Our cat was diagnosed with diabetes

[yomamab]

We took Dean into the veterinarian on Wednesday for urgent care. The last time he had eaten or drank was on Saturday. We kept waiting for him to get better, but finally when he was really acting strange (I'd call it almost delirious because he was ripping his fountain apart and he jumped into the bathtub, which he never does), we thought he needed to see the vet and took him in Wednesday around noon. They said he was very sick, had a bladder infection, his liver was affected, and of course has diabetes. He's to get 1-1/2 units of insulin twice a day. He stayed overnight for two nights and we picked him up Friday (yesterday). The vet tech showed us how to give him the insulin and instructed us about the other meds he needs. He's been getting an appetite stimulant, anti-nausea, probiotic, and antibiotic. The insulin is the only permanent med, but everything else will be used up in the next two weeks.

Now, I wish they had gone over something with us that they didn't and of course, we didn't think to ask them about this scenario. What if Dean doesn't eat the normal amount of food in a sitting? We don't know how little is too little. We're afraid that if he doesn't each much that the insulin (that is supposed to be give 15-30 minutes after eating) will make a major problem. The vet said that having too much insulin is worse than not having enough insulin. I forget what she said right before that that led her to say that, but it wasn't the fact the Dean might eat too little. I just wish she had given us more information concerning the feeding and insulin, what to do if he doesn't eat much. We're not sure if there is a minimum amount of food that he should be eating and maybe if he doesn't eat that amount, then we should skip giving him that dose of insulin, but I'm thinking this could go on indefinitely. He just doesn't seem too interested in food. He has been drinking, so that's good, but his food intake has been minimal. I don't want him to have seizures or whatever else can happen to a diabetic cat.

Of course, the staff won't be in at the vet's office until Monday, so I hope that things will be okay until then, but Dean sure isn't eating much at all. I said he can't keep this up or he's liable to end up right back in veterinary care. I'm really worried about him and so is his brother Sam...and my daughter. My husband loves him too but doesn't let this stuff bother him all that much.

I forgot to mention that Dean is about 7 years old. I must also admit that I'm probably the cause of Dean's diabetes. Our two cats make a habit of begging for food and I have always given in to them too much, resulting in them being overweight, especially Dean. Since bringing him home, I said I'm not feeding them anymore. This action could be too little too late, but I feel like I'm somewhat righting a wrong that I've done to Dean. I am so sorry that I caused him to get diabetes.

Dean is the orange and white kitty.

 

[MsLorelei]

I don't have too much to offer, but I hate that no one has replied to you yet. First of all, don't beat yourself up thinking that you caused your cat's diabetes. I had a cat that begged for food and I never gave her anything that wasn't for a cat, and she still got diabetes. I've had other cats who were overweight and cats who were elderly and they never got diabetes. What I would do if I were you would be try a little more of the appetite stimulant, but you don't want the poor cat to overeat and throw up, either. Cats are still going to do things on their terms, so just do your best until Monday. I just put my precious 18 year old cat down this past Monday. She had been diagnosed with CKF the day after Christmas, and she had a stroke one week ago today. When we had to change her diet in December to special kidney food, she would not eat the one made by Hill's and she would eat a little of the one made by Purina. So I went back to her old food, but she wasn't eating as much. You know what she would load up on? Cat treats. So I found cat treats with good ingredients and high levels of potassium and fed her those (Greenies and Temptations). It was down to doing that or letting her starve. At her age and with her condition, I made the decision of quality of life over quantity. She lived the rest of her life on her own terms. Good luck with your sweet kitty, and I'll be praying for you and your family.

 

[FeebysOwner]

I think you would find varying opinions on how much food is enough, tbh. Until you can talk to the vet to get more information, you might try baby food meat (Gerber Stage 2 or Beechnut) for added intake and calories. Each jar is 2.5 oz and contain between 60 - 90 calories per jar. Most cats like it, even ones who are lacking an appetite, and it would be considered high-protein, low-carb so that should be fine for Dean to eat. It is not nutritionally complete, but that won't be harmful for just a few days - which might be enough to get him eating better again, and carry you over until you can reach the vet.

