Henry OTJ but elevated BG today, possible stomach bug?

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ramonaghan

ramonaghan

Member Since 2014
Henry's been OTJ since January 1 and has been doing great. He had a small meal about 3:30 this morning and another about 8 am (he gets 5 small meals a day). He had Friskies Special Diet Turkey & Giblets and then cleaned up after civvie Olive's Weruva On the Cat Wok (both diabetic friendly). At 9 or so I went downstairs and saw a huge pile of vomit and two smaller ones. I wasn't positive whose it was, but it seemed too big for what Olive ate. Anyway, Henry didn't bother me for lunch, which is very unusual. I offered him some of both options mentioned above, as well as some FF Classics Chicken, all of which he rejected. This is VERY unlike him. He threw up a little white foam after smelling the lunch options, so he's clearly nauseated. He also feels warm. I checked his BG with my Alphatrak and he's at 201, so something's definitely going on (he was at 87 three days ago). Should I take him to the vet or wait and see how the day progresses? I'm nervous about going into a weekend with him like this, but my vet is open a half-day tomorrow so I have some time. Should I be worried about bad food or anything else? Olive also declined lunch, but for her that's not unusual. She is acting normal, whereas Henry is acting off. He's purring and responsive to me, but just not himself. Should I give him 1/4 tab of Pepcid and see if that helps?
 
ETA: If this were happening to Olive, my inclination would be to see how she is tomorrow morning. But since it's Henry, I'm torn. I don't know if the diabetes means this is more urgent.
 
I would make an appointment for tomorrow just in case. Then you could aways cancel it if he feels better. There is nothing worse than having a sick kitty over the weekend.

If you have used Pepcid before and it has helped then you could try again. If he is still being ill you will went to get hold of either cerenia or ondansetron.

It might just be an off day. Has Henry ever had pancreatitis ?
 
phlika29 said:
I would make an appointment for tomorrow just in case. Then you could aways cancel it if he feels better. There is nothing worse than having a sick kitty over the weekend.

If you have used Pepcid before and it has helped then you could try again. If he is still being ill you will went to get hold of either cerenia or ondansetron.

It might just be an off day. Has Henry ever had pancreatitis ?
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No, he has never had pancreatitis. In fact, before the diabetes diagnosis, I can't remember him ever being sick with anything other than a cold. His blood work at the time of dx (late November) was all normal except for glucose. I only thought of Pepcid because that's what we gave our CKD cat years ago. I think I'll try it. My vet doesn't make appointments for Saturdays, but I will take him in if he continues like this. They're open until 7 tonight too. Thanks for your reply!
 
I guess I would continue to take his readings today and see if he perks up. Is it early where you are? It is mid evening here in the UK. If still not interested in food or water by late afternoon I would think about going to the vets I guess. It might be worth going to get some anti nausea and maybe some pain relief etc and to nip it in the bud early.

Do you think he regurgitated his food or vomited? Was the food still fully formed?

Would he accept a syringe of water?
 
It's just before 2 pm here. I bought some Pepcid and am about to give him that (can't remember ever having to pill him before either--could be interesting). I think he kept down his 3am meal, but regurgitated his 8am meal. When I found the vomit just after 9am, it hadn't started drying at all and yes, I could see food. I don't know how he'd do with a syringe of water, but I'll try if he doesn't improve shortly. It's very disconcerting to see my butterball boy reject a meal. :(
 
I hid the Pepcid in a bit of Trader Joe's tuna for cats, and in true cat fashion he ate the food and spit out the pill. I managed to get it down him, though, and gave him another teaspoon or so of the food, heavily watered down, since he seemed to like it. We'll see if he keeps it down. If he starts obnoxiously yowling for food in an hour or so, I'll know we're okay. Thanks again, @phlika29.
 
That's okay:) . Cats are so typical. They always manage to suss out where the tablet is and they always get unwell on a Friday or Saturday.

When remi grows up it often upsets him for the rest of the day. The key is to step in quickly if he doesn't bounce back. Cats can regurgitate food for any number of reasons but sometimes just eating too quickly or being constipated will do it. On that point could he be constipated? That can throw blood glucose levels.

