? Possible brain damage from hypoglycemia? Recoverable?

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Kevin_C

Member Since 2020
Hi all,

New member here. My 18yo cat is diabetic and my vet recommended we give her a standard dose of insulin rather than testing her blood. She lost weight and eventually received too much insulin - we noticed she was essentially not able to walk easily and just seemed "off". When we got her to the vet it looked like there was "no one home" in her head despite her being conscious. We thought she had a stroke but hypoglycemia was determined to be the cause after blood work. She was treated and seemed to mostly recover (about 90%) but she's not 100%. Some things I noticed:

  • Stiff when walking, elbows seem to bow outwards sometimes
  • Sometimes takes awkward steps appearing to lose balance but doesn't fall
  • No longer begs or follows us around the house
  • Less affectionate - if I put her in bed with me she kind of just lies down - before she would always walk up for lovins without fail
  • She wasn't eating or pooping for a few days but now she's doing both - but she's gotten much pickier. She doesn't seem to like the same cat food or even the treats she loved before
Otherwise, she seems normal. All "five P's" - peeing, pooping, purring, preening, playing (as much as an 18 year old cat could be expected to).

Do these sound like the symptoms of brain damage? She's still moderately affectionate and if I take her outside she loves chasing critters still - she's still very fast.

Is it possible it's just some after-effects that will go away once we regulate her insulin properly? Is it possible that if it's brain damage it will be recoverable?

FYI We are going to start testing her blood glucose before shots because of this forum.
 
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I am in NO WAY an expert but it sounds to me like she is still getting too much insulin. Are you home testing? What brand insu;in are you using? How much insulin per dose?
I'm hoping with my name attached, experts will chime in with their help. HANG IN THERE
and WELCOME to the best site to help your kitty, FDMB
 
I'll reply in length later but I speak from experience. Brain aneurysm, many concussions, innumerable TIA's, signs of CTE (did not have it), PTSD and so much more.
I never did get to put the square peg in the square hole but it all came back, some neurological damage is never permanent. It takes time.
Talk to you later in the day, check out my profile for more details.
 
Brain damage? I really don’t know.

But she has been really “sick”. She probably doesn’t feel totally right yet. If recovery is going to happen, it won’t be overnight. When did the hypo happen?

More information would help us to help you. The kind of insulin, dose before her hypo. The blood glucose numbers from the vet. (You are entitled to those results.) We would also like to know what she eats.

With diabetes, collecting information is really important. Testing is so important to keep her safe, so I’m glad to hear you are going to start testing, the sooner the better.
 
Noah & me (GA) said:
I'll reply in length later but I speak from experience. Brain aneurysm, many concussions, innumerable TIA's, signs of CTE (did not have it), PTSD and so much more.
I never did get to put the square peg in the square hole but it all came back, some neurological damage is never permanent. It takes time.
Talk to you later in the day, check out my profile for more details.
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thank you!!! This gave me some hope. Very much looking forward to hearing from you

Maggies Mom Debby said:
Brain damage? I really don’t know.

But she has been really “sick”. She probably doesn’t feel totally right yet. If recovery is going to happen, it won’t be overnight. When did the hypo happen?

More information would help us to help you. The kind of insulin, dose before her hypo. The blood glucose numbers from the vet. (You are entitled to those results.) We would also like to know what she eats.

With diabetes, collecting information is really important. Testing is so important to keep her safe, so I’m glad to hear you are going to start testing, the sooner the better.
Click to expand...


Hi! The brand is Prozinc. She was taking 2 “units” twice a day. Unit is what it says on the syringe, i don’t remember what it equates to but i can find out if that doesn’t help. Also, I will get the blood glucose results but they did a test and determined she had low blood glucose for multiple weeks prior (albeit without noticeable symptoms).


sorry for the lack of information! this is a family pet and my mom administers her insulin


the episode happened a week and a half ago. Thank you so much
 
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How long has it been since the hypo event? Sounds very similar to what happened to my cat after he went hypo on Vetsulin. He was ok the next day but it took him 2-3 days to be 100% normal again. In those 2-3 days though we let him graze as much of his old high carb dry food as he wanted, not sure if that helped him recover faster but we weren't sure what to do exactly and our vet at the time was very difficult to work with/contact.
 
