Cat can't walk after Hypogycemic shock

Status
Not open for further replies.
D

dianna28

Member
My cat Princess went into Hypgycemic shock sat evening. she went to Emergency room after eating food and given Maple Syrup and it didn't work. She sspent the night in the ER until her BG was regulated. Now she can't walk! We brought her to our primary Vet and she can't figure out why she can't walk! Can anyone tell me if this has happen to there cat or has heard of this happening?? if so how long does it take before they walk again!! We are so upset and do not know what to do, the veterinarians we brought her too have no answers!!
 
hypoglycemia can cause temporary or permanent damage; do you have a neurologist you can be referred to?

I'm very sorry that this has happened; could you tell us more, like what insulin and dose she's on, whether you hometest, what the ER vet did and what their opinion is? They should be able to assess her neurologic function ??

Jen
 
The ER she went to is Nassau Emergency clinic in Westbury, NY.. Neither the ER Vet or my own has reffered me to a Nurologist. She is on ProZinc Insulin, dose was 3 units in the morning and 2 units at night. I do not home test her, since my Vet said it is not a accurate testing og wat her BG may be. The ER said they do not know why she is still not able to walk since her BG has been regulated! Nobody has answers for me!! They did say that her Neurological is normals. they said everything from her neck up is normal. all her Blood test and urine test came back normal!! I just do not know what to do!! She can't stand and she just lays on her side all day!! Have you ever heard of this??
 
Need Second Opinion!

what do you mean, they regulated her? If she was brought in due to hypoglycemia, she didn't need MORE insulin!

Yikes. Ok, I think you need to get a second opinion and quickly. I'm afraid that I do not have any contacts in your area but hopefully someone else does.

FYI, hometesting DOES work and it may have helped you avoid this, but you were given the advice not to test so it isn't your fault. Once she's stabilized, we'll help you learn how to test!

Can you call around to other vet clinics and see if someone else will see her?
 
dianna28 said:
The ER she went to is Nassau Emergency clinic in Westbury, NY.. Neither the ER Vet or my own has reffered me to a Nurologist. She is on ProZinc Insulin, dose was 3 units in the morning and 2 units at night. I do not home test her, since my Vet said it is not a accurate testing og wat her BG may be. The ER said they do not know why she is still not able to walk since her BG has been regulated! Nobody has answers for me!! They did say that her Neurological is normals. they said everything from her neck up is normal. all her Blood test and urine test came back normal!! I just do not know what to do!! She can't stand and she just lays on her side all day!! Have you ever heard of this??
Click to expand...


Your vet is WRONG about home testing not being accurate. Home testing is not only an accurate way to measure BGL, it is necessary to avoid things exactly like hypoglycemia. Your vet is doing a grave disservice by not advocating for home testing. Testing before each and every shot AND at least at the nadir is not only important, it saves lives.

As far as why your baby cannot walk, it might be temporary and I will pray that it is the case. You and your baby will be in my prayers.

~M
 
Sorry I am new to Diabetic cats, so what I mean by regulating her is she is now at a normal rate!! they gave her a IV bag over night with Surgar in it while she was at the ER..She was never given anymore insulin since she went into shock. Do you know of this even happening to a Diabetic cat?? not walking ???
 
Jen & Squeak said:
Can you call around to other vet clinics and see if someone else will see her?
Click to expand...

Jen, today is a holiday in the US (Memorial Day). Few businesses are open.

Dianna28, if you call your vet's office there will be a recording of who to contact in case of emergencies. You can also try finding another vet ER from this list: http://veccs.org/hospital_directory.php

Here is one in your area:

The Center for Specialized Veterinary Care

609-5 Cantiague Rock Road
Westbury, New York 11590

Phone: 516/420-0000
Fax: 516/420-0122
Website: http://www.vetspecialist.com
 
Ok, if by regulated you mean back to normal and not given insulin, this is good.

Diana, hypoglycemia can cause damage and yes, a cat may not walk at first or may suffer more permanent damage. That is why human diabetics test so frequently, and that is why so many of us on this message board test our cats at home.

I'd forgotten that it is memorial day; I hope you can find another opinion soon!

