Loss of appetite

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figaro

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My cat Figaro was diagnosed Diabetic about 4 years ago. He is 22 lbs. & looks just like Pinocchio's Figaro. Anyway, he is on Lantus, 4-1/2 units twice a day. He east the Diabetic Management food but for the past 2 days he will not eat that food. Tonight we gave him boiled chicken cutlet which he devoured, but I am afraid to give him his insulin. He ate about 2 handfuls of chicken. He gets so stressed if I take him to a vet. Last time he turned on my husband out of fear. Please let me know if anyone has had this problem and if so, do you think I can give him the insulin. I'm really frightened.

Figaro's Mom
 
Give us some more info.

Do you hometest? If so, do you have some recent numbers?

Is he doing anything else unusual besides not eating?

Generally, you do not give insulin to a cat that won't eat. But if he will eat chicken, it may be that he is just tired of the DM. Do you have some other wet catfood around you can try?
 
You're right to be cautious. Are you hometesting (testing the blood glucose levels)? That is the only way to be sure giving insulin is safe.

A lot of cats eat DM for a while but then stop. In itself, that is not surprising or alarming, especially since Figaro ate the chicken well. It may be time to find another food. There are much better (and less expensive) ones available from the grocery store or pet store.

Has Figaro been eating the dry or the canned DM? Read http://www.catinfo.org/ to learn about feline nutrition and why wet food is best.

Don't give 4 1/2 units before you answer these questions and get advice about how to proceed. We all want to keep Figaro safe.
 
You people are wonderful - thank you for answering so fast. No I don't home test, I tried years ago but it didn't work out. Since i have 2 other cats that I feed Fancy Feast to, and usually Figaro is very eager to "steal" theirs, I did try to give him some but he wasn't all that interested. He ate a little of that, but then he walked away.l However, when my husband gave him the chicken, he loved it.

what do you think

Figaro's Mom
 
Are you willing to try again to hometest? I think you need to do it, to keep Figaro safe. Otherwise, we are all just guessing.

Tell us where you are located (just city and state/province/country). There might be an FDMB member near you who could help you be successful with testing.

You haven't said yet, or I missed it: dry or wet DM?
 
He hasn't lost appetite, he's lost appetite for DM, which is mostly liver so I'm not surprised. Lots of cats do.

Fancy Feast, so long as it's not a "grilled" or "gravy" flavor, is one of the recommended foods for diabetic kitties. See Janet & Binky's list for more of them. If he wants to steal the other cats' food, that might work very well, but there's a good chance that 4.5 units will be too much so you may also need to start testing his blood sugar at home soon.


http://binkyspage.tripod.com/canfood.html Look for high protein, about equal fat, low carbs. (Below 10% calories from carbohydrate is ideal).
 
To be blunt, I would try hometesting again. We can give you lots of tips and advice to help.

Like - did you sure warm his ear? That's vital at first. Are you sure you are aiming in the right place? What size lancet did you use? (At first, the extra fine are too fine.) Is he difficult to restrain? (Have you tried the burrito method or the clothespin trick?)

The vet who frequents this site once compared giving insulin without hometesting to driving down the freeway with a bag on your head. I'm afraid it's very accurate.

For what's it's worth, if he were mine, I would skip the insulin tonight. That's a lot of insulin to give on an empty stomach. IF it is wet DM, get some more varieties of Fancy Feast, add Parmesan cheese, warm it up till nice and stinky, and try to feed him that. If it is dry, I would not change him over until you are hometesting. Wet lo carb food can really bring down bg levels.
 
Thank you all for replying. I will try hometesting again. For tonight, i am going to skip the Lantus. Hopefully, in the morning I will have better luck.

Thanks again I feel much better
 
Last time I posted I was having a problem with Figaro's appetite which is now very good. But it seems he was very constipated and we took him to the vet who gave him an enema and also checked his glucose. They said his gluclose was very low and I tested his urine with a glucose strip which had the red colors not the green and blue. I hope this is the correct one to test him. Anyway, it tested "negative". I got scared and did not give him insullin that night, but in the morning I gave him 2 units instead of his usual 4-1/2. The vet called me back to advise I should home test him (he can't go in to the vet as he gets traumatized) but it is not working out. We can't seem to get any blood out of his ear. He is black so I have to puncture the inside of the ear. What am I doing wrong. Help!
 
We can give you lots of tips over the internet. If you try those and nothing works, there might be a member who lives near you and could give you some hands on help. Post your city and state and we can see.

Do you warm his ear with a rice sack or a warm washcloth? Warm ears bleed much better.

Have you looked at his ear with a flashlight so you know where to poke: Where to poke You are aiming for the small capillaries that run off the vein which runs down the side of the ear. When you find the right spot, put a small smear of vaseline there. It will help you see where to poke and will help the blood bead up.

What size lancets? Some new diabetics need the larger gauge - 25 or 26. I had much better luck with my lancet once I took the clear cover off.

If you get a tiny amount, you can milk the ear to get more.

Sometimes one ear bleeds better than the other. Try both.

Tell us more about the problem you are having. Is it just that it won't bleed?

You are right. The way to keep your kitty safe is to know exactly what the insulin is doing. We can help you figure it out.
 
Thanks for your reply. We have tried rubbing the ear but nothing. We can't use the other ear. Figaro had surgery on that ear and we're kind of afraid to mess with it.l It's all scrunched up. Figgy's had his share of problems. Anyway, the lancets we used are "One Touch Fine Point Lancets (purple). We used the warm washcloth. I'm not sure what else to do.l
 
I would try the rice sack. Fill a thinish sock with raw rice, knot it and heat in the microwave until very warm but not hot. Hold it up next to his ear for 15 seconds or so.

The lancets should have a gauge somewhere on the box.

Do you want to tell us your city and state and see if someone lives nearby?
 
We tried the pad on his back leg - he was a real sweetheart and didn't budge, but there was not enough blood no readout on the meter. We will try tomorrow. We did use the ricesock. There was some blood but not enough for a read out.l Can you use the strip to test the blood after time lapses on the meter? Also we are concerned if we keep puncturing the pad on his leg, could he eventually get infection. How do you treat it after you puncture it?
 
Are you poking his leg or his foot pad? Some people use the foot pad, but not the leg. You just need to make sure his foot is clean.

Since you got blood from the ear, you might continue to try it. If you get a little blood, you can milk the ear, moving your finger from below where you poked toward the hole.
 
We got more blood by puncturing his foot PAD, not foot, more than we did with the ear. My concern is infection to the pad.
 
Go back to the main page of Health and in the left side corner you will see New Topic. Click on that and post in the subject Paw testing help needed. Any pics of Figaro? I adore Figaro in the movie......my kind of kitty. Glad he is cleaned out, feeling better and eating.
 
We paw test.

In the left hind paw. I also use a canula to prick with and not the lancets. I put him in my lap, then rub the foot pad with a cotton pad and also hold around it with pressure. That is more to prepare Simba for that now it is going to hurt some. I'll see if I can get some pictures up.

Here is the foot pad testing we do http://bluewaterlily.weebly.com/7.html


But one still have to be very gentle when pushing the needle through, and especially try avoid the middle, since there are nerves going there.
 
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