OTJ and stopped eating

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Kristine

Kristine

Member Since 2015
Hi all... My Big Boy Christopher has been OTJ for about 9 months now and has been doing REALLY well. However a couple of days ago I noticed that he wasnt "quite himself". He had become fairly needy and a bit lethargic. So...2 days ago he stopped eating his wet food (he is usually the first one of my cats to race to the food at dinner time) and he will ONLY eat the dry food that I keep on hand for when his numbers get too low.

I had been testing his BG once a week and his low was usually around 65 and his high was around 95-110 so I wasnt too worried.
This past few days he has been high of 156 and low of 50. Im just worried that he isnt eating. He just goes to the food dish.... licks it and eats a bite or two and goes in the living room and lays down. Any thoughts??

Also.... are there any LOW carb ... HIGH protein dry foods that I can feed him if he wont eat the wet ?

Thanks again

Kristine and Christopher
 
the dry would be https://www.youngagainpetfood.com/zero-formula.html

2 tablespoons is a full days serving so while it seems expensive.... it actually isn't.



it sounds very similar to nausea.
cats will ask for food, happy that you are putting down a dish for them, and most will sniff ( some will do a very small lip smack)
and they turn away.
Mine would do what yours is doing, take a taste or two and then turn away.
I would still put that in the nausea category.

They also get bored with the same food day after day so it may be you need to add a few different ones.....
I keep a variety because you never know when a company will change a recipe or discontinue.

You should probably get a check up with your vet.....
I would start testing a little more often..... at random times different each day..... see if that's really as high as he's going.
You may be missing some higher numbers....

and you might want to ask your vet for ondansetron for nausea ( it's a human drug so you take a prescription to your pharmacy)
take 1/4 of a 4 mg pill up to two times a day.
most of us also get a prescription for cyproheptadine for appy stimulation. you give that 30 minutes after the ondansetron.
some vets only want to give mirtzapine which we call meowzapine because kitty won't stop asking for food, they just follow
you around asking for more..... the pill is flawed in that the cat doesn't know when he's eaten enough.
 
Cats eat with their nose, if they can't smell it they won't eat it. Try something really smelly/stinky like fish based cat food for a couple of meals. That's the extent of my knowledge right now, migraine coming on, sorry, very hard to think or see the screen. Bedtime.
 
Tested Christopher last night and his BG was 69. He STILL is not interested in food at all. He ate a tiny bit of kibble this morning and licked at some tuna but didnt eat any. I cant tell if he is lethargic or not. I havent noticed him drinking much and havent seen him using the litter box but I work 2 jobs so Im not home much. I also have 2 other cats so dont know which ones are in the boxes.
I am going to keep an eye on him for a day or two . Do I need to worry about KETONES? I dont know much about that.

Any help?
 
rhiannon and shadow (GA) said:
the dry would be https://www.youngagainpetfood.com/zero-formula.html
https://www.youngagainpetfood.com/zero-formula.html
2 tablespoons is a full days serving so while it seems expensive.... it actually isn't.



it sounds very similar to nausea.
cats will ask for food, happy that you are putting down a dish for them, and most will sniff ( some will do a very small lip smack)
and they turn away.
Mine would do what yours is doing, take a taste or two and then turn away.
I would still put that in the nausea category.

They also get bored with the same food day after day so it may be you need to add a few different ones.....
I keep a variety because you never know when a company will change a recipe or discontinue.

You should probably get a check up with your vet.....
I would start testing a little more often..... at random times different each day..... see if that's really as high as he's going.
You may be missing some higher numbers....

and you might want to ask your vet for ondansetron for nausea ( it's a human drug so you take a prescription to your pharmacy)
take 1/4 of a 4 mg pill up to two times a day.
most of us also get a prescription for cyproheptadine for appy stimulation. you give that 30 minutes after the ondansetron.
some vets only want to give mirtzapine which we call meowzapine because kitty won't stop asking for food, they just follow
you around asking for more..... the pill is flawed in that the cat doesn't know when he's eaten enough.
Click to expand...
 
rhiannon and shadow (GA) said:
the dry would be https://www.youngagainpetfood.com/zero-formula.html
https://www.youngagainpetfood.com/zero-formula.html
2 tablespoons is a full days serving so while it seems expensive.... it actually isn't.



it sounds very similar to nausea.
cats will ask for food, happy that you are putting down a dish for them, and most will sniff ( some will do a very small lip smack)
and they turn away.
Mine would do what yours is doing, take a taste or two and then turn away.
I would still put that in the nausea category.

They also get bored with the same food day after day so it may be you need to add a few different ones.....
I keep a variety because you never know when a company will change a recipe or discontinue.