Jen
 
Jen- thank you so much for the info. I will have to get a 2nd opinon since no one can figure this out! My fear is that since she went into shock that the loss muscle tone in her legs are permanent!! all 3 vets we spoke to said they have never seen it lasting this long after Hypoyglecimia!! I wish I couls talk to some one that maybe this happen to, to see if this is normal and over time will get better, but everywhere I look online and all the vets that have seen her and spoke to over the phone have no answers
 
Perhaps it's something else, either coincidental or brought on by the hypo? Maybe a stroke or something similar? Does she have tail function?

FWIW, my Gwyn had five strokes, all of which affected her ability to walk to varying degrees. After each of the first four, she completely recovered the ability to walk, and that includes one stroke that left her paralyzed for two months. (We weren't so lucky with the fifth stroke, but by then she'd been through an *incredible* amount of stuff and we took our luck wherever we could ... )
 
how bad was the hypo episode she had? seizures? lose consciousness? if so, her not being able to walk most likely is neurological damage from that. since i've been a member here there have been a few of these cases where they had severe hypo episodes and didn't have all bodily functions right after. i want to say that they all recovered most of those functions but it does take time. i think PJ's Cagney took weeks if i remember correctly to regain functions like jumping and normal vision.

is she eating? going to the bathroom?
 
Princess is eating and has pee 2x times since she has been home, which was Sunday evening we brought her home from Our vet after the ER.. She still has not made a bowl movement. which does concern me, because she has eaten a lot of can food since she has been home as well. They said while she was in the ER that she had Diaherra, and that was the last time she did that. She Moves her tail slightly, but not as much as she usually did before the Shock. The problem is We had left the House at 1:30pm Sat. and did not come home until 7:15 so we were gone for almost 6 hours, and we don't know when she went into shock!! This is what is so sad to me,because maybe if we were home she wouldn't be this way!! We came home to her looking hazey and out of it and immediatly gave her food and Maple syrup. But she still couldn't walk hours after, and then started to vomit and turned Blue. so we ran her to ER where they put her on fluids with surgar in them and checked all her bloods and urine! all came back normal. we were not able to pick her up until her BG went back up. we then picked her up the next morning and brought her to our Vet where they can't figure out what is going on!! We are so lost here!!
 
You absolutely need a second opinion. There are many reasons a cat suddenly cannot walk, from neuropathy to stroke to neurological damage... but you need to find someone who will get to the bottom of this, and soon!

And sorry, but your vet is VERY wrong. Hometesting is very accurate - millions of diabetic humans put their lives in the hands of those home tests every day! And it's the only way to know what's happening in his every day life, removing the effects of vet induced stress, etc. Please consider learning how- we will teach you.

Please let us know how Princess is doing....
 
I will add my voice to the chorus here and say that you definitely need to be testing Princess' sugar. You also need to get another set of eyes on this to see why she can't walk.

My cat Cagney survived a massive overdose a few years ago and she was blind and lethargic for days. Our ER vet explained to us that she had some swelling in her brain that was caused by her body protecting the brain from the sudden extreme drop in her blood sugar. She started trying to walk after a couple of days but she couldn't walk a straight line (the vet called it her "drunken sailor walk") and she fell down a lot. It did take her a couple of weeks to get back to normal.

I hope you can get Princess in to see someone tomorrow.
 
Thank you Karen! She has actually seen 4 Veterinarians, and they all can't figure it out!! the ER Vet our Vet and 2 other veterinarians. But She is going back to the Dr. tomorrow for a different Vet to check her again. I wish I could figure this out, most of the posts on here and online in general are all about cats who were wobble or standing and walks drunken. I wish I had that only because that would be a sign of her standing up and trying to walk. Princess can not walk period!! she just lays on her side. We hold her up for her to eat and to pee in litter box. she can only roll that's it. When she trys to get up she is dragging her body across the floor. She can't articulate her legs to tell them to move and push her up. It's really sad!! I wish I saw some sort of improvement in her, but there has been nothing in the past 3 days. The only things that I have read that are similar to this is stroke. But all the Dr.'s have said no, because, they checked her bloods and when we came home she was no foaming or had no other symptoms of stroke. She was just drunk looking, exactly the symptoms of Hypogycemic shock. I just wish I knew how long her not walking will last for, I feel so bad for her and she seems depressed. Although when I rub her belly she does purr, so I do a lot to comfort her.
 
