Newly diagnosed things have changed

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Mimi & Lily

Member Since 2021
Hello wonderful people of FDMB! My baby Lily has recently been diagnosed and at first she was doing very well. I found out she was diabetic because I took her to the emergency hospital when she wasn’t eating, feeling nauseous and hanging out by the water bowl. (See my story for further details) Well, she stayed in the hospital for about 4 days and they tested her for many things. When she was discharged I was told she was diabetic and to give 1 unit of Lantus 2x/day but continue feeding the food she was eating (z/d) or give w/d. I followed their instructions for a few days and began my research to better understand her condition. That’s when I found out that Fancy Feast is actually a better choice. I tried multiple times to get in contact with the hospital to ask if I could try a food change but didn’t have any luck. As I noticed that she wasn’t eating the z/d or w/d well anyway, I figured I would try the FF. I looked through Dr, Pierson’s list for the ones that were closest in calories to what she was already receiving but still lower. I ended up getting some of the grillers with gravy and she started eating amazingly! I was so happy! She was eating well and receiving her insulin. On 9/16, she began to show signs of nausea again in the evening time but still ate and took her insulin well. On 9/17, she spent the day at the hospital for a BGC. They told me everything went well and that her numbers were good (I’ll post them below). Then 9/18, the signs of nausea again. In the morning, she ate and receive insulin, no problem. In the night, she barely ate. I had to force her by hand feeding so I could give her insulin. She didn’t even want the freeze-dried chicken treats she gets for being a good girl after insulin- - and she loves those! As the night went on, I noticed that he nausea was getting worse. So I had to corner her and give her a Cerenia tablet (she’s very hard to give medication to). To my amazement, it took a long time for it to work. She finally ate something on her own around 3:40 am. She again didn’t want to eat breakfast. Had to force hand feed her again in order to give insulin. I’m sorry for the long post, but I’m at my wits end. I haven’t been able to home test because she barely even lets me give her her insulin( she runs away if I try to get too close). She’s been sleeping a lot and is just so depressed.
Here’s what the discharge paper from the BGC say:
Diagnosis: diabetes mellitus and chronic kidney disease
CBC-WNL, Chem-BUN 38, creat 1.1, ALT 109, TG 107
Fructosamine 185
BG curve: 9am-219 11am-248 1pm-195 3pm-185
Anyone else has had any experience with a diabetic cat being nauseous?
Thank you for your time! Any insight will be helpful… I’m trying to avoid the hospital again.
 
Are you sure that the fructosamine level is correct? It's normal range for a non-diabetic and low for a treated diabetic. This is a link to information on what the values mean.

The BUN and ALT (which is a liver value) are slightly elevated. Creatinine is normal. Triglucerides are generally not an issue even if elevated.

Generally, there are a couple of options for nausea. If you want to get a prescription, either Cerenia or ondansetron are medications that work to treat nausea. If the nausea is related to kidney issues, Pepsid (famotidine) may be helpful. Slippery Elm Bark (SEB) is a more holistic option. I'm linking a page from a website that pertains to inflammatory bowel disease.. Their section on supplements and treating nausea is excellent and has instructions for using SEB..
 
Thank you for answering! @CherylAndTaz no she’s not, I just found out that she was diagnosed with CKD on Friday’s hospital discharge for the BGC.
@Sienne and Gabby (GA) I gave her Cerenia last night around 11pm and for the first time it didn’t work how it usually does.
I’m at the hospital with you now because even though I wanted to avoid the extra stress on her, I didn’t feel comfortable leaving her without getting checked. She started having labored breathing and is still nauseous and not eating.
 
You might want to ask for a test for pancreatitis.
The major symptoms are:

Cats with pancreatitis, even when severe, often present with non-specific clinical signs. In one study of 40 cats with severe pancreatitis the following clinical signs were reported:
• lethargy (100%)
• anorexia (97%)
• dehydration (92%)
• hypothermia (68%)
• vomiting (35%)
• abdominal pain (25%)
• a palpable abdominal mass (23%)
• shortness of breath (dyspnea) (20%)
• loss of muscle coordination (ataxia) (15%)
• diarrhea (15%)​

Treatment involves subq fluids, pain meds, both vomiting meds and nausea meds, and sometimes an appetite stimulant.

You can read more about pancreatitis here:

 
Hi guys! The vet said all her vitals were good. She saw that she does have some labored breathing but said that her gums were still pink and didn’t need any oxygen. She also said her lungs sounded clear. They gave her a ondansetron injection and a transdermal appetite stimulant and told us to keep an eye on her breathing. We came home and she didn’t want to eat very much. I tried three different wet foods, all she does is lick it a little bit. I even tried to hand feed her but didn’t help much. She seems to be nauseous, unstable when she gets up, she cries (don’t know if it’s because of pain or just feeling ill) and depressed. Medicines don’t seem to be working anymore. And I wasn’t able to give her insulin tonight as she didn’t get enough food. I don’t know what else to think.
 
Red & Rover (GA) said:
You might want to ask for a test for pancreatitis.
The major symptoms are:

Cats with pancreatitis, even when severe, often present with non-specific clinical signs. In one study of 40 cats with severe pancreatitis the following clinical signs were reported:
• lethargy (100%)
• anorexia (97%)
• dehydration (92%)
• hypothermia (68%)
• vomiting (35%)
• abdominal pain (25%)
• a palpable abdominal mass (23%)
• shortness of breath (dyspnea) (20%)
• loss of muscle coordination (ataxia) (15%)
• diarrhea (15%)​

Treatment involves subq fluids, pain meds, both vomiting meds and nausea meds, and sometimes an appetite stimulant.

You can read more about pancreatitis here:

Click to expand...
I saw this too late but I believe they checked all that when she was admitted to the hospital late August.
 
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