? 911 help - not eating at shot time ketones 0.8

DavidJ

Active Member
Charly has had a very up and down couple of days with her numbers.

she always eaten well at shot time since being diagonsed.

tonight she's not interested.

what should I do? she is in red number but I guess I cannot shoot unless she eats something?

@Suzanne & Darcy
 
Oh. I see you posted this a while ago. I don’t see anything in the units column. Did you shoot? It’s important not to skip shots when ketones are present. It’s also very important that she eat.
 
shes eaten perhaps a spoonful. i've not shot her yet. she is still testing red for bg. she should have had her shot about 2hrs ago. what shall i do?
 
Oh. I see you posted this a while ago. I don’t see anything in the units column. Did you shoot? It’s important not to skip shots when ketones are present. It’s also very important that she eat.
ketones up to 1 now. still not eaten. about 2 1/2 hours late with her jab. I don't know what to do for the best but I think perhaps I will give her half a shot now and hope she eats?
 
If she’s still red and you have karo syrup (corn syrup) or honey or similar and if you have access to a vet tonight, if necessary, then I would shoot 2 units or maybe 1.5 units and monitor her. I am worried about this sudden not eating. There could be something else making her feel sick. Do you have any anti-nausea medication on hand (Maropitant, Ondansetron?). Is she not even eating treats? I don’t like to see a missed shot with ketones since she needs adequate insulin and food and water to help stop the ketones. Is she drinking water? Do you have supplies to give subcutaneous fluids at home?
 
shes eaten a teaspoon ro two of another wet food. shes interested if i show her some different food but after a sniff and lick and maybe half a mouthful she doesnt want to eat.
 
shes exactly like she was before she was diagnosed. she will have a sniff and a lick and then walk away. back then i had to keep finding new foods to tempt her with. but she hasn't been like this since she started insulin.
 
shes eaten perhaps a spoonful. i've not shot her yet. she is still testing red for bg. she should have had her shot about 2hrs ago. what shall i do?
If she’s eating a spoonful then, because of the ketones, I would shoot the full dose as long as you can keep spoon feeding her and monitoring her BG and giving syrup/honey if necessary. It’s dangerous to skip the shot. It will take about 2 hours for the shot to kick in so you have two more hours to try to get her to eat. It doesn’t have to be a full meal. A spoonful here and a spoon there is good.
 
So she’s staying pretty steadily in the red. I would shoot her full dose. Just keep getting her to eat any foods you have on hand and keep checking her at intervals. Like I said, it doesn’t have to be full meals at a time but small amounts will be okay.
 
If you have any tins of tuna or sardines (plain) on hand sometimes cats will eat those. Ham is a favorite. Some cats will eat if finely grated parmigiana cheese is sprinkled on their food. There’s this stuff called Forti Flora that comes in little sachets that cats tend to love. But first, I would try some of those other tins of cat food that you hopefully still have on hand from earlier days?
 
shes had the shot. but shes completely uninterested in food at the moment. just turns away from it. will keep trying. i guess i feed her anything she will eat at this point? wet food / dry food / low carb / not low carb.

i don't really understand whats happening today. is she bouncing from the recent low numbers?
 
When I saw how quickly she had jumped up from AMPS to +4, I assumed it was a bounce from all of the recent blue numbers. She’s never felt particularly well when in high numbers from what you’ve said, but for her to just stop eating is worrying.
 
yes. like i said it feels just like how she was before diagnosis.

it really doesn't look like she is going to eat anything else before +2.
 
Well she still has a long way to drop before she would be in danger. How long ago did you shoot now? I am working on the computer and losing track of time. Did you find the appetite stimulant that goes on her ear? Have you ever used it before?
 
yes i found it. just reading the leaflet. we didn't use it when it was prescribed. it sounds like potent gear. "wear gloves. avoid contact with cat for 12 hrs". apparently the dose is the same for cats between 2.1kg and 7kg. yikes! a bit scary for a 2.1kg cat. i'm a bit hesitant to give her something that seems so potent unless we really need to.....

plus her ears are all pricked and im worried its going to go direct into her bloodstream of something!!

its about 1hr since shot now. apart from total food disinterest she seems much like she has been before when in the high numbers.

im thinking shes got a long way to drop before shes in danger and she might get a bit of appetitie back when the dose kicks in?
 
If she’s still red and you have karo syrup (corn syrup) or honey or similar and if you have access to a vet tonight, if necessary, then I would shoot 2 units or maybe 1.5 units and monitor her. I am worried about this sudden not eating. There could be something else making her feel sick. Do you have any anti-nausea medication on hand (Maropitant, Ondansetron?). Is she not even eating treats? I don’t like to see a missed shot with ketones since she needs adequate insulin and food and water to help stop the ketones. Is she drinking water? Do you have supplies to give subcutaneous fluids at home?
i didnt see this earlier. no shes not drinking and we don't have fluids.
 
Well let me know when you get her next BG reading. I do hope it will go down and she will feel better and then will start to eat as a result.
 
19.3 at +1. looking a bit happier. shes off the floor and back on her favourite chair. and shes drunk a little water. and seems like she thinks she might like to eat something until she gets close to the bowl!
 
yes!! shes just eaten another little spoonful. things are looking up.

she's eaten a few spoonfuls now. and shes starting to look a bit more chirpy.
 
Last edited:
20.1 at +2. shes had another spoonful of food and drunk more water
Does she seem to feel better in pink than red? A spoonful of food is all she needs to help stabilize things. That’s not to say she can’t eat more. I would give more food if she wants it because insulin and food and water help get rid of ketones
 
Does she seem to feel better in pink than red? A spoonful of food is all she needs to help stabilize things. That’s not to say she can’t eat more. I would give more food if she wants it because insulin and food and water help get rid of ketones
A little. She's eaten a fair few spoonfuls now. She will eat a little from my hand but isn't interested in food from the bowl. Not sure what that's all about but its something she did on and off for a while before diagnosis.

She's cleaning herself now. That's definitely the most normal cat behaviour she's exhibited all day.
 
21.9 at +4.

She's eating more now. Shes probably eaten about half to 2/3 of what she usually eats in a cycle.

I think she would eat more of the stuff she likes still. It's later in the cycle now than she usually eats. Shall I keep on feeding her if she wants through till +6 or so? The food she's happily eating is about 14% calories from carbs instead of the usual 1 or 2%

After that I guess it's safe to leave her to it and -
hopefully she will be hungry again in the morning!
 
21.9 at +4.

She's eating more now. Shes probably eaten about half to 2/3 of what she usually eats in a cycle.

I think she would eat more of the stuff she likes still. It's later in the cycle now than she usually eats. Shall I keep on feeding her if she wants through till +6 or so? The food she's happily eating is about 14% calories from carbs instead of the usual 1 or 2%

After that I guess it's safe to leave her to it and -
hopefully she will be hungry again in the morning!
It seems like she’s heading up. The 14 percent carbs is helping with that too. But l think it’s safe for you to get some sleep.
 
I hope she won’t go black again. ☹️
ha. i was just thinking i can have a nice restful few hours until i read this!

its hard to know isn't it. those pinks are all within margin of error she could be going up or down? i thought the last few pm cycles looked like she was having really later nadirs.

so she might be blue and hungry or black and refusing eat again by amps time i guess.
 
Back
Top