Need help with newly diagnosed diabetic cat.

Hello, this might be very long but my cats name is Gosha and he’s seven years old. On monday, he was acting very strange and there was blood in his pee so we took him to the vet on tuesday and it turns out he had cystitis, it was only one day of the bacterial infection flaring up so they gave medicine such as amoxicillin and clavulanate oral suspension 228.5 mg/5 mL and i was supposed to give him 1.8 mL every 12 hours after food. He’s 16.4 pounds and i’ve been wanting to feed him healthier and put him on a diet because his diet was mainly dry food as he goes crazy over it and I didn’t have the money to buy him wet food every day. He would occasionally eat wet food no problem but i’ve been wanting to do what my friend does with her cat, One half in the morning of pate and then the rest at night. I was doing this accordingly to the medicine, so on wednesday I gave him a half of fancy feast pate and then his medicine after and then at night the same thing. But then comes thursday, he was throwing up at night and in the morning and ever since then he wasn’t eating and acting very strange. It was definitely a combination of the medicine as it is strong on the stomach and not being used to wet food but it was still a little strange. I took him to the vet on saturday as I thought this was just a side effect from the medicine plus the wet food, he likes that wet food no problem and has eaten it before so it shouldn’t necessarily upset his stomach that much to the point of not eating for three days. They checked his levels and his levels were 419, and told me he was diabetic. I started bawling my eyes out and wanted to kick myself for letting him get this overweight and the dry food diet which most likely caused this. He was dehydrated and they gave him fluids, and note that he hasn’t been eating since thursday. He ate like two cat treats and a few licks of gravy since thursday but is refusing to eat anything at all today, which is sunday. He has been peeing and drinking water but there were a few times he peed out of the litter box and was peeing himself on the floor a little bit, The vet didn’t say much about it so I assume it’s from being too letheragic and tired to get to the litter. Going back, they gave him fluids and told me he was diabetic and gave him one unit of insulin. He seemed better when we got home but it went away after an hour or two, and started acting completely the same and hasn’t been eating still. They took his blood to testing for anything with the pancreas and confirm the diabetes and I’ll know more on monday as they are closed today. I can’t give him insulin if he doesn’t eat, and I don’t have a glucose monitor yet and I was thinking of getting the iPet Pro for him unless anyone else has better recommendations which are very welcome. The vet told me to stop any medications for his cystitis for now and it hasn’t been any blood in his pee so far besides that one day before we found out. I’m just very very concerned because tomorrow is gonna mark 5 days since he’s eaten normally and he hasn’t been himself whatsoever. It feels like he’s dying, he’s only 7 years old. I know diabetes is very manageable but it feels hopeless because he’s just not eating. I understand no one is a vet here and I am definitely going to the vet so don’t worry about that but he’s also a very picky eater on top of all of this. He gets excited or alert at the shake of his treats but doesn’t wanna eat it. I’ve tried leaving food in his face when he’s sitting and i’ve tried making a whole buffet for him and he’s not even eating his cereal. There’s nothing wrong with his teeth if anyone is concerned about that, i asked them to check last time. I tried giving him boiled unseasoned plain chicken earlier, nothing but I wasn’t really surprised as he’s always never wanted human food. The only thing he was ever willing to eat from me was a tiny bit of cream cheese. I’m just wondering if absolutely anyone has any advice for how to deal with a diabetic cat that’s a picky eater, as well as not even necessarily putting him on a diet but actually feeding him wet food consistently so he’ll be more hydrated and better nutritioned. If anyone has any advice for the future or for now on what I can do to make him eat, I’ll be very grateful. I can’t give him insulin if he doesn’t eat and ever since 1:40 something on saturday he hasn’t received insulin, they are starting him out on 1 unit and I have to come back a few times so we find the proper dosage for him. If anyone has any tips as well on how to adjust insulin accordingly to what they eat, let’s say he’s eaten a treat or less dry food than usual or more dry food than usual or he hasn’t finished his pate or something like that. Please someone help me, he’s actually my son and I feel so bad for him. I wish cats could talk so I can understand what’s going on, I’m literally in the blind. I tried to call a 24/7 vet and they said to mash up dry food with water but they didn’t understand the fact that he’s literally not eating anything he’s refusing. And since he’s picky, he’d probably never go for that either. If someone can recommended food brands or tips as well please, I’m definitely doing my own research and looking over the forums but if anyone is very experienced with diabetic cats please let me know anything that could be helpful.