I don't know where you are located, but most grocery stores, some pharmacies, and stores like Walmart carry one or the other of those brands.

Maybe you would be interested in this site, just for FYI. Feline Diabetes —Diabetes in Cats — Treatment and Diabetic Cat Info — FDMB

 

[Kflowers]

When our cat, who was thin all her life, got diabetes, the vet said if she gets too much insulin and passes out, rub Kayro syrup on her gums. It never happened, but I had something to do if it did. This was back in the mid-90s, so there may be different instructions now. The liquid on the outside of the gums is safer than trying to squirt something down an unconscious cat's throat. Do not try to force fed an unconscious cat.

Mine was also not inclined to eat at first. The vet said to give her the injection while she was eating. I figured no, she doesn't want to eat anyway, startling her when she is, probably isn't a good idea. So,

I gave her the insulin injection right before I offered her food. The injection seemed to make her feel better instantly and she was happy to eat. She made the connection with the second injection and jumped on the counter for her injection and food. She squeaked when I gave her the injection. The one time she didn't squeak it turned out I missed and the little drop of insulin was in her fur. The squeak let me know I did it right.

 

[silent meowlook]

Hello.
I am so sorry that your cat is ill. With proper care and the right insulin and diet, many cats can go into a complete remission, it isn’t easy to do and requires time and effort on your part, but I have seen it happen with many cats.

A couple of things first. When cats stop eating or greatly reduce their caloric intake, they can get Hepatic liver disease. This is also known as fatty liver disease. The chance of them getting it from not eating is greatly increased if they are overweight. Any time your cat hasn’t eaten you have to be very careful. I will usually notify a vet or take them in if they haven’t eaten in 12 hours.

There is no point blaming yourself. You didn’t know. And it doesn’t help Dean now.

The following is my experience and what I have seen work, and what I have learned. This is my personal opinion.

Stop all dry kibble cat food. Carbohydrates are the enemy. All dry kibble cat food has allot of carbohydrates. Even the ones made for diabetic cats are high in carbohydrates Feed a canned diet only in the pate formula. The gravy in canned food is also high in carbohydrates. There are many options of prescription diabetic cat foods in canned varieties available from veterinarians. There is also a website Catinfo.org, that has a list of the different cat food varieties and what their carbohydrate levels are. Fancy feast in the classic pate variety can be used if there is no way to get the prescription diets. It isn’t as good but it can be used provided nothing else is going on with your cat. The classic pate meat formulas are low in carbohydrates.

It is also very important to get your cat onto a feeding schedule and to feed twice a day, 12 hours apart, every day at the same time. This consistent routine is needed and you must not give any snacks.

Another important thing is the blood sugar monitoring. Did the Vet hospital give or sell you a glucose monitor, or place the device on the cat so you can read the glucose level at home and keep track of it.

The insulin I have seen work best in cats is the Lantus Glargine. You must be careful on the handling of the insulin itself. You don’t want to shake the bottle because the insulin itself I fragile. To mix it. You roll gently in your hand. When you draw up the dose.
Did they show you how to draw up the dose of insulin and how not to get any air bubbles?
With giving the injections, it can help to shave a small spot above the shoulder blades to make sure you are giving the injection under the skin. It is such a tiny amount it is easy to miss when you give it.

The usual daily routine should be:
Get blood glucose reading.
Feed cat
If cat eats, give insulin injection.
12 hours later repeat.

You can also do something called a glucose curve after starting insulin for about a week.
You start as above but then get a reading every 2 hours for the 12 hours.
You send that to the vet so they can see what the sugar levels are doing throughout the day.

