New Member Need Help Kiki Not Eating Enough

[Kyong Ahlstrom]

Our baby Kiki was diagnosed 1/21 & the last 2 weeks have been difficult. I found this forum just a couple days ago, and want to first show my gratitude for the members and creators.

Kiki's first reading at the vet was 368 and her frucosamine showed that her regulation was poor. This was expected since she has been recieving steroid injections every 2 months for her severe skin allergies. We tried immunotherapy & other meds but nothing worked. Kiki is no longer recieving any steroids.

Without reading this forum (I wished we had) we purchased Alphatrak 2 to start monitoring her glucose. The vet prescribed Kiki only with 1unit of Lantus every 24hrs.

After the 6 days, her glucose was not decreasing so the vet prescribed 1unit every 12 hours.

After about 11 days, Kiki's glucose was +3 128 mg/dL, +9 82, +12 102mg/dL, so we decided to reduce the dose to 1/2 units per 12hrs. This was over a weekend so we couldn't communicate with the vet.

The vet told us on Monday to reduce her insulin to 1 unit per day and believed Kiki is a transient diabetic. She also said no insulin if her glucose is under 200. Our last dose of insulin was 2/1. Kiki's glucose is 6am 167 and 147 & 6pm 153 & 115. This is without food at least 5 hrs prior.

My concern is with her eating. Kiki is a very finicky eater & is extremely stubborn. She having been addicted to dry food for 13 plus years & does not eat enough of her wet food. At first, we decided to go cold turkey & Kiki ate Royal Canin PV Protein canned food prescribed by her vet. After 36 hours of only eating a just a couple bites, we caved in & started mixing her Ultamino kibble. Later I found this forum & the wet food data and so far, Kiki has tried Blue Wilderness, Fancy Feast Natural, Tiki Cat & finally Weruva. We have also tried sprinkling FortiFlora, parmesan cheese & catnip, warmed her food & pretty much every suggestion. She seems to like the Weruva Chicken Frick A Zee the most, but she is only eating about 150-170kcal these couple of days. She is also drinking considerably less water.

She was also a free feeder so getting her to start timed meals is challenging. She only eats a couple bites, takes a nap, then wanders to her food bowl after 1/2 hr and takes a couple more.

She is pooing and peeing regularly, but I'm still concerned. Is her loss of appetite due to her decrease in glucose? I have checked for jaundice and dehydration, and she is more active than when her glucose level was elevated. I do not want to start giving her the kibble, but I'm concerned she is weight too quickly; she has had almost a 2% weight loss these couple days. She is not nauseous since she will gobble up pieces of kibble I give her. Has this happened to anyone else? Is her body still adjusting to the fluctuations of her glucose?

Please help and thank you in advance. Reading the posts in this forum has gotten me through a very trying 2 weeks.

 

[Juls and Billy]

I'm a newbie, so take my suggestions with a grain of salt. I'm sure more experienced members will be in to help you as well. From the foods you are feeding, is it possible it's a texture problem? I ask because often the lower carb more natural brands can have a kind of gummy texture, that many of my cats do not like. My Billy wouldn't touch Tiki Cat, for example, and after a couple of cans, decided the Fancy Feast Naturals were poison and he'd rather starve. He is much happier when I give him a firmer textured canned food, like Fancy Feast Classic pate, or Friskies Pate.

Another thing you can try is some of the fishy flavors, just to get your cat more interested in wet food. It's not recommended to feed too much of the fish flavors, but it might help you make wet food more interesting for now.

Every cat is different, of course, and it looks like you have already tried most of the suggestions on getting her switched to wet food. Don't give up and keep trying. Kiki will figure it out.

 

[Wendy&Neko]

How much does Kiki weigh? I have an 8 lb girl who maintains her weight on around 170 calories per day. Kiki will also need less water if eating wet food. Is there a reason you want to move to timed meals from grazing?

Have you tried something like freeze dried raw (Stella and Chewy's or Primal) or air dried raw (Ziwipeak). Low carb, you can get novel proteins, and still has crunch. I have seen quite a few animals with skin allergies do better with raw or different proteins than they are used to.

