My Bogie won’t eat

[JCP]

Hello everyone- newbie here. My Bogie was diagnosed last Monday. His numbers were very high because I stupidly didn’t recognize the signs until he was very lethargic. He was placed on Vetsulin (2 units twice/day) and I was prepared to learn all I can to be able to take care of him. But he has never gained back his appetite and has been hospitalized twice since then.
My local vet kept him overnight Tues and Wed because he was lethargic and dehydrated and wouldn’t eat. They gave him fluids and got him to eat a tiny bit then sent him home with me Thurs.
On Friday I went back to the vet and they took some more blood and treated him for pancreatitis. I was sent home with pain meds and sub q fluids. By Saturday morning he was worse so I took him to the emergency vet. Thank goodness, because his kidney numbers were very high. (They were not high on Monday). I borrowed money to have him admitted at the emergency vet. He was placed on fluids, antibiotics, and nutrition through a tube. It really helped. He was almost like his old self yesterday. But he still wasn’t eating a lot. His demeanor was good (and the $ was running out) so the vet and I decided to send him home where he would be more comfortable to see if he’ll eat. He has slept most of the time, which I understand is normal after hospitalization. But he has only eaten about 8 treats and one bite of food. I gave him 2mg if Cypro last night but it made him woozy and he didn’t eat. (In all this, I have just been giving him one unit of insulin as he is not eating.) I gave him 3.75 mg Mirtz earlier in the week but I did not like how spaced out he was on that. It was awful. The ER vet said he was prescribed too much, and to try less, but it scared me. So I asked her for an alternative, hence the Cypro.
I need to call the vet again and I am so stressed. I haven’t slept much, all I do is cry and now I have another bill to pay.
I may ask the vet to put a tube in so I can feed him at home. But I am running out of money for vet visits. Any advice would be appreciated.
Follow up: Bogie is 12 years old, has never had other ailments. I plan on home testing but the ER vet told me she doesn’t want me to stress about that yet. She wants to focus on getting him to eat first.

 

[Sharon14]

I’m so sorry things have been so rough for you and Bogie. Does he act interested in food at all? Sometimes kitties can be nauseous and appetite stimulants won’t work until the nausea is resolved. You can ask the vet about Cerenia if you think that could be part of the problem. HERE are some ideas to stimulate his appetite and if that fails, you can try to syringe feed
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/syringe-assisted-feeding-video-and-tips.144367/
Others will be by to offer they’re advice. Take a deep breath and try to relax(difficult I know) we are here and will help you get through this

 

[Alfred's Human]

Hello everyone- newbie here. My Bogie was diagnosed last Monday. His numbers were very high because I stupidly didn’t recognize the signs until he was very lethargic. He was placed on Vetsulin (2 units twice/day) and I was prepared to learn all I can to be able to take care of him. But he has never gained back his appetite and has been hospitalized twice since then.
My local vet kept him overnight Tues and Wed because he was lethargic and dehydrated and wouldn’t eat. They gave him fluids and got him to eat a tiny bit then sent him home with me Thurs.
On Friday I went back to the vet and they took some more blood and treated him for pancreatitis. I was sent home with pain meds and sub q fluids. By Saturday morning he was worse so I took him to the emergency vet. Thank goodness, because his kidney numbers were very high. (They were not high on Monday). I borrowed money to have him admitted at the emergency vet. He was placed on fluids, antibiotics, and nutrition through a tube. It really helped. He was almost like his old self yesterday. But he still wasn’t eating a lot. His demeanor was good (and the $ was running out) so the vet and I decided to send him home where he would be more comfortable to see if he’ll eat. He has slept most of the time, which I understand is normal after hospitalization. But he has only eaten about 8 treats and one bite of food. I gave him 2mg if Cypro last night but it made him woozy and he didn’t eat. (In all this, I have just been giving him one unit of insulin as he is not eating.) I gave him 3.75 mg Mirtz earlier in the week but I did not like how spaced out he was on that. It was awful. The ER vet said he was prescribed too much, and to try less, but it scared me. So I asked her for an alternative, hence the Cypro.
I need to call the vet again and I am so stressed. I haven’t slept much, all I do is cry and now I have another bill to pay.
I may ask the vet to put a tube in so I can feed him at home. But I am running out of money for vet visits. Any advice would be appreciated.
Follow up: Bogie is 12 years old, has never had other ailments. I plan on home testing but the ER vet told me she doesn’t want me to stress about that yet. She wants to focus on getting him to eat first.

I'm so sorry you're having to deal with pancreatitis, I am also currently dealing with it with Alfred. It is no fun!

I gave Alfred mirtazipine on Monday and also don't like how it makes him act so I'm concentrating on pain and nausea control and leaving out the app stim for now. If he won't eat I will ask for the alt app stim like you have. I've heard it doesn't cause as many distressing side effects as mirtaz.

I agree that your cat needs anti-nausea meds. Cerenia has worked for my cat in the past, but not quite as well with this bout of pancreatitis. He's currently taking ondansetron and it seems to be helping his nausea. Be warned that taking ondansetron with mirtazapine increases the risk of seratonin syndrome. However if you're not giving the mirtaz anymore than it's not as much of a concern. But I would talk to your vet about it and see what they think. If the Cerenia will work then it's a good choice too.

Did the vet give you any pain meds? Pancreatitis is painful and addressing the pain and the nausea are usually the best way to get them eating again. Alfred is taking buprenorphine for pain and it works well for him.

Sending healing and eating vines to your kitty, I feel for you and understand how frustrating and difficult it is dealing with this.

 

[JCP]

Thank you both for your replies and your support. It can feel super lonely dealing with this sometimes. Luckily, I have a supportive husband who thinks of Bogie as a member of the family, but I am so stressed. So... after I posted yesterday I took Bogie to get a feeding tube. I am relieved that I can now guarantee he’s getting nutrition. I am just hoping it helps him heal. This is his best chance now.
On another note- I scratched my hand as I was giving him his insulin injection this morning. I didn’t realize until after that there was a tiny bit of blood on my skin. So now I’m paranoid I have spread some awful human pathogen to my cat! Anybody else do that??

 

[Alfred's Human]

Thank you both for your replies and your support. It can feel super lonely dealing with this sometimes. Luckily, I have a supportive husband who thinks of Bogie as a member of the family, but I am so stressed. So... after I posted yesterday I took Bogie to get a feeding tube. I am relieved that I can now guarantee he’s getting nutrition. I am just hoping it helps him heal. This is his best chance now.
On another note- I scratched my hand as I was giving him his insulin injection this morning. I didn’t realize until after that there was a tiny bit of blood on my skin. So now I’m paranoid I have spread some awful human pathogen to my cat! Anybody else do that??

I'm glad you were able to get a feeding tube placed so you can be assured he gets food and any meds he might need. I hope he improves quickly and gets back to being his old self soon!

I've stuck myself several times while testing Alfred and our blood has mingled; I wouldn't be too concerned about it.

I did a quick search for reverse zoonotic disease and found this study:

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0089055

We can give animals illnesses but it seems to affect wildlife and livestock most often, from a quick skimming of that journal article. It seems we can give animals MRSA, tuberculosis, H1N1 and various fungal and parasitic infections.

 

[JCP]

Thank you for the article. Good grief. I didn’t realize humans could spread those to animals.

One more thing - I forgot to mention that I had the vet look at Bogie’s mouth while he was under and he had two teeth that were infected. I am hoping that now that they are gone he will feel more like eating. But I am also annoyed at myself and the vet that they weren’t checked by anyone before I mentioned it yesterday. I believe that was a part of the issue.