I would continue to just feed little amounts and see if he keeps it down.
 
Check his BG about 2 hours or so after the time you gave Henry the Pepcid dose. When Saoirse needed it last year I found out through my regular testing that sometimes her BG would be a good bit lower not long after getting a dose of Pepcid. BTW, iffy food has caused nausea and elevated BG in Saoirse since she has become diet-controlled.

Do your vets have an out-of-hours number? If he's still vomiting this evening I'd be inclined to call for advice rather than wait till the morning, particularly because he has thrown up several times and also because it's so unusual for him.

I hope Henry feels better soon.
 
Henry has always bolted his food down, but he very rarely throws up (and when he does, it's usually a hairball). And he is Mr. Regularity as far as the litter box goes. My husband says last night when he scooped all looked normal, and this morning when I did I am pretty sure it was a Henry poo I scooped, since he never bothers to bury it! :rolleyes: At this point I am leaning toward "off day," and will do as you suggest and try tiny bits of food periodically. My only other thought is that he has previously rejected On the Cat Wok, which is why I was giving it to Olive, but he ate her leftovers and I wonder if the pumpkin in it bothered him. Nothing else I feed him has pumpkin listed as an ingredient; could he be allergic? Anyway, glad to have gotten some water in him, and so far he has kept the food down. He's currently snoozing in his kitty cube.

@Critter Mom, thanks for your input! I will recheck him in about an hour and report back. My vet doesn't have an out-of-hours number, but if he vomits again I'll give them a call. I'm hopeful since he's kept down the tuna that we've rounded the corner. We also live literally down the street from an emergency vet.
 
Is he sitting and sleeping in his normal position? I find that's a good indicator. Remi always sits differently when he is unwell.

To try to stop the eating too fast thing I spread remi's food over a wide surface area on a flat plate and feed small meals. That seems to help.
 
@phlika29 Yes, no "meatloafing" that I've seen; I remember that from my CKD cat. And snoozing in his cube is very normal for him this time of day--it's his afternoon siesta spot. I just checked on him and I think his temperature feels better too. He was so warm earlier, especially the ears (bright side: easy to get a test).
 
That's sounds good. I would check his blood glucose as Crittermom suggested and in abit try to give him more food with added water.
 
Well, good news and bad news: he emerged looking for food, so I grabbed a quick test before feeding him. 247. Ack! But then he ate a little Paw Lickin' Chicken (I thought that'd be gentle since it's just chicken in broth, but he stayed away from the chunks) and then a bit of watered-down Fancy Feast Chicken. He's purring, rubbing against my face, and acting slightly perkier (even groomed a bit after eating), but that BG number freaks me out. Been a long time since we've seen yellow.
 
He just came downstairs for food again, so he got a little more Fancy Feast. He's had maybe a quarter can now (.75oz). He started lip-licking at the Weruva PLC, so that was a no-go (let's hope he's not off all Weruva, because I have several cases and it's not cheap!). I left a message with the vet to loop her in and because I'm worried about his BG. Maybe the tuna earlier was a bad idea since I've read that others have seen fish spike the BG, but desperate times and all that....
 
Well it's good that he is eating again. Maybe he does have an upset tummy and this is just throwing his numbers. Hopefully others will more experience will advise on the numbers. It's good that you phoned the vet. I would not go into full panic mode yet, the main thing is that he is eating and acting happy again. Hopefully the better numbers will follow and if not then hopefully the vet will find a possible reason for it.
 
Making sure he gets food is the priority, Rachel. I know what you mean about freaking out seeing higher numbers again. :bighug: Fingers and paws crossed that it's only temporary. It's great that you have a vet so close by.

Adding water to meals helps with excess tummy acid. When Saoirse was really poorly with the pancreatitis last year, my vet advised me to keep her food as bland as possible for a while. It definitely helped her. For a little while all I gave her was frequent, very small meals of home-poached chicken breast and a 50:50 mix of the poaching broth and water to keep her hydrated. I minced up the chicken breast very finely (a few pulses in a mini food processor did the trick). Maybe something like that might help to settle Henry's tum?
 