 

It sounds like he could be nauseated. A nauseated cat won’t eat. Did any of the vets give him or mention Cerenia and/or ondansetron? If there’s a chance he has IBD or any pancreatic issues, it can cause nausea and he’ll need meds to start to feel well and eat again. I’d call the vet first thing in the am and ask for a prescription for both Cerenia and ondansetron. They work differently so he can take them simultaneously. Are you able to syringe feed him some wet food for now? Mix it with water to get a slurpy consistency that the syringe can pull in. I’d also suggest grabbing a bottle of ketone strips at the pharmacy and testing his urine for ketones. Not enough insulin and not enough food can lead to ketones and that’s a trip to the er. you want to be testing daily for that.

you can get a human meter. Most of us use Walmart’s ReliOn since the test strips are way more affordable.

 

No, basically I went to the vet with the concern of him not eating and we got distracted by his diabetes and I was really focusing on the diabetes that I forgot to ask about his eating issues, They gave me vetsulin and U40 syringes for that. I could try to syringe feed him but I’m scared of force feeding him, if he’s gonna throw it up or be traumatic or it’s gonna make him worse as I don’t know what’s causing him to not wanna eat. If you strongly suggest that I force feed him, then I have minced senior cat food for 7+ years old cats but I don’t know if that’ll upset his stomach as well because I’m pretty sure it has more protein and less calories and he’s more used to adult fancy feast, I have gravy adult feast but I don’t know because that has bigger pieces of meat in it and he might choke unless I should like mash it somehow. I’m going to the vet as early as I can tomorrow but for now is that what you think I should do? I’ll know more about his pancreas if anything after they get the results tomorrow so I don’t know about that IBD and pancreas stuff. If I do force feed him should I give him insulin after as well? because he hasn’t had insulin since saturday.

 

There are 2 separate things happening. The diabetes and something that’s causing him not to want to eat. Both need to be treated. When a cat goes more than 24 hours without eating it can develop other more serious issues like ketones. You need pate style wet food that you can mix with water to syringe feed him. You could try to blend the other ones but it’s a bit more difficult. When you’re at the vet, ask for AD recovery food. It’s high in carbs and diabetic cats should be on a low carb diet, but right not the main thing is that he eats. Most cats won’t vomit when you syringe feed them. Regardless, nothing can be worse than him not eating, so please try and please also ask for the 2 meds I mentioned above. Even if they give you an appetite stimulant, you’ll still need the anti nausea meds because a nauseated cat won’t eat no matter what. Please update us after the vet visit.

also, Vetsulin is not the best insulin for cats. Check out the guidelines from the American Animal Hospital Assn for the treatment of diabetes in both dogs and cats. the AAHA no longer recommends Caninsulin/Vetsulin for treating feline diabetes.

@Sienne and Gabby (GA) @Wendy&Neko @Larry and Kitties

 

I’m going to the vet in an hour, and i’ll ask about everything that you mentioned and update you as well. Thank you.

 

Good luck and push back if you have to but get the prescriptions so he can feel better and start eating again

 

