Hi. Kitten had to be rushed to the hospital to have her etube removed. It was bleeding at puncture site and she was in pain. I have an appetite stimulant incase she stops eating, but she was eating great on her own the past week . I think her asthma issues are worsening. She is lying half meatloafed and I have to give insulin at 9am. It seems dangerous with her not eating before and after. She had a nausea shot last night that lasts for 24 hours. But, I just heard a stomach burp. I dont know what to do... She is stressed to the max
Lynn and Kitten/ not eating.. Give insulin?
- Thread starter Katlyn
- Start date
- Status
I just posted update on the health board with a 911. Kitten vomited at 6pm. She also vomited at the hospital last night when I rushed to have her etube removed because it was hurting her. She has been eating fine until yesterday..very well actually that I had slowed back the etube feedings considerably. I gave her Cerenia at 6pm. She has been on Ondansetron for two weeks. She has consistently been queasy and a little burpy/stomach gurgle. But she was on alot of meds and coming off a near death DKA experience and hospital stay. She also had to be on Pepcid. I am afraid of the fatty liver that her specialist is doom and gloom about constantly and with good reason I realize. I am going to ask the FAF board for help. Her last three doses of Lantus were not her usual time. Could this be a part? When should I offer her food? her vitals and exam at hospital last night were fine ,but then again her doctor did not seem the least concerned she had vomited in his office. Just gave a shot of anti-nauseau and sent her home. she has been napping most of day in her new bed but responsive with me. She had a little FF classic today which she has not really been eating in her diet. I am staying calm so I can do the right thing. I have the "vomit meds' and she was just seen last night. Her fructosamine level came back this week about mid 300's and her electrolytes were excellent. So what gives? Why the vomiting and lack of interest of food and/or vice versa?BJM said:
Lynn --
Do you have any BG test data? With a cat that's got a history of DKA, BG numbers are important to know since it's not wise to suggest skipping a shot. Your SS is blank and I don't recall Kitten's dose. Has Kitten used the litter box and have you gotten a ketone test today?
Could you try offering Kitten baby food. If you've not used this before, you need a food that is just protein and broth -- no veggies. Baby food is easy to digest and many cars really like it. I would not push large amounts of food. Try small amounts, a teaspoon or two, but offer it frequently -- like every hour or so. You may want to try to finger feed.
Do you have any BG test data? With a cat that's got a history of DKA, BG numbers are important to know since it's not wise to suggest skipping a shot. Your SS is blank and I don't recall Kitten's dose. Has Kitten used the litter box and have you gotten a ketone test today?
Could you try offering Kitten baby food. If you've not used this before, you need a food that is just protein and broth -- no veggies. Baby food is easy to digest and many cars really like it. I would not push large amounts of food. Try small amounts, a teaspoon or two, but offer it frequently -- like every hour or so. You may want to try to finger feed.
okay... it is almost two hours after she vomited. she is eating food . I called the hospital and the doctor said I could give her Zofran dose even though I gave her Cernia also. I have instruction for the insulin dose tonight from the hospital doctor..waiting to see if she vomits her food and going to test her urine and do an ear prick much later... that stresses her and may make her vomit...playing it by ear
Kitten is playing and grooming herself now. She tested negative for ketones today. She is on Lantus 1.5 U twice a day. Her Fructosamine test was in mid 300's this week. Kitten has been wanting to puke since she came home from the hopistal two weeks ago. It is only thru anti-vomit meds and me going slow around the clock with food that has kept her from vomiting. It finally happened. There was the emergency etube removal last night and her first vomit. She was in pain from it. I think the DM food is making her sick. She has always reacted badly to it. But I cannot change the diet/carb rate without adjusting the insulin. I have a script for diif wet diabetic food she she hates the wet DM from being fed thru etube with it. Kitten is eating now and acting normally. I gave her Zofran with ok from doc at hospital even though I gave her cerenia. She seems better. I am to give half a dose if she vomits this food up again. I will be monitoring her all night. I have babyfood too. Why is she wanting to puke all the time. No doctors seem to think this is an issue??Just told me to push more food on her...yeah okay. i will post update. i will try an ear prick when she settles down . stress worsens nausea for Kitten...sigh Kitten had a good BM and peed a few times...Sienne and Gabby said:
Lynn --
DM is not magic. If you're worried about the carbs, feed a better food that's the same amount of carbs. The DM is 3%. You can feed Fancy Feast Classics are mostly 4% as is Wellness. They are better quality foods and ones that Kitten doesn't have an aversion to. My vet and I had a discussion about prescription diets. She backed down on the issue when I pointed out that the prescription stuff was poorer quality (i.e., animal by-products) and in some instances (like with the Hill's prescription diabetic diet) lower in carbs than commercially available food which also cost a lot less. She stopped pushing the prescription food. There are very few people here who feed prescription food. The best food for a diabetic cat is a low carb food that the cat will eat. Get food into Kitten and you can deal with the vet's issues about what you're feeding later.
