Lost appetite...is this normal

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Buffy-&-Cindee

Buffy-&-Cindee

Member Since 2014
Hi...Buffy's only been on insulin since Friday night and she's been eating normally. Today, her numbers are lower than they've been but she seems to have lost her appetite. She's still eating but half as much. Is this normal behavior?

Cindee
 
I did notice a slight decrease in remi's appetite as his numbers became more regulated and his body was making better use of the food it was getting. I see that Buffy's starting to get blues. Does she seem okay in herself otherwise? He isn't licking his lips or sitting in the meatloaf position?

However as I am sure you have read you need to make sure he does eat so he can carry on getting his insulin and also to help ward off ketones. Have you managed to test him for ketones yet? I know you were going to try.

Has he recently changed to wet food? There are various things you can try that might help him to eat. BJM has a great list but I can't remember what it is! You can try warming the food for one thing. I am sure others will pop on with suggestions.

I meant to suggest yesterday that you join either the relaxed lantus or tight regulation sub forums if you haven't already.
 
Reduced appetite is pretty normal but it's important that she eats something. A cat not eating for ~2 days is a medical emergency because they can develop fatty liver disease. Try to make the food as appetizing as possible (mix food with a little hot water to make it smell strong, cover in treats, etc.) As long as she's eating at injection time, don't stress if she eats less, that happens when they start getting regulated.

Lor
 
phlika29 said:
I did notice a slight decrease in remi's appetite as his numbers became more regulated and his body was making better use of the food it was getting. I see that Buffy's starting to get blues. Does she seem okay in herself otherwise? He isn't licking his lips or sitting in the meatloaf position?

However as I am sure you have read you need to make sure he does eat so he can carry on getting his insulin and also to help ward off ketones. Have you managed to test him for ketones yet? I know you were going to try.

Has he recently changed to wet food? There are various things you can try that might help him to eat. BJM has a great list but I can't remember what it is! You can try warming the food for one thing. I am sure others will pop on with suggestions.

I meant to suggest yesterday that you join either the relaxed lantus or tight regulation sub forums if you haven't already.
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No meatloaf position or lip licking but she seem just a bit off, like she's not being quite as social as usual. I've been gone most of the day, so I haven't seen her pee, so no ketone testing. She's always eaten only wet food. I give her either raw (Rad Cat) or Wellness. She just doesn't seem very interesting in eating, although she did eat about a half a jar of baby food. I even tried to entice her with Fancy Feast Classic Chicken. She ate about a teaspoons and that was it. I'm hoping she's just not hungry. I'll know better by morning. I noticed tonight that she was walking a little bit on her hocks which I've never seen her do before. Just a little, but that's completely new. Odd since her numbers are going down.
 
Lori&Scout said:
Reduced appetite is pretty normal but it's important that she eats something. A cat not eating for ~2 days is a medical emergency because they can develop fatty liver disease. Try to make the food as appetizing as possible (mix food with a little hot water to make it smell strong, cover in treats, etc.) As long as she's eating at injection time, don't stress if she eats less, that happens when they start getting regulated.

Lor
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She did it a little bit. This morning she ate normally but by the evening she just didn't seem interested. I gave her baby food and she did eat that, also a little bit of Fancy Feast. It's hard not to stress since this is all so new, but I'll just keep an eye on her. It's only been 3-1/2 days and I expected there would be some changes, I just didn't really know what to expect. Knowing that this is common helps. Thanks!

Cindee
 
Walking on the hocks could indicate Diabetic neuropathy. This will cause a weakness in the legs and loss of endurance. The best remedy for that is a dose of Zobaline once a day. I order mine from a company called Life Link.
All you do is crush one tablet and mix it in the wet food. It has worked wonders for many cats.
 
Thank you...I'll make a note of that. I've not seen this in her until now. She walking normally this morning but still not hungry. I have to wait another 45 minutes (9:30) before I can feed her. My husband normally feeds her in the morning but he said she didn't eat anything this morning so she should be hungry by the time I feed her. I hope.
 
My cats remi's back legs got worse after his numbers started to improve. I was always puzzled by this. It turned out that he had low potassium and Mel explained to me that diabetes can cause low potassium (or maybe the insulin brings it on, I forget) and this can cause weakness in legs. I got it checked out at the vet and indeed his levels was slightly low and so I was advised to start supplementation. Once on it his leg weakness improved and I noticed so did his appetite. Maybe it might be worth getting Cindee checked out at the vets. They did a kidney panel and that included potassium.
 
phlika29 said:
My cats remi's back legs got worse after his numbers started to improve. I was always puzzled by this. It turned out that he had low potassium and Mel explained to me that diabetes can cause low potassium (or maybe the insulin brings it on, I forget) and this can cause weakness in legs. I got it checked out at the vet and indeed his levels was slightly low and so I was advised to start supplementation. Once on it his leg weakness improved and I noticed so did his appetite. Maybe it might be worth getting Cindee checked out at the vets. They did a kidney panel and that included potassium.
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Thank you for this valuable info. I left a message for my vet so when she calls me back I'll tell her about it. Luckily Buffy is walking normally today.

Cindee
 
A lot of these tips in vet Dr. Lisa Pierson's article onTransitioning Dry Food Addicts also work for a cat not eating much.

