Tonka update and failed dental adventure

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jmalasiuk

jmalasiuk

Member Since 2014
Hi all,

I just got back back into town after a few days away so I'm not sure how Tonka's been doing in that time, but our pet sitter feels that he was doing well based on all his various indicators.

One of the cats apparently got into the loaf of rye bread on the counter though :eek: so I guess I'll have to start storing that away too (Tonka's legs are still not back to normal but they're definitely getting stronger all the time, so it could well have been him up and feasting on stale carbs). I tested him when I got home, and he was at a nice level of 92 (probably about 4-5 hours after eating his pm meal), and was down to 76 this morning (after more than 12 hours without food, as required for his dental that was scheduled for today).

It's funny: all the time he was officially on the OTJ trial, he seemed to hover right around 100, rarely below 90. Now that he doesn't have an audience, he's been testing in the mid 70s to mid 80s quite regularly. No complaints from me. I'm wondering if it just took his pancreas a bit more time to wake up to the fact that it wasn't getting any more help.

Dental today was aborted. They got him under, did the X-rays, discovered that he has a couple teeth that are actively resorbing, and has 6 teeth in all (including 3 canines) that should be removed. Poor guy. The vet wasn't comfortable with removing his lower canine that is causing him pain right now, because there's too much danger of damaging his lower jaw if that isn't done with a lot of skill. She recommended bringing him in to a dental specialist, so this time round, he basically had his x-rays and cleaning/polishing, and is scheduled in to go to the specialist in another 2 weeks for his extractions.

Of course, the first thing he did after wobbling into the house (they gave him pain medication, which was making him rather loopy) was walk over to his food dish and demand repeatedly to be fed. His front legs were shaking/vibrating. I didn't even think to test him, because it didn't occur to me that a cat who is not receiving insulin should be in any danger of hypoglycemia, but as soon as I got a little bit of food into him (which he apparently still does not think is enough, but he can't have a lot this soon after being under), he stopped shaking. So now I'm wondering. But then again, maybe he was just really hungry and needed some calories after a day under anesthesia and stressed out at the vet. When I called the vet to ask about the shaking they said that it could just be him pushing himself too hard too soon after coming out of the anesthesia (he was stomping all over the house at the time), and he was therefore out of energy.

He was 117 at PMBG tonight, but I'm hoping that was just him reacting to vet stress and that he's on his way back down.
 
drat on having to postpone the dental. He'll feel so much better when it's over, forl is very painful.
Anethesia can lower bg and pain can raise it so he's even less predictable.
 
it's good you know what's going on and he's going to get rid of those teeth soon. Diabetic cats often have teeth problems - all the sugar in their saliva can cause decay. I don't know why FORL is so common.

keep doling out his food about a teaspoon every 20-30 minutes. The anesthesia can slow down gut motility and that can cause vomiting if he eats too much too soon.

sending healing vines to our little buddy.
 
Too bad they couldn't have removed some of the problem teeth while he was under. It would have made each recovery less severe.
 
Sorry to hear that they couldn't do the extractions today! That super sucks!! Hopefully the dental specialist will be able to get it done quickly and safely for you. Skooter has FORL now (to add to his list o things) lololol....so he and Tonka can be buds :)
 
Bummer on having to reschedule the dental. But I really liked going to a dental specialist for Neko's last two dentals. The dental specialist said 29% of felines get FORL. It's a middle age thing, tapers off as they get older. Welcome to the club.
 
rhiannon and shadow said:
Anethesia can lower bg and pain can raise it so he's even less predictable.
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Is there a chance, then, that he was hypoglyceimic when he had the shakes? I wouldn't have thought that lowering from anesthesia would have been enough to push him down to a dangerous level, seeing as he isn't receiving any extra insulin right now and his pancreas wasn't working on anything this morning/today. Vet's probably right that he was just "pooped", especially considering how fast the shaking stopped when he got some food (almost immediate). But should I watch for that next time, in case it is a possibility?

BJM said:
Too bad they couldn't have removed some of the problem teeth while he was under. It would have made each recovery less severe.
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That was an option, but she felt that the specialist could do a cleaner job of it and if he was going there anyway, he might as well have them done all at the same time, and - unfortunately - I wasn't thinking of his recovery time, except that he'd have to go through it all twice. I'm hoping his ridiculously fast recovery and interest in food today, after all the wiggling and jiggling of his sore teeth, will mean that he'll do well after the extractions too. Teeger seemed right back to normal within a day of his dental a couple years ago when he had a similar number of extractions (and a couple more that were almost completely resorbed already). Of course, Teeger didn't have diabetes to contend with on top of this.

Yup, FORL appears to be a mystery but a rather common one. Poor kitties - sucks to lose teeth. Good thing they don't have to kill their own food these days

Thanks for checking in
 
The type of anesthesia medicine more commonly used in Canada (vs. the US) does not have BG lowering properties.
 
That's good to know, and a relief. Thanks to everyone for the information and suggestions (and camaraderie for Tonka and his tooth issues :))
 
Yay for a vet that recognised their limitations :)

When I have gone without food for long periods I have got the shakes - probably has been low blood sugar but without insulin on board to keep pushing it down it shouldn't be an issue.
 
I agree with Serryn too. I was very happy with and proud of a vet I once had that felt uncomfortable doing surgery on a rabbit I had and referred us to an exotic animal vet. The first vet could have taken my money, and done what he could, but he cared more about the animal and referred us to a specialist instead. That's the right thing to do.

Sending perfect dental vines and teeth removal vines for two weeks from now to Tonka.
 
We're very lucky: there's a collection of vets at this clinic and while he's got his regular vet (the one who is most familiar with treating diabetic animals and has been fabulous with him), they've all seen him at various times, and are all very good and ethical folks. They include the link to the FDMB in the papers they had out to people with newly diagnosed diabetic cats and encourage home testing, which seems the opposite to what too many other folks experience.

They even made him a new tag :) It might not be quite accurate, but it was still cute and a sign of how happy they are too that he got regulated and into remission
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Tonka's back to normal today. We'll see how he does after he loses as many of his teeth as it looks like he'll have to lose, but apparently two of them are already half gone and a few of his incisors were already missing, so maybe he won't miss them too much. Here's hoping, in any case. Thanks for the vines!
 
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