At what point do I syringe feed?

Alyce & Elkie

Alyce & Elkie

Member
Elkie ate really well today, despite eating smaller bites and slower than usual the last few days. His eating has gone downhill this evening. He only ate a little of his raw meat with his 3.5 units of Lantus (it may have been slightly under but was between 3-4) 6 hours ago. He was 18.4 glucose level preshot, at +4 he was 17.7. Since then he's refused all food except Dine tuna whitemeat in jelly. I've tried Fancy Feast classic pate, both the chicken and liver flavour and the fish flavour. I've also tried my other cats Fancy Feast savoury centers which is slightly higher in carbs but softer. He won't eat any if those, or his raw meat.

Last time this happened he started leaving food for hours then only eating a little, then refused everything except boiled or roast chicken (I didn't have the fish then). I purchased urine ketone strips, he tested high, and took him to the vets the next morning (didn't have blood ketone monitor then). That morning he'd stopped eating his chicken as well. He was hospitalised for 3 nights with ketoacidosis.

Back to the present, he seemed to have decent energy today despite staying high. He doesn't have much energy now but he never does overnight. He's still testing negative for urine ketones as of earlier tonight, and his blood ketones read 1.0 when I tested them around 12 hours ago. Yesterday they read 3.4, they seem to bounce around. I've just given him some more fish which he ate, but he's still eaten much less than usual tonight and won't eat anything else.

I gave him an anti-nausea (Ondansetron) earlier in the evening, and he had a Mirtazapine appetite stimulant yesterday. I'm worried his ketones are going to rise again due to him eating so much less. It's now Saturday, and Monday is a public holiday. The earliest I can get him to a vet without paying after-hours fees is Tuesday. I'm also not sure he's eaten enough to handle the 3.5 units of insulin, but plan to test him in just under an hour as that should be closer to his nadir. I don't think he should drop too low, considering he was 17.7 two hours ago.

I don't want to make him uncomfortable by force feeding food if it isn't necessary, but at what point does it become necessary? Does he need force fed overnight or can I wait to see if he's eating in the morning? I could try dry biscuits but he's been so high I'd really rather not. Thanks!
 
I should add he was drinking a lot this morning but doesn't seem to be drinking this evening, he hasn't peed much this evening either, he's only just peed now. Urine ketones still negative. He didn't bother trying to cover his pee, sometimes he does and sometimes doesn't. He didn't even think about it, just stepped out of the tray and went to go lie down in front of it. Not sure if it's because the house is warm and bathroom is cooler or because he just doesn't have the energy to want to walk to another room. He was lying in mum's room earlier, which is also cooler.
 
Update just took his water bowl to him and he drank some, so he's got some fluids into him at least. I often add water to his pate, but since he won't eat it tonight it's not an option.
 
Wendy&Neko said:
Given how high his BG numbers are right now, I wouldn't worry about having to supplement his meals with syringe feeding tonight.
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He finally ate this morning although it was high carb chicken in jelly, and think he threw it all up. He has no energy now, been lying by the door all morning.
 
How long has it been since he ate some food and kept it down? You don't want cats to go too long without food in thm.
 
Wendy&Neko said:
How long has it been since he ate some food and kept it down? You don't want cats to go too long without food in thm.
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I syringe fed him a tiny bit around 20 mins ago and he hasn't thrown up yet.

Just posted this in the Facebook group, people are saying he may have pancreatitis and it may be a medical emergency?

"My sugar cat went off his food last night except for tinned tuna in jelly. This morning he finally ate chicken in jelly (I think high carb, but threw it up. He was fed more later but threw that up too, now he's eating nothing. I've just given an anti-nausea, he had one last night as well. His blood sugars were finally starting to go down a tiny bit on 3.5 units of Lantus, but are now really high. Not sure if because of the food or not, since he threw it all up. He doesn't seem to be drinking or peeing much today either. The vets aren't open until Tuesday, it's Saturday night. He's supposed to have his insulin in around an hour and a half. Hoping I won't have to bring him in for an emergency visit tonight. Surely there's something I can do for him at home? His blood ketones tested low this morning, at 0.7. Even when he was in ketoacidosis he wasn't throwing up. I feel like we're losing this battle, it should be going smoother than this as he was only diagnosed around 4 months ago."
 
Alyce & Elkie said:
I syringe fed him a tiny bit around 20 mins ago and he hasn't thrown up yet.

Just posted this in the Facebook group, people are saying he may have pancreatitis and it may be a medical emergency?

"My sugar cat went off his food last night except for tinned tuna in jelly. This morning he finally ate chicken in jelly (I think high carb, but threw it up. He was fed more later but threw that up too, now he's eating nothing. I've just given an anti-nausea, he had one last night as well. His blood sugars were finally starting to go down a tiny bit on 3.5 units of Lantus, but are now really high. Not sure if because of the food or not, since he threw it all up. He doesn't seem to be drinking or peeing much today either. The vets aren't open until Tuesday, it's Saturday night. He's supposed to have his insulin in around an hour and a half. Hoping I won't have to bring him in for an emergency visit tonight. Surely there's something I can do for him at home? His blood ketones tested low this morning, at 0.7. Even when he was in ketoacidosis he wasn't throwing up. I feel like we're losing this battle, it should be going smoother than this as he was only diagnosed around 4 months ago."
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He did a small pee after I posted this, and I'm hoping to get some chicken to boil and see if he'll eat that...
 
I know your regular vet won't give you sub-q fluids for home use, but I wonder about the Emergency Vet. And maybe some gabapentin to calm him down at the vet and then some for at home? Didn't you say the vet wouldn't even give him fluids because he was "difficult?" It's not really helpful to you right now, but that really makes me mad. Have you thought about a different vet? Maybe a less "difficult" one?
 
Kobe (Dean and Lesley) MO said:
I know your regular vet won't give you sub-q fluids for home use, but I wonder about the Emergency Vet. And maybe some gabapentin to calm him down at the vet and then some for at home? Didn't you say the vet wouldn't even give him fluids because he was "difficult?" It's not really helpful to you right now, but that really makes me mad. Have you thought about a different vet? Maybe a less "difficult" one?
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I called the other vet this morning and they said it would cost more if I took him there since we're halfway through his case and bloodwork would need done, so they recommended I stick with my usual vet for now. Thing is my usual vet didn't actually do much bloodwork, but but never transferred his files. We don't have an actual emergency vet here, emergency vet is just whoever is on-call after hours for the day, it changes every time. I called the usual clinic just before, don't know this vet but he's getting advice from a colleague and will call me back. He wanted to admit him back into the hospital but would cost me $800+ dollars, around $260 of that is the after hours fee unless they charge per hour, the first clinic I called said they charge per hour. Issue is I'm not allowed to pay any more off and that would really set me back financially. I get paid Tuesday... He's going to see if there's anything else they can do over weekend.
 
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