Kitten had hypoglycemic episode now is breathing hard making weird noise after meows

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Skipper

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I came home from work this morning to a listless kitten his name is Oliver. Took him to animal hospital where they diagnosed him with hypoglycemia and they kept him during the day for monitoring. He improved throughout the day and they sent us home with instructions stating that he gets a combination of gerber stage 2 baby food (chicken or turkey) along with some 2nd step kmr formula. He seems to be breathing rather heavy even when sleeping and when he meows there a sort of "humph" noise after every meow. He is about 4-5 weeks old and weighs only .8 of a pound. He was a rescue kitten. I don't think he has diabetes but I do know he is considerably smaller than his brother and his brother hogs all the food. The vet said that most likely triggered his episode during the night. I just need any advice I'm worried his breathing and weird meow noises mean he won't get Any better. Thank you
 
--Is the kitten diabetic? nevermind... i see you said that.....



i would put a call into the ER and tell them you are worried.....

some cats ( and dogs ) do breathe harder when sleeping..... and may even grunt....
 
Not diabetic that I know of. The vet said he most likely hasn't eaten enough because his brother is more dominant and hogs the food. I just compared his respirations to his brothers and the brothers was 58 respirations / minute and Oliver's was 91 respirations / minute. Are these any side effects of having a hypoglycemic episode? They also told me he was having seizures due to his low blood sugar.
 
Is he actually eating on his own? Kittens that young can become hypo from not getting enough food. If he's not eating on his own enough, or his brother is eating all the food, you will likely need to either feed him separately and/or bottle feed him (bottle feeds typically have to be fed every 2 hours). If it's just him and his brother, they likely also need heat support (a hot water bottle wrapped up in cozy box/bed.
 
The vet recommended he be put on baby food along with his 2nd step kitten milk replacer. Since I got him from the vet I've been feeding him separately and he's been eating fairly well. Im a light sleeper and plan on sleeping with him but I'm still afraid I'll wake up to him having passed away.
 
it's possible that will happen......

but now you know what to do..... and how to help the situation....
so you are doing the best you can do.... and that's all any of us can do.....
 
You can bottle feed every few hours. My mom had to do that when I was a kid and my cat's milk dried up so she couldn't feed her babies. They sell formula at pet food stores I think.
 
Thank you all! He ate a good amount of baby food about two hours ago and I just tried to offer him some more and he licked it a bit but then just layed down. Could it be that he's just stressed out and exhausted from his seizures ? Would that cause the increased respirations?
 
He's not having seizures now and he's not limp like how I found him this morning. He's walked around at the vet earlier today and he's walked around since I brought him home. He's slow but he can walk. This morning he was completely limp. I thought he actually had somehow broke his neck because he had no strength to control his head and neck. Every couple minutes he'd "seize" and his legs would move but he still had no strength to hold his head or neck up. Every couple minutes I try to move him to make sure he's not limp (because he's scaring me). I'm texting my friends sister at the moment who is a vet so I'll try to update but it may be tomorrow before I get to it because I'll probably try to go to bed soon if he seems stable. (I worked nights and haven't slept in two days so I'm exhausted and need to sleep but I don't want to take a chance on losing my baby )
 
How unfortunate. It sounds like he is more stable. He may just be full. Their stomachs are little. If it was me, I would try to feed him before going to bed. Then I'd get up in 3 or 4 hours and see if he will eat some more food. Good luck with the little guy.
 
being so young... they would normally eat more often from their mother.....

i would look for things that he would nibble on and keep them right next to you so you can roll over and try to
get him to keep eating....

yellow cheese...
gravy from any canned food you have.....
whipping cream....
that baby food....

and if you think you'll be out cold, set an alarm somewhere in the night.....
or drink a big glass of water now so you have to at least get up for that and check on him.....
 
This what we suggest for diabetic cats - How to Handle a Hypo
Even though the kitten isn't diabetic, if you see signs of seizuring or unconsciousness, you can use those instructions.
Basically, it is giving small amounts of high carb food, every 15-20 minutes, to get the glucose up until the cat is stable.
 
Thank you all so much! He just had a bm that was the color of the baby food and just a little bit thicker than the consistency of the baby food. He seems stable and content sleeping in his cage next to me. He's in a bed with a heat pack under a blanket and another thin blanket for him to burrow under. (He's always burrowed to sleep since we rescued him). I'll set an alarm and try to feed him some more food then. Thank you again !
 
Little Oliver passed away at 2:50 am. I'm currently holding him in a receiving blanket I held my daughter in when she was little. Everyones compassion comforted me tremendously. I wish I could have done more. Ever since my husband rescued him and his brother from the mill Oliver's little face stole my hart from the second I saw it. And he had the perfect personality. He was easy going and a little shy when it came to eating next to his brother so I'd often separate them to make sure he got enough. I'd sit cross legged on the kitchen floor feeding them kmr from my kids medicine syringes and whenever he was full he'd climb up on my knee an curl in a ball and watch his brother chow down. He was always a snuggler from the time he came home. He loved to burrow under blankets or your shirt. He loved to snuggle so much and he'd follow me around crying at me so I started wearing sports bras around the house so I could stick him on my chest and he'd go to sleep. He had the bluest eyes. He's a little tuxedo kitten. I also have two three month old kittens. One was a rescue from a train track and the other was a rescue from the shelter named Amy. Oliver and his brother were blessed to have any. She is a special needs kitty that took them in and liked to mother them and snuggle them. At meal times she drove us nuts the way she'd get in between the little ones and their food just so she could lick the milk drops off the babies' mouths and anywhere else it happened to splatter.


