar dangerously low or 2) send it chronically high for a period of time before it comes crashing down low. EIther thing could be happening and you don't know without testing the blood sugar. (I know I sound like a broken record but that's just fact.)

I think you need to try to get him to eat before anything else. ANother thought is is he drinking? If he hasn't been again, syringe water. Dehydration makes you feel lousy and nauseated too.

I don't know what brand of PZI you have but most PZIs seem to work with a period of about 5 or 6 hours to the lowest blood sugar reading before it starts coming up again. It's not a huge fast drop, but I would be leery of dosing it on an empty stomach except maybe a very small amount.

Do you think you might be able to test his blood? There are some great videos here:

viewtopic.php?f=14&t=287

That would really help you figure out what to do. If you are at all comfortable with our advice, mine would be that for now, I would NOT shoot that amount of insulin. If you could get a BG (blood sugar) reading with a glucometer, it would tell us if you could consider shooting a small amount, which, if they are high, could maybe get him feeling well enough to eat better. Do you have anyone to help you? What city are you in? Maybe someone is near enough to help you learn to test.

I hope I am not overwhelming you but helping you to determine a course of action.
 
Thanks Karen & Pearl and Everyone for all your advise and prayers. Dusty has to eat C/D dry, but I suppliment that with a small amount of wet food at noon. And after reading everything, I may have not made sure Dusty ate a large enough quantity of food before giving him his shot, and thus spiked (or crashed not sure which way it is - still learning) his blood sugar.

I'm to borrow a BG monitor and strips later this evening when a friend gets home from work, and he is going to help take the reading. I"m not excited about trying the BG test, but think that with Dusty he is going to have to be monitored more closely.
As of right now, Dusty is grumply licking his paws removing Gerbers Baby food (gad I'd forgotten how bad this stuff really does taste). He stills seems extremely tired/sleepy, but I got about 3 teaspoons in him. I don't think I want to give him his injection tonight as I want to try to get more food into him for the next 12 hours. If missing 1 shot will not do damage, then I feel that its best to wait and get nurishment going.

Wow am I ever gratefull a friend who told me about this website. All of the advise has been a HUGE help. I had just about come to wits end without hearing all of you help. I'm going to go off line for a while to head to walmart to get more baby food and urine analysis strips to ck for ketones.

Dusty and I live in Sherman, TX, and as of yet have not been able to find anyone locally that can offer suggestions.
 
I think that is a good choice to not give a shot. SO FANTASTIC you are getting a meter! you can do this! He may not mind it nearly as much as you think. TWO BIG TIPS:

Try to warm his ear a little bit. Put a damp washcloth in a baggie and heat it just a bit in the microwave. It should be quite warm but not burn (you can put it on your own ear for a moment to test it). Just hold it on his ear for about a count of 15. Newly tested ears sometimes don't bleed that well and this will help. Also, I found out that usually when I didn't get blood in the beginning ( or even now) I didn't use quite enough pressure when I poked the ear. Testing yourself helps you figure out how much pressure to use. You have to do the same thing on the ear as wehn you test yourself and it dose require a little bit of pressure/push. I put my finger behind the ear and have almost never poked through. For me, that gives the most firm backing for the test.

I'm so proud of you! Keep trying to get that food down.
 
Glad to hear back from you. We were worried. Good that you will test for ketones. That will help you decide if it is safe to skip the shot tonight. As will the testing - so glad you have someone who has a meter and will help. I am still worried that he is so lethargic. Glad you will be getting a blood glucose reading.

Here is a website that will give you good info on hometesting: http://www.sugarcats.net/sites/harry/bgtest.htm and a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zE12-4fVn8 It doesn't always work the first time so come on if you have trouble. We all have lots of tips to help.
 
I believe Beech Nut is the baby food you want...contains NO onion powder. Onion powder can contribute to Heinz body anemia so check the lables for it.
 
Oh, okay, if you were closer I would suggest the vet school at Texas A&M - it is worth a long drive but you are too far, I think. I've driven 2 hours to get there, and would probably double that if needed, but you are probably more than 6 hours or so away. They have a great hospital for critically ill animals.

I probably would not encourage you to withhold insulin, but would urge you to not give 6 units to a cat that isn't eating. A token dose of half a unit or so may be needed if the numbers are high.

