Diabetic Cat Refusing Meals

[miss_chapstick]

Hi there! I have a 15 year old s/f recently dx diabetic cat. She recently had a glucose curve (Monday, July 23), and her levels were under 10, so her insulin (injection) dosage was reduced from 2 units to 1.5 units 2x daily.
Since she got home from the vet (she was there a full day), she hasn’t been eating well. Her behaviour is normal, and she doesn’t seem ill. I have noticed that she hides after meals to avoid her shots.

I STRONGLY suspect that she has begun to associate mealtime with receiving the insulin injections, and has realized that she doesn’t get the shot if she doesn’t eat. I’m not sure why this only began after her vet visit (stress, maybe?). She was eating well before. She didn’t seem skittish when she got home, and went back to her usual routine, but just doesn’t want to eat.

I know that medical reasons must be ruled out, and I will speak to the vet again ASAP.

I KNOW my cat, she has been with me for 15 years. I REALLY think that she is trying to avoid getting the insulin shots - and she is absolutely stubborn enough to starve herself to get her way (this wouldn’t be the first time she’s done it).

I think leaving a slightly longer time between feedings, and the injections will help, but I don’t know how to get her to start eating again!

Has anyone heard of, or experienced something like this before? I could really use some tips.

Thanks!

Naomi (human) and Jasmine (cat)

Here’s an obligatory photo:

 

[silkenpaw]

Jasmine is beautiful! I see two obvious solutions:

1. Tempt her with something irresistible. You've probably tried that.
2. Give her an appetite stimulant, such as periactin (cyproheptadine). This has to be prescribed by a vet.

Good luck, Jasmine must really hate getting injections, I had no such problems with my diabetic kitty. Let us know how you crack this nut.

 

[duckpond]

I agree, a vet visit or call would be best, just to make sure nothing else is going on. But i agree, cats are smart, and if she associates food with the injection, and it bothers her, she may avoid eating for this reason. Unfortunately i do not have any experience with this, so im not much help. Hopefully some of the others with diabetic cats will come in with some good sugestions.

Good luck with the pretty girl, and do keep us updated on her.

 

[LTS3]

I strongly recommend that you also post on the FelineDiabetes.com message board. There are more experienced diabetic cat owners there who can provide more detailed help and suggestions.

You can't give insulin if the cat is not eating. That will risk hypoglycemia especially since it doesn't look like you are testing your cat's blood glucose levels at home. At meal time, can you feed your cat in the bathroom with the door closed and give insulin while the cat is eating?

10 mmol is about 180 mg/dl, a pretty normal if a bit high number. Keep in mind that many cats get super stressed out at the vet's office so in-office curves are often inaccurate. Your cat may be much lower than 10 mmol at home. Some cats start to avoid insulin injections because it makes their blood glucose levels drop too low and they feel icky. This is why home blood glucose testing is important, just like it is for Human diabetics.

What insulin are you using? Some are too harsh acting for cats and leaves them feeling like crap after a few hours.

 

[miss_chapstick]

I strongly recommend that you also post on the FelineDiabetes.com message board. There are more experienced diabetic cat owners there who can provide more detailed help and suggestions.

You can't give insulin if the cat is not eating. That will risk hypoglycemia especially since it doesn't look like you are testing your cat's blood glucose levels at home. At meal time, can you feed your cat in the bathroom with the door closed and give insulin while the cat is eating?

10 mmol is about 180 mg/dl, a pretty normal if a bit high number. Keep in mind that many cats get super stressed out at the vet's office so in-office curves are often inaccurate. Your cat may be much lower than 10 mmol at home. Some cats start to avoid insulin injections because it makes their blood glucose levels drop too low and they feel icky. This is why home blood glucose testing is important, just like it is for Human diabetics.

What insulin are you using? Some are too harsh acting for cats and leaves them feeling like crap after a few hours.

Thanks, I will check out that board!
I think you are right about the insulin makin her crash, because the injections themselves don’t actually seem to bother her all that much. I’m able to give them fairly easily.

The insulin she is on is Lantus. I know we definitely need a glucose monitor. For now, we are letting her eat kibble (she has an addiction), and holding off on the insulin. She NEEDS to eat!

 

[LTS3]

Lantus is a great insulin There's a dosing protocol on the FDMB Lantus board to follow. If you're using the 10 ml bottle, keep in mind that you can get maybe a month's use out of it before the insulin starts to "poop out". The Lantus SoloStar pens are more cost effective. The FDMB board has more info about this.

Dry food, even prescription food, is a no not for diabetic cats The carbs will keep blood glucose levels too high. Low carb canned food is best. But don't change the diet now. Doing so while giving insulin can be a recipe for disaster since you are not home testing. Learn how to home test first then slowly work on the diet. Some diabetic cats are just dry food addicts and will not eat canned food. There are some dry foods that are more suitable than others. You can ask on the FDMB for the current recommended brands. Feed your cat as usual for now. It's important that she eats.