Thanks to you both. @Critter Mom, did you give Saoirse the same dosage of Pepcid I'm giving Henry--2.5mg? Just want to make sure that's enough since I'm rusty with giving it and Henry's a hefty boy. (No call back from the vet yet, but she's probably dealing with the post-work rush right now.) He seems to be doing okay with the Fancy Feast; I'm watering it down to a soup-like consistency so he can just lap it up. I will buy some chicken to try that as well.

Should I be concerned about pancreatitis? I'm not sure what would bring it on or what to look for symptom-wise.
 
He was looking for food, so I tested again. At about 2 hours, maybe 2.5, after his last meal, he is down a bit to 215. Although I realize these numbers are still all within the same margin of error, I'm encouraged because I expected to see a spike. He ate another 1/4 can of watery FF--and almost with his usual gusto! I could tell this time he was well and truly hungry, though elevated BG could be contributing to that I suppose. Anyway, baby steps in the right direction.
 
2.5mg Pepcid is the dose that I gave Saoirse. It helped her with nausea but not as much as ondansetron (generic - branded Zofran is insanely expensive).

I hope that maybe all that's up is maybe something like Henry having a bad reaction to a different batch of food. If you've got more from the same batch it might be worth making a note of the batch number so that you don't feed it to him again. (I have to do that with Saoirse's food.)

With regard to pancreatitis, here are the IDEXX pancreatitis treatment guidelines. It contains great information on pancreatitis symtpoms, treatment, and management. Symptoms may include:
  • Nausea / inappetence
  • Vomiting / diarrhoea / dehydration
  • Pain (signs include 'meatloaf' crouching, tense posture, hiding, pulling fur from affected area)
  • Lethargy / depression
  • Abdominal bloating / swelling (pancreas is towards right hand side of body)
You could ask your vet to run a Spec fPL test to determine whether or not Henry may have pancreatitis if you wanted peace of mind.

I'm so pleased to hear Henry's appetite has picked up. :)
 
I spoke with the vet a couple of hours ago, and she wasn't overly concerned. She said to bring him in tomorrow morning if he still seems off, but his elevated BG is likely just a stress response to feeling unwell. She agreed with the Pepcid and thought it was encouraging that he was eating again.

BUT...since that call, he has thrown up the latest Fancy Feast. :( He is asking for food but won't eat anything much but the tuna, and I am reluctant to give too much of that. His BG is at 188. I made a note of the lot numbers on the two cans but since he kept down the 3 am Friskies and Olive ate the same Weruva with no adverse effects, I don't know that either is the culprit. I also noticed he shook his back leg a few times when walking across the kitchen just now. He's been in his kitty cube quite a bit today, so he could just be stiff--he's almost 12--but I wanted to mention that in case it's an indicator of anything. Other than that, he is acting fairly normal now. He's hanging out on the couch with us, still purring and asking for pets. He hates going to the vet so so much, but it looks like we'll be taking him in tomorrow.
 
Many older cats have undiagnosed pancreatitis because it doesn't really cause them any problems and the condition waxes and wanes with no obvious reason sometimes. I am not saying at all that his is what Henry has but it is just a possibility. Although flairs need to be treated on a day to day basis I find sticking to the same routine and finding a food that suits the best way to keep things stable.

If he is still struggling in the morning a trip to the vet is best advised. They could give him an an anti nausea shot amd /or give you some tablets to take home, etc.
 
Sorry to hear Henry vomited again, Rachel. :( From what I've read here I believe that Cerenia may be a better anti-nausea med when cats are vomiting than ondansetron.

Please let us know how Henry gets on at the vet.
 
Morning report: no vomiting overnight. Fed him about 1 T Fancy Feast Turkey & Giblets at 2:15 a.m. (I couldn't sleep; can you tell?) and then another at 7:15 a.m. It's now almost 9 and so far, so good. His BG just before the 7:15 feeding was 142, so I'm feeling better about that. He's definitely regained his appetite but still seems a little lethargic and not quite himself. So now I have to decide about the vet. My husband and I are both struggling with it because we've seen his BG jump 150 points there and the last thing we want to do is set him back. Olive is due for her vaccine boosters and annual exam, so we're thinking about taking her in shortly, speaking to the vet about Henry again, and returning with him if she thinks it's best.
 