It is vital to monitor glucose at home. I can’t stress that enough. A normal cat’s blood sugar can increase 200 points from stress at a vet hospital. You can get more accurate readings at home sometimes.

Another thing you can do is to monitor at home the urine glucose and ketones. It is a strip test that checks the urine with. If it is positive for glucose the cat is spilling glucose into the urine because the blood glucose is to high. If you have ketones in the urine that is not good and would be a trip to the vet.

Diabetic cats are not hard to manage or even get into total remission as long as you follow a routine and have the right insulin and feed low carbohydrate food on a schedule. That is provided there are not additional issues.

A veterinarian should be deciding on any insulin changes. It takes about a week for a cat’s body to adjust to an insulin change. So it is not the kind of thing you change on a daily basis.

Hypoglycemia is a concern for any animal on insulin. That is why you check the blood glucose, feed and then give insulin. So, if the cat doesn’t eat breakfast, or eats and vomits, and if your cat's glucose in low normal before breakfast, you would want to call your vet to discuss what you should do. Sometimes they will say give half as much, other times they may tell you to skip it. This isn’t something you should be adjusting because there is a lot to factor into it. The other thing is that if you completely skip a dose, the next blood sugar will probably be high. Then, you can get into something where the cat’s blood sugar starts YoY o ing, up and down and that can make it difficult to regulate them.

Another thing to look at is how is your cat acting. This is probably the most important tool. Ask yourself how your cat seems to be compared to normal. Drinking more water and urinating more? Probably blood sugar is too high. Lethargic? Not eating? Could be too low.

I have seen cats that are diabetic with a blood glucose of 70 but acting totally fine. When that happens, I feed them, and it goes up. With low blood sugar always offer food first before resorting to any sugar substance.

With your cat, due to his size and his decrease in appetite, he is at risk of Hepatic Lipidosis, make sure he eats. He can also have problems with pancreatitis, which is painful for cats. So just be aware of how he is doing. Check his gums occasionally to make sure they are pink. Look at the inside of his ear flaps for any sign of yellow (jaundice).

I hope you can find some of this useful.

Start monitoring your cat at home for blood glucose. On Monday ask your vet to send you information in case you run into problems with his blood sugar either being to low or to high when your vet is not available. There are charts that will just list different numbers of blood sugar and if you should adjust dosage of insulin. Ask them to send you one, so you know what to do if you can’t reach your vet.

 

[fionasmom]

I have had two diabetic cats. One was a careful eater, never overweight and the other one did have a weight issue. You can't blame yourself and it is not always as simple as saying that the cat overate. Both did well on insulin for several years each.

Some vets are using FreeStyle Libre to monitor glucose in cats and dogs.

Write down the questions you want to ask the vet. Diabetes can be successfully managed, but at first the information can seem overwhelming.

 

[yomamab]

I don't have too much to offer, but I hate that no one has replied to you yet. First of all, don't beat yourself up thinking that you caused your cat's diabetes. I had a cat that begged for food and I never gave her anything that wasn't for a cat, and she still got diabetes. I've had other cats who were overweight and cats who were elderly and they never got diabetes. What I would do if I were you would be try a little more of the appetite stimulant, but you don't want the poor cat to overeat and throw up, either. Cats are still going to do things on their terms, so just do your best until Monday. I just put my precious 18 year old cat down this past Monday. She had been diagnosed with CKF the day after Christmas, and she had a stroke one week ago today. When we had to change her diet in December to special kidney food, she would not eat the one made by Hill's and she would eat a little of the one made by Purina. So I went back to her old food, but she wasn't eating as much. You know what she would load up on? Cat treats. So I found cat treats with good ingredients and high levels of potassium and fed her those (Greenies and Temptations). It was down to doing that or letting her starve. At her age and with her condition, I made the decision of quality of life over quantity. She lived the rest of her life on her own terms. Good luck with your sweet kitty, and I'll be praying for you and your family.

