Lethargic and Reduced food intake

[Sarah and Baby]

My kitty, Baby, was diagnosed one month ago. I started her out on 2 units of Humulin-N and due to continued high water intake and high urine output, I increased her to 3 units about two weeks ago on my vet's reccomendation, and to 4 units one week ago due to no reduction of symptoms. In the last week, I have switched her to a diet of wet EVO food (about 1/3 can) mixed with 1/4 c taste of the wild dry food twice a day. When I switched to the taste of the wild dry food, she started eating around the dry food and even though i changed to a different dry food, her intake has dropped drastically, from eating all of her food very quickly to only eating about half of what I give her. She is still begging for food almost all of the time, however.

Baby has been pretty lethargic through most of this experience, laying stretched out on the floor most of the time. She no longer seems to want to get up on the bed with me unless she is begging for food. This morning, she woke me up with vomiting noises, although she did not actually throw up anything. When the vet checked her two weeks ago, she had no other problems than her high keytone levels in her urine.

I am on a very limited budget, and buying her cat food and insulin is eating up pretty much all of my resources. While reading through this forum, I got the idea that maybe I should lower how much insulin I am giving her, based on the fact that I have changed her diet. Does anyone else have any other ideas. Please help, I am really freaking out about this.

 

[Larry and Kitties]

I agree that ou should educe the dose. Like one unit. Also, I highly suggest that your learn to home tst so you know hat is happening to the BG so you can adjust the dose accordingly.

 

[Sue and Oliver (GA)]

High ketone levels can be very dangerous. I would be testing for ketones and getting her to the vet if she is in the higher levels. Here is some info on ketones and DKA (the condition they cause) ketones

The other thing you can do is start testing her blood sugars to get an idea of how she is doing with the insulin. It may be that she is too high or too low. Without testing, it is impossible to tell. Here is a video that shows you how we do it: Video for hometesting We have taught hundreds of people how over the internet. We would be glad to teach you.

 

[kse]

You are in a tough situation, without really knowing what is happening.

I would initially be inclined to think you needed to reduce your insulin dose, as you have progressed to a higher dose without a lot of testing to justify if it is warranted.

But, the High Ketone levels can be very dangerous. One of the main contributors to high Kentone levels is inadequate insulin supply. So, with ketones already being present at a high level, I would not reduce the dose drastically.

High Ketones can lead to DKA-- a very serious codition.

Good Luck

 

[Charliemeow]

4 units is a really high dose for only being a month into diagnosis. My concern is that the dose is too high and the lethargy and vomiting is a result of hypoglycemia. We can't know for sure without you testing at home, though. We have Lori & Tom who send out newbie kits. She can set you up with home-testing supplies only for the cost of shipping (about $4-5 depending on the amount of goodies she gives you). She'll include a glucose meter and strips, lancets, and usually a rice sock. The link for that is in the "sticky" section of the board, towards the top of all the posts. Home testing will help you get an idea of what is really going on with Baby. Obviously the ketones are a problem. It would be wise to buy ketostix from your pharmacy (cvs and walmart both have them readily available in my area). By testing for ketones in her urine you can find out if that is the cause of the lethargy. If so, she really needs to be in the care of a vet.

 

[Einstein's Mom]

I am totally with you here. My cat is also one month in, and same as you: TWICE I have found my cat heaving, but nothing comes up. I am absolutely certain it means something, but not even the vet could tell me. I would really like to know what the significance is, but I also think it means very low blood sugar levels. When I woke up to my cat heaving, I immediately gave him some food, and he was 100% fine after he ate. Try reducing his insulin and test his blood sugar to be sure. (I'm still learning how to do it properly too...)