That sounds very sensible. No vomiting and a lower blood glucose are all positive. The vet might be able to give you a a cerenia tablets in case of more vomiting.
 
Very glad to hear that Henry had a better night, Rachel, and that his BG levels are also improving. I know what you mean about the sleepless nights. Henry is blessed to have such a loving mom. :) I hope you'll manage to get better rest tonight.
 
I've thought of a couple of other pointers, Rachel. If you're not doing it already, try raising Henry's bowl. Also, another behaviour to look out for that may indicate digestive discomfort is if a cat tries to find a cool surface to sit on (e.g. preferring stone or tiled floors to wood or carpet).
 
Well, the vet's office was extremely busy this morning, so by the time we got Olive seen there was no time to bring Henry in had we needed to. The vet said to stick with just the Pepcid through the weekend and bring him in Monday morning if he wasn't better (and of course to take him to the e-vet if he seems to go downhill rapidly). She wondered if he got into anything, and I just can't imagine--Olive is the quintessential curious cat and also a chewer, so we're extremely careful about leaving anything out because of her, and Henry's never been all that interested anyway. When we got home we were happy to see no vomit, but shortly after eating his lunch, he threw up again. :( I can't find any rhyme or reason to why sometimes he keeps food down and sometimes not. I gave him some tuna water after he vomited and so far he's kept that down. Maybe he's over the worst of whatever it is (as indicated by improved BG), but his gut bacteria is still out of whack from it? Do you think FortiFlora or a teaspoon of plain yogurt might help? Several years ago, before we learned her ways, Olive got into something and had terrible vomiting and inappetance for several days; we had to give her sub-q fluids and tried multiple meds, and ultimately it seemed like yogurt was what finally "reset" her and brought her back to health.

I will also try raising his bowl; thanks for that tip, @Critter Mom. He's been on all his normal cozy surfaces--our bed, an armchair he likes, and his cube--so he's not seeking cool surfaces or any unusual spots. He's jumping fine and making it up and down the stairs fine (for a gentleman of a certain age, that is), so I don't see any signs of weakness. Such a puzzle.
 
Oh, and I had just given him the Pepcid maybe 30 minutes before he threw up...so no idea if that's still in his system at all.
 
Bit of a sprag about the Pepcid. :( Hopefully some of it will have got into Henry's system.

I'd be a bit ginger with the Fortiflora. It made Saoirse nauseated and there's another cat on this board that had similar problems with it. Has Henry had probiotic yoghurt before? I'm always super-cautious about giving anything to Saoirse. I did give her a little bit when I was nursing her through the latter stages of her pancreatitis flare last year after checking it was OK with our vet. It didn't have any obvious benefit for her but she ate it readily and it didn't make her queasy.

How much food are you giving Henry at each meal, Rachel? Maybe if you tried tiny amounts every hour or so with a reasonable amount of water mixed in that might help your boy? Here's a :bighug: for you. It's so worrying when our little ones can't eat properly.
 
Critter Mom said:
Bit of a sprag about the Pepcid. :( Hopefully some of it will have got into Henry's system.

I'd be a bit ginger with the Fortiflora. It made Saoirse nauseated and there's another cat on this board that had similar problems with it. Has Henry had probiotic yoghurt before? I'm always super-cautious about giving anything to Saoirse. I did give her a little bit when I was nursing her through the latter stages of her pancreatitis flare last year after checking it was OK with our vet. It didn't have any obvious benefit for her but she ate it readily and it didn't make her queasy.

How much food are you giving Henry at each meal, Rachel? Maybe if you tried tiny amounts every hour or so with a reasonable amount of water mixed in that might help your boy? Here's a :bighug: for you. It's so worrying when our little ones can't eat properly.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the hug--I need it! I don't think Henry's had yogurt or Fortiflora, since he's never had this issue before. I have the Fortiflora on hand for Olive to help with her transition to all wet food (though I'm not sure it's doing anything but making her insist on Fortiflora with all her meals!). I'll put those options on the back burner for now.

