12/6 Bleeker AMBG 28 +0 - Hypoglycemia + seizure, no appetite

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delacreme

Member Since 2023
I have a 15 year old cat who has been diagnosed with diabetes since 2017. We struggle to keep his glucose levels under control, and he has recently (past four weeks) been on a regime of AM 2.5 units, PM 2.0 units. He has had little appetite the last few days, and has been puking about once per day.
We did not measure his PMBG last night before dinner (our mistake with the other things going on). Within an hour his eyes were glossy and his BG was 47 using the AlphaTrak 3 and I immediately administered honey to his gums.
I stayed up with him all night taking his BG every 30 - 60 minutes, and it never went above 50 over the course of 12 hours with honey administered and attempts to get him to eat wet food about every hour. He had a seizure 7 hours after the 2.0 units of insulin was administered (first time) that lasted for about 45 seconds. Afterwards he finally ate some food.
It is now 12 hours after his insulin was administered, I am not administering anymore, but he is unwilling to eat any more and he can't seem to get out of hypoglycemia. How do deal with a diabetic cat that won't eat? I also live in Saudi Arabia which complicates matters since diabetic cats are not really treated here, and there is no emergency veterinary care beyond normal office hour appointments.

And I apologize if my format is wrong on this post - first time poster.
 
delacreme said:
I have a 15 year old cat who has been diagnosed with diabetes since 2017. We struggle to keep his glucose levels under control, and he has recently (past four weeks) been on a regime of AM 2.5 units, PM 2.0 units. He has had little appetite the last few days, and has been puking about once per day.
We did not measure his PMBG last night before dinner (our mistake with the other things going on). Within an hour his eyes were glossy and his BG was 47 using the AlphaTrak 3 and I immediately administered honey to his gums.
I stayed up with him all night taking his BG every 30 - 60 minutes, and it never went above 50 over the course of 12 hours with honey administered and attempts to get him to eat wet food about every hour. He had a seizure 7 hours after the 2.0 units of insulin was administered (first time) that lasted for about 45 seconds. Afterwards he finally ate some food.
It is now 12 hours after his insulin was administered, I am not administering anymore, but he is unwilling to eat any more and he can't seem to get out of hypoglycemia. How do deal with a diabetic cat that won't eat? I also live in Saudi Arabia which complicates matters since diabetic cats are not really treated here, and there is no emergency veterinary care beyond normal office hour appointments.

And I apologize if my format is wrong on this post - first time poster.
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I'm not experienced enough to give you advice. I've tagged people for you.

What is his BG right now? Anything that you can get your cat to eat will help your cat. Treats. Chicken.
 
Any history of ketones? If so, are you testing for them?

I'm hopeful someone else will jump in. If not, I'd rush to a vet with my cat.
 
Sybil said:
I'm not experienced enough to give you advice. I've tagged people for you.

What is his BG right now? Anything that you can get your cat to eat will help your cat. Treats. Chicken.
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We tested his BG 45 min. ago at 28, and are waiting until 1 hour has elapsed to test again.

He ate a little bit of wet food but is again unwilling to eat any more. He's unfortunately never been tempted by chicken, treats, or fish!
 
Sybil said:
Any history of ketones? If so, are you testing for them?

I'm hopeful someone else will jump in. If not, I'd rush to a vet with my cat.
Click to expand...

No history of ketones, but our issue right now is the vets aren't open for another four hours and there is no emergency care here.
 
delacreme said:
We tested his BG 45 min. ago at 28, and are waiting until 1 hour has elapsed to test again.

He ate a little bit of wet food but is again unwilling to eat any more. He's unfortunately never been tempted by chicken, treats, or fish!
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Do not wait to test.

Give more honey or karo on gums too. His BG is far too low
 
delacreme said:
No history of ketones, but our issue right now is the vets aren't open for another four hours and there is no emergency care here.
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Okay. I'll keep talking to you until someone comes on. Can you try to force feed? Anything to help your cat. The honey or syrup will only temp raise which is better than nothing, but eating will help bg.
 
You need to test every 15-20 minutes and continue to give honey or syrup until his BG comes up above 50 68. He really needs some food if you can syringe it into him as the honey can wear off after two hours.