 

[miss_chapstick]

Lantus is a great insulin There's a dosing protocol on the FDMB Lantus board to follow. If you're using the 10 ml bottle, keep in mind that you can get maybe a month's use out of it before the insulin starts to "poop out". The Lantus SoloStar pens are more cost effective. The FDMB board has more info about this.

Dry food, even prescription food, is a no not for diabetic cats The carbs will keep blood glucose levels too high. Low carb canned food is best. But don't change the diet now. Doing so while giving insulin can be a recipe for disaster since you are not home testing. Learn how to home test first then slowly work on the diet. Some diabetic cats are just dry food addicts and will not eat canned food. There are some dry foods that are more suitable than others. You can ask on the FDMB for the current recommended brands. Feed your cat as usual for now. It's important that she eats.

Yes, the dry food is Nature’s Variety Instinct limited ingredient Rabbit. We are trying to get her to eat the wet food.
In the meantime, the dry is grain free, and low carb.

She is at the vet for today, so they can rule out a UTI, and any other possibities, and monitor her glucose.

She did start getting hungrier last night, after a full day without insulin, so I still suspect hypoglycaemia to be the problem. Hopefully I’ll have an update soon.

 

[josiegirl]

Yes, the dry food is Nature’s Variety Instinct limited ingredient Rabbit. We are trying to get her to eat the wet food.
In the meantime, the dry is grain free, and low carb.

She is at the vet for today, so they can rule out a UTI, and any other possibities, and monitor her glucose.

She did start getting hungrier last night, after a full day without insulin, so I still suspect hypoglycaemia to be the problem. Hopefully I’ll have an update soon.

Hi there- While I applaud you for feeding a lower carb dry food like Instinct, your kitty needs 3% carbs or less and Instinct dry food doesn't go lower than 15% carbs. That means she needs wet food only, one that is high in protein and low in carbs. Pate foods are lower than the gravy/sauce kinds. And should be grain-free.

But, like the poster above said, don't switch diet yet until you get the insulin problem controlled.

 

[miss_chapstick]

Hi there- While I applaud you for feeding a lower carb dry food like Instinct, your kitty needs 3% carbs or less and Instinct dry food doesn't go lower than 15% carbs. That means she needs wet food only, one that is high in protein and low in carbs. Pate foods are lower than the gravy/sauce kinds. And should be grain-free.

But, like the poster above said, don't switch diet yet until you get the insulin problem controlled.

I was feeding her the dry food because if I didn’t, she wouldn’t eat anything at all. What exactly was I supposed to do, starve her, force feed her?

I KNOW she needs to be on wet food. I mentioned in my original post that I was giving her the kibble because she needed to eat SOMETHING. She was barely eating that.

She was eating and drinking at the vet (WET) food. I’m waiting for them to call me about what her glucose levels are like.

 

[josiegirl]

I'm sorry, my post wasn't meant to be accusing. I wasn't sure if you knew how many carbs are in the dry food. Also, there are some wet foods that are too high in carbs for a diabetic cat. When you are able to, aim for 3% or less.

I agree the cat must eat. Sorry if I offended you.

 

[miss_chapstick]

Sorry I was so snippy. I could have responded better - I asked for advice, and that was very rude of me. I understand that you were just making sure. We only gave her kibble for that one day, because she wouldn’t eat the wet food.
She seems to be doing fine, but the vet needs to get back to me. It’s a bit of a complicated situation, as I can’t have her live with me right now, and my parents are on a trip - so she’s in boarding, and not with me (which I HATE). Luckily, the kennel is in the same building as the vet, so they’re keeping track of her. I’m a little frustrated from playing phone tag to get updates!
I’m waiting for the vet to call me, but so far I know that her fasting blood sugar this morning was 6.6.

 

[miss_chapstick]

UPDATE:

I spoke the the vet, and her glucose levels have remained under 10, so she believes she is in remission. Great news!
She’ll have another full curve done next week to make sure, but she has not been receiving her insulin, so she very likely was going into hypoglycaemia.
She’s eating and drinking fine, now, and will be enjoying being pampered in boarding (they LOOOOOOVE her there).

Thanks all of you so much! Who knows how many expensive tests we’d have gone through before they figured it out.

Here are some photos of her being a ham:

 

[Stinky15]

That's great Mews!

 

[Tobermory]

What a cutie Jasmine is! If you haven’t discovered it, there’s a Lantus users subforum on the feline diabetes site that LTS3 mentioned. They provided such incredible support for me when my guy, Max, was on Lantus.

Lantus / Basaglar (glargine) and Levemir (detemir) | Feline Diabetes Message Board - FDMB

 

[miss_chapstick]

What a cutie Jasmine is! If you haven’t discovered it, there’s a Lantus users subforum on the feline diabetes site that LTS3 mentioned. They provided such incredible support for me when my guy, Max, was on Lantus.

Lantus / Basaglar (glargine) and Levemir (detemir) | Feline Diabetes Message Board - FDMB

Thank-you! I will take a look.