Came back, so basically they said that he was probably not eating due to being lethargic, Saying he was too tired to eat and they still wanted me to give him insulin even if he didn’t eat much because his sugar was too high. So basically, they gave him fluids today and they might set me up with my own fluid machine at home for him and they syringe fed him a little bit of pate juice and tiny pieces of the meat from there twice, syringe length amount and then gave him one unit of insulin. Before they did that they checked his levels and it was 333. I don’t have my own glucometer yet so idk what the level was after the insulin. But yeah, so they gave him one unit earlier at 2 and i’m gonna have to give him one unit after I syringe feed him myself at 2 am and then again at 2 pm tomorrow before we go to the vet at 4 again tomorrow. For now we have to find the right dosage for him so that’s why they are doing this, but later on we are gonna work on adjusting the time. He always seems better when we get back from the vet, like he was a little more energetic, drank some water and was willing to eat like three cat treats but then after he was spitting it out and then he became exactly the same again, didn’t wanna eat and being tired. He was like this on saturday too after the vet, so I think one unit is definitely not the right dosage for him and I won’t know anything much until he starts eating on his own. His blood test results weren’t that good either, saying he had some kidney damage. Nothing too crazy but he has something with his pancreas but they said that the insulin should take care of it simultaneously. I don’t really know because the paper says acute pancreatitis not likely but since he has some kidney damage there’s something with his pancreas. Here is his blood test results.

 

Good luck at the vet. A couple posts that might help you.

• Suggestions on How to Stimulate Kitty's Appetite
• Syringe/Assisted Feeding (Video and Tips)

Note, kitties can usually get at least 1/2 a dose of insulin if they don't eat. Cat's getting anaesthesia who cannot eat, can get at least half a dose. But if he's high enough the full 1 unit should be OK as the vet said.

Was a urinalysis done? You need to check for ketones with the electrolyte values out and him being lethargic and inappetant. Any word of supplementing his potassium? Kidney numbers can be out if he is dehydrated. You can check for ketones at home with ketone testing sticks, Ketostix is one such brand.

 

The only time they did a urinalysis on him was the first time we came, due to the suspection that he has a UTI and he tested positive for a bladder infection - the cystitis. Since then they haven’t done anything like that, and they didn’t say anything about ketones. I will definitely look that over and I’m gonna ask if I should give him pedialytes tomorrow.

 

The relatively high total protein and HCT indicates dehydration. Did the vet discuss you giving subQ fluids?

 

I cannot emphasize enough getting the prescriptions for Cerenia and Ondansetron that I mentioned before. I told you you’d have to push for it as most vets don’t suggest them as options. Five days and counting without eating is a big deal. I’m surprised your vet is not concerned. Please please please tell the vet you want to put him on those meds and don’t let him tell you not to. This is a must.

did they do a pancreatitis test and test for ketones?

 

Yes, I went today earlier and they set me up with fluids for home. There’s like levels such as 1, 2 , 3 and four and so on so they want me to give him from 1-2 for wednesday and then 2-3 for thursday and then 3-4 for friday, I don’t know what the measurements are called but it’s 100 each time from 1-2 2-3 and so on.

 

I didn’t see ur message before I went to the vet today so I forgot to ask about that, If anything I will call tomorrow as early as I can for that. But yes they did do a pancreatitis test from the blood test, they said his pancreas was inflamed and he has a little bit of kidney damage but all they said was that the insulin should take care of it simultaneously. They upped my dosage today to 2 and a half, as even without eating normally on his own or barely being fed his levels are still high as it was 332 today. They said if anything happens, I just need to rub some honey on his gums or mouth and lower the dosage and call them. They didn’t do say anything about ketones, I also don’t know why as well that they aren’t very concerned about him eating, they said he was probably too tired to eat and this is my opinion but it could also be something with the foods i’m giving him as well, I keep trying to give him fancy feast pate but he’s probably also developing a food diversion from it as he could be associating it with feeling unwell but the problem is that he’s also a very picky eater and they aren’t too focused on like changing up his food right now because the only thing we need to focus on is regulating his sugar levels and finding the proper dosage because he is still unregulated, after that we can focus on switching up his foods and switching the time that’s more appropriate for me to give him insulin. They checked for jaundice or the ketoacidocis, his breath and eyes and teeth are normal, and he’s not vomiting or having increased thirst. I suspect maybe they aren’t saying anything about it because they saw if anything was normal from the blood test or the urinalysis they did the first time? For now they just want me to continue force feeding him and giving insulin as instructed, as well as fluids until friday when I see them again. And I just found out thats he’s actually 5, turning 6 in April. I thought he was older because his exact age wasn’t clear as he was a rescue, and three months old at the time and we got the dates mixed up with 2018 and 2017, I just saw old messages from when I was in elementary telling my best friend that we got a cat and I realized it was from 2018 and not 2017. Literal brain fart. I can’t believe he’s still young, I thought he was already becoming a senior. Anyways, I also tried mixing the pate with water and syringe feeding him but he was spitting it up due to the texture I assume, so I have to resort to feeding him actual pate pieces with my finger as he stomachs that way better. Due to the texture being similar to baby food from when I mixed it with water, there’s no way he would eat the baby food. I don’t have the financials as well right now to buy a bunch of those things from one of those links that says you could sprinkle flora this or do this or that, if he wasn’t a picky eater my options would be much greater but since he is a dry food addict my options are very limited.