SullivansDad said:
How long has it been since the hypo event? Sounds very similar to what happened to my cat after he went hypo on Vetsulin. He was ok the next day but it took him 2-3 days to be 100% normal again. In those 2-3 days though we let him graze as much of his old high carb dry food as he wanted, not sure if that helped him recover faster but we weren't sure what to do exactly and our vet at the time was very difficult to work with/contact.
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Hi there, it's been a week and a half. It took a few days for her to return mostly to normal as well, but she doesn't seem 100% still.
 
Kevin_C said:
Hi there, it's been a week and a half. It took a few days for her to return mostly to normal as well, but she doesn't seem 100% still.
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Sorry, I was replying as you were posting your last post. Our situation was a little different in that he'd probably only been low for a few days prior (when he suddenly starting refusing to eat his new wet food), but the important thing is that he did eventually bounce back completely! His BG did rise a ton during his post-hypo time off insulin, but we eventually got him in with a better doctor and on a better insulin because of the whole situation.
 
I think more time and starting to home test so you can know what her numbers are like will help you know whether it’s actually some form of brain damage, or just not feeling well and still recovering. If her blood sugar is very high then that could also cause her to not be acting like herself as well. My cat had a very severe hypo event with seizures and she did not have any form of brain damage, but it did take time for her to get back to what I thought was “normal”. It wasn’t until I started home testing her and got her blood sugar into normal range that she actually returned to the normal cat she used to be, which I seemed to have forgotten because she has been unregulated for so long
 
Sarah&Soph said:
I think more time and starting to home test so you can know what her numbers are like will help you know whether it’s actually some form of brain damage, or just not feeling well and still recovering. If her blood sugar is very high then that could also cause her to not be acting like herself as well. My cat had a very severe hypo event with seizures and she did not have any form of brain damage, but it did take time for her to get back to what I thought was “normal”. It wasn’t until I started home testing her and got her blood sugar into normal range that she actually returned to the normal cat she used to be, which I seemed to have forgotten because she has been unregulated for so long
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I'm starting to think that has something to do with it as well. She never seemed to be 100% afterward but she improved significantly a few days after the episode, but now she seems to have regressed a bit. I'm thinking she needs insulin - will find out tonight.

SullivansDad said:
Sorry, I was replying as you were posting your last post. Our situation was a little different in that he'd probably only been low for a few days prior (when he suddenly starting refusing to eat his new wet food), but the important thing is that he did eventually bounce back completely! His BG did rise a ton during his post-hypo time off insulin, but we eventually got him in with a better doctor and on a better insulin because of the whole situation.
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Fingers crossed my cat follows in yours' footsteps! Is there some sort of blood-glucose-rebound effect after a hypo episode or was it simply because you pulled back on his insulin?
 
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Maggies Mom Debby said:
The blood glucose numbers from the vet. (You are entitled to those results.) We would also like to know what she eats.

With diabetes, collecting information is really important. Testing is so important to keep her safe, so I’m glad to hear you are going to start testing, the sooner the better.
Click to expand...

Hi I just got word that my cat's glucose level was 26 mg/dL. Also, since I forgot to include before, she is now eating fancy feast but I'll find out what she was eating previously.

Her fructosamine level was 194 umol/L - which apparently indicates "prolonged hypoglycemia caused by insulin overdose"

my previous comment so you don't have to go digging thru the thread:
Kevin_C said:
Hi! The brand is Prozinc. She was taking 2 “units” twice a day. Unit is what it says on the syringe, i don’t remember what it equates to but i can find out if that doesn’t help. Also, I will get the blood glucose results but they did a test and determined she had low blood glucose for multiple weeks prior (albeit without noticeable symptoms).


sorry for the lack of information! this is a family pet and my mom administers her insulin


the episode happened a week and a half ago. Thank you so much
Click to expand...
 