I'm so sorry to hear that you just lost your cat. That's what I did when our one cat was dying of cancer. Temptations was the only thing that he would eat towards the end, so that is what he got. Thank you for your support. It's really tough having a sick cat.

 

[yomamab]

I think you would find varying opinions on how much food is enough, tbh. Until you can talk to the vet to get more information, you might try baby food meat (Gerber Stage 2 or Beechnut) for added intake and calories. Each jar is 2.5 oz and contain between 60 - 90 calories per jar. Most cats like it, even ones who are lacking an appetite, and it would be considered high-protein, low-carb so that should be fine for Dean to eat. It is not nutritionally complete, but that won't be harmful for just a few days - which might be enough to get him eating better again, and carry you over until you can reach the vet.

I don't know where you are located, but most grocery stores, some pharmacies, and stores like Walmart carry one or the other of those brands.

Maybe you would be interested in this site, just for FYI. Feline Diabetes —Diabetes in Cats — Treatment and Diabetic Cat Info — FDMB

Thank you for the suggestion of baby food. We can try that, and I'd be happy if he'd eat it, but he's been acting like he has trouble eating. He seems kind of enthused when he first sees the food we put down for him, but then once he actually tries to eat it, it seems like something is stopping him, like something hurts him. I just don't know what the problem is. The vet looked at his mouth and throat and did x-rays but couldn't find anything to explain why he wouldn't want to eat. If he ate for them at the vet's office, I'd like to know how they managed that because we can't get Dean to eat. I don't want him having another setback.
Btw, we are located in PA.

 

[yomamab]

When our cat, who was thin all her life, got diabetes, the vet said if she gets too much insulin and passes out, rub Kayro syrup on her gums. It never happened, but I had something to do if it did. This was back in the mid-90s, so there may be different instructions now. The liquid on the outside of the gums is safer than trying to squirt something down an unconscious cat's throat. Do not try to force fed an unconscious cat.

Mine was also not inclined to eat at first. The vet said to give her the injection while she was eating. I figured no, she doesn't want to eat anyway, startling her when she is, probably isn't a good idea. So,

I gave her the insulin injection right before I offered her food. The injection seemed to make her feel better instantly and she was happy to eat. She made the connection with the second injection and jumped on the counter for her injection and food. She squeaked when I gave her the injection. The one time she didn't squeak it turned out I missed and the little drop of insulin was in her fur. The squeak let me know I did it right.

I don't know why I was thinking that heavy cats get diabetes. Now I know better.
Our veterinarian told us to make sure that we feed Dean and then give the insulin because she said you don't want the cat to have too much insulin in him if we'd give the injection and then the food. Since he's not eating at all, we aren't giving the injections because we figure for sure then he'd have too much insulin in him and we don't want him having some kind of bad reaction if seizures is possibly. I wouldn't know what to do. All I know is what our vet told us to do, so I'm hoping that she's giving us the correct advice.
That's cute how your cat squeaked.

 

[BellaBlue82]

Thank you for the suggestion of baby food. We can try that, and I'd be happy if he'd eat it, but he's been acting like he has trouble eating. He seems kind of enthused when he first sees the food we put down for him, but then once he actually tries to eat it, it seems like something is stopping him, like something hurts him. I just don't know what the problem is. The vet looked at his mouth and throat and did x-rays but couldn't find anything to explain why he wouldn't want to eat. If he ate for them at the vet's office, I'd like to know how they managed that because we can't get Dean to eat. I don't want him having another setback.
Btw, we are located in PA.

I'm so sorry to hear this news, I know when Nico was diagnosed with diabetes I was heartbroken. He also had a bad UTI, which made him feel worse. But he was able to improve with insulin and antibiotics the UTI resolved within 2 weeks, and it did take a few months to get him regulated on insulin. We had many great years with him after his diagnosis.

