Plaintive meowing tonight

[vexedgirl]

So.... Tested Edgar this morning at 7:00 am, he was at 316. Fed him, gave him Lantus (no, I can't wait 1-2 hours after feeding and before testing and shooting. Not possible with my schedule). Got home close to 7:30 and tested him. He was at 399. Gave him his shot even before putting down food. Texted the guy who comes and gives him his seizure meds at 4:15 pm, who reported Edgar had not eaten while he was there. Edgar was uninterested in food. Ate a few bites here and there. Then he went to the litterbox and had a rather squishy and noisy BM. I gave him an appetite stimulant because the little bugger needs to eat. Just tested him again at about 10:00 pm, and he's at 233.

Problem is, he is plaintively meowing, clinging to me, and restlessly shifting his body. This is NOT like him. Especially the plaintive meows. He usually meows like a little kitten; and they're mostly short little sounds. He is so obviously uncomfortable and he seems a little weak. Not to the point where he's floppy, but just tentative and fatigued movements. His breathing seems to be a little bit fast and heavy, though he's super far from panting. I just put my ear to his side and his insides seem to be doing a fair amount of gurgling. Could this just be an upset tummy? Is this common on Lantus?

 

[BJM]

It sounds like his GI tract is upset; it could need to rest. Maybe just provide fresh cool water and monitor and take to vet if it doesn't resolve by morning.
I doubt it is the Lantus. Was the food changed recently, or is it a new batch of food?

 

[vexedgirl]

I have been trying lots of different foods. Since he's so frigging picky, the neurologist had recommended going back to his old S/O. I was mixing the S/O with D/M (all dry) to at least TRY and get him on a better meal plan. But then starting yesterday he began picking out and eating only the S/O. He hardly ate anything tonight.

BTW, you'll notice I did the spreadsheet.

 

[rhiannon and shadow (GA)]

it definitely sounds like gi tract... and I know you want him to eat... but the stimulant is probably what's making him fussy. His insides hurt ( gurgle)
and he doesn't want to eat.... and then meds to make him hungry.
Which stimulant do you have? I have trouble with mirtzapine, it makes mine very fussy even when I only give her a crumb.

it sounds like you make have to take a step backwards and change his food much slower.


Yay on having that spreadsheet!

 

[Julia & Bandit (GA)]

I agree it sounds like his GI tract. Have you ever tried Fortiflora before? It is a cat probiotic that can help a great deal getting GI tracts back on track. If I remember correctly (and they haven't changed their formula in the past few years), EVO dry has a pretty high fat content. That might be what's setting his stomach off. I would recommend exactly what you're doing, mixing it with the lower fat foods he was eating before. Kidney cats can be sooooo freaking picky. My best friend's cat had kidney disease from age 8 and we attempted for years to get him to eat canned food with little success. Is there any sort of foods other than his regular dry foods he'll eat, even if they're human foods? Shredded chicken? Beef? Tuna? You would need something other than kibble to mix the fortiflora with. The Fortiflora powder itself can sometimes help picky cats to eat--it is flavored similarly to dry food. But some cats might even lap it up if you mix it with water.

When you feed Edgar, do you leave the dry food out 24/7 or have you tried pulling it up and feeding it only at scheduled times (e.g. every 4-6 hours)? I know it sounds weird, but doing small, scheduled feedings might help--sometimes when cats have food in front of them 24/7 it works against their natural hunger drives. I'm not sure if you saw these tips for transitioning cats, but many of them can also be used for inappentence as well. With kidney cats, it's a struggle to get them to eat anything, so anything you can get in him is a success. Is Edgar taking pepcid on a regular basis? That can can sometimes help with appetite, too, because kidney cats can have very acidic stomachs.

One thing I'm seeing on your spreadsheet is that it looks like 2u may be too much insulin for him, especially if he's not eating well. It's hard to tell without mid-cycle tests (dosing with Lantus is based off of the daily nadir readings, or the lowest point of the cycle, ususually about 6 hours after the shot). I think I saw from another post that you have a very tight schedule and a commute? I was in a similar situation in 2009 when Bandit went on insulin. I was working two jobs, my full time job had a an hour commute each way, and I was in grad school with no one at home to help me out with Bandit. It was hard to put together a working schedule, but I managed. Here's what it looked like during the week:

7am-test & shoot.
1pm-not possible to come home and test because of work, so the autofeeder would release his lunch
7pm-test & shoot
10pm (my bedtime)-test
1am-I would set an alarm, test & feed, and go right back to bed.

On the weekends when I was home, I would do a curve during the AM cycle and get some random tests whenever I wasn't working my second job (which was mostly at night). I also wouldn't get home from my second job on the weekends until 2-3am oftentimes, so I would either set the feeder for 1am or feed Bandit an hour or so late, and then test before bed. Then up at 7am to test & shoot on the weekends, and going right back to bed afterwards to sleep in some more.

I'm not gonna lie, at times doing all that was really stressful and hard, and I'm lucky that I was able to train myself to get up and fall back asleep quickly (I was ridiculously tired the first two weeks, but around week three my body adjusted). But it was less stressful for me than the alternative, which was not knowing how the insulin dose was working in him.

I just wanted to throw all this out there in case it gives you any ideas on how to modify your schedule or routine to accomodate Edgar's medicines--I understand how difficult managing a bunch of different issues can be.

 

[BJM]

You might try smashing up the S/O and sprinkling it on other food. Also, check out Evo Cat and Kitten dry and Young Again 0 Carb foods which are < 8% calories from carbohydrate.