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Kevin_C said:
Fingers crossed my cat follows in yours' footsteps! Is there some sort of blood-glucose-rebound effect after a hypo episode or was it simply because you pulled back on his insulin?
Click to expand...

There is often a short-term (e.g. within the immediate 12 hours) rebound effect after BG drops too low, but I'm not sure whether there's a longer term rebound effect. Ours was likely due to the ceasing of insulin (as his hypo event was likely largely driven by his lack of eating rather than any suspected remission), how we fed him in the aftermath (his old high carb food for a few days and then diabetes-specific dry food after that), and stress from traveling over the holidays.
 
Kevin_C said:
Hi I just got word that my cat's glucose level was 26 mg/dL. Also, since I forgot to include before, she is now eating fancy feast but I'll find out what she was eating previously.

Her fructosamine level was 194 umol/L - which apparently indicates "prolonged hypoglycemia caused by insulin overdose"
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So your kitty was very low! For reference, normal range for using a human meter is 50-120 or 68-150 on a pet meter.
 
Hi Kevin,

If you can get some information in your user profile, what we call the signature, that info will be there at the end of each of your posts. Retroactively. Until you change it.
Upper right hand corner, click on your avatar picture, drop down list appears, select Signature from the list, start typing away in the text box, save changes.

See some of our signatures for examples. Those are the tiny bits of information that appear at the end of our posts.
Your first name, cats name, age, sex, date of diagnosis, insulin used, meter used for testing. Any other medical conditions that may affect what we tell you. Such as the recent HYPO (date too). CKD, DKA,ACRO IAA, any other medications.
 
To summarize a bit.
Kevin, unknown name of cat, F, 18, Prozinc, Hypo ~2/10/20, possible brain damage, no meter.
Prozinc, started at 2U
No insulin currently per vet instructions. Not home testing - yet (per prior vet instructions, no need to home test)

BG was 26 mg/dL at vet during hypo, fructosamine level was 194 umol/L
Eating Fancy Feast now, unknown what cat was eating prior to this.
Family cat, mom administers the insulin.

FYI a hypoglycemic incident can sometimes "shock" the pancreas back into action.
Cats can be more sensitive to insulin after a hypo episode.
 
Found this in a thread from Tanya & Ducia from some time ago. Talking about her cat.

"my cat had sever symptomatic Hypo that caused hypoglycemic encephalopathy with BG 22 at the time in ER. She had vision and smell loss which resolved once she recovered. Does it mean she won't have any issues if she is fine now? - hard to tell, the time will answer that question...Encephalopathy is truly a Pandora's box - can cause all kind of issues immediately or later in life - depends on the severity and what areas of the brain were affected the most.

Could it cause your kitty's leg function loss? - maybe. But I think you are dealing with diabetic neuropathy,

Some cats become very insulin sensitive after Hypo event and keeping close control on the BG levels is very important not only to pin point the proper dosage but to keep your kitty safe."
 
Kevin_C said:
Very much looking forward to hearing from you
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edited, way too long
I'm not a neurologist but have gained a lot of relevant knowledge and practical experience with cats, dogs and me. How that translates to cats I don't know. Getting clonged on the head is part of life, BJ once ran head first into a sliding glass door so hard it must have qualified as a concussion. Strokes, TIA's and drug induced damage also qualify as very nearly an educated guess. The problem is cats can't answer a doctor's questions, all we can do is observe. We once had a cat undergo an MRI but that and the anesthetic was four mortgage payments and didn't solve anything.
If it is brain damage there is hope. There's a book and a documentary called The Brain the Heals Itself and deals with how the brain will "rewire" itself to deal with damage. Mine did. Be patient, watch for new or harmful behavior and then let him know he is as loved as ever.
We barely know how the brain works. Imagine being given one computer for your lifetime; no new hard drive, a sticking keyboard and updates that don't always work.
 
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Noah & me (GA) said:
And the drooling has stopped.
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This message board is for felines, not "droolers."

Droolers is our term here for dogs. More fun terms can be found in our glossary. FDMB Glossary
and elsewhere.

