Help! Not eating?

Discussion in 'Honeymooners / OTJ' started by whiskeygolf, Jun 25, 2015.

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  1. whiskeygolf

    whiskeygolf New Member

    Joined:
    Feb 14, 2015
    Hi all,

    I'm so sorry for the very late introduction (I was so overwhelmed when my Pele started insulin, I never posted a message). I wish I could introduce myself under better circumstances, but I'm a little worried about Pele. On Wed, 6/17 Pele had a major hypoglycemic episode and had to spend 2 days in the hospital. It was traumatic for him, not considering that in his 10.5 years of life, he's had almost 20 homes. He had been on Lantus for 4 months, and he was "diagnosed" as being in remission. Yesterday, he saw his primary care physician who confirmed he's remission. He hasn't been on insulin since 6/17 (it's 6/25) and something I'm worried about is Pele's disinterest in food - which is very out of character for my chubby little bear. At first, he only refused dry food. His vet said it's possible that's still traumatized from being in the hospital -- he still is so jittery, jumpy and spends a lot of time hiding under the bed. Well today, he's avoiding wet food and my vet is out of the country; and I don't home test (never learned how, don't own a meter, and know that I really want to start as soon as my vet comes back next week). And again, it's very unusual for my little guy to not like wet food. I can get him to eat it in certain circumstances (I move his food bowl to his play area; he's stimulated by catnip first). He eats two cans of 3 oz Royal Canin normally and that's what he's not eating. It's not like I'm overfeeding him.

    What should I do? Yesterday, he was tested about 30 minutes & 60 minutes after eating and he was at 107. Pele's a big-boned cat - he's not a Maine coon but 13/14 pounds is his normal and he's currently at 15 and change

    Also, is it true that it's impossible for a cat to go hypoglycemic when he's off insulin? That's my big concern

    Also, for what it's worth, Pele is also asthmatic and we live in a swampland :(

    Thank you all so very much in advance. I know you all have saved lives in the past!
     
  2. BJM

    BJM Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Oct 6, 2010
    Generally, a cat will not become hypoglycemic off insulin.

    If he's not feeling well, he may not eat as much.

    A test of 107 is a perfectly normal number off insulin. If his weight is a good level and he's not losing, you can relax a bit.

    You might try urine testing with KetoDiaStix which detect both ketones and glucose in urine. Crumple up some plastic wrap around the perimeter of the litter box, feed, and within about 20 minutes or so, he is likely to use the box. With the fresh specimen, perform the test as indicated on the strip container.
     
  3. Cat Ma

    Cat Ma Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    May 21, 2015
    Which Royal Canin are you feeding your cat? I am not aware of any Royal Canin canned food that are low carb. It's important to have your cat on a low carb canned food only diet with carbs under 10%. Check http://catinfo.org/ and see the section on the right: Protein/ Fat/Carb chart. Some popular choices many of us use include Fancy Feast Classics, Friskies Special Diet (available at Petco; may soon be discontinued), Wellness (Grain-Free) and many others.

    My cat had a poor appetite for awhile after a hypo episode and being off insulin. What Pale is going through sounds normal as he adjusts to being off insulin. If Pele won't eat, force food down a syringe or entice with some FortiFlora sprinkled on low carb canned food. You'll notice your cat will eat less because he needs less food.

    Even if Pele is in remission (officially it's after a cat's been off insulin for two weeks), you'll need to continue feeding him low carb food to keep him OTJ (off insulin).

    It's important to home test. There are a lot of great threads here on how to do that.
     
    Last edited: Jun 28, 2015
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