I'm trying to see if I can upload a photo...
 
This is Oliver. He always looked so handsome in his little tuxedo ☺️
 

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Amy snuggling with Oliver (tuxedo) and his brother Tommy (white with brown)
 

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So sorry to hear of Oliver's passing, but bless you for making sure his few days on this Earth knew food, warmth, love and caring. Young kittens can fail quickly and sometimes there's just not much we mere humans can do.

Maybe you can get a tiny paw print to remember him by.

Fly free little Oliver and Land softly....there are many at the Rainbow Bridge to welcome you and keep you company until the one you love most comes to be with you forever. Send your bean a sign that you're OK and will be waiting until that day. cat_wings>o
 
Saying thank you over and over loses meaning but i don't know what else to say. I want to go wake my husband up because I need someone but I know he'll be mad if I wake him. He has to get up in two hours for work and I'll risk waking my son up. You (and everyone who've encouraged me) have been so caring and compassionate and it means the world to me. It's hard for me to see the line between pet and family/baby. I had a traumatic childhood and found great love and comfort in my pets. They essentially were the only family I felt wanted by. They never yelled never hit never kicked and never put me outside without dinner. I think of animals especially cats as babies. And it hurts just as if he was my human baby. It hurts even worse to think if he suffered. Do you know if death by low blood sugar is painful?
 
I am so sorry little Oliver didn't make it. He sure was a beautiful kitty. I don't consider my critters to be pets either they are my family. I'm so glad that your little Oliver got to know the love of family in his short little life, some never find that. Low blood sugar isn't painful. When people have very low blood sugar they appear drunk and then may fall into a coma. I believe that Oliver would have gone peacefully and painlessly and feeling secure and loved. Bless you for trying and for caring :bighug::bighug::bighug:

Some souls are just too precious for this world, RIP Oliver:rb_icon:
 
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I am so sorry to hear about little Oliver. I'm glad you were there for him and he knew love. Fly free, baby Oliver, there are so many waiting to welcome you to your new life at the Rainbow Bridge cat_wings>o
 
My heart breaks for you over your loss of Oliver. Oliver had such a short life, but you filled it with love. You are indeed a very special person.

RIP Little Oliver...you were so loved!

:bighug: :bighug: :bighug:
 
I'm sorry for your loss.
What a little cutie, he was.
Fly Free Beautiful Oliver. You are very loved.
 
Oh no. I'm so sorry he passed away. You tried your best. Poor sweet Oliver was such a cutie. Fly free sweet baby boy.
 
I'm am not sure if he died from low blood sugar. Even if he did, I don't think that is painful. Certainly not as bad or painful as some of the ways our fur babies die.

I was really rooting for Oliver and hoping he was pulling through.
 
I'm so sorry. There comes a day, despite all our efforts, where we have to say So long.....
Fly Free Oliver.
candle.gif



Prayers for your grieving heart........ and hugs.....
 
So sorry you lost little Oliver, he would have stolen my heart too, such a cutie. I am glad that he new love in his short life on this earth.
Fly free and land softly Baby Oliver, :rb_icon::rb_icon::rb_icon:
 
JeffJ said:
I'm am not sure if he died from low blood sugar. Even if he did, I don't think that is painful. Certainly not as bad or painful as some of the ways our fur babies die.

I was really rooting for Oliver and hoping he was pulling through.
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I'm just assuming he did because the symptoms matched what he had when I came home from work and found him. The vet told me it was hypoglycemia. But I also don't know how long he had been suffering and if he had any damage done to his brain from inadequate supply of oxygen during the night when I was at work. He also was breathing fast last night and would meow with a weird sound after every meow. Almost sounded like a gasp. I just hope he didn't suffer. The whole time I tried to bring his sugar up I loved on him and talked to him so I hope he knew how loved he was. Thank you for your advice and support
 
Skipper said:
I'm just assuming he did because the symptoms matched what he had when I came home from work and found him. The vet told me it was hypoglycemia. But I also don't know how long he had been suffering and if he had any damage done to his brain from inadequate supply of oxygen during the night when I was at work. He also was breathing fast last night and would meow with a weird sound after every meow. Almost sounded like a gasp. I just hope he didn't suffer. The whole time I tried to bring his sugar up I loved on him and talked to him so I hope he knew how loved he was. Thank you for your advice and support
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It really sounds like poor Little Oliver's body just couldn't take the additional strain, poor sweet baby. You certainly went above and beyond for this little angel and if his body was shutting down he would not have suffered. He passed away with a wonderful guardian angel by his side. :bighug: :bighug:
 
I am so, so very sorry for your loss of this very special, sweet boy. I know you are heartbroken but in his very short time here, he knew so much love and compassion. He was a lucky little guy. Thank you for caring for all these sweet babies that others would discard.

Fly free, little Oliver.
 
so sorry for your loss. He felt loved and cared for with you, and you did the best you humanly could.
 
Everyone has their own feelings and reasons for them, but for me personally, there is no line between pets and family. And you did everything that people do for family, and then some.

I am so sorry that little Oliver was so sick. You gave him the best shot that anyone could have.

RIP little one, and hugs to you :bighug:
 
I am so very sorry to hear that Oliver has passed over.
His little life was so short. But in that brief span of time he did know what it was to be loved, and that was a great blessing.
Huge (((hugs))) to you, sweetie.

Eliz x
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So%2BSorry%2BFor%2BYour%2BLoss%2BCat%2BSympathy%2BCard.jpg
 
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