Hello, this is my first post here. I am appreciative of any feedback or advice that can be offered. I recognize that the responses should not be treated as formal medical recommendations or diagnoses.
Our cat Lilly is 12.5 years old, female, indoor tabby. Normal weight approx. 12 lbs.
In September 2018, at age 9, she was diagnosed with diabetes. Prior to that, she ate dry kibbles and grazed, and eventually became overweight. After her diagnosis, we switched her to Purina DM wet food and dry food, and Lantus Glargine insulin, per vet recommendation.
After several followup vet visits and curves, we decided on 2 units at breakfast and 1 unit at supper, 12 hours apart, per vet recommendation. We rigidly stuck with this for a long time afterwards and she seemed very healthy; she would eagerly eat and receive her insulin every 12 hours, and she was at a healthy weight and not showing any signs of any health issues. Vet visits became less frequent in 2020-2021 due to COVID but Lilly still seemed fine so we stayed the course.
In August 2021, we took her for a routine checkup and did a full blood panel; all results were good, except her blood sugar was high (around 20), so we started gradually increasing her insulin intake and doing more curves. Eventually we increased her supper dose to 2 units, so she was now getting 2 units every 12 hours. We also learned how to check her blood sugar at home and how to do at-home curves. Overall, her blood sugar improved, but results were inconsistent; at her lowest (6 hours post meal + insulin), she would typically range from 7-14, despite her routine being very rigid.
Meanwhile, she still seemed totally normal; however, she gradually started being more finicky with the Purina DM wet food. Sometimes she would not eat the wet food until we coaxed her, or until we sprinkled the dry food on top of it. Ultimately we never had trouble getting her to finish it; we generally only had trouble with her starting it. The vet said she had some gum inflammation/gingivitis, and that the cold wet food (when refrigerated) may be sensitive, so we tried warming it up in the microwave, and that seemed to help. We planned on possibly getting surgery to fix her gums but we wanted to try to get her sugars stabilized first.
Fast forward to February 2022. Approx. 2 weeks ago she stopped eating, for seemingly no reason at all. Whatever she did eat, she would vomit; fortunately, the vomiting ultimately only lasted a few days and is no longer an issue. She still drank water regularly and continues to do so. We tried different types of wet foods (and even some treats) to entice her to eat, but we didn’t have much success. We took her to the vet (note - a different vet than our usual one, because we wanted her seen ASAP and our vet was not available on short notice), and the vet did a full blood panel, urinalysis, x-ray scans, and physical exam, and found no issues except mild/moderate constipation. The vet noted the gum issues but did not seem as concerned as our regular vet. The vet’s theory was that the constipation was interfering with Lilly’s appetite and digestion. She gave Lilly an enema, Restoralax, and buprinorphine. After a few days, Lilly resumed having regular, healthy bowel movements, and constipation no longer seems to be an issue.
Meanwhile, Lilly’s appetite is still poor. She will act hungry but will then only have a few bites of food before trying to cover it and walk away. Generally, she is more interested in dry food than wet food. We have tried multiple types of wet food - including Hill’s “urgent care” and “recovery” per vet recommendation - but they have little impact on her appetite.
She has also had bouts of frequent sneezing during this period; this is highly unusual for her. We see some mild discharge from her nose, clear in colour, but no other symptoms. She has some discharge in her eyes, but it’s brown in colour, which the vet said is normal. Of note, sometimes in the past when begging for food, she would cough; we thought maybe she was “faking it” to try to get attention, as it never seemed to be a real problem and she only did it when begging for food. Now, in hindsight, we wonder if she has chronic respiratory problems.
We took her back to the same vet, who agreed that a respiratory infection could be impacting her ability to smell and taste her food. She said respiratory infections are usually viral, but gave Lilly a general antibiotic just in case. The vet also gave Lilly an appetite stimulant. If she does have a respiratory infection, we have no idea where she got it; she’s an indoor cat and we have no other pets.
Now, approx. 2 weeks since this all started, the constipation seems to be gone and Lilly is not really sneezing anymore, but she still has a poor appetite and will not eat much. As a result, she has not had insulin throughout all of this, but we check her sugars sporadically and she’s remaining around 14. What’s most frustrating is she seems totally fine otherwise, but is visibly getting skinnier and weaker due to not eating much, and we are struggling to get her back into any kind of schedule to regulate her blood sugar. In an attempt to at least sustain her, we are leaving the dry food out and allowing her to graze when she’s hungry; we recognize this is not good for constipation, dehydration, and blood sugar, but we are trying to at least sustain her while we try to figure out what is going on.
Sorry for the long post. Thanks for reading this far. Any help you can provide is greatly appreciated. We do plan to follow up with the vet again, but are looking for any additional insights in the meantime.