The max I've given Henry at one time since yesterday was about .75oz (1/4 can of Fancy Feast). That was what he vomited last night, so clearly that was too much too soon. I just worry about getting enough calories into him. I'll keep it down to about 1/6 of a can instead. He wants to eat, he cleans his plate, and he doesn't seem to be in pain (no belly sensitivity, no crying, no other telltale behaviors or postures), but for whatever reason he's just not keeping everything down. So I'd say we're improved from yesterday, but it's still troubling and frustrating; both times I've thought we're over the hump he's thrown up again. (Pro tip: Jute rugs and vomit are a bad combination! :banghead: )
 
There's definitely a place in the feline world for wood, stone, and tile flooring. ;)

Have you got any chicken breast, Rachel? Might be worth trying that plus the water and broth to settle his tum.
 
It might be less rich than a food containing offal. I think rinsing's a good idea (it'd get rid of some of the oil).
 
He wouldn't eat it. He ate a tiny bit of watery FF Turkey & Giblets, but only after I sprinkled some freeze-dried chicken crumbs on top. BG's back up to 246. I feel like we're repeating yesterday now. My husband is out now buying some chicken.
 
I've learned to trust my cat's nose a lot with nausea issues. I find the freeze-dried chicken sprinkles help a lot with Saoirse. I call them her 'kitty saltines'. As they are a dry food (albeit FD-friendly) they may play into the elevated BG a little, depending on how much of them you give. (Found that out one night when Saoirse couldn't eat anything else.)

I'll check back in a while to see how you're getting on. In the meantime, I think you could do with some more of these ...

:bighug::bighug::bighug:
 
Thank you again for the hugs and support. I had a nice little cry a while ago, but I'm okay now. I'm just frustrated and sad for my boy (not to mention feeling some regret about not taking him in earlier). He never displayed symptoms with diabetes other than more drinking and peeing, so it's especially hard to see him not feeling well now after he's come so far.
 
I really feel for you, Rachel. I found the food battles much, much harder to deal with than the diabetes side of things. All going well this is only a temporary thing, and Henry will be right as rain very soon.

:bighug: ((((((((((((((((((((Rachel and Henry)))))))))))))))))))))))) :bighug:
 
I am so sorry to hear your Henry isn't feeling well- there is nothing more scary than a vomiting cat :nailbiting::nailbiting: I have been dealing with this for months now, we are only now beginning to get some answers after many trips to the vet and ER.... My vet has been truly helpful in helping Tiger to feel better,now that we are on a first name basis! :rolleyes: Is your Henry constipated by chance? That can cause vomiting. Is he drinking water at all?

I am getting from skimming the post that Henry started vomiting yesterday? Did you notice if he seemed tense, with nausea building up, stomach contrtactions and definite retching with bile present? If so, that sounds like actual vomiting as opposed to regurgitation- where the kitty eats and simply upchucks undigested food, sometimes covered in slime, sometimes not. When a kitty regurgitates, they don't look sick, because there was no stomach comtractions. The food never made it past the esophagus, whereas, when kitty vomits, it is coming from the stomach or even the small intestine and kittie looks and feels really sick... :oops::oops:Sorry I'm not trying to gross you out, but I've been trying to get my Tiger's vomiting diagnosed for months now. The reason I'm asking is that I think you need to take Henry in to the vet, and your vet will ask for specifics. They should do bloodwork to look for infection and it looks like he needs something for nausea at the very least. When my Tiger had her first pancreatitis attack, I came home from the hospital with Cerenia, Bupe, Famatodine and Purina En- a very bland food, not too horrible for her diabetes, and I was able to gradually mix in her Wellness Core within the week. Your kitty may not have p-titis, you would see intense abdominal pain and vomiting isn't the primary symptom.