I am a member of the FDMB, (Feline Diabetes —Diabetes in Cats — Treatment and Diabetic Cat Info — FDMB) which is a totally awesome community! I live in a rural part of PA as well, so there weren't many cat vet specialists in my area. While my vet is awesome, she hadn't had much experience with diabetic cats. FDMB helped me trouble shoot stuff, show me how to test, adjust insulin, watch for hypoglycemia, and track his results. If anything I strongly suggest becoming a member as it's truly a great resource with many experienced cat parents to offer their suggestions. All we're run past my vet of course, but still a great resource.

Regards to the issues eating, I have been through that too many times to count sadly. But there are many things you can do to try to get them to eat. Sometimes it's as simple as a food change. It stinks, but a lot of times it's trial and error. I've done it all from food changes to assisted feeding/feeding tube. I have an 18 year old cat right now going through liver issues as well, and it certainly makes him feel like not eating. We just finished our first week on assisted feeding, and he's hanging in there!

Diabetes can also affect liver, but also makes it that much harder for their body to heal. But please try not to get discouraged, you're both just facing a lot all at once right now. I hope he starts to feel better soon, it stinks when they don't feel good.

 

[yomamab]

Hello.
I am so sorry that your cat is ill. With proper care and the right insulin and diet, many cats can go into a complete remission, it isn’t easy to do and requires time and effort on your part, but I have seen it happen with many cats.

A couple of things first. When cats stop eating or greatly reduce their caloric intake, they can get Hepatic liver disease. This is also known as fatty liver disease. The chance of them getting it from not eating is greatly increased if they are overweight. Any time your cat hasn’t eaten you have to be very careful. I will usually notify a vet or take them in if they haven’t eaten in 12 hours.

There is no point blaming yourself. You didn’t know. And it doesn’t help Dean now.

The following is my experience and what I have seen work, and what I have learned. This is my personal opinion.

Stop all dry kibble cat food. Carbohydrates are the enemy. All dry kibble cat food has allot of carbohydrates. Even the ones made for diabetic cats are high in carbohydrates Feed a canned diet only in the pate formula. The gravy in canned food is also high in carbohydrates. There are many options of prescription diabetic cat foods in canned varieties available from veterinarians. There is also a website Catinfo.org, that has a list of the different cat food varieties and what their carbohydrate levels are. Fancy feast in the classic pate variety can be used if there is no way to get the prescription diets. It isn’t as good but it can be used provided nothing else is going on with your cat. The classic pate meat formulas are low in carbohydrates.

It is also very important to get your cat onto a feeding schedule and to feed twice a day, 12 hours apart, every day at the same time. This consistent routine is needed and you must not give any snacks.

Another important thing is the blood sugar monitoring. Did the Vet hospital give or sell you a glucose monitor, or place the device on the cat so you can read the glucose level at home and keep track of it.

The insulin I have seen work best in cats is the Lantus Glargine. You must be careful on the handling of the insulin itself. You don’t want to shake the bottle because the insulin itself I fragile. To mix it. You roll gently in your hand. When you draw up the dose.
Did they show you how to draw up the dose of insulin and how not to get any air bubbles?
With giving the injections, it can help to shave a small spot above the shoulder blades to make sure you are giving the injection under the skin. It is such a tiny amount it is easy to miss when you give it.

The usual daily routine should be:
Get blood glucose reading.
Feed cat
If cat eats, give insulin injection.
12 hours later repeat.

You can also do something called a glucose curve after starting insulin for about a week.
You start as above but then get a reading every 2 hours for the 12 hours.
You send that to the vet so they can see what the sugar levels are doing throughout the day.

It is vital to monitor glucose at home. I can’t stress that enough. A normal cat’s blood sugar can increase 200 points from stress at a vet hospital. You can get more accurate readings at home sometimes.

Another thing you can do is to monitor at home the urine glucose and ketones. It is a strip test that checks the urine with. If it is positive for glucose the cat is spilling glucose into the urine because the blood glucose is to high. If you have ketones in the urine that is not good and would be a trip to the vet.