Our cat Lilly is 12.5 years old, female, indoor tabby. Normal weight approx. 12 lbs.
In September 2018, at age 9, she was diagnosed with diabetes. Prior to that, she ate dry kibbles and grazed, and eventually became overweight. After her diagnosis, we switched her to Purina DM wet food and dry food, and Lantus Glargine insulin, per vet recommendation.
After several followup vet visits and curves, we decided on 2 units at breakfast and 1 unit at supper, 12 hours apart, per vet recommendation. We rigidly stuck with this for a long time afterwards and she seemed very healthy; she would eagerly eat and receive her insulin every 12 hours, and she was at a healthy weight and not showing any signs of any health issues. Vet visits became less frequent in 2020-2021 due to COVID but Lilly still seemed fine so we stayed the course.
In August 2021, we took her for a routine checkup and did a full blood panel; all results were good, except her blood sugar was high (around 20), so we started gradually increasing her insulin intake and doing more curves. Eventually we increased her supper dose to 2 units, so she was now getting 2 units every 12 hours. We also learned how to check her blood sugar at home and how to do at-home curves. Overall, her blood sugar improved, but results were inconsistent; at her lowest (6 hours post meal + insulin), she would typically range from 7-14, despite her routine being very rigid.
Meanwhile, she still seemed totally normal; however, she gradually started being more finicky with the Purina DM wet food. Sometimes she would not eat the wet food until we coaxed her, or until we sprinkled the dry food on top of it. Ultimately we never had trouble getting her to finish it; we generally only had trouble with her starting it. The vet said she had some gum inflammation/gingivitis, and that the cold wet food (when refrigerated) may be sensitive, so we tried warming it up in the microwave, and that seemed to help. We planned on possibly getting surgery to fix her gums but we wanted to try to get her sugars stabilized first.
Fast forward to February 2022. Approx. 2 weeks ago she stopped eating, for seemingly no reason at all. Whatever she did eat, she would vomit; fortunately, the vomiting ultimately only lasted a few days and is no longer an issue. She still drank water regularly and continues to do so. We tried different types of wet foods (and even some treats) to entice her to eat, but we didn’t have much success. We took her to the vet (note - a different vet than our usual one, because we wanted her seen ASAP and our vet was not available on short notice), and the vet did a full blood panel, urinalysis, x-ray scans, and physical exam, and found no issues except mild/moderate constipation. The vet noted the gum issues but did not seem as concerned as our regular vet. The vet’s theory was that the constipation was interfering with Lilly’s appetite and digestion. She gave Lilly an enema, Restoralax, and buprinorphine. After a few days, Lilly resumed having regular, healthy bowel movements, and constipation no longer seems to be an issue.
Meanwhile, Lilly’s appetite is still poor. She will act hungry but will then only have a few bites of food before trying to cover it and walk away. Generally, she is more interested in dry food than wet food. We have tried multiple types of wet food - including Hill’s “urgent care” and “recovery” per vet recommendation - but they have little impact on her appetite.
She has also had bouts of frequent sneezing during this period; this is highly unusual for her. We see some mild discharge from her nose, clear in colour, but no other symptoms. She has some discharge in her eyes, but it’s brown in colour, which the vet said is normal. Of note, sometimes in the past when begging for food, she would cough; we thought maybe she was “faking it” to try to get attention, as it never seemed to be a real problem and she only did it when begging for food. Now, in hindsight, we wonder if she has chronic respiratory problems.
We took her back to the same vet, who agreed that a respiratory infection could be impacting her ability to smell and taste her food. She said respiratory infections are usually viral, but gave Lilly a general antibiotic just in case. The vet also gave Lilly an appetite stimulant. If she does have a respiratory infection, we have no idea where she got it; she’s an indoor cat and we have no other pets.
Now, approx. 2 weeks since this all started, the constipation seems to be gone and Lilly is not really sneezing anymore, but she still has a poor appetite and will not eat much. As a result, she has not had insulin throughout all of this, but we check her sugars sporadically and she’s remaining around 14. What’s most frustrating is she seems totally fine otherwise, but is visibly getting skinnier and weaker due to not eating much, and we are struggling to get her back into any kind of schedule to regulate her blood sugar. In an attempt to at least sustain her, we are leaving the dry food out and allowing her to graze when she’s hungry; we recognize this is not good for constipation, dehydration, and blood sugar, but we are trying to at least sustain her while we try to figure out what is going on.
Sorry for the long post. Thanks for reading this far. Any help you can provide is greatly appreciated. We do plan to follow up with the vet again, but are looking for any additional insights in the meantime.