Encourage eating by putting cheese, tuna, whatever you can on the food.

I hope to see a good update on your sweet baby soon.

Pam & Layla
 
may I ask as to why kitty HAS to eat C/D dry??
my cat was on that too for crystals and such but as soon as I changed to an all wet lo carb canned food, he never had problems again. seeing as how I have 8 kitties here and $$ always plays a factor. I changed ALL my cats to wet food and they get get walmarts special kitty. turkey and giblets, super supper and mixed grill. fish on a rare occasion only.
welcome and congrats on taking the next big step. this will get so much easier as time goes on. you will be able to do it in your sleep. does not hurt kitty. remember breath and think calm thoughts so kitty does not pick up on any of your stress.
a treat after testing attempt is always nice. that way they have something to look forward to and treat them even if you failed to get blood the first time too.
job well done
 
dian and wheezer said:
may I ask as to why kitty HAS to eat C/D dry??
my cat was on that too for crystals and such but as soon as I changed to an all wet lo carb canned food, he never had problems again. seeing as how I have 8 kitties here and $$ always plays a factor. I changed ALL my cats to wet food and they get get walmarts special kitty. turkey and giblets, super supper and mixed grill. fish on a rare occasion only.
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I agree with Dian on the C/D dry. I know you have your hands full with just trying to get him to eat right now so if that is all he will eat then so be it for now.

But once he starts eating again, try to transition him slowly over to wet food only. The C/D dry is most likely why my cat (and many others here) became diabetic. Like most other dry foods, it is very high in carbs. A regular wet food diet will do wonders for his kidneys, bladder, etc. Here is Dr. Lisa's opinion on dry diets and diabetes:

http://www.catinfo.org/?link=felinediabetes
 
Just be aware that baby food and canned food has lower carbs than dry. Thus, with only baby food or canned food his insulin needs should be reduced. Thus do not him six units. To six units is even too high on a all dry diet.
 
The others have given you lots of info and help but here's my input.

1. Dry food, all dry food is bad for diabetic kitties. I would want a detailed explanation from your vet ;dwhy you HAVE to feed your cat harmful food.

2. A dose of 6units twice a day is too high a starting dose - it's a dangerous dose and the only thing I think that has saved your cat is that you are feeding dry food.

I would say it may be a good idea to drop the dose to 1u twice a day and then remove the dry food and feed wet low carb food.

Home testing is going to help you know how your cat is doing. You may see a number that is quite low so you would not give a shot. If you had not been testing, you would have given a shot and could have some serious trouble after a few hours.
Testing just before each shot is a good idea so you will know if it's safe to give a shot or not.

It's great you are going to be able to test with your friend's meter. Once you have tested, you can post the number here and people can let you know what it means.
 
dusty if you are borrowing a meter for the time being i can hook you up with everything you'll need to start testing. it's called a newbie kit. it's free except for the shipping fee.
if you look at the bottom of my post you'll see a link to newbie kits. just go to web store. i'm eager to hear how your kitty is doing tonight.
 
You kitty don't wanna eat probably because his system is pretty whacked out with all the changes. Aumi just went through that AGAIN when I ran out of Vetsulin and went to the vet and the stopped selling it. So I had to make an appointment and another day delayed until I got him in to see the doc. Prescribed PZI and back I went home after he got some blood drawn for a blood test and set out to fixed him back up.

This happened two other times. First time he go diagnosed and second time when I got his schedule all mixed up. When he gets sick because his BG gets really high he tend to not want to eat anything I give him yet he's asking me for food.

I feed him Beach Nut's Beef and Beef Broth, Chicken and Chicken Broth or Turkey and Turkey Broth. Use a feeding syringe. It measure about 2 tsp and you find it in the baby stuff in the pharmacy.

Feed him 1tsp for the first couple of days then 2 tsp after that and he should just jump back into it. You can try mixing in something very pungent like tuna or something into his food and see if he'll take that as well.

6u sounds way too much unless you got a lion for a kitty there. hehe. Get a home testing kit :) And read up on the articles here. Jump into the PZI forums for more details and stuff about your insulin. :)
 
I have an important question that I don't think anyone has asked yet----

What syringes are you using? (write down all the details from either the box, bag or syringe)

If you are using human syringes (U100) with pet insulin (U40), then the 6u dose is really NOT a true 6u because the concentration is different.
 
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