'Hunger Strike' (please play that Temple of the Dog song while you read for effect)

We are new to the group, my husband and I just found out our cat Mackie had diabetes last week. His blood sugar was in the 400s. We were able to get him around 150 all last week with insulin twice a day, 2 units.

We also took out dry food and have been feeding him certain types of Sheba...we tried Tiki Cat...and freeze dried chicken. At first we was really excited about the wet food, it's what he begged for before but that went away fairly quickly. He licks the top of the food and then walks off. He will eat the freeze dried chicken. This has been especially bad since Sunday, with the not eating enough.

Yesterday (Monday) his insulin plummeted to 40 because of his 'hunger strike'. Gave him two greenies and it went to 48 then two more, able to get it to 158. We didn't give him insulin since it was so low, just tried to get him to eat some freeze dried chicken.

He won't eat all of his food, which makes his blood sugar too low to give him insulin. But we can' get him to eat the wet food. He wants dry food, so even tried adding bits of dry food mixed in with his wet food. That along with not having the insulin caused his blood sugar to rise to very high levels (400+). So all in all, his sugar has been as high as 595 and as low as 40.

Can someone advise on getting him to eat/foods that have worked? He is definitely a 'dry food addict' so this has been tough.

On a positive, he is still super cuddly and sweet. He purrs and hugs- even when we do his sugar testing on his poor little ears. Always a good boy for insulin, too. It's just the (not) eating that is really frustrating us right now.

Thanks,
Jenny and John

 

In the US, there are 2 low carb dry foods:
Evo Cat and Kitten Turkey and Chicken, available at specialty pet stores
Young Again 0 Carb, available online only (pricey, but allegedly the cat eats less, so it works out)
You might pick up one of those as a contingency plan while you continue working on the switch to canned food.

Also, it is possible he is avoiding the canned food if his stomach is upset in any way. Is he meatloafing (crouching, hunched up like the Sphinx)? Has there been any vomiting or diarrhea?

Look carefully at the whites of his eyes - are they at all yellow (which suggests jaundice)? If yes, a vet visit is in order. See my signature link Secondary Monitoring Tools for additional assessments you may find helpful.

With the irregular appetite, I'd cut back the insulin dose, maybe to 1.5 units, to avoid making him hypoglycemic.

 

I know what it's like to have a 'dry food addict' sugarkitty. Wink was one. I used just about every trick in this document by vet Dr. Lisa Pierson on "Transitioning Dry Food Addicts to Canned Food". It was a slow process, taking about a month for the complete switch over.

Have your tried crumbling some of the freeze dried chicken on top of the wet food? Wink loved the Halo Liv-a-Little freeze dried chicken crumbled on his food. I might have to do that 3-4 times to get him to eat the entire serving.

Heating up the food a bit, to make it smellier?

Different flavors? Sometimes I'd have a smorgasbord out for Wink to try.

 

Hi Jenny & John,

Or is Mackie possibly nauseated after eating the new food? A symptom checker and possible treatments to discuss with your vet can be found on this page at Tanya's Site. Lip licking after eating is a good telltale feature to watch out for.

FWIW, over the last year and a half I have formed the impression that sometimes insulin treatment in and of itself may upset the digestive systems of some cats when they start treatment (especially if there is a food change, too, but not exclusively so). There is anecdotal evidence online that some humans get tummy upsets when being treated with insulin.

If it is a nausea issue, an anti-nausea med (e.g. ondansetron) can help a great deal. Probiotic supplements can help with food transition, too.

Be sure to let your vet know what's going on with Mackie.



Mogs
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Hi Jenny & John,

Just checking in to ask how Mackie's getting on.


Mogs
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Oh those finicky kitties!!! My diabetic cat loves wet food, and my non-diabetic cat loves dry food. When I changed over to no dry food and only wet food (I'll admit - I was not willing unless necessary to have two food set-ups so that the non-diabetic could keep her crunchies) the dry food kitty was not thrilled. She did give in and eats fine now. I recently decided to try some other options than their normal diet of Fancy Feast and went on a diabetic-approved food hunt at Petco. One of the listed foods was certain flavors of Soulistic canned food. When I opened one I was surprised - it wasn't the usual pate, but chunks of identifiable meat contained in a gelatin of some sort. Very long story... short version -- both cats went bananas over this new food. It was a scarf fest - kinda freakish to see as they are gentle eaters usually!!!

 

We had quite the time when we started on wet food... I would feed, and like you said, a couple bites and then she'd walk off. I would pick up her food and place it in front of her, she'd take a couple more bites and walk off. Pick up food, back in front of her, couple bites... we'd continue that process for an hour just to eat about half a can of Fancy Feast Classics. I was tearing my hair out -- taking 2 full hours out of my day just to feed (1 hour am, 1 hour pm).
Fortunately, it got better. She'd eat a few more bites each time, and eventually just eat most of it before walking away. Now she'll eat up to half a can at her morning and evening meals, and up to a quarter can at other times of the day when I offer it. She won't eat more than half a can at a time, so we just have to space out the rest.

 

My cat eats Tiki Cat. Some flavors he does the same thing as your kitty but if I pop it in the food processor with a little warm water he will eat it. He took to certain flavors of it better than others.
Mine is obsessed with the Vital Essentials freeze dried meat but only wants the chicken (with hearts and liver) and the Turkey giblets treats. The rabbit, duck or minnow he wants nothing to do with.
The thing is he eats the VE like kibble so it seems to curb his cravings for kibble.

Has he been checked for pancreatitis?
My cat had it and presented by not really eating anything. It started out slow, 1 day ate less, 2nd day nothing in the evening, 3rd day not at all but a few licks then he was lethargic and off to the vet.....

 

Hi all....My cat Calli has had a tough week. Serious constipation issues sent us to the emergency vet on Sunday. After two enemas they got her cleaned out. They sent us home with instructions to give 1/8 tsp Miralax in her food once a day. It is Wednesday and no poop yet! Some people have told me it takes 4-5 days before she will go again, others 2-3 days. Guess it depends on the cat. She has to be coaxed to eat because I believe she is missing her dry food. Either that or the Miralax is making her sick to her stomach. She was a dry food lover and got only 1/4 can FF per day prior to the diabetes diagnosis. I am worried she is not eating enough. So I have been giving her boiled chicken as treats to hopefully stimulate appetite. I also have a bag of Purina DM and just give a few pieces and she cobbles that down with gusto. Her BG readings have been great! Between 108-154 since her two enemas on Sunday. I am so worried that she has to be coaxed to eat this wet food diet, and worried that the Miralax will not work and she will require enemas. This diabetes stuff is tough. I have a lot to learn since it has only been a few weeks since diagnosis. Her numbers are so encouraging with diet only and I would like to keep it that way. Would also love for her to eat better and a little more than just a few licks. My issue is I cannot afford to keep going to the vet. Being on a fixed income leaveslittle money each month. How the heck do you stimulate a cats appetite? Help!

 

Ask and you shall receive:

Persuading your cat to eat (tips from Tanya's Site - 'sleepy eating' is a good one)

Tips for Transitioning Dry Food Addicts (from catinfo.org)

Suggestions on How to Stimulate Kitty's Appetite (from FDMB's Feline Health FAQs)


Mogs
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