Pepcid will work to prevent stomach acid- it doesn't do much to help nausea. If stomach acid is present, the best time to give it is at night. Tiger gets hers at 4:30AM, you have to give it on an empty stomach, preferably an hour or two before meals. The other thing that works for us is Cerenia- I have the best luck giving it 2 hours before the AMPS meal. You may wish to try Slippery Elm Bark rather than Pepcid, if your kitty doesn't have stomach acid that is. Slippery Elm Bark is more like a gentle coating, it does interfere with absorption of other meds, but so does Pepcid and Pepcid stays in the system longer, affecting kidneys more.

I hope Henry feels better soon, if he continues to refuse to eat, I would get him to the vet, inappetance can turn bad very quickly. I am not trying to scare you unnecessarily, but our first encounter with inappetance and vomiting resulted in a 5 day hospital stay last April, I would never wish that on anyone. Hugs, and sending all the positive healing vines for Henry. Please keep us posted.
 
Thank you for your reply, @Tiger and Ruth! I'm sorry you've been through so much with Tiger and glad things are looking up for her. I'll try to answer your questions in order. I am pretty confident the poop I scooped yesterday morning was Henry's (which was normal). There's been nothing but pee today, but I wouldn't expect poop given the relatively little he's eaten. Henry has had water from the watered-down pate he's eaten, and some tuna water as well, but I haven't seen him actually at the water bowl (which is not unusual since his diabetes has been controlled). His skin elasticity seems good, so I think he's okay as far as hydration goes.

You are correct that he started vomiting yesterday morning. I have only witnessed the actual event once, and it is not the convulsing, tongue-out kind of retching. As far as what he's producing, I haven't seen any yellow bile or slime. To be honest it looks a lot like what it went in looking like--pate style food in brown liquid (which I did report to the vet today). Yesterday's vomit had some chicken shreds too from the bit of Olive's Weruva he ate, but he has refused shredded chicken since then. I *think* he has vomited within an hour of eating on all three occasions, maybe even within 30 minutes. So that seems to lean toward regurgitation. Yesterday there were also a couple of very small puddles of white foam, which is why I thought stomach acid and Pepcid. The vet obviously wouldn't rule anything out without seeing him, but she did say the same as you re: pancreatitis usually presenting with belly tenderness/pain. I do not think he is in actual pain; I just think he feels crummy. His symptoms are vomiting, sporadic inappetance, and lethargy. He's also obviously looking a little ragged on day 2 of this, but he is still responsive to us, he purrs, and he has mini-grooming sessions. This morning he even chased/attacked my hand under the bed covers, so I was really hopeful.

Today I gave the Pepcid right after he ate his last snack of watered-down Fancy Feast, so that was my mistake--I'd forgotten it needed to be on an empty stomach. I suspect he threw it up. Could giving it to him after a meal have contributed to that? Should I give him another dose tonight?

He just ate another small amount of FF Turkey & Giblets with a good amount of water. I did not even have to add the freeze-dried chicken sprinkles this time. He was very hungry, and I actually had to remove the plate a couple of times to slow him down. Fingers crossed it stays with him. It's clear he feels better with some food in his belly. The chicken is cooking, so we'll give that a go later this evening. It's strange that both days he's seemed worse mid-day and then regained his appetite in the late afternoon and evening. I haven't checked his BG again but will do that before the next feeding and report back.

Thanks for your good thoughts and healing vines.
 
Oh dear Henry, why are you stressing out your mommy?

Just keep trying with little watered fine meals. Remi has his plate raised and I also give him a couple of syringes of water each day to keep him hydrated. Are you giving 1/4 tablet once a day? I vaguely remember I used to give 1/8 twice a day. Nowadays I use Zantac 1/8 twice a day along with 1/4 ondansetron and always give eat least twenty mins before his breakfast or evening meal.

Looks like a vet visit is in order on Monday is you can't get him over the hump.
 
@ramonaghan Okay -That is great news that he pooped- and that he is hydrated-that is a huge concern and two less things to worry about. It sounds like he did regurgitate some food if you could not detect bile(which is yellow/orangish) however, the white foam is definitely vomit coming from his stomach. When was his last bloodwork done? It is also a good sign that he is purring and grooming, I do not believe he would not do that if he had p-titis.