PJ- what tests did they do to figure out your cat had swelling in the brain. My cat was tested for any Neurological problems, and all normal. The only thing I have nto done yet is MRI, which cost 1,500 and we can't afford that. We have already spent the same between the ER and our regular Vet. Princess is not even trying to walk, she just lays there and we flip ever hour or so. she can pull her head up, but that's it. she can't stand, walk or pull her body up.
 
To the best of my knowledge, there is no blood work to detect a stroke, nor is foaming a sign of one. Sometimes it's just a sudden inability to walk or swallow, etc.

Was her blood pressure checked? That is one of the main causes of stroke, and should be immediately tested if there is even a suspicion of stroke.

I certainly agree that it does not sound like neuropathy or even the usual hypoglycemic wobble. A complete inability to walk is more serious. Does she have any movement of her hind end? If you push against her feet, can she push back? Can you passively "exercise" her legs to see what response there is? Are her front legs also immobile?

Maybe your vet could call a neurologist or vet college for more feedback.

In the meantime, if she is not in pain, and is eating/peeing etc., just spend lots of time with her and keep your fingers crossed that this will resolve while they try to find out what happened.
 
She can move her legs! When she sleeps since she has been home she flinches constantly all 4 of her legs, like she is running in her sleep. She has never done this until now. As soon as she falls asleep it's constant flinching and moving of the legs. If I sqeeze her paws she pulls back, so she feels it. but when I stand her up on her legs she can't hold herself, she is dead weight, I have to hold her up. it's like her brain is nto telling her legs to move. My fiance and I are sleeping on the floor with her in our living room since our bedroom is upstairs. We don't leave her alone. And since the Vet isnot open today, I am styinghome from work. We both have lost a lot of sleep, and are so worried. I really hope she snaps out of this, but I know her age is againist her, she is 19
 
Did they do any x-rays of her spine? Just wondering if she fell during the hypo and injured her spine to where there may also be some swelling going on.
 
They did not do X-rays! But she was on our couch when we found her, so there is not way she would of fell and then got back on the couch being in that state! We thought the same but since she was still on the couch when we came home to her in that state, we knew right away she didn't fall, cause she wouldn't be able to jump back up on the couch. We are bringing her to another Vet tomorrow and getting X-rays
 
Can you test her now and see where she is?
I think even if you are not giving any insulin, it's still a good idea to keep an eye on her numbers, just so you know where she is at.
 
I don't have a tester, But I will get one. I have never doen that before. Due to the fact my Vet saying that they are never accurate
 
Dianna,

This site will give you the basics: http://www.sugarcats.net/sites/harry/bgtest.htm and here is the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zE12-4fVn8 Lots of people here like the ReliOn from Walmart which is cheap and has less expensive strips. It really doesn't matter which meter as long as it is a sipping kind and takes a tiny amount of blood for a sample.

Even if they haven't figured out the paralysis, knowing her bg levels will put your mind at ease concerning the diabetes.
 
Thank you Sue!!! I appreciate the help!!! Andhopefully after the Vet sees her tomorrow, I will have more answers.
 
Thank you all for all your comments and help!! We dropped her off at the Vet this Morning! Waiting to hear from the Vet today, Will keep you posted!! I really need answers!! I just love her so much and hope she will come out of this
 
Spoke with Vet and she said Princess will need a MRI, she did all the testing she could do with her today and everything came back normal. The only thing is that she still can't walk! A MRI is $1,500 and the consult to get the MRI is $145. I hate to think this way but we just spent 2,000 at Emergency Vet sat. night. the other option is to give her a high dose of Pred. But I don't want to do that, since there is a high risk of her surgar going up very high and could make her very ill. I don't know what to do
 
Honestly, you need the mri. It's the only way to know what is going on and possibly what happened to cause this paralysis.

Also, since this is no longer an emergency situation, would you please remove the 911 icon from your original post above.
 
For an MRI they will need to sedate her and she is 19. Have they even addressed her age and sedation? Also, maybe she did fall off the couch and yet somehow managed to pull herself back up but in the fall did some damage where there is just swelling on the spine. I had a dog that took off running, jumped on the couch to look out the window and misjudged her speed. She slammed head first into the wall. By evening she couldn't walk and if I had not seen what happened I would never have known why she couldn't walk. She had swelling that had to go down before she could use her legs again. Instead of a large dose of pred, what about a tiny dose for inflammation?
 
