Newbie, need help again!

First of all thank you all for all your help, in my previous post,
I hope you all can give me some more advice.

Here are the stats: diagnosed a week ago, 10.5 years old, male, a week ago was 14.8 lbs, now 14.3 lbs. Blood sugar was 480mg/dl, high fructosomine. Urine dip test at home said 1000mg/dl. Prescribed 1.5 units of Lantus every 12 hours, and Hill's prescription food.

I tried to follow the vet's advice at first, meaning injecting Lantus every 12 hours and testing his urine for glucose for feedback. Meanwhile I was shopping around/doing research on blood glucose meters, and reading/researching lots of stuff.

This is what the vet said: give 1.5 units of Lantus every 12 hours, and test urine, if urine in 100-500mg/dl range for several days that means its the right dose. If urine tests over 1000 mg/dl for a few days then the dose is too low. If urine tests negative for a few days then, the dose needs to be lowered.

This is what happened, I started cautiously with 1 unit of Lantus, for a day, urine tested negative the following day. Next day, he didn't get any insulin, due to vomiting clear foam and a botched shot in the evening, the following day urine was 1000. For the next two days I kept him on 1.5 units, urine tested negative for two days. Vet said to reduce to 1 unit. For the next two days I kept him at 1 unit (or a 1/2 if he vomited). Urine tested negative for two days in a row again. So, urine was negative for 4 days in a row. Vet said to take him off insulin, until he gets positive sugar in urine. This is very frustrating.

Throughout these few days, he decreased drinking and urinating, and is pretty active. My main concern is this: his appetite, this is why I originally took him to the vet, his appetite really decreased over a few weeks, and he had excessive drinking/urination. His appetite has not changed at all on insulin, I can still barely get him to eat 50 Calories a day, and he weighs 14.3 lbs now. I got him some Wellness Core dry and Wellness cans, he just eats a little, then stops and goes away. He also vomits clear white foam, after a long period of not eating, but he has done this all his life. I cannot get him to eat more!

So this afternoon, when the vet told me to stop the insulin, I got fed up and bought a glucose monitor, Bayer Contour. After a couple of failed attempts, managed to get a result: 58 mg/dl! Thats pretty low! He looks fine though, but still wont eat. His last insulin shot was yesterday 9PM (1 unit), and he didn't eat anything since. What do I do?

Thanks

TanyaK

 

Well....

I am very very glad that you are hometesting!

The vomitting is a big concern to me and I'm not certain why it isn't to your vet. Has his urine been tested for ketones? When diagnosed, did the vet find anything else wrong?

Please, ask your vet about giving 1/4 tablet of pepcid ac (NOT complete) with a water chaser to help soothe his tummy; do not give insulin unless over 200 (for the time being anyways) and tempt him with absolutely anything you can get him to eat. Diabetic cats who don't eat are at risk for developing ketones (can become life threatening), hepatic lipidosis and other complications

Jen

 

Hi, thanks for the reply.

When he was diagnosed, everything else was fine, kidneys were fine, thyroid was fine. Except very slightly elevated liver enzymes, vet said those should come back to normal if diabetes is regulated. She says nothing about the vomiting, only maybe that its from switch to different food, not sure about that. She also said if he continues to vomit and not eat, she suggests an ultrasound. But this seems excessive to me, I don't know.

Urine dip tests were always dead negative for ketones.

I don't know how to get him to eat.

TanyaK

 

If he isn't eating and is vomiting nothing essentially, I would be worried about a blockage in the digestive track somewhere (hairball or otherwise). How long has he done this little to no eating and vomiting daily? I know you mentioned that he has vomited relatively frequently for a while ... but is it like a few weeks or more like years? Are his bowel movements normal? Does he ever vomit digested food? Have you tried forti flora or an appetite stimulant?

 

by any chance are you testing his blood or just his urine?

Are you able to get a meter and test his blood. You can pick up a cheap one at Walmart - the relion brand - it's the most economical and easy to use and only requires a little bit of blood.

Here is a link to tips on testing: viewtopic.php?f=14&t=287

Also, once we figure out the vomiting problem, I highly recommend that you dump the prescription food (return it for a refund). AND dump the dry, it's best to get him on a 100% wet food diet. For tips on transitioning a cat to wet: viewtopic.php?f=14&t=956

If he shows no interest in eating, try warming up canned food - maybe the smell will entice him.

Do you have any baby food? Best brand to get is Beech Nut Stage 1 - any meat flavor - you could try warming that and see if he'll eat.

Even tuna and tuna juice may be enticing.

You need to get him to eat and keep it down. Let us know if any of these options works and if not, we've got more ideas we can pass along.

 

I have just today started to test blood, before it was all urine, as per the vet's advice.
His appetite has gradually decreased over the past month or so, thats when he lost 3 lbs, and I took him to the vet.

His whole life he vomited if he was hungry and hadn't eaten for a while. Which is why I had great difficulty in making him lose weight, since he was quite chubby 20lbs+. He would vomit up food maybe once a month at most, but not in the recent weeks. In the recent weeks, since he was not eating much, he vomited up the clear foamy stuff more frequently, and after not eating for a period of time (6-12 hours).

I try to keep him on canned food, but at this point, I just want him to eat something, anything.

I tried warming up canned food a couple of times, and he just ran away from it in horror.

TanyaK

 

At this point, I wouldn't be too concerned about getting him to lose weight.

You need to get him to eat and on the proper foods and the weight issue will resolve itself or not.

Before diagnosis Maui was 14 pounds, after diagnosis she was 9. After changing food, getting regulated and going OTJ - she now weighs 13.7 -- which I am figuring is her ideal weight. As she's only eating good foods.