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

I am concerned if she is not eating and not getting any insulin (if she needs a little) that she may develop ketones. You can test for these by going out to Walmart or a pharmacy and buying a bottle of Ketostix. Then collect a urine sample from KiKi and test it using one of the test strips from the bottle. Read the result against the colours on the side of the bottle exactly 15 seconds later. Anything above a trace needs vet attention.
Ketones can lead to DKA which is a very serious illness. I would recommend you test for these and hopefully eliminate them being an issue.

 

[Kyong Ahlstrom]

I'm a newbie, so take my suggestions with a grain of salt. I'm sure more experienced members will be in to help you as well. From the foods you are feeding, is it possible it's a texture problem? I ask because often the lower carb more natural brands can have a kind of gummy texture, that many of my cats do not like. My Billy wouldn't touch Tiki Cat, for example, and after a couple of cans, decided the Fancy Feast Naturals were poison and he'd rather starve. He is much happier when I give him a firmer textured canned food, like Fancy Feast Classic pate, or Friskies Pate.

Another thing you can try is some of the fishy flavors, just to get your cat more interested in wet food. It's not recommended to feed too much of the fish flavors, but it might help you make wet food more interesting for now.

Every cat is different, of course, and it looks like you have already tried most of the suggestions on getting her switched to wet food. Don't give up and keep trying. Kiki will figure it out.

Thank you!
Kiki is okay with Fancy Feast pate but won't go near seafood flavors. You are right. It is a texture problem. Kiki wants a crunch with her meal that she can't have with wet food.

 

[Kyong Ahlstrom]

How much does Kiki weigh? I have an 8 lb girl who maintains her weight on around 170 calories per day. Kiki will also need less water if eating wet food. Is there a reason you want to move to timed meals from grazing?

Have you tried something like freeze dried raw (Stella and Chewy's or Primal) or air dried raw (Ziwipeak). Low carb, you can get novel proteins, and still has crunch. I have seen quite a few animals with skin allergies do better with raw or different proteins than they are used to.[/QUOTE

Kiki weighs 12 lbs. Can we keep her a grazer with wet food? In most cases, we aren't at home to feed her during the day. Currently, I am taking a year off work due to other reasons so I can monitor her.

I will totally try your food suggestions. Thank you!

 

[Kyong Ahlstrom]

I am concerned if she is not eating and not getting any insulin (if she needs a little) that she may develop ketones. You can test for these by going out to Walmart or a pharmacy and buying a bottle of Ketostix. Then collect a urine sample from KiKi and test it using one of the test strips from the bottle. Read the result against the colours on the side of the bottle exactly 15 seconds later. Anything above a trace needs vet attention.
Ketones can lead to DKA which is a very serious illness. I would recommend you test for these and hopefully eliminate them being an issue.

I will get the strips and test her urine. Thank you.

 

[Juls and Billy]

You can get a timed feeder that works with wet food. Some members freeze the later portions in the feeder, so they will be fresh when it's their turn.

 

[Deb & Wink]

Break up and sprinkle some of the freeze dried foods on top of the Fancy Feast pates?

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

Another option to to smash up some of Kiki's dry food and sprinkle it on top of the canned food. It's not ideal given the carbs but it may help to get your kitty transitioned.

Wendy had asked what your cat weighs. It will give us a better idea regarding how many calories per she needs. Also, as blood glucose numbers improve, your cat will be less hungry.

 

[Deb & Wink]

Chip and dip method? Dip a piece of dry food in the wet food, 10-12 pieces, put pieces on a small plate and see if your cat Kiki will eat them.

Lots of other tips to get a cat to eat are in here. Tips for Transitioning Dry Food Addicts.
Written from the perspective of getting a cat off dry food and eating wet food, but many of those tips and tricks work for a picky eater too.

Does Kiki want the chunky types of canned food? Or is it really the "crunch factor" she is looking for?

p.s. You don't need to click on the Reply button to answer. There should be a text box at the bottom of the screen where you can type in what you want to say and then hit the "Post Reply" icon. A Bit different than Facebook, where you do Reply to respond to another comment.