 

How is it going?

anything that’s related to the pancreas or the GI tract like IBD, will cause them to be nauseated and not want to eat. I’m speaking from experience being on my second cat with IBD. It’s very common to have one of these lead to diabetes or vice versa. Bobo is in ondansetron and Cerenia daily and so was Minnie and they would not eat was it not for those meds. Eventually they had to be upgraded to budesonide. Minnie even had to go to the er and have a feeding tube out on because it got so bad she stopped eating all together. Thankfully with Bobo I knew what to do and what meds to push for. If he’s still not eating, I can’t emphasize enough the importance of those meds.

 

Update, he’s doing insanely better, like I had absolutely no hope because he kept acting the same for almost a week straight and three people told me he was gonna die and I should prepare myself and this and that but he’s back to purring, grooming, playing and actually EATING on his own for the past week. The vet wants me to bring in his urine for the ketones just incase, and I was pushing about the meds but they said since he’s better now it’s just not necessary, if he ever gets bad again I’ll demand for them. Before you could feel my cats spine and hip bones to the touch and now he got back some muscle and skin. Literally the only good thing that came from this is that he lost a little weight. I’ve still been doing 2 and a half units, switched the time slowly to 6 am. And I’ve been doing the antibiotics again as his cystitis infection flared up last week, I was so scared because the first time I ever did it literally only for one day was when it all went to **** two weeks ago. He hates it and salivates a little bit but he’s not throwing anything up and I’m able to get a good dosage into him. He’s completely back to himself and i’m so grateful to the vet. He’s a little annoying when it comes to food tho, he doesn’t like to eat it all right away like he licks it twice and starts hiding the food and grooming and im like no mister your not done. It’s like a toddler that doesn’t eat or is being picky, I hide one cat treat into the food and he eats a lot trying to find it, and with the food I always do one half of pate and the other half in the evening, so not the whole can at once. He developed a hatred towards the chicken and beef pates due to the force feeding so i definitely have to experiment and buy foods with pate, he doesn’t really like fish so it’s soooo annoying my god but I’ll do whatever’s necessary. That’s the update for now

 

It's great to hear that things are looking up! You may need to read the ingredient labels on many of the cat foods. For example, some chicken varieties also contain fish (since most cats like fish).

You can test for ketones at home. Ketostix are strips you dip into your cat's urine. The end of the strip turns color to indicate if and the degree of ketones that are present.

I'd also suggest that you start home testing. If you're giving insulin, you need to know if your cat is in numbers that are safe for you to give a shot. This is information on home testing.

In addition, we ask that new members set up their signature and a spreadsheet. The signature will give us information about you and your cat so we don't keep asking the same questions. The spreadsheet allows you to track your cat's progress and we are able to follow along. The information is in this post on helping us to help you.

 

Great news! I’d still suggest getting those meds now that he’s feeling better so you have them at hand. I just personally think anyone with a diabetic cat should have them at home so if something happens over a weekend when you can’t reach your vet, you’re prepared. Also Cerenia needs to be ordered from a pet pharmacy and it takes a few days to be shipped and for it to arrive. Or it can be bought at a vet’s office but again if they’re closed, you’re out of luck. It really sounds to me like a pancreatitis flare up. I’d definitely test for ketones at home. I may have mentioned that before and Sienne is right.

he’s a cutie!!!