Thanks Hope! I will talk to the Vet again and ask her more questions. I think Sedation is not a good idea at her age as well!! I am not sure how she will do at the Neurologist, she gets stressed out very easily when she is out of her home. I wish I was rich and could say do what ever you need to do, But I can't nor do I want to see her be so stessed. But I hate not knowing what is wrong either. I will talk to my Vet again today and see what other options there are
Thanks again Hope
 
Lets just call a spade a spade. Your old vet was lying to you, arrogant past belief or just woefully uninformed. Home testing is more accurate than having your vet do it. Just the stress of the visit to the vet is enough to kick up BG levels resulting in an artificially high reading. I have just recently learned first hand how important home testing is and have tremendous empathy for what you are going through. Read through the Introducing Duke post and the Duke updates in PZI and you'll see what we went through. I wish that I knew what I know now when Duke was first diagnosed. You've come to the right place.

I apologize if this post is in anyway violates the expected conduct of posters or the spirit of the board. Please fell free to remove it if it does.
 
I agree with Hillary that the MRI may be able to provide very useful information. However, I also agree with Hope that the MRI will require general anesthesia and there are risks associated with that, especially given Princess' age.

I can only speak from my own experience, and I have absolutely no idea whether Princess' situation is even in the same universe as Gwyn's. After two separate unidentified neurological events (which we much later determined to be strokes), we brought Gwyn in for MRIs. Because it wasn't an emergent situation, it took 10 days to get the appointment for the MRI machine. By then, the clots that had caused the damage were gone, so both MRIs were completely useless to us.

I'll also say that I'm a big fan of steroids. Yes, they can raise the blood sugar level, but that depends on the steroids and the cat. Some cats simply don't react very much to some types of steroids. Can you check with your vet about the type of steroid they're thinking of using, and how it reacts with the BG levels in most cats. And, while I can't remember what insulin you're on or whether you're home-testing, nor whether Princess is susceptible for ketones (nor whether you're testing for ketones), I would weigh those possible risks against the possibility of improving Princess' quality of life by increasing her chances of walking again.


If you do decide on steroids, and later decide on an MRI, please double-check with the radiologist when you make the appointment; the anti-inflammatory properties of steroids may help mask the problem that they're looking for with the MRI, and they may request that Princess be off steroids for several days before the MRI. (This did actually happen with Gwyn: I specifically asked them if they needed Gwyn off steroids for the second MRI, they said no, I brought her in, they asked about current drugs, I said steroids, and they refused to give her the MRI. We had to re-schedule for another ten days out, which was 12 hours before I was scheduled for abdominal surgery. And, while there are a few MRI centers dedicated to pets, most pet MRIs are done after-hours in human labs. So we had to get Gwyn first in line for the machines that night, wait for her to recover from the anesthesia, and take her home AMA at 3am so that I could get her settled back home and me to the hospital. Of course, I got home from the surgery a few hours later, we were both feeling pretty awful, and all Gwyn wanted to do was curl up on my stomach for comfort ... )

You're both in my thoughts and prayers --

Jean and her Gwyn

ETA: If your vet is suggesting prednisone, you might see whether you can get prednisolone instead. It's a slightly different form of the same base drug, and is often more effective so you can get by with a smaller dose.
 
Bone Daddy (Sorry don't know how else to refer to you, so that I can reply back) Thank you for your thoughts. You are not wrong for saying a spade is a spade, you are right! My other Vet deff. should of informed me a lot more about a diabetic cat. I never knew, half the stuff I know now, just from this site alone. And the fact that she (my Vet) was telling me at home testing for BG is not accurate makes me mad, since I now see so many people do it and is the best way to keep a healthy diabetic cat! If Princess pulls through this, I will deffinetly do home testing from now on!! This is all so frustrating, I feel like I could have prevented this whole thing, if My Vet would have educated me more and not made it seem like it was a common cold and will be fixed with meds. She was so nonchanlant about it. But I can't just blame her either, I really should of informed myself more as well!! it's so sad
 