What insulin are you using?
 
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Sybil said:
Yes. Add honey to watered down food in syringe even. Anything.
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I was able to blend up some wet food (they only have chunks with gravy here) and used the food syringe to give him about 5 ml until he refused more. I also don't want him to vomit because he has a habit of drinking too much water and puking.
How long after I give him the food via syringe should I test his BG?

Also - thank you so much for your help.
 
delacreme said:
I was able to blend up some wet food (they only have chunks with gravy here) and used the food syringe to give him about 5 ml until he refused more. I also don't want him to vomit because he has a habit of drinking too much water and puking.
How long after I give him the food via syringe should I test his BG?

Also - thank you so much for your help.
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You are welcome. I'm do glad he ate some food. I hope you put honey in the food. Keep trying to feed. Also, keep rubbing the gums and testing.

The convo was moved, but for some reason there are still 2 post. I'm no longer commenting so you can communicate with the experts.

Please keep us all posted and make sure to answer their questions. I'm ragging you in case you aren't getting notifications.
 
Marje and Gracie said:
You need to test every 15-20 minutes and continue to give honey or syrup until his BG comes up above 50. He really needs some food if you can syringe it into him as the honey can wear off after two hours.

What insulin are you using?
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I am using Lantus - we were able to syringe about 5 ml of blended wet food and he seems to be holding it down. We'll retest his BG in 10 min and post an update.
 
delacreme said:
I am using Lantus - we were able to syringe about 5 ml of blended wet food and he seems to be holding it down. We'll retest his BG in 10 min and post an update.
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Lantus hypos can last a very long time…up to 24 hours if kitty is overdosed. So you’ll want to stay on top of testing and feeding until he’s up over 120 and stays there for a few hours. Give honey anytime he drops below 50 68.

Please do not give insulin again until he sees the vet or post here and let members help you with a new dose, if any, and when to give it.
 
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Marje and Gracie said:
Lantus hypos can last a very long time…up to 24 hours if kitty is overdosed. So you’ll want to stay on top of testing and feeding until he’s up over 120 and stays there for a few hours. Give honey anytime he drops below 50.

Please do not give insulin again until he sees the vet or post here and let members help you with a new dose, if any, and when to give it.
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Thank you - that's good to know that they can last this long. I was hopeful that after 12 hours we would be out of the woods, but it looks like that isn't the case.
We'll be monitoring him extensively today.
We will try to get him to a vet today but we might have some weather events that will make that impossible. Once we are stable (over 120 for a few hours) I will post again to solicit suggestions.

Thanks for being such an amazing community!
 
delacreme said:
Thank you - that's good to know that they can last this long. I was hopeful that after 12 hours we would be out of the woods, but it looks like that isn't the case.
We'll be monitoring him extensively today.
We will try to get him to a vet today but we might have some weather events that will make that impossible. Once we are stable (over 120 for a few hours) I will post again to solicit suggestions.

Thanks for being such an amazing community!
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You have done an amazing job getting him this far! It must have been frightening.
 
delacreme said:
I am using Lantus - we were able to syringe about 5 ml of blended wet food and he seems to be holding it down. We'll retest his BG in 10 min and post an update.
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His BG is at 31, so we gave him more honey and wet food via the syringe (5 ml food). Will retest in 30 minutes
 
I would get some honey onto your finger, undiluted, and rub it on his gums.
About a flat teaspoon full to start with. We don’t want to make him vomit but we need to get that blood glucose up higher
 
Two questions when you have a moment.

1. What colour are the caps on the insulin syringes?

2. How many hours ago was the last shot given? We are all over the world (Bron is in Australia and I'm in Canada) so knowing how many hours have past helps us with a timeline.
 
@delacreme I've put together a rough timeline. Let us know if there are any glaring errors.

Rough timeline:
Alphatrak 3

PMPS (no test) 2 units Lantus
+1 - 47 - given small amount of diluted honey
Over the next 12 hours, Bleeckers was monitored and given small amounts of diluted honey. His BG never rose above 50.
At +7, the cat had a seizