Out of remission- throwing up bile

[Bhhhh]

Hi! I’m new to this forum but not to feline diabetes. My cat chicken went into remission a year and a half ago and he unfortunately is insulin dependent again. The vet started him on 1 unit lantus twice a day. I feed him 3 3oz cans of fancy feast pate (chicken,turkey, beef) a day. He’s a larger cat but has lost 2 pounds in the last 4 months because of the diabetes. The vet said I don’t have to test his glucose before administering the insulin for the first two weeks but that makes me uncomfortable so we’ve been testing.. he’s hanging around 250 to 350 before the insulin is given. He was yowling a lot yesterday morning at 4am and this morning and Monday morning he threw up stomach bile which makes me think he isn’t getting enough food or something is not right?? Anyone experienced this? How do I test for ketones? I don’t believe the vet did when they ran his bloodwork…besides acting very hungry still he seems to be normal and he is urinating and drinking less water from what I can tell. I’m sad we are back here but he is so cooperative and is such a trooper!!! Thanks for reading.

 

[Tim & Pookey]

Hi there and welcome to the forum.

Glad you're testing on your own. Do you have some data you can share in a spreadsheet format? This post has some information about that, as well as the signature on your posts, that will help the others help you.

What feeding schedule are you following? When Pookey does the empty stomach throw up it's usually because he's gone too long without food. A lot of members here feed the main meals before insulin, and then a couple snacks throughout the first half of the insulin cycle. Acting hungry is a very common symptom of unregulated FD.

This post has information about ketones. You can use a urine strip and catch him in the box. I never had luck with that personally, so I went for the blood ketone meter. Same concept as the blood glucose meter.

 

[Bhhhh]

Hi there and welcome to the forum.

Glad you're testing on your own. Do you have some data you can share in a spreadsheet format? This post has some information about that, as well as the signature on your posts, that will help the others help you.

What feeding schedule are you following? When Pookey does the empty stomach throw up it's usually because he's gone too long without food. A lot of members here feed the main meals before insulin, and then a couple snacks throughout the first half of the insulin cycle. Acting hungry is a very common symptom of unregulated FD.

This post has information about ketones. You can use a urine strip and catch him in the box. I never had luck with that personally, so I went for the blood ketone meter. Same concept as the blood glucose meter.

I will start tracking with the spreadsheet! I was wondering where people were getting that, thank you!! He gets a can with the insulin at 6am and 6 pm and a snack before dinner after I get home from work and right before I go to bed. The vet said no snacks but he doesn’t function with two large meals. The vet said he can only have 280 calories a day which is 3 of the 3 oz cans I will have to get a blood monitor for testing his ketones!

 

[Tim & Pookey]

He can definitely have snacks throughout the day. Just reduce the main meal sizes so that he's still at the 280 calories total. A good starting point would be the main meal, and then +2, +4, and +6 hours after the dose. That way you're not feeding later in the cycle when insulin is wearing off. I use these can lids to store the remaining in the fridge. If you're not home during the day you could look at an automatic feeder. They make some for wet food that keep it cool, like the Petlibro or Cat Mate.

Here's the schedule I was using when I started. Not saying this is the only way, but just an example for you.

 

[Seth&Bell]

My Bell has bilious vomiting syndrome and will throw up bile if she doesn’t have some food every 1.5 to 2 hours. So she gets many small meals throughout the day.

I believe it is optimal reduce the amount of food given in the second half of the cycle, but with Bell that isn’t possible. We make do just fine. As Wendy mentioned in your other thread, you for sure don’t need to limit Chicken to two meals a day. Hopefully spreading out his feedings into smaller meals will help with the bile vomiting!