*Urgent need help* cat high blood sugar, but not eating & shaking

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rk34

rk34

Member Since 2022
Hello all, unfortunately Rose seems to be feeling poorly today and won't eat, just tested at 377. She is also shaking a bit, which might be a flare-up of her feline herpes (this has happened before.) I also forgot to feed her 1/2 of her PM food last night which I don't know if that contributed to this or not. We were trying to spread her food out over a longer period of time and I forgot due to work related issues.

If she continues to not eat, at what point do I bring her to the vet? Should I still shoot?
 
I would still give the 0.5U and assist feed her as best you can. If that worries you or you have to leave the house, you can do 0.25U instead. I see the recent ketone tests were negative, probably a good idea to get another one in if you can.

I can't speak to the shaking unfortunately. Is she cold? Or does it seem more neurological? Are her eyes ok? Breathing?

Sometimes they just feel poorly in high numbers, so a one-off not wanting to eat does happen. But if she goes the whole day then I'd be a little concerned, they can develop hepatic lipidosis fairly quickly. Combined with the shaking is a bit worrisome.

Do you have any nausea meds or appetite stimulants at home?
 
So she has stopped shaking, she peed & tested negative for ketones but still not eating. BG is 315 about 50 minutes later. I also checked her temp rectally with a human thermometer and got 100.1 which seems just slightly low. Her normal vet has an appointment at 3PM (7 hours from now) which I scheduled. I will keep an eye on her over the next couple hours and if things get worse I will call other places to see if they have availability.

Does this sound like an OK plan?

Edit update to FrostD: the shaking in the past was fever related from feline herpes flareups. It does seem temp related. Her eyes look normal, but she has lost some fur around her left eye over the last 10 days, another symptom flareup that we've had in the past. I don't have any anti nausea or appetite stimulants, is there anything over the counter i can get at a Walgreens or Riteaid?
 
rk34 said:
Edit update to FrostD: the shaking in the past was fever related from feline herpes flareups. It does seem temp related. Her eyes look normal, but she has lost some fur around her left eye over the last 10 days, another symptom flareup that we've had in the past. I don't have any anti nausea or appetite stimulants, is there anything over the counter i can get at a Walgreens or Riteaid?
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I'm not sure there's anything you can get OTC that would be standard for nausea/appetite issues. Typically your vet would prescribe Zofran (ondansetron) and/or Cerenia (maropitant) for nausea and/or vomiting. I am not as familiar with the appetite stimulants, I just know that you want to start with the anti-nausea, because giving appetite stimulants to a cat who's nauseated can create a food aversion (because they will be super hungry yet still nauseated and unable to eat).

One thing you can try on a cat that doesn't want to eat is meat baby food from the grocery store (the kind that's just meat and broth, no veggies). It's really good at coaxing them to eat. You can also warm up any food you are trying on her with hot water or a few seconds in the microwave, as it smells stronger when warm, which often helps trigger their appetite. Does she get congested at all with her herpes flare ups? If she's congested and can't smell as well, that could explain a loss of appetite.

It's good you have that appointment today, I hope you can get her to eat something in the interval - keep us posted :bighug:
 
Yes I think that should be fine. I would still give a small dose of insulin though. Hope she feels better!

Nothing OTC, you'd need it from the vet. While you're there its probably worth asking for Cerenia, Mirataz or ciproheptadine, and a prescription for ondansetron (have to get from human pharmacy). Possibly some Hills A/D or royal cabin recovery food for syringing when this happens. If you're in Canada some of those might be pricey though. A lot of us use Gerber meats baby food (with nothing added) for syringing but it's not great nutritionally for using long term, just in a pinch

You would use anti nausea meds first, then appetite stimulant after. Don't want to make a nauseous cat hungry!
 
If in Canada, pure all meat baby food is almost impossible to get. You can make your own by boiling some turkey/chicken and pureeing it. I found the prices of A/D and Recovery no more expensive than other vet foods. I have used both for syringing. Ondansetron is very expensive, make sure you get a prescription for the generic.
 
Update: gave her .25 U at about 8:00am due to questionable appetite but still high BG, 9:30am she tested 441. I tried a fancy feast pate, and tried warming her tiki cat with no luck on either. but just a few minutes ago she ate a small amount, about 10% of what she normally would have by now. She is intermittently getting the shakes again (more like full body shivers.)

I am hoping this is just the herpes flareup...in the past it never seemed too big a deal but now with diabetes in the mix i am so worried.

For reference I am in the US

Edit: forgot to mention regarding congestion - she has always had a slight wheeze to her breathing ever since she was a kitten due to the respiratory aspect of the herpes. today it does not seem any different than normal.
 
Good luck at the vet today. :bighug: Let us know how it goes.

I'm glad she ate something. That can often encourage them to eat more. There are lots of options to all meat baby food now, such as some of the creamy snacks or TikiCat Mousse products.
 
So by the time her vet visit rolled around she had eaten quite a bit more and was acting a lot more normal. Vet said heart rate, temp, and general health looked good and figures this is just her herpes flareup, the recent high BGs are most likely stress related because of that. Was prescribed both an anti-nausea and an appetite stimulant, the plan being to try only one at a time. She did not seem concerned about the high 300s BGs and advised to continue .5u dose for another week and if her symptoms are resolved by then do another curve to see if it's normalized.
 
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