Loki not eating and acting sluggish

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Kiel

Member Since 2016
Our cat Loki has not been himself the last couple days. We have been giving him 3 units of lantus twice a day like we have been for months. We had to give him a shot about 17 hours instead of 12 due to a situation beyond our control where we were not home. This was about 4 days ago. So we have just kept the routine with that time 6:30 am and 6:30 pm. He seemed fine the first day and now is lying in odd spots he normally doesn't lay down in. He also hasn't been eating as much as he normally does nor does he come running when it is time. He stopped eating like usual about 2 1/2 days ago and into this morning. He also makes a sound we have never heard him make, kind of a quiet squeak when we went to pick him up a couple times. This morning he wouldn't eat right away but after some coaxing he ate about half of what he normally does. I only gave him 2 units because i was worried 3 would be too much without as much food as he normally eats. We have a Reli-on confirm meter from walmart with 30g lancets. We are planning on testing ASAP. I am going to look around on here for more information on that and any tutorials as well.

Does anyone have any suggestions or ideas as to why our big guy is acting this way all of a sudden. We are taking him to the vet tomorrow because unfortunately our's is not open on Sunday.

Thank you in adavance!

Kiel
 
I have to go out now and can't stay on, but the #1 thing that I am afraid of from your description is ketones. Ketones can develop rapidly, and full-blown diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is very serious. You can test for the presence of ketones using urine dipsticks (available in human pharmacies with the other diabetic supplies); anything above "trace" needs immediate vet attention, at an ER vet if necessary.

Other possibilities are constipation or urinary blockage (is he pooping and peeing normally?), pancreatitis (painful in the abdominal area, might be why you got that squeak), or of course it could be something related to his blood sugar (too high or too low)-- plenty of folks here can give you tips on testing. If you go out for the ketone sticks, pick up some larger size lancets (26 or 28 gauge, marked for "alternate sites")-- easier to get a blood drop when you first are starting out. Knowing where the BG is right now will help figure out what might be going on.

In general, a cat that hasn't eaten for a couple days is at risk of serious health issues (DKA, but also hepatic lipidosis), so this is close to an emergency situation already (it's good that he's still eating something).

Sorry to have to run, hopefully more folks will chime in soon (it is relatively quiet here on weekends, but there should be people around to offer help and advice). I hope your boy Loki is feeling better soon!
 
Nan & Amber said:
I have to go out now and can't stay on, but the #1 thing that I am afraid of from your description is ketones. Ketones can develop rapidly, and full-blown diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is very serious. You can test for the presence of ketones using urine dipsticks (available in human pharmacies with the other diabetic supplies); anything above "trace" needs immediate vet attention, at an ER vet if necessary.

Other possibilities are constipation or urinary blockage (is he pooping and peeing normally?), pancreatitis (painful in the abdominal area, might be why you got that squeak), or of course it could be something related to his blood sugar (too high or too low)-- plenty of folks here can give you tips on testing. If you go out for the ketone sticks, pick up some larger size lancets (26 or 28 gauge, marked for "alternate sites")-- easier to get a blood drop when you first are starting out. Knowing where the BG is right now will help figure out what might be going on.

In general, a cat that hasn't eaten for a couple days is at risk of serious health issues (DKA, but also hepatic lipidosis), so this is close to an emergency situation already (it's good that he's still eating something).

Sorry to have to run, hopefully more folks will chime in soon (it is relatively quiet here on weekends, but there should be people around to offer help and advice). I hope your boy Loki is feeling better soon!
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Thank you for the quick reply. We are currently at an Emergency Vet where he is getting blood work done to check him out and for organ problems and DKA.
 
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