Ollie long time regulated on food strike (update)

[Ollie (GA)]

I'm hoping you will be able to point me in the right direction and give me some of your wisdom. I posted about six years ago with Ollie (maybe under Ollie & Patsy) and you helped me get him regulated on lantus. He has been doing great and is now 16 years old. He stayed right at 2 to 3 units bid with his readings between 80 to 130. Perfect. My vet is okay but thought I might have him too tightly regulated but I stayed the course. I test him but I'm sorry to say have not kept up a spreadsheet. He has hyperthyroidism for about four years now. This was controlled with pills 2.5mg bid. Last seen by vet 4/9/16 with full bloodwork done. She doubled his hyperthyroid meds due to a rise shown in the T4. Everything else was in the normal zone. No problems....until about a month ago he started eating less. Ollie is a big boy and weighs normally close to 22 pounds. Big boned really with double paws. He's lost a little weight and is now down to 20.8 pounds.

I adjusted his insulin needs as he ate less and he only needed about 1 unit of lantus with readings dipping a bit lower (60 to 120 range). I wasn't too concerned because he was eating and he could stand to lose a little I'm always told. This week it turned into total food strike. I purchased all sorts of foods and he would nibble a bit but no appetite. I cooked chicken, made the liver shake, baby food, freeze dried chicken, tuna flakes, everything i could think of. Yesterday I tried dry kibble (ProPlan) and he ate a good 1/2 to 3/4 cups over the day. Tested last night and got 180 pre shot, tested again @+5 (his nadir normally) and got 150. This morning his amps was 240! Without enough coffee in me I raised him to 1.75 units from 1 unit. He is eating kibble now and it's +1.5 since shot.

I have had a vet appointment scheduled for Tuesday @ 10:30 am. I live in Boston and could take him to Angell Animal Medical now. We have never used them but they are well known and close by. To look at him you would never think anything is wrong. His 4 p's are in place (peeing, pooping, preening & purring). He is drinking more water and I'm going to get the amount measured today. Litter box is wetter. He's not hiding or does he appear distressed or in pain.

I trust you all and I guess I am looking to see what you would do and if you have any suggestions. Part of me thinks the thyroid meds are too high, another part of me thinks kidney disease has begun and another thinks he's just aged and I might have to think that his time is coming. I'm confused.

Thank you for reading this and any suggestions are welcome and sincerely appreciated.

 

[Ollie (GA)]

I understand. I no longer have a relationship here and am looking for answers to something there is no real answer to. I also know I am unable to provide the info that would be needed to give thoughtful guidance.

This is a great community and if you are here or just starting this journey with a diabetic cat this is the place to stay. I would never have gotten Ollie as far as I did without the start I got here.

I wish you all the best with much love.

 

[MrWorfMen's Mom]

Once family always family around here so welcome back!

From what you are describing behaviour wise and with him finally eating albeit kibble, I don't think I'd view this as an emergency and would wait for Tues. unless something changes in the interim. What diet was Ollie on before he got fussy about eating? Have his T4 levels been checked again since starting the new dose of medication or is that's what the appt. on Tues. is for? The dose could be still be too low leading to weight loss although then you'd expect an increased appetite. The extra drinking could just be because of the kibble if he was on a canned diet previously. I have a 18 yr. old and he has definitely lost muscle mass/weight over the last couple of years and his appetite can be great one day and totally off the next so part of it could be age related but at 16, Ollie is still a spring chicken compared to mine so don't start thinking the worst.

 

[Ollie (GA)]

Thank you! Your reply was very much appreciated and thoughtful

Ollie has not had his T4 rechecked. The Tuesday appointment is for full checkup & bloodwork. He's seen at least three times at year and I always get everything tested at each visit. He's always been low maintenance once he got regulated. His diet is the better part (some always has to be tossed) of two cans of either ProPlan chunky chicken or Fancy Feast Classic chicken daily. Pill Pockets for the thyroid meds and Wysong Cat Treats after each test. Freeze dried chicken is an alternate treat. Ollie is a very easy going cat and diabetes has created a very strong bond between us.

I started the kibble because he was heading for 24 hours without food and I knew I had to get something in him. He's not overeating and I hope I can get him back on track once I get to the bottom of why he's not eating. Without food in him I know I would have had to get him somewhere to be seen. I'm glad to read you think he can wait until Tuesday and see his regular vet, unless something else happens. I just wasn't trusting myself and was thinking the worst. Never thought the day would come when he didn't want to eat.

Thank you again. I truly mean it when I say there is a lot of great people with knowledge on this board and a lot of cats have benefited from it. I know Ollie has in the past and now once again.

 

[MrWorfMen's Mom]

Relatively speaking I'm fairly new here and I know what you mean about the great group of folks on this board. I was amazed and so grateful for the counsel and info the folks on this board gave me at the start of my journey and that continues to this day. As long as Ollie is eating a reasonable amount of kibble I wouldn't panic. My old guy has decided cat food of any sort is not up to his standards some days so I sometimes feel like I cook more for him than for me! They can be very finicky as they age and I think maybe they get bored with the same fare day in and day out. My sugar cat won't touch canned food and I've been trying to get her off kibble since she first joined our family at 10 weeks old, long before her FD diagnosis, so if all Ollie wants now is kibble, then so be it. He's got to eat and at 16, he's earned a little leeway! You may have to compensate with a little more insulin but keeping him happy and healthy comes first.

 

[Ollie (GA)]

I wanted to give an update on Ollie's vet visit and the last week. Ollie had a full CBC done with a T4 and urinalysis. I continued to feed him anything he would eat up to the appointment, so he was running in the 300's. His vet sent me home with Hills m/d canned & dry along with some hills w/d. She wanted me to continue to get any food in him. I didn't want to take the Hills food but I also didn't want to get on her bad side (again). She suggested I take him off his thyroid meds to possibly help with appetite until we got results back. I got him to eat the high carb kibble and no canned.
The vet called me the next afternoon with results that she said were "perfect". They weren't much different than what was done 4/9/16 except the T4 was a bit low, just below the normal zone. I have attached his full lab work in his profile. She felt I should keep the dose of thryoid meds the same. I asked about the ear rub thyroid med but she doesn't like it. She suggested doing an ultrasound to see if anything else might be going on. I asked about an appetite stimulant and she prescribed mirt. I gave Ollie the mirt Wednesday night and he didn't handle it well. Hyper, vocal and high as a kite two hours after dosing. He calmed down in a couple of hours and did eat a little. I waited until Friday morning to update her and was told keep all doses the same and work on his diabetes.
I'm not really comfortable with giving the mirt and skipped the 2nd dose last night. He's eating enough and I'm working on getting him back on all canned food but using some Evo dry since he became "Captain Crunch". I'm using the Hills m/d dry as a treat with testing and pilling. He still won't touch the Pill Pockets so pilling is not pleasant for either of us. I have adjusted his thyroid meds from 5mg bid to 3.75mg bid. I think it's worth a try, he lost his appetite for some reason. I'll have his T4 done again in a few weeks, probably with a different vet. Looking back thyroid should have been tested after doubling dose in April. I like this vet but I'm not sure anymore. I think I should bring Ollie to Angell for an appointment with a specialist. It couldn't hurt to have another opinion.

I have started a new spreadsheet with data I have from 8/1/16. Wish I never stopped. I think at the moment he is clearing a bounce, or the late dose is catching up. I believe we can get back regulated once I get his new food choices sorted out. He looks good but is drinking about 15 to 16oz of water a day and the litter box is very wet. I hope that will calm down when diabetes gets back on track.

That's my tale of woe. I appreciate the help and calming words from Linda.