Heating up the food makes it smell more which can entice your kitty to eat.
Some sort of tasty topping on the food like Halo Liv-a-Little Freeze Dried Chicken Treats may tempt your kitty.
Lots of other tips to try in that article I mentioned.
 
Deb & Wink said:
A lot of these tips in vet Dr. Lisa Pierson's article onTransitioning Dry Food Addicts also work for a cat not eating much.

Heating up the food makes it smell more which can entice your kitty to eat.
Some sort of tasty topping on the food like Halo Liv-a-Little Freeze Dried Chicken Treats may tempt your kitty.
Lots of other tips to try in that article I mentioned.
Click to expand...

Thanks! My spoiled darlings always have their food warmed. LOL If they get finicky, I top it off with a little bit of Gerber's baby food meat or dehydrated chicken. They love Forti Flora too.

Buffy was interested in eating her dinner tonight. She didn't eat a lot, but she ate, willingly. I'd prefer that she be hungry when it's time for her shot at 9:30. Her numbers are down again today. Yay!

Cindee
 
Buffy-&-Cindee said:
Thanks! My spoiled darlings always have their food warmed. LOL If they get finicky, I top it off with a little bit of Gerber's baby food meat or dehydrated chicken. They love Forti Flora too.

Buffy was interested in eating her dinner tonight. She didn't eat a lot, but she ate, willingly. I'd prefer that she be hungry when it's time for her shot at 9:30. Her numbers are down again today. Yay!

Cindee
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Keep on eating Buffy sweetie! We want you strong and healthy to help you get better from this sugardance.

Cindee, your preference for your "spoiled darlings" to be hungry before the insulin shot is one reason for meal feeding instead of free feeding. It can be easier to get a cat to eat if you are using their natural hunger drive when it's time to eat. It's probably one of the reasons vets like diabetic cat owners to only feed twice a day. But, our experiences here indicate that more frequent small meals can help to "even out" the BG (blood glucose) levels.

You do what you can with your busy life and work schedule. It can take a bit of trial and error, to find what works best for you.

p.s. Spoiled? Sounds to me like they are simply very loved. I was swarmed by my 3 kitties last night while attempting to eat my dinner of rotisserie chicken. Mine love that chicken from my local grocery store and will try to steal it off my plate. Sometimes it gets so intense, I'm not sure who's getting the next bite, little Dancer, Monet, Wink or ME!!!!
 
Good job getting those nadirs - those are the numbers that tell you how well a dose is working.

You might see if she is interested in playing a bit. Sometimes that will perk up the appetite - it triggers the hunt, catch, kill, eat, groom, sleep behavior cycle in cats.
 
Deb & Wink said:
Buffy-&-Cindee said:
Thanks! My spoiled darlings always have their food warmed. LOL If they get finicky, I top it off with a little bit of Gerber's baby food meat or dehydrated chicken. They love Forti Flora too.

Buffy was interested in eating her dinner tonight. She didn't eat a lot, but she ate, willingly. I'd prefer that she be hungry when it's time for her shot at 9:30. Her numbers are down again today. Yay!

Cindee
Click to expand...

Keep on eating Buffy sweetie! We want you strong and healthy to help you get better from this sugardance.

Cindee, your preference for your "spoiled darlings" to be hungry before the insulin shot is one reason for meal feeding instead of free feeding. It can be easier to get a cat to eat if you are using their natural hunger drive when it's time to eat. It's probably one of the reasons vets like diabetic cat owners to only feed twice a day. But, our experiences here indicate that more frequent small meals can help to "even out" the BG (blood glucose) levels.

You do what you can with your busy life and work schedule. It can take a bit of trial and error, to find what works best for you.

p.s. Spoiled? Sounds to me like they are simply very loved. I was swarmed by my 3 kitties last night while attempting to eat my dinner of rotisserie chicken. Mine love that chicken from my local grocery store and will try to steal it off my plate. Sometimes it gets so intense, I'm not sure who's getting the next bite, little Dancer, Monet, Wink or ME!!!!
Click to expand...

Luckily I work at home so I have the luxury of feeding them three times/day. That's been their normal schedule. With Buffy, the only thing that's changed for her is the testing and the shot. As of today, I can say it seems like it's smooth sailing. Her numbers are coming down nicely and her appetite came back this morning. She's acting completely normal.

They are very loved...and very spoiled. :mrgreen: Sounds like yours are too. Too funny about the chicken, lucky cats.
 
BJM said:
Good job getting those nadirs - those are the numbers that tell you how well a dose is working.

You might see if she is interested in playing a bit. Sometimes that will perk up the appetite - it triggers the hunt, catch, kill, eat, groom, sleep behavior cycle in cats.
Click to expand...

Her numbers are looking very good. I'm so pleased that they're now coming down steadily, and staying down.

I had two sets of numbers this morning. Reason being, my vet wanted me to use the AlphaTrak so I bought it in addition to the FreeStyle Lite. This morning was the first time I used the AlphaTrak. The difference was not that much:

AlphaTrak: 165
FreeStyle Lite: 154
 
Enough said...just multiply by 16 for our house ohmygod_smile ohmygod_smile :lol: :lol:

Mel and The Fur Gang
 

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