Diabetic cats are not hard to manage or even get into total remission as long as you follow a routine and have the right insulin and feed low carbohydrate food on a schedule. That is provided there are not additional issues.

A veterinarian should be deciding on any insulin changes. It takes about a week for a cat’s body to adjust to an insulin change. So it is not the kind of thing you change on a daily basis.

Hypoglycemia is a concern for any animal on insulin. That is why you check the blood glucose, feed and then give insulin. So, if the cat doesn’t eat breakfast, or eats and vomits, and if your cat's glucose in low normal before breakfast, you would want to call your vet to discuss what you should do. Sometimes they will say give half as much, other times they may tell you to skip it. This isn’t something you should be adjusting because there is a lot to factor into it. The other thing is that if you completely skip a dose, the next blood sugar will probably be high. Then, you can get into something where the cat’s blood sugar starts YoY o ing, up and down and that can make it difficult to regulate them.

Another thing to look at is how is your cat acting. This is probably the most important tool. Ask yourself how your cat seems to be compared to normal. Drinking more water and urinating more? Probably blood sugar is too high. Lethargic? Not eating? Could be too low.

I have seen cats that are diabetic with a blood glucose of 70 but acting totally fine. When that happens, I feed them, and it goes up. With low blood sugar always offer food first before resorting to any sugar substance.

With your cat, due to his size and his decrease in appetite, he is at risk of Hepatic Lipidosis, make sure he eats. He can also have problems with pancreatitis, which is painful for cats. So just be aware of how he is doing. Check his gums occasionally to make sure they are pink. Look at the inside of his ear flaps for any sign of yellow (jaundice).

I hope you can find some of this useful.

Start monitoring your cat at home for blood glucose. On Monday ask your vet to send you information in case you run into problems with his blood sugar either being to low or to high when your vet is not available. There are charts that will just list different numbers of blood sugar and if you should adjust dosage of insulin. Ask them to send you one, so you know what to do if you can’t reach your vet.

That would be great if Dean would go into remission. Right now I'm worried about his not eating. I'm going to call the vet tomorrow and if they can get him in, I wouldn't mind that either because my fear is that he will continue not eating and really having a big problem. He can't go on like this not eating. I'm just afraid that no matter what we try giving him he's not going to eat it.

The vet didn't say anything about monitoring his glucose level. We don't know how to do it. We weren't given any kind of a monitor or given instructions about monitoring. None. Is that normal?? I guess I assume that they knew what they were doing, but we even asked them about that monitor and they told us that they will check it when we take him back in two weeks. Well, if this keeps up, he won't even last two weeks. All it took was 3 or 4 days before to go from normal to very sick. So my nerves aren't too good right now, to say the least. I'm very worried about him. It also makes it hard to give him food (or try anyway) when his brother is always hovering around. He wants to eat everything away from Dean, which we don't let him do, but actually Dean's not eating it anyway, so I guess it wouldn't matter too much. Ugh.

Thank you for all of your advice.

 

[yomamab]

I have had two diabetic cats. One was a careful eater, never overweight and the other one did have a weight issue. You can't blame yourself and it is not always as simple as saying that the cat overate. Both did well on insulin for several years each.

Some vets are using FreeStyle Libre to monitor glucose in cats and dogs.

Write down the questions you want to ask the vet. Diabetes can be successfully managed, but at first the information can seem overwhelming.

Yes, I've been writing down questions and intend to call the vet tomorrow. I'm very worried about Dean because he's not eating. He acts like he wants to but then doesn't. He even takes a piece of dry food into his mouth and then drops it on the floor and doesn't eat it.

I will try not to blame myself, but I do wish that I hadn't given in as often as I did. I've learned my lesson. Now if only Dean would eat. I don't know how they got him to eat at the vet. It's like there's some secret to it. We sure can't figure it out.