I can't find it in this post, but did I read that the first dose of Pepcid AC was rejected? Is it possible he tasted it? That could make him vomit, or foam at the mouth. :oops::oops:Pepcid AC is horribly bitter- I have unfortunately tasted it. :eek: Once a kitty tastes it, they may devleop an aversion if it was served in a food. I have been successful using Duck Flavored Pill Pockets, but many on the CKD forum use gelcaps. You can also get it as an injectible at Thriving Pets. You should always check with your vet, but I would not give more than 2.5mg in a day. And if after a day or two if you see no difference, I would try something else.

I forgot to say before, if Tiger won't eat anything else, I always keep BeechNut Baby Food Chicken and Turkey with Broth on hand.

I will continue to pray for the return of Henry's health- and sending tons of healing vines !
 
@Tiger and Ruth, he had a dose of Pepcid yesterday which he kept down and it seemed to improve his appetite. Today he vomited shortly after I gave it, so it's hard to say whether it did any good. (@phlika29, you're right: 1/4 tablet once a day.) Last bloodwork was end of November when he was dx'd with diabetes. All was normal except for glucose. Of course that could change in 3 months, and we wouldn't hesitate to do another panel if this continues.

Better update: his BG is down to 150 (2.5 hours after last feeding) and he just drank a good amount of chicken water from the slow cooker and a bite of shredded chicken breast. If he keeps this down, that's three tiny meals in a row. He seemed confused by the raised dish and kept using his paw to knock the chicken to the ground. :) Good thoughts and healing vines much appreciated!
 
I found that mixing the watery broth 50-50 with water was a great way to keep Saoirse properly hydrated when she was poorly last year (saved her from the need for hospitalisation, too).

If you've got a good bit of broth, it's handy to pop some of it in the freezer so that it can keep Henry going for a few days. Also, I'd suggest putting the shredded chicken breast and the broth into the raised bowl. Henry might get the hang of it quicker then, maybe? Very glad for both of you to hear that he has managed to eat a little. Normally I'd suggest keeping that up, but I think this is a case of, "Keep it down, Henry!" :)

Sending a :bighug: for you, Rachel, and special tummy-settling scritches for Henry.
 
That's good news- eating seemed to bring down the bg, shows the pancreas is working! If you have extra broth- you can freeze it in ice cube trays and bring it out as needed. (NO onions or garlic right!!!)

He could have vomited if you gave it on a full stomach or if he ate too soon- it's not foolproof. I am going to keep Henry in our prayers- I hope he has a good night!
 
No onions or garlic--only water and chicken breasts went into that crock pot! I did put both the chicken and the broth in the raised dish, so I described it poorly--it was more like he was fishing the chicken shreds out of the broth. He dragged it to the side of the plate and then swept it onto the ground before eating it. He's also done that "food burying" thing some cats do where they paw the ground around the dish. That's new behavior for him.

He ate a weensy bit more of the chicken/broth and an equally weensy bit of Fancy Feast with freeze-dried chicken crumbles just now. (Again with the paw fishing thing, even with the FF.) Broth cubes are in the freezer; thanks for that suggestion. He seems a little puny, but he just jumped on the bed next to me, so I think I'll try to take advantage of some snuggling time. Good night, and thank you all again!
 
Morning report: Never have I been so happy to hear Henry's "hangry meows." He tried to eat like a little piglet at 4:30 a.m., but mean ol' mom wouldn't let him have too much. He ate again about 8 a.m. after his BG test (136). He tried to clean Olive's plate too. So, typical Henry behaviors are returning. No vomiting since lunchtime yesterday, and his coat looks much better today and his eyes are brighter. I'm cautiously optimistic but would love for him to pee and poop. Please keep the good thoughts, prayers, and healing vines coming!
 
Excellent- I was getting anxious to see your WCR- thanks for the update! Sending tons and tons more anti-vomit vines for your sweet boy Henry! But yeah, now it will be hard to prevent the scarf and barf- but it makes me so happy that he hasn't vomited
(anti-jinx anti-jinx anti-jinx anti-jinx anti-jinx...):joyful::joyful::joyful:
 
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