Not eating, blood sugar high

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Littlesno

Member Since 2017
I'm not quite sure what's going on with my cat Tikky. She is approximately 5-6 years old (she was a stray and looked to be about 6 months to a year old when she showed up, vet agreed with the age estimate) and she has been diabetic for almost a year. She started on 1 unit of Prozinc and graduated up to 2 units. After she got used to the 2 units everything was smooth sailing. She hasn't had any problems up until now.

On Sunday she ate breakfast, got her shot, slept all day long and didn't seem interested in eating her dinner. I finally coaxed her into eating it and gave her second daily shot.

Monday morning she had thrown up once and spit up foamy white stuff twice. She refused to eat anything. Tried several different options of dry, wet, and treats... Nothing. I skipped her shot since she was lethargic and refusing all food. I work nights and my dad had been watching her once I went to work that day. He opened up a can of tuna at around 5pm and she wanted some. He gave her a little bit and she ate that; I was just happy to hear she had some food in her belly. She had two small helpings of tuna that night and since that's all she would eat, I gave her a bit more for dinner when I got off work. She ate most of it so I gave her the shot. I didn't like that she was only eating human food but like I said I'm glad she at least ate something. I tested her glucose level that night and she was at 304. On the high end for a cat who is hardly eating!

Come Tuesday, she didn't want breakfast. I managed to get her to eat a small amount of treats but that's all she would accept. She was more alert and less lethargic but still kind of dazed and confused, so to speak. My dad reported that she didn't want anything to eat again that night. I got home and checked her blood sugar, it came back at 363.

She has a vet appointment scheduled so I'll have answers soon but in the mean time my question is how?? How could she possibly be so high while she's essentially eating next to nothing? Shouldn't she be low due to lack of nutrition? She generally doesn't fluctuate a ton before and after shots. Here's a clearer outline of the situation if it helps:

Sunday: 2 meals, 2 shots. Normal. Didn't test her sugar level because she hadn't seemed ill.
Monday: no breakfast, 1 skipped shot, 3 small meals, 1 shot. Blood sugar 304.
Tuesday: no breakfast, a few treats, no shot, no dinner, no shot. Blood sugar 363.

I'm not new to the diabetic cat thing, but definitely new to the complications! Never had a problem until now. Any advice will help me understand what's going on and calm me down a bit until Tikky's appointment. Much appreciated!
 
Have them test for pancreatitis. She may need an anti nausea medicine like cerenia, and if it's pancratitis also a pain killer like bupe. Pain can make the bg levels elevated.

Even more serious is have them check for ketones!

In the meantime try to get her to eat anything you can so she doesn't develope fatty liver. Your appointment is today?
 
I'm very glad you are going to the vet-- your kitty needs vet attention ASAP. No matter what, a cat that isn't eating for several days is an emergency situation, but a diabetic cat who isn't eating and isn't receiving insulin is at great risk of developing ketones. This is something that is addressable if you catch it early enough, but the longer you wait, the harder it is to treat (lots more money, and a very sick cat-- untreated, this can be quickly fatal). Here's some more information (lots of info in the blue links on this page): http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/...oacidosis-dka-and-blood-ketone-meters.135952/

The "recipe" for ketones is: infection/inflammation of some kind + not eating + not enough insulin, so if it does turn out that that is part of the story, it's important to find and address the root cause, the infection or whatever triggered it. Could be something like pancreatitis, as Janet suggests, or any number of things.

Hope it turns out to be something minor and easily fixed, and that your kitty is feeling better soon!
 
Thanks for the responses! She just got her blood work done. Seems to be pancreatitis. Her blood sugar was still elevated but her red and white blood cells along with all her other levels are mostly normal. She will be staying overnight at the vet to get fluids and such. She has a small fever but is otherwise healthy. Good gums, lungs, and heart.

We had just moved into a new house so the vet believes that she had a small infection brewing that became more intense once the stress of new surroundings kicked in.
 
I haven't heard anything from the vet about food intake but I'm supposed to pick her up in the morning. It feels so weird not having her curled up in bed with me, purring away! I hope all goes well and she doesn't require a feeding tube. She is going to be receiving fluids as well as antibiotics during her stay. She is also getting an appetite stimulant if she doesn't begin to eat normally again. We'll see how she behaves tomorrow. She may be all drugged up but once she's back to normal I hope to hear her meow again! She's very vocal but has been basically mute save for a few grumpy growls since her illness took over this weekend. Drained the life right out of her. The vet thinks it's just a minor infection because her blood work is all good except for a few things that were just a bit high or low.
 
If there are any signs of nausea (lip-licking, going to food bowl but then turning away) you should get an anti-nausea like ondansetron to help-- appetite stimulants aren't helpful if there's unaddressed nausea.

A feeding tube isn't necessarily a bad thing-- it guarantees you'll be able to get food into an inappetant cat, which can really help get them over the hump of an illness. It is so hard seeing them feel so rotten :(. I hope she bounces back quickly and you get your Tikky back!
 
I believe I was told she was getting anti nausea medication while she stayed at the vet. Hard to remember with all the info I received yesterday.

Just got word from the vet that she is grumpy and hasn't eaten. I don't blame her! Poor thing. She must not feel too great with different surroundings and strange people messing with her for the past day. I hope once she settles back in at home she'll be more comfortable and feel good enough to eat. I get to pick her up in a few hours.
 
The other thing that might help is pain meds-- pancreatitis can be very painful, and that alone can make them not want to eat.

Definitely pick up some ketone test strips (urine testing-- you can find them with human diabetic supplies in any pharmacy). You want to be testing a diabetic cat regularly anyway, but especially if they are not eating well, so that you can jump on any developing ketones immediately (fingers crossed that it is never an issue for Tikky!).
 
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