 

[yomamab]

I'm so sorry to hear this news, I know when Nico was diagnosed with diabetes I was heartbroken. He also had a bad UTI, which made him feel worse. But he was able to improve with insulin and antibiotics the UTI resolved within 2 weeks, and it did take a few months to get him regulated on insulin. We had many great years with him after his diagnosis.

I am a member of the FDMB, (Feline Diabetes —Diabetes in Cats — Treatment and Diabetic Cat Info — FDMB) which is a totally awesome community! I live in a rural part of PA as well, so there weren't many cat vet specialists in my area. While my vet is awesome, she hadn't had much experience with diabetic cats. FDMB helped me trouble shoot stuff, show me how to test, adjust insulin, watch for hypoglycemia, and track his results. If anything I strongly suggest becoming a member as it's truly a great resource with many experienced cat parents to offer their suggestions. All we're run past my vet of course, but still a great resource.

Regards to the issues eating, I have been through that too many times to count sadly. But there are many things you can do to try to get them to eat. Sometimes it's as simple as a food change. It stinks, but a lot of times it's trial and error. I've done it all from food changes to assisted feeding/feeding tube. I have an 18 year old cat right now going through liver issues as well, and it certainly makes him feel like not eating. We just finished our first week on assisted feeding, and he's hanging in there!

Diabetes can also affect liver, but also makes it that much harder for their body to heal. But please try not to get discouraged, you're both just facing a lot all at once right now. I hope he starts to feel better soon, it stinks when they don't feel good.

Oh, that's too bad Nico was diagnosed with diabetes. Yeah, I was pretty heartbroken too when I got the news about Dean. I'm glad that Nico improved though and that you have many years with him after that.
Thank you for the link to the diabetes board. I tried to sign up but didn't have any luck. I guess I'm too worked up to think straight. I can always try another time. Right now it's not working for me. I signed up with the same username I use here, but it's not recognizing it even after I clicked on the link that was sent to my email. It's just one more thing that's not working out. I was anxious to join, but I think I'll back off for now since it's not cooperating.

I'm glad that your cat is doing well on the assisted feeding. I'm not sure where a person gets a feeding tube, but if it's complicated, I'm not sure our daughter would be willing to do it. I've been going through problems myself and am pretty much out of this cat care as far as Dean is concerned, but just knowing what is going on with him is causing me to have even more insomnia than usual. It's awful. I don't want to lose "Deanie Weanie" (what I call him a lot).

Dean acts like he wants to eat but then when he goes to actually do it, it seems like something stops him, like something hurts. I just don't know what.

 

[silent meowlook]

Hi. How long has it been since he ate? Get some Gerbers first foods chicken baby food. Offer a teaspoon. Put the other cat away. If he doesn’t eat, take a finger full and smear it on his lips, gently. If that doesn’t work just open his mouth and smear it with your finger anti the roof of his mouth.

Do the inside of his ears look at all yellow? Can you take a picture of him and post it?

Do you have a specialty emergency hospital you can go to?

Is there a feline only hospital in your area?

What is the name of the insulin?

It sounds like he is nauseous. Did they give you anything like Cerenia tablets for him? Unfortunately there is no human product you can use for the nausea.

 

[fionasmom]

Any Good Tips To Get Your Cats To Eat? Share Them Here!
It does sound to me as if there is more at play here, but some of these tips might help. It does sound like nausea; when he approaches the food he just cannot force himself to eat.

Let us know what the vet tells you.

 

[iPappy]

With the diabetics I have taken care of, the vets always told me if they don't eat to give 1/2 dose, but most of these were dogs. It's been awhile since I've dealt with a diabetic cat.
Diabetes is one of those things it takes time to find the sweet spot that works but it takes time. Has he been vomiting? I'm wondering if it's nausea or if he has a bad tooth, but it's strange the not eating started around his diagnosis if I'm reading correctly. I hope things improve for you both!

