Newly diagnosed. Not eating at night. Increase dosage? Home testing?

N

NatesHuman

Member
Hi all. I am feeling very overwhelmed right now, but this looks like an amazing community. So, I figured I needed to sign up and start asking questions. If I am missing any key information, please let me know. I am going to sleep now, but I am eager to see any replies in the morning and will respond!

Nate is a 9 year old Maine Coon. He weighs 16 lbs. He hadn't been eating for a day or two. I took him to the vet 9 days ago and he was diagnosed diabetic. His BG was 395 and he had lost 4 lbs. He was prescribed ProZinc, 1 unit, twice daily. I saw immidiate improvement and he started eating again. I took him off dry food and switched to low carb wet food, feeding him twice daily. I was aiming to feed him 12 ounces total per day. After a few days, he started getting very picky. I would have to offer him 2 or 3 different brands of wet food or tuna before he would eat anything. Even then, I could only get him to eat about 3-5 ounces a day. He really doesn't want to eat anything at night at all. Of course, I need to feed him before I give him the shot.

I am wondering if he needs his dosage increased. I am reading through the forums and it appears I need to be home testing him. I asked my vet about this and they told me that it's not necessary for cats as they are totally different than humans. But according to this site, that couldn't be further from the truth. Is this a common sentiment from vets? Do I have a bad vet? I am planning on buying a kit tomorrow.

Do I need to take him back to the vet immidiately? Should I home test him and then consult with my vet about his dosage? Should I take him to the vet first? He hasn't had his Curve yet. I would like to do that at home since he is so high strung. Is that a good idea for a beginner like me?
 
Welcome to you and Nate! It sounds like you've been having a tough couple of days...the first few days after the diagnosis are scary and overwhelming, so I totally get that! First let me assure you that we are here to help and we're happy to give whatever advice we have.

Okay, the most important thing here is eating. You say he's not been eating for the last day or two? Has he eaten ANYTHING? Will he eat any treats? Sometimes sprinkling treats over food helps. My kitty also goes crazy for parmesan cheese and if I sprinkled that on it, she'd eat it all up. I'd even try dry food if he won't eat at all and see if he is willing to eat that. Basically, yes he needs to eat something. If he refuses to eat at all and it's been a day or two, I'd go back to the vet. The concern with diabetics who won't eat is ketones. The recipe for them is not eating + not enough insulin + some sort of infection. You don't need all 3 to develop ketones, but that's the trifecta. You can test for ketones at home in urine (using just human ketone testing strips from a pharmacy), but if he refuses to eat, I'd probably head back to the vet and ask them specifically about ketones. Besides refusing to eat, how is he acting? Is he hiding or hunching up like he's in pain? I definitely don't want to scare you, but ketones can be pretty serious and develop really fast. It's possible that's not it, but it's good to be sure. If that's not the issue, he might have pancreatitis or something else.

So as for home testing. A lot of vets are really against it. I'm not sure why. Some think it will stress the cat out or worry that pet parents won't want to do it. Some really are more vehement against it. It is very necessary in my opinion. You wouldn't give insulin to a child without testing, so why would you give it to your cat? I was lucky that my vet was totally for it and even told me to just get a human meter since pet meters are so much more expensive and not necessary. :) If you go to a human pharmacy, you can pick up a meter. You'll want the meter, extra lancets, and extra strips. We can help you learn to test once you've gotten ready. It'll definitely help to keep Nate safe and help you to fine tune the dosage at home so you don't have to stress him out with a vet visit and you can hopefully get him in much better control!

As for dose, we can definitely help with that once you're home testing. It's hard to know what to do now since we don't have any numbers and, more importantly, his eating is an issue. But once you're home testing, you can do curves on your own, and really, you don't need to do that many curves. Numbers throughout the cycle over time and before each shot can give you in the info you need. Curves are good, especially at first, but you won't need to do them daily or anything.

Okay, that's a lot of info. There's plenty more good info we can share about how/when to test, etc, but I don't want to overwhelm you. So here would be my suggested plan of action:
  • Vet visit to determine if ketones are present/anything else is going on regarding eating.
  • Buy home testing kit.
  • Post here once you have results from the vet and we can help you figure out where to go from there.
Hang in there! This is HARD at first, but you're not alone in this. There are plenty of great people here who will help out and you'll get through this!
 
Hi and welcome! Rachel has already given you some great starting advice. I'll just add that if you are going to buy a testing kit, I would recommend getting a human meter instead of a pet-specific meter. The testing supplies are much easier to get, and much less expensive. And they work just fine. If your vet is against testing anyway, you won't need to report your numbers to him/her, so it won't matter that you're using a different meter. Most of us use human meters here.

And while you're at the store, pick up some ketone strips as Rachel suggested. Ketones are a serious danger for our sugar cats, so testing for them is important - especially if a cat isn't eating.

Oh! And also while you're shopping, get larger sized lancets - they really help in the beginning when it can be hard to get their ears to bleed. See if you can find a size 28, or even a 26. 30's and 33's are smaller and can be harder to get blood - especially since it's still chilly this time of the year. After you and your kitty are used to all of this you can move to the smaller lancets (the bigger the number, the smaller the lancet)

We have lots of videos and tricks to help you with the testing, so let us know if you have questions.
 
