Just daignosed yesterday, won't eat or drink today and vet closed

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M

May

Member Since 2016
I have a four year old male cat that was just diagnosed yesterday with diabetes. On Thursday, I noticed he didn't seem his usual active self and by Friday night he seemed lethargic and I noticed he wasn't eating. I called the vet Saturday morning and they got us right in. He received his first insulin shot (2 units) at the vet yesterday. The vet sent us home with prescription food and insulin. He managed to drink about half a bowl of water yesterday, but didn't get any food in. The vet advised me to give him a shot at 8pm regardless of whether or not he eats, so I did. This morning, he also wouldn't eat and it didn't look like he'd taken in anymore water. Per the vets instructions, I gave him his morning shot. It is now almost 2pm and I don't see any improvements. He is still very lethargic and has not ingested any food or water. Of course, it's Sunday and the vets office is closed.

I thought I'd be seeing improvements in him by now. I was in such shock at the vets office after receiving the diagnosis, that I didn't have the presence of mind to ask how soon I could expect to see improvements. Do I just need to give the insulin time to work and once he's feeling better he'll eat and drink? Or, should I be forcing food and fluids at this point?
 
I know from experience that they need to eat, or you have a really serious issue. Too bad you weren't given syringes, but I have a vet food that I add some water to, and it mkes it nice and soft AND SMELLy. Maybe just getting some in a bowl and trying to "finger feed" him would work. I won't speak to the insulin issues without food, but I would think it would be better for him to have a little food in his belly regardless.

I get the Fancy Feast that I think will stink the most. lol And good luck and hopefully tons of helpful replies.
 
Wait a minute. What insulin is this? The prolonged lethargy could very well be that the vet told you to pump insulin into him when it doesn't have any sugar to act on, and the cats blood sugar is very low right now.
 
ProZinc is the brand name. From the box, "protamine zinc recombinant human insulin."
 
He won't eat the prescription wet food from the vet. Would there be any harm in trying to get him to eat tuna packed in water?
 
May said:
He won't eat the prescription wet food from the vet. Would there be any harm in trying to get him to eat tuna packed in water?
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Human tuna is fine as long as it does not contain any flavorings or additives esp. onion or garlic.

It would be prudent to check his urine for ketones, you can buy ketone strips at any pharmacy where diabetic supplies are sold. Any more than trace amounts is an emergency and needs ER treatment.
 
Give him any food that he will eat. Bring back the food to the vet the next time they are open and ask for a refund saying he won't eat it.

Fancy Feast, Friskies, Pet Smarts Grreat Choice, many varieties of wellness or any other low carb pate sytle wet food is fine for him to eat day to day.
 
Tuna did the trick!!! I poured the tuna juice into a bowl and placed it in front of him and he perked right up. As he drank that down, I finely mashed the rest of the tuna meat in a large bowl and filled it with water. He's been drinking that down too. I'm kicking myself for not thinking of this sooner. I didn't even think of offering him anything other than what the vet sent home with me because that was 'prescription' food - which I kind of thought of as also being 'medicine'. I didn't even get the idea of trying tuna until I started interacting with you folks on this forum. I can't thank you all enough for your advice and guidance. Having you as a sounding board was just what I needed to find a solution to this problem.
 
Welcome to FDMB!

Glad he ate the tuna! It's really important for him to eat. You don't have to feed him the "prescription" food the vet tries to sell, most of it isn't really good for a diabetic cat, anyway, regardless of what the manufacturers try to convince buyers of. Any OTC wet cat food that is under 10% carbs is fine. Here is a list of some of the most common ones:
http://www.catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf
The third column from the left is where the carb content is listed.

I don't know if your vet spoke with you about this or not, but we strongly advocate home testing out kitties' blood glucose levels daily; this is especially important before administering insulin. There is a pet-specific meter on the market called the AlphaTrak 2, but most of us just use an inexpensive human meter; the Relion meters from Walmart are pretty popular. This link will tell you more about home testing:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/

I know this is all a lot to take in, in a very short period of time, don't let it overwhelm you! Feline diabetes is a very treatable disease and you have come to the best place to learn all the tricks and protocols for keeping your kitty safe and healthy! Just ask any time you have questions, there's almost always someone around who van help!
 
Thank you for the information, it looks like I have a lot to learn. My vet didn't tell me anything about blood glucose testing, so I appreciate the link. I'm so grateful a for this community. I know I'll come here if I have any more questions in the future. In the meantime, I'll read up on glucose testing and poke around the forum some more to learn as much as I can.
 
May said:
I'll...poke around the forum some more to learn as much as I can
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One of the best ways to start learning, and also discover what questions to ask! :):):)

Could we please ask you to add some information to your signature? Things like your kitty's name, age, date of DX, type of insulin and dosage, type of food he eats, those sorts of things, that we can see when you post. It helps us to better help you when we can see that information at a glance. To edit your signature, hover your mouse pointer over your name in the blue bar at the top of the page (rt side) and in the drop-down box click on "Signature".
 
We also have a spreadsheet that we use, and would like to invite you to use, as well. It is incredibly helpful for tracking your kitty's BG, and recognizing patterns that you might otherwise not see. It is also a big help to us to be able to look at it if you need help or advice. I'm not at all tech-y so I can't help you set it up if you need assistance, but there are lots of folks on here who can practically do it in their sleep, lol, and will be glad to lend a hand! :)

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/
 
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