 

Perhaps, I didn't explain correctly. He was overweight 20lbs+ when I got first got him, he was 4.5 years old. So for years I tried to get him to lose weight. I got him down to about 18 lbs. But then he started to lose his appetite, and because of that lost 3lbs, and now another 0.5lb, so now he is at 14.3lb. He was diagnosed a week ago. I just want him to maintain weight now.

Today, almost for 24 hours, he wont eat anything! I don't know what to do.

TanyaK

 

how is he other than his appetite? everything else normal? attitude? litterbox activity? no watery eyes or anything indicating he feels crappy?

dude needs to eat so if everything else seems normal what i would suggest is try everything

go get some meat only baby foods

get some other canned foods (ideally low carb and to make things quick, try Friskies Turkey & Giblets, Friskies Salmon Dinner, 9Lives Chicken Dinner, 9Lives Chicken & Tuna Dinner, Fancy Feast Chunky Chicken Feast, Fancy Feast Beef & Liver Feast just to name a few that are diabetic friendly)

warm any of it in the microwave for about 10 or so seconds. the heat brings out the odor

try finger feeding him.

and to be completely honest, whatever he was eating before the diabetes diagnosis, get some of that too. worse case he needs insulin again for a short while because simply put that's better than him developing hepatic lipidosis or getting deathly sick from not eating

 

Hi,

I'm new here too but in reading your post, I'm a bit concerned that other conditions may be overlooked. I have 11 cats all with a plethora of problems. One of them is has been diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Disease. One of the characteristics is regular vomiting, particularly over time. I believe that may be one of the issues your vet was concerned with, why she discussed ultrasound. Ultrasound examinations of the intestines can identify inflamed/thickened areas commonly associated with IBD. Uncontrolled IBD can result in lymphoma of the intestines.

The vomiting may be a result of something completely different but since the condition existed before the diabetes diagnosis, it may not be related…or it could be. With the diabetes, it could just be one more contributing factor to your cat not wanting to eat. I know that when my IBD cat is having a flare up, he doesn't want to eat anything as he just runs to the litterbox, throwing up on the way, right after eating.

If your cat has IBD, you'll want to try a unique protein diet such as venison, duck or rabbit. Some of the most common inflammatory items are grains, corn in particular, and fish. Going to a raw diet is often optimal (just not a realistic option in my household). In my cat's case, he can only eat duck. Anything else and he is vomiting and has the worst diarrhea. You may wish to talk with your vet about this. If she is not up on this, you may want to look at researching other vets in the area or ask for an internist.

In order to get him to eat, particularly if you want to try a novel protein, you can go to your grocer and see if they'll grind up some duck or look in the specialty (Chinese) aisle for duck. Make sure whatever you get doesn't have onion or garlic mixed up with it. Just the meat is best. I've found that once I get my IBD cat back on track, his appetite increases to a more normal level.

And just an aside, most IBD cats are thin so this may not apply to your cat but, if you can afford the ultrasound, it wouldn't be a bad idea to rule it out.

Debbie
Owned by many cats in RI

 

just chiming in here. was your bg 58? you wrote mg and I did'nt know if there was a different measurement (like in canada etc)
i am concerned like you seem to be about the vomiting and lack of appetite...or when hungry you said he has always tended to vomit before eatting. if you can get that ulta sound i think it would be the next indicated step as that is NOT normal. if you can't get the ultra sound please keep testing him and let us see a running record of his numbers in the am and pm.
please keep posting about everything you notice about his condition. and those #'s ok?

 

Update: Although I put out like 5 or 6 different foods, he ran away from there.
But, just now, I gave him one of his old treats, Pounce, (I know now its crap, but I gotta try anything), and he went for it! He ate 10 in a row with great gusto. He hasn't touched them in 2 weeks. Then I gave him Wellness Pure Delight Treats, he ate 20 in a row, again with great enthusiasm. He didn't even try them when I bought them a few days ago.

Still very active, and looking at me like I'm a nutcase. Could it be that he was stressed from me dragging him to his food bowl(s) a bunch of times a day, and doesn't even want to eat there anymore? I put a bowl of normal food in a different room, just in case.

But should I keep giving him treats, if he eats them?

(Also, vet never mentioned IBD, he never had pooping issues, or issues with using his litter box, ( knock on wood).).

TanyaK

 

IBD can be related to the upper GI tract (vomiting), the lower GI tract (diarrhea), or both (my cat..lucky me!). As I mentioned, it may not be an issue but if he's been vomiting for a while it is worth investigating.

 

YES give treats if that's all he'll eat. perhaps mix treats with a little bit of wet to introduce him to his wet food?

 

I haven't done this in a long time, so hope I entered into the conversation correctly.

Huey has now for the 3rd time (consecutive years) had serious, life threatening bouts with bowel blockage due to "megacolon". He is a drinker and wet food only cat who in fact went into remission only 6 months after diabetes diagnosis , I believe, only due to food change. (Alas, it only lasted a few months). But, some times his bgl gets all wacky, up to 425, down to 70, while nothing has changed. Has anyone experienced such a problem.

It ends up requiring several overnight stays at the emergency hospital for enemas and IV fluids until he can expell all the "poo-poo". We are going to try the Vet's recommendation (not our usual vet ), to try new canned food high in fiber. It's a pate and I know he won't eat it. Hates the consistency.

Can anyone think of the correlation between his occasional wildly fluctuating bgl into harmful territory, and then meanwhile trying to stabilize him, this bowel blockage occurs. It is costing us over $3,000 each time to pull him through this. He is now 11yrs and I'm disabled. We can't afford to do this again for him. Any additional suggestions beside trying to find a canned food THAT HE WILL EAT - NO PATE- with higher fiber?

 

This is a very old thread so it was wise of you to post elsewhere.