JJ -- Thank you for all your information!! Last night after to speaking with the Vet: she said since I can not afford the MRI, that she could give her Steriods and see if that will work. She did say it's a long shot, But it's out last hope. She also said she will give Pred. 5mg in the AM and 5mg in the PM. And we will go from there. I am wondering how long do you wait to see if it works? She said that the side effect from this could elevate her BG and it could not. She said we won't know for sure until we try it. Princess was on ProZinc Insulin. I did not do home tetsing, due to My Vet telling me that it is not accurate and I also did not know after reading your post that you can test for keytones at home as well. I am going to go with Trying the Steriods on Princess and hope this may work. That's our only option at this point. Thank you for the information on MRI's and informing me on making sure taking her off steriods before going in. I was not aware of that either. I will keep you posted and thank you for thiking of us!! this site really has helped alot and your info as well
 
Every day I am amazed to hear about yet another vet who thinks home testing is not accurate. I guess they have not thought through that statement - saying that testing BG with meters used by humans every single day is inaccurate means that human testing must also be inaccurate. Would the vet like to let the humans in on this fact?

It renews my passion to remind all the vets at my office on our next visit.
Everyone needs to remind his/her vet that home testing saves lives.
 
just a thought dianna, she's not paralyzed as you've seen her move her legs in her sleep and pull back when you touch them...it sounds like she's just terribly weak. if a human had a serious hypo they may be bedridden for days, and even a little brain damaged. can you do physical therapy on her legs by massaging them and moving them for her so she does'nt get atrophy. a 19 year old cat, she's old and had a severe medical problem. might need to stay off her feet for a while.
 
It's an old nickname.

Try not to beat yourself up too much about it.
Trust me, I've beaten myself up enough for both of us.
I still get angry when I think of the treatments that Duke has gone through that may have been unnecessary or causing the very problems that were being treated. Changing vets has helped me tremendously. Finding this board has helped me tremendously. Home testing has given me sense of empowerment that has helped tremendously. It has also save me a tremendous amount of money :-)
 
I live in L.I. NY--I have gone to Center for Specialized vet care & got very good treatment every time--I dont want to pry, but I have to tell you many vets have little or no training in FD around!!--I found a couple who did, but not before one almost did bad to Moonie--
Hope your kitty comes out of this--Prayers for healing her legs & that she will be better!!
 
I live in L.I. NY--I have gone to Center for Specialized vet care & got very good treatment every time--I dont want to pry, but I have to tell you many vets have little or no training in FD around!!--I found a couple who did, but not before one almost did bad to Moonie--
Hope your kitty comes out of this--Prayers for healing her legs & that she will be better!!
 
Awww thank you so much Ronie!! Is LIV very exspensive for a appt. ? Princess has been purring since she got home! She attempts to get up, but then falls to her side! It's really sad to watch! I'm praying the steroidS work! Thank u so much for your info! And your kind words!! :)
 
> rincess has been purring since she got home!

Yay, Princess! And yay, Dianna, for taking such good care of her!


> She attempts to get up, but then falls to her side! It's really sad to watch!

This could be a muscle weakness problem (as mentioned previously) ... or maybe it could possibly it be vestibular (dizziness / imbalance)? If you hold her upright, like she's walking, does it seem like her legs give out, or does she seem dizzy? And do all of her limbs go at the same time, or one side first? If you hold her upright and walk her slowly forward, what happens?
 
Lori- we move her legs back and fourth and rub them she likes it when you rub them. she pushes back when you move them, which is good!

JJ- When I stand her up she wants to fall to the side. I deff. think it's a imbalancement (if that's a word) lol .. But when i do that she now sits up on her own, not to long, but this is the first time I have seen that since she has been on the steriods. Eventually while she in the sitting position she will fall to the side. if I try to make her walk, her front legs stay in the same spot and she does a nose dive to the floor. It's like her brain can't tell her legs to move forward. And when she sleeps, she twitches constantly. She has never done that before. We sleep with her on the floor in the living room, since our bedroom is upstairs and we don't want to leave her. When we wake up, a lot of the wee we pads we have on the floor for her are shreaded from her kicking her feet all night, while she is sleeping. Also I have a question for you: Princess has been Hyperthyriod for years now and Has been on Methamazole. Is it ok to give her the reg. dose she gets of methamozole with predinisolone??
Thank you Dianna
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top