Being succinct is not something I'm usually good at either.
p.s. Love you Dickson, teasing you. You left yourself wide open on that one. Couldn't resist the "pun." You know that don't you?
 
There's one more life lesson we learned from our cats. Love and money are not the same thing. We had a family of six cats that all had cardiomyopathy. After paying $500 a pop for each ultrasound all we found out was they had an incurable condition and would die an early death. We were conned/pressured into giving poor Jasper both a spinal tap and an MRI. We thought we were good cat parents and money was no object. They had no idea what the problem was, couldn't admit it and urged further testing.
Six weeks later Jasper was gone, This was at a clinic where the reading material was "Our Payment Plans". Don't let guilt overcome common sense.
Sometimes a cat's behavior changes because they're cats, it can be as simple as that and won't cost you a penny. Good luck my friend and listen to what the other members have to say, sometimes the simplest answer is the right one.
 
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Hi all, just a quick update with my cat. I spoke to the vet and the vet thinks my cat’s recent weight loss and regressing health indicates something other than diabetes at the root of this. She also doesn’t suspect brain damage as my cat remained conscious and breathing properly - she has seen much worse cases of hypoglycemia that tend not to result in brain damage.

unfortunately after a few nights of no sleep it’s finally caught up to me and I’m running a fever. Going to try to test my cats blood glucose, administer insulin if needed and lie down for a few.

will respond to you all individually shortly. In the meantime I just wanted to thank “‘Noah and Me” for the great anecdotes and glimmer of hope. Also- Deb and Wink thank you a ton as well- will update my signature when I get the chance!
 
Hi and I'm sorry your cat has gone through this,
Are you testing the blood glucose levels now?
What type of meter are you using? A pet meter reads higher than a human meter. Both are suitable for testing cats but you need to tell us what type of meter as it is very important as the numbers are different.
If you are not giving any insulin at the moment, I would be testing your cats urine for ketones just to make sure that they are not forming....this can happen with diabetic cats if the insulin is stopped before it should be. It can lead to themuch more serious DKA. I don't want to frighten you but make you aware of this.
To test for ketones you need to buy a bottle of Ketostix from Walmart or a pharmacy and dip the test strip into the urine and read exactly 15 seconds later against the colours on the side of the bottle. Anything above a trace needs vet attention.

Is your cat eating normally?

You said you are going to test the blood and give some insulin if needed.
Has the vet giving you a framework to work on with the dose of Prozinc?
I would definitely not give 2units.
Please post the BG result so we can see what it is and help you.
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
Hi and I'm sorry your cat has gone through this,
Are you testing the blood glucose levels now?
What type of meter are you using? A pet meter reads higher than a human meter. Both are suitable for testing cats but you need to tell us what type of meter as it is very important as the numbers are different.
If you are not giving any insulin at the moment, I would be testing your cats urine for ketones just to make sure that they are not forming....this can happen with diabetic cats if the insulin is stopped before it should be. It can lead to themuch more serious DKA. I don't want to frighten you but make you aware of this.
To test for ketones you need to buy a bottle of Ketostix from Walmart or a pharmacy and dip the test strip into the urine and read exactly 15 seconds later against the colours on the side of the bottle. Anything above a trace needs vet attention.

Is your cat eating normally?

You said you are going to test the blood and give some insulin if needed.
Has the vet giving you a framework to work on with the dose of Prozinc?
I would definitely not give 2units.
Please post the BG result so we can see what it is and help you.
Click to expand...

hi there, I bought a kit called ReliOn Premier Compact, a human kit.

shes not eating to I won’t be giving her insulin until she does. I’m texting my vet after I get the result - which I’m doing now. Thank you for all your help!!!
 
Kevin_C said:
her blood glucose came in at 121 using the human kit
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That’s good. On the upper limit of normal on the human meter. Do not give any insulin at the moment. Keep testing

If you kitty (name?) won’t eat ask the vet for some cerenia or ondansetron tablets for nausea. Cats who are nauseated won’t eat. Do you have any idea why she won’t eat?

I would still test the urine for ketones.
 
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