You should probably get a check up with your vet.....
I would start testing a little more often..... at random times different each day..... see if that's really as high as he's going.
You may be missing some higher numbers....

and you might want to ask your vet for ondansetron for nausea ( it's a human drug so you take a prescription to your pharmacy)
take 1/4 of a 4 mg pill up to two times a day.
most of us also get a prescription for cyproheptadine for appy stimulation. you give that 30 minutes after the ondansetron.
some vets only want to give mirtzapine which we call meowzapine because kitty won't stop asking for food, they just follow
you around asking for more..... the pill is flawed in that the cat doesn't know when he's eaten enough.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info !!
I went to the store today and bought a BUNCH of different foods to try.... Opened 4 different cans and no dice. I also bought a Low Carb/High protein dry kibble to try. He ate a bit of that but not much. I am going to test his blood as sugested at various times today and see if he is ok... His BG last night before I gave him food was 69.
He doesnt seem to be lethargic.... just not himself.
 
If he's OTJ and not administering insulin you don't need to worry about his BG dropping too low and you shouldn't be feeding him high carb dry. You'll make him fall of the wagon and need insulin again. Try anything to get him eating low carb wet food or try that Young Again Dry. Anything else will surely get him insulin dependent again in time. Have you tried foriflora sprinkled on his food. My cats love the stuff, it settles their tummy and they seem more content and calm. You can find it on 1800petmeds, Amazon and other places.
 
just in case,
grain free dry foods are not low carb.

the lowest dry is young again zero carb ...
the second lowest is Evo dry food.

And we had a cat here years ago, that was diabetic.... ate Evo and only went in remission after switching to young again.
Even Evo is too high in carbs....

There are no other dry foods lower than those two.

Try to stick with the canned as much as you can.
and if dry has to be around, order the one that won't kick him out of remission.
 
rhiannon and shadow (GA) said:
just in case,
grain free dry foods are not low carb.

the lowest dry is young again zero carb ...
the second lowest is Evo dry food.

And we had a cat here years ago, that was diabetic.... ate Evo and only went in remission after switching to young again.
Even Evo is too high in carbs....

There are no other dry foods lower than those two.

Try to stick with the canned as much as you can.
and if dry has to be around, order the one that won't kick him out of remission.
Click to expand...
rhiannon and shadow (GA) said:
just in case,
grain free dry foods are not low carb.

the lowest dry is young again zero carb ...
the second lowest is Evo dry food.

And we had a cat here years ago, that was diabetic.... ate Evo and only went in remission after switching to young again.
Even Evo is too high in carbs....

There are no other dry foods lower than those two.

Try to stick with the canned as much as you can.
and if dry has to be around, order the one that won't kick him out of remission.
Click to expand...


I realize that ANY dry Kibble is bad for him but he hasnt eaten in over 2.5 days.... Right now I am just trying to get him to eat ANYTHING. I took advice and tested him at a random time..... 6:30 pm ( he usually eats at 8:30 am and 8:30 pm) and his BG was 57.

The dry best dry food my local pet store had was INSTINCT raw boost.... 83% animal ingredients....17%vegie and fruit....0% grain, gluten, soy or potato... It is 44.5%protein. He ate some of it and seemed to like it.

Gonna see what happens tomorrow and see if he will eat his wet food. I didnt leave any of it out for him to graze on overnight because of the other 2 cats in the house.
 
okay.
I am just pointing it out for long term.

Yes....
getting him to eat is most important .

a couple of things that might help....

take out fried chicken with the breading peeled off.... some cats go crazy for it.
deli meats
baby food - meat only stage 1 ( check ingredients for no onions)
scrambled egg
shredded cheese
 
Kristine said:
Do I need to worry about KETONES?
Click to expand...

Yes, even if a cat is not on insulin, he is still a diabetic, and it is possible that ketones and DKA can develop especially if he is skinny and not eating right. Sometimes, cats BS goes into the "normal" range for the wrong reasons (like poor appetite or illness) and they actually still do need insulin to help them gain weight, heal and prevent ketones.

You can go to any pharmacy, and buy ketone urine strips. If you can catch your cat in the litter box you can stick a kitchen spoon or soup ladle to catch some urine, or you can place a small amount of pastic wrap in the box to catch the urine. Test him ASAP!!
 
UP DATE on Christopher....
Last night around 9:00 pm Christopher ate some wet food.... Not alot but some. This mornings feeding he ate almost half of his food and when I got home from work today he was over licking the plates so I believe his appetite may be coming back. He seems alittle more active than the past 4 days. I checked his BG last night and it was 57 at 6:30 which was 8 hours after food and 3 hours before next meal.

I am optimistically cautious.

Thanks everyone for your input
 
Tonight's feeding went very well!!..Chrissy the ALL his food and he was plying with his toys like a kitten! Maybe he just had a bug of some sort? Regardless... All is good for now. Thanks again for everyone's help.
 
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