 

[yomamab]

Hi. How long has it been since he ate? Get some Gerbers first foods chicken baby food. Offer a teaspoon. Put the other cat away. If he doesn’t eat, take a finger full and smear it on his lips, gently. If that doesn’t work just open his mouth and smear it with your finger anti the roof of his mouth.

Do the inside of his ears look at all yellow? Can you take a picture of him and post it?

Do you have a specialty emergency hospital you can go to?

Is there a feline only hospital in your area?

What is the name of the insulin?

It sounds like he is nauseous. Did they give you anything like Cerenia tablets for him? Unfortunately there is no human product you can use for the nausea.

My husband gave Dean some pieces of his ham sandwich earlier just so he'd get something in his belly. He said he seemed excited about that, but he also acted like it's a struggle to eat. We're so frustrated with the veterinarian thinking that there's no problem with his mouth.
I will have to go to the grocery store and get some of that baby food. I think that Dean would still display his difficulty of eating though, but it's worth a try.

No, his ears are not yellow, which is good.

There is an emergency vet hospital about an hour away from here. There are no feline only hospitals in this area.

The insulin is Vetcilin or something like that. I know that we can only get it there and not at somewhere like CVS or Walmart. The one vet had told us before that Walmart is the cheapest to get the insulin at,, but then when we went to pick Dean up on Friday, the one other vet that was there told us the cats are resistant to that insulin (I think it started out NOR) and that Dean is on Vetcilin that is only available in veterinary hospitals, so we don't have a choice where to get ti. I just think it's much more expensive, but it lasts awhile.

Yes, Dean is on Cerenia for nausea.

 

[yomamab]

Any Good Tips To Get Your Cats To Eat? Share Them Here!
It does sound to me as if there is more at play here, but some of these tips might help. It does sound like nausea; when he approaches the food he just cannot force himself to eat.

Let us know what the vet tells you.

Thank you for the link to the info on tips of how to get a cat to eat. I will have to read down over that. It certainly sounds like it will help. I don't know exactly what it is that is causing Dean's reluctance to eat, but it just frustrates me that I get the feeling that they don't believe us at the vet's office. We told them that he was outside (my daughter was taking him on semi-supervised walks) and caught a bird and it was not too long after that that he started not eating. People there though seem to think it's a joke and that couldn't really be the cause of his problem. They did x-rays and looked in his mouth and throat and they say they don't see anything unusual. So I don't know what to do to convince them that Dean has a problem that they're not finding. It's just like you said, he can't force himself to eat. It looks like it really bothers him.

 

[yomamab]

With the diabetics I have taken care of, the vets always told me if they don't eat to give 1/2 dose, but most of these were dogs. It's been awhile since I've dealt with a diabetic cat.
Diabetes is one of those things it takes time to find the sweet spot that works but it takes time. Has he been vomiting? I'm wondering if it's nausea or if he has a bad tooth, but it's strange the not eating started around his diagnosis if I'm reading correctly. I hope things improve for you both!

No, thank goodness he hasn't vomited since he came home from the vet. He had been vomiting a lot last week though before we took him in to the vet. He hadn't been eating, so the vomit was mostly watery. I don't know if he's nauseous or has a bad tooth or what's keeping Dean from eating. I sure wish our pets could tell us the problem. Yes, everything just seemed to be all at once,

 

[BellaBlue82]

I'm very familiar with Vetsulin, it's a preferred insulin for dogs. Nico was on it for a few months and it was volatile for him. He would hover in the low 200's, then with one unit he would drop in 4 hours to 80. It's an ideal BG reading but was just too huge of a drop that it presented as hypoglycemia. We eventually switched him to prozinc which is one of the preferred depot insulins for cats. Some cats do well on Vetsulin though, it just depends on the cat. Just a word of caution if your not home testing and see signs of a dip in his BG (looks almost like they are drunk.) You can buy some clear karo syrup and or honey to use as an emergency glucose boost if he seems low.