After OTJ, nausea, lack of appetite, vomiting

Okay all, I am looking for some information here.

My cat, Tisha, was diagnosed with diabetes after she had a bout of pancreatitis. She has had two OTJ trials from Lantus. Both times, she stopped insulin on a Monday. On Wednesday, she started showing signs of stomach upset. By Thursday, she started to have vomit and stopped eating. Both times, it has taken her about a week to get her back to eating anything more than a minimal amount of food. We almost lost her the first time, and the second time the vet raised issues about her quality of life. Once we get her back eating, then her BG has been very high. Officially, the diagnosis is chronic pancreatitis flare-ups, but the vet is puzzled that these attacks don't seem to act like typical pancreatitis.

I noticed reading a different post that at least two other people have had similar issues. If your cat has experienced symptoms of nausea, vomiting, lack of appetite, or GI upset after having some time off of insulin, would you consider posting your story here? I'm hoping that by gathering information about people with similar experiences, we might be able to identify some common threads to help others. Also, if you were able to KEEP your cat OTJ, what did you do? Can you pass on any ideas that may help others?

In particular, I am wondering if we can work together to identify if these symptoms are more prone to a particular type of insulin? Is there a protocol to stop insulin in some way that is less dangerous for our cats? (Small doses more spread out for a few days? Start treating for nausea concurrently with taking the cat OTJ? Any other ideas?) Would it be better to just keep some cats on a low dose of insulin to avoid this complication? Are cats more prone to this complication if they have a concurrent diagnosis? Has anyone received helpful information about what is actually causing this problem and how to prevent it either from their vet or someone else?

If you post, please make sure to include your experience, what you did that helped or didn't help, whether you were able to keep your cat OTJ, what type of insulin you use, and whether your cat has any other diagnosis.

Thank you in advance for your willingness to help. I am really hoping that gathering this information may help us all!

 

If the pancreatitis is chronic, then the treatment needs to be chronic too - pain meds, anti-nausea meds, appetite stimulant, etc.

My GA Spitzer had GI problems which were diagnosed as IBD, which can co-occur with diabetes and/or pancreatitis.

Some folks have found a raw diet helpful for the IBD type conditions.

 

Great topic, LIsa. I'm in the middle of moving home at the moment, but I'll contribute something to the discussion once I get sorted out I wonder whether it might be valuable to also ask members to share any experiences of digestive upsets shortly after instigation of insulin treatment?

 

Flame just experienced this problem. Happily it resolved after about 10 days and was not as severe as your experience.
I noticed Flames appetite slowly diminish after I stopped his Lantus. He had been on 0.5 for several days with great numbers,so decided to try and see how he did OTJ. His number rose just a couple of times and I gave him ( what I called a 'trace' amount) just a couple of times. Once I stopped the Lantus for good, is when his appetite decreased.
I took him to the Vet for a fructosamine test and speak to the vet about his appetite. She also ran a blood panel to make sure there was not another problem brewing. All of the tests came back completely normal. But his appetite was decreasing every day. I was trying every canned and boiled food I could think of to entice him.
My vet ordered an appetite stimulate, but my pharmacy had to order it, so it was going to be three days. Thankfully Flame started to eat again. And now, he is eating wonderfully. I continue to test every other day and his numbers are stable.
I am so grateful for this group. Without your extreme knowledge and suggestions, I doubt that Flame would have achieved remission. So thank you all so very much.

Julie and Flame :mrgreen:

 

I'm not sure what the problem actually is but there are a few things you might try.

Cats can be nauseous for many reasons and pancreatitis is one. Nausea will discourage eating which may seem like a lack of appetite. Ask your vet for Cerenia tablets to help control the nausea. They usually come four to a pack, 16 mg tablets. Try 1/4 of a tablet and see if that helps then you can give it once a day for 4 days.

Your cat could also have tummy acid which will also discourage eating. You can try famotidine (name of the drug not the product) which you can buy over the counter. Get the 10 mg tablets and give 1/4 tablet up go two times per day for a few days.

To help spark the appetite you can get FortiFlora from your vet or try sprinkling a little grated parmesan cheese on top of the food; the kind that you would use on pasta and only use about 1/4 of a teaspoon. Just enough to create an aroma for your cat.

Recently I have begun using Happy Earth Tea Pills and they seem to have helped Squeaker's appetite a bit.

Anita and Squeaker