Right now, you need to stay calm so Kitten will be relaxed. No one likes to eat when they're stressed out.
DM is not magic. If you're worried about the carbs, feed a better food that's the same amount of carbs. The DM is 3%. You can feed Fancy Feast Classics are mostly 4% as is Wellness. They are better quality foods and ones that Kitten doesn't have an aversion to. My vet and I had a discussion about prescription diets. She backed down on the issue when I pointed out that the prescription stuff was poorer quality (i.e., animal by-products) and in some instances (like with the Hill's prescription diabetic diet) lower in carbs than commercially available food which also cost a lot less. She stopped pushing the prescription food. There are very few people here who feed prescription food. The best food for a diabetic cat is a low carb food that the cat will eat. Get food into Kitten and you can deal with the vet's issues about what you're feeding later.
Right now, you need to stay calm so Kitten will be relaxed. No one likes to eat when they're stressed out.
C
Carl & Polly & Bob (GA)
Lynn,
If you have a way of getting some tonight, try Fancy Feast Classics. Turkey and Giblets or Chicken are both low carb (all the classics are). You can also try Beech Nut stage 1 baby food, which comes in Chicken, Turkey and Beef flavors. I'd probably avoid beef because it seems if one flavor of food seems to disagree with a cat, or they have an alergy, it's usually beef. It's the tiny jars, I think 2.5 oz, and it's just the meat and broth. I had to feed them to Mullet when he broke a tooth and had a hole/sore on his tongue, and it was the only thing he'd eat for a few days. He loved them.
Many cats will develop of food aversion to whatever you feed them through a tube. It's actually good that it was DM, because if she decides she never wants to eat them again, that's not necessarily a bad thing. Not all that great, and not worth what it costs you.
Carl
If you have a way of getting some tonight, try Fancy Feast Classics. Turkey and Giblets or Chicken are both low carb (all the classics are). You can also try Beech Nut stage 1 baby food, which comes in Chicken, Turkey and Beef flavors. I'd probably avoid beef because it seems if one flavor of food seems to disagree with a cat, or they have an alergy, it's usually beef. It's the tiny jars, I think 2.5 oz, and it's just the meat and broth. I had to feed them to Mullet when he broke a tooth and had a hole/sore on his tongue, and it was the only thing he'd eat for a few days. He loved them.
Many cats will develop of food aversion to whatever you feed them through a tube. It's actually good that it was DM, because if she decides she never wants to eat them again, that's not necessarily a bad thing. Not all that great, and not worth what it costs you.
Carl
Actually, it's Gerber Stage 2. Beechnut doesn't come in stages. Just check the labels to make sure that you're getting meat and broth. Gerber contains cornstarch but it's still low carb.
squeem3
Member Since 2009
Sienne and Gabby said:
Beechnut baby food does come in stages: http://www.beechnut.com/Our Baby Food/Index.asp The ones you can feed to a cat are Stage 1 beef and beef broth, chicken and chicken broth, and turkey and turkey broth.
