New to the Board, and needing some immediate assistance!

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scarletine

Member Since 2013
Hello, I am new here, and have a fairly recently diagnosed kitty, about 12 years old (she's a rescue so we've never been completely sure of her age).

Gizmo had been losing weight, so we brought her in for a check up. She was diagnosed as diabetic, so the vet had us put her on Hill's Science Diet W/D formula for two weeks, then had us bring her back in for testing. We were feeding her a combo of the wet and the dry food, as Gizmo had always eaten dry food, and we weren't sure if she'd like the wet stuff.

They collected the samples they needed and sent it in for testing. After a week, the results came back and seemed to show that diet alone wasn't going to work. We were going out of town for a few days, and boarded her with the vet's office and they fed her exclusively the wet food while we were gone, and the plan was to start her on insulin the Monday we got back. But when Monday came around, her levels were totally normal, and they obviously didn't want to do insulin at that point.

So the vet suggested that we keep her on wet food only (2 cans a day). We were told to bring her in after a week (which happens to be tomorrow) to have her levels checked again to monitor her progress.

Here's my concern. Gizmo is suddenly not eating. She did fine all day yesterday, but today she's only nibbling. Because of the holiday, the vet's office is closed, and I'm very worried about her. Is there anything that we can give her to see if might like it? Our cats have NEVER been finicky eaters, and always happy with whatever we put in front of them, so I don't know if she's just being finicky, or if there's something else wrong.

I've read there might be some other low carb foods that we could feed her in the meantime? Or maybe feed her some tuna or chicken? Does anyone have any suggestions? Any and all help would be appreciated.
 
Which wet food are you feeding her now? If the Hill's W/D, she may have gotten tired of the flavor. The novelty has probably worn off.

Any of the Fancy Feast classic pates or the Friskies pates or the Wellness foods are good low carb foods for a diabetic cat.

FF and Friskies are also available in lots of flavors to tempt your cat. They are also widely available.

Plain cooked chicken or turkey or any plain meat with not spices.

Tuna, no salt or broth would be ok.

Is there any treat that she likes?

If she does not eat much for about 48 hours, time to go to the vet. There may be something else going on and you do not want her to get hepatic lipidosis.
 
Smell her breath - does it smell of nail varnish remover? If so she needs to go to an emergency vet now.

If not, do you have urine ketone test strips? If so, please check for ketones. If not, can you go get some today? Be best if you pick up keto-diastix as we can also tell from those if she is spilling sugar into her urine and how much.

I agree with Deb - they get sick of those prescription DM foods really fast, so I would go shopping today and pick up a variety of the low carb classic fancy feast pates, and friskies pates. (and the keto-diastix strips).

Do you have any of her old food (prior to the food change)? If she wont eat the new stuff then I would go back to the old (low carb or not) and see if she will eat that - if she does you can transition her to the low carb stuff once she is eating properly again.


Wendy
 
Thanks so much for replying. Yes, we have her on the Hill's W/D wet food. I was looking at the site, and saw about the Classic Fancy Feast, and will be sending the hubby up to the store to get some. Our cats have never really been interested in treats, just a bit of chicken or tuna here and there, so I worry that it might be too rich for her. But if she eats, then that's what is important.

Being new to this, and still being unsure of how to treat her after a month - during which time she's lost yet another pound despite eating well - I've been a bit frantic, and have been even more so today with her not eating. She's been looking increasingly frail, which is upsetting. We don't have any test strips, and no real way to get any. But I'll check her breath, too.

We're scheduled to take her into the vet tomorrow morning, so if we can just get her through today, we should be good.
 
You can get the ketone test strips at pretty much any pharmacy or pharmacy section of a store.. sometimes behind the counter. Walmart too. They cost like $15 or something.
 
At Walmart their brand of ReliOn Ketone Test Strips are like $6 to $8. I would pick up a pack of the regular plain old ketone test strips if you can't find the keto-diastix. Checking for ketones is important if they aren't eating.
 
When diabetic cats are unregulated, they may need to eat up to 50% more than normal. Feed your kitty some extra right now.

The kitten foods are higher in protein. I know that Fancy Feast has a couple of flavors on the kitten foods and have seen them at my local Wal-mart.

Not eating for an unregulated diabetic cat usually means there is something else going on. Others have suggestion some things to test,like ketones.
 
Good news! I think she was just tired of the food, because we bought some Fancy Feast Classic for her, and she ate it all up. I'm feeling a lot better about things right now, and will add a little variety to her diet from now on. We're taking her to the vet tomorrow, and will let them know everything.

Thanks for all your help!
 
That's great news! And you can return the unopened portion of the Hills to the vet for a refund via the "Hills guarantee" and tell him your cat doesn't like it.

For treats, most of us use freeze-dried meat treats (make sure the only ingredient is the meat). You might find it cheaper to buy dog treats instead of cat treats (more treats for around the same price; you just have to break them up). You can also boil some plain chicken breast and use that as a treat as well.
 
(Also, since she's eating now, you can feel free to remove the 911 icon from your original post ;-) )
 
Good to know that she is eating now and only wanted a different taste in her food.

Sometimes, cats can be so finicky about what they will eat that it is good to have a selection of different flavors on hand to give your cat. Rotate through your selection so they do not become tired of eating one flavor for ever and ever. "EEEWWW, not that Turkey & Giblets again! I just had that for breakfast you know. How about a different flavor for dinner?" We don't like the same food for meal after meal. Why should your cat.

Now, I do want to ask if there are any other health issues with your cat. IBD? CKD? Something that would require more thought into what the phosphorus or protein levels were. Any food allergies? Some cats can't tolerate beef or fish or gluten or grains in their food. Some like a more chunky texture, some prefer pates. We have a ton of ideas.

There is also a great food chart for finding other low carb foods, under 10% is what we recommend. Member Dr. Lisa Pierson, DVM put this together with a lot of effort. food chart Look in the third column of numbers under the letter C to find foods with that <10%.

There are also all sorts of tips and tricks we have to get a kitty to eat more. We'll share them with you if you need them.

You might want to ask your vet about having an appetite stimulant on hand. Sometimes, when my foster cat Wink was battling another UTI and was on antibiotics, he would not eat enough. The antibiotics seemed to suppress his appetite so as a last resort, I would need to give him an appetite stimulant to get him to eat.
 
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