Rachel said:
Welcome to you and Nate! It sounds like you've been having a tough couple of days...the first few days after the diagnosis are scary and overwhelming, so I totally get that! First let me assure you that we are here to help and we're happy to give whatever advice we have.

Okay, the most important thing here is eating. You say he's not been eating for the last day or two? Has he eaten ANYTHING? Will he eat any treats? Sometimes sprinkling treats over food helps. My kitty also goes crazy for parmesan cheese and if I sprinkled that on it, she'd eat it all up. I'd even try dry food if he won't eat at all and see if he is willing to eat that. Basically, yes he needs to eat something. If he refuses to eat at all and it's been a day or two, I'd go back to the vet. The concern with diabetics who won't eat is ketones. The recipe for them is not eating + not enough insulin + some sort of infection. You don't need all 3 to develop ketones, but that's the trifecta. You can test for ketones at home in urine (using just human ketone testing strips from a pharmacy), but if he refuses to eat, I'd probably head back to the vet and ask them specifically about ketones. Besides refusing to eat, how is he acting? Is he hiding or hunching up like he's in pain? I definitely don't want to scare you, but ketones can be pretty serious and develop really fast. It's possible that's not it, but it's good to be sure. If that's not the issue, he might have pancreatitis or something else.

So as for home testing. A lot of vets are really against it. I'm not sure why. Some think it will stress the cat out or worry that pet parents won't want to do it. Some really are more vehement against it. It is very necessary in my opinion. You wouldn't give insulin to a child without testing, so why would you give it to your cat? I was lucky that my vet was totally for it and even told me to just get a human meter since pet meters are so much more expensive and not necessary. :) If you go to a human pharmacy, you can pick up a meter. You'll want the meter, extra lancets, and extra strips. We can help you learn to test once you've gotten ready. It'll definitely help to keep Nate safe and help you to fine tune the dosage at home so you don't have to stress him out with a vet visit and you can hopefully get him in much better control!

As for dose, we can definitely help with that once you're home testing. It's hard to know what to do now since we don't have any numbers and, more importantly, his eating is an issue. But once you're home testing, you can do curves on your own, and really, you don't need to do that many curves. Numbers throughout the cycle over time and before each shot can give you in the info you need. Curves are good, especially at first, but you won't need to do them daily or anything.

Okay, that's a lot of info. There's plenty more good info we can share about how/when to test, etc, but I don't want to overwhelm you. So here would be my suggested plan of action:
  • Vet visit to determine if ketones are present/anything else is going on regarding eating.
  • Buy home testing kit.
  • Post here once you have results from the vet and we can help you figure out where to go from there.
Hang in there! This is HARD at first, but you're not alone in this. There are plenty of great people here who will help out and you'll get through this!
Click to expand...

Hi Rachel, thank you so much for your reply! Nate had been eating pretty well over the past 9 days since being diagnosed. He was being picky, but I could get him to eat a good amount in the morning, but he didn't want much in the evening. Yesterday he ate a little less than usual in the morning, about 2 ounces of wet food. Last night he wouldn't eat any wet food at all, but did eat about 15 individual treats, Whiskis Temptations. I was reluctant to give him his shot, but I did and he seems totally fine. I just tried to feed him this morning and he doesn't want anything. No wet food at all. I tried lunch meat and tuna, no go. He just ate about 4 Temptations. I feel like that's not enough to give him the shot. I will definitely try the Parmesan. I will try anything at this point.

His behaviour is totally normal. He's not hiding or hunching at all. Seems happy and energetic. He just isn't interested in food. Being that it's been less than 24 hours since his refusal to eat, should I still get him to the vet today?

I did ask the vet about pancreatitis when his blood work was done 9 days ago and they said those numbers were totally normal. Should I still worry about that developing?

I am definitely stopping by Walgreens today to buy the testing supplies!

I am just going to call the vet and bring him in today. Better safe than sorry. Even though it breaks my heart to hear his howls in the car. Hate stressing Buddy out. I think I stress more than him!
 
Djamila said:
Hi and welcome! Rachel has already given you some great starting advice. I'll just add that if you are going to buy a testing kit, I would recommend getting a human meter instead of a pet-specific meter. The testing supplies are much easier to get, and much less expensive. And they work just fine. If your vet is against testing anyway, you won't need to report your numbers to him/her, so it won't matter that you're using a different meter. Most of us use human meters here.

And while you're at the store, pick up some ketone strips as Rachel suggested. Ketones are a serious danger for our sugar cats, so testing for them is important - especially if a cat isn't eating.

Oh! And also while you're shopping, get larger sized lancets - they really help in the beginning when it can be hard to get their ears to bleed. See if you can find a size 28, or even a 26. 30's and 33's are smaller and can be harder to get blood - especially since it's still chilly this time of the year. After you and your kitty are used to all of this you can move to the smaller lancets (the bigger the number, the smaller the lancet)

We have lots of videos and tricks to help you with the testing, so let us know if you have questions.
Click to expand...

I am definitely going to buy the human tester and the Ketone strips! Thanks for the advice on specific supplies. I'm sure once I get everything, I will have a lot more questions! :)
 
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