The jars may look like this instead:
I have two jars of turkey like the one above. Looks like Beechnut made changes to the label since I bought the jars.
Gerber stage 2 can aslo be fed but keep in mind that the meat varieties are in gravy do contain cornstarch which may affect bgs, which is the least of your concerns for an inappetent cat who just needs to eat somethng.
Thanks Carl. I have been blending the Beechnut with the DM the whole time for extra nutrition for etube feedings. She is eating it warmed with water tonight. I have all the FF classics. She seems to have an aversion to them too now. I have been feeding her Wellness Core to supplement the etube feedings this past week,and she had been gobbling it up. In September, she despised wellness but after DM etube feedings,she went for it no problem. What the heck is wrong with her GI tract?Carl & Bob said:
Thanks.. I stayed calm tonight. It is easier with the proper arsenal on hand... Meds and foods and doctors to call and experience. I have extra scripts and all my meds filled last night. Also , knowing I can test for ketones and BG when I want. When u do not have these things, it is a scramble. I read catinfo.org and she says transitioning from DM like food to great food like Wellness without monitoring is asking for hypo. This week might not matter but it will. granted, i was reading it im the hours. This is my concern and i have the hills backup script just incase. Kitten has had to skip her asthma pill last two night due to vomiting, per doctors okay, so she is prone to attack and she is a bit skittish after last night. Time to give her the Flovent. Thanks always for looking out for my Kitten. What do u think about the catinfo.org info?Sienne and Gabby said:
Thanks.. I stayed calm tonight. It is easier with the proper arsenal on hand... Meds and foods and doctors to call and experience. I have extra scripts and all my meds filled last night. Also , knowing I can test for ketones and BG when I want. When u do not have these things, it is a scramble. I read catinfo.org and she says transitioning from DM like food to great food like Wellness without monitoring is asking for hypo. This week might not matter but it will. granted, i was reading it in the wee hours. This is my concern and i have the hills backup script just incase. Kitten has had to skip her asthma pill last two night due to vomiting, per doctors okay, so she is prone to attack and she is a bit skittish after last night. Time to give her the Flovent. Thanks always for looking out for my Kitten. What do u think about the catinfo.org info? Kitten is also enjoying her new bed and xmas toys tonight. Playing really relaxes the old gal. It is gentle playing.Sienne and Gabby said:
Thanks.. I stayed calm tonight. It is easier with the proper arsenal on hand... Meds and foods and doctors to call and experience. I have extra scripts and all my meds filled last night. Also , knowing I can test for ketones and BG when I want. When u do not have these things, it is a scramble. I read catinfo.org and she says transitioning from DM like food to great food like Wellness without monitoring is ascking for hypo. This week might not matter but it will. granted, i was reading it in the wee hours. This is my concern and i have the hills backup script just incase. Kitten has had to skip her asthma pill last two night due to vomiting, per doctors okay, so she is prone to attack and she is a bit skittish after last night. Time to give her the Flovent. Thanks always for looking out for my Kitten. What do u think about the catinfo.org info? Kitten is also enjoying her new bed and xmas toys tonight. Playing really relaxes the old gal. It is gentle playing.Sienne and Gabby said:
rhiannon and shadow (GA)
Member Since 2012
Hi Lynn,
I'm sure glad to hear that she's doing better than yesterday.
I hope she keeps eating.
I'm sure glad to hear that she's doing better than yesterday.
I hope she keeps eating.
MiloMistyMax
Member Since 2012
Sienne and Gabby said:
I don't want to interrupt this thread but now I am worried since you said very few people here use prescription food. My cats have been eating Wellness canned food and Evo cat and kitten dry food for at least 7 years now. But I switched Milo to DM canned and DM dry because the vet told me to. He LOVES both of them. He doesn't like Wellness canned(any flavor) but he is fine with the Evo dry. Since it is so important that he eats the canned food do you think I should still try a better kind? Cost isn't a problem, the DM and Wellness are exactly the same price, at least here.
My other 2 cats also love both DM foods. I try and push the other food on them but it's like the DM food is a drug, they can't get enough of it.
C
Carl & Polly & Bob (GA)
The very best advice that I can offer is that you visit catinfo.org which is a fantastic website run by Dr. Lisa Pierson. I will tell you that she isn't a big fan of prescription diets, or of any kind of dry food. And she explains "why" very clearly on her site. And Milo would benefit tremendously if you were able to remove the DM dry food from his diet, because it does contain to many "calories from carbs" for a diabetic cat.
If cost isn't a concern, then I'd say feed all of them the highest quality canned food you can find. Or you can make food from scratch and then you get to pick the ingredients. There's a recipe for doing that on the site as well.
http://www.catinfo.org/
Carl
MiloMistyMax
Member Since 2012
Carl & Bob said:
Oh I just meant I don't have a problem with the prescription food cost because it's the same price as the other food I buy.
I can't even make myself food, I wouldn't be able to make them food. I bought a ton of DM recently so I will wait until some of that is used then I will try another kind.
The context for Dr. Lisa's comment is that some of the prescription foods are higher in carbs than Wellness (or other foods). Canned DM is actually low in carbs; dry DM is not low carb. It's not a matter of what brand of food you're using -- it's a matter of what the percent of carbs are in whatever you're feeding. If you transition from a high carb food to low carb and you're not home testing, THEN there's a greater risk of BG numbers dropping and a greater risk for hypoglycemia. As long as the carb count between two foods are roughly the same, there won't be an impact on BG numbers. For example, if you were feeding Hill's M/D, their diabetic food, the canned food is 14% carbs. If you were to switch to Fancy Feast Classics or Wellness that are 4% carbs, there would be a very good possibility that numbers will drop if you don't adjust the insulin. That's the scenario Dr. Lisa is alerting you to.Lynn said:
The canned DM is low in carbs. Dry DM is 13% carbs -- that's medium carb food and not appropriate for a diabetic cat. The issue with DM is the ingredients.Milo's mom said:
- DM Dry: Poultry by-product meal, soy protein isolate, corn gluten meal, soy flour, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), corn starch, animal liver flavor, etc.
- DM canned: Liver, poultry by-products, meat by-products, water sufficient for processing, chicken, salmon, oat fiber, salmon meal, etc.
FWIW, when I stopped feeding prescription food, I had cases of it at home. I returned all of it. If you simply tell the vet or pet food store your cat won't eat it, there's no problem with a return.
Sienne, thanks for posting the DM info.re carbs. I did understand the context of catinfo.org about tbe carb rate affecting insulin. I am not home testing yet regularly so I cannot change the food. Kitten is eating the wet DM agàin but she is on an appetite stimulant. She has the DM dry food offered because she was not eating enough. I am constantly worried about the Diabetes "sugar dance". My insulin drawing is better... No air bubbles. Sometimes my dose is not complety hitting the line. Next time I am buying the pens that I read about on this board. My vial intimidates me and the whole thing could go bad vs one pen. Who knew there were option! Do people here clean the vial with an alcohol pad?
BJM
Member Since 2010
You can wipe the stopper with isopropyl to reduce possible contamination.
Please see my signature link Seconday Monitoring Tools for additional ways to track your cat's health, especially how to do urine ketone monitoring. When the insulin dose is too low or the cat isn't eating, fat may be broken down for energy. A by-product of this is ketones. Too many ketones may result in diabetic ketoacidosis, a very expensive to treat complication of diabetes.
Please see my signature link Seconday Monitoring Tools for additional ways to track your cat's health, especially how to do urine ketone monitoring. When the insulin dose is too low or the cat isn't eating, fat may be broken down for energy. A by-product of this is ketones. Too many ketones may result in diabetic ketoacidosis, a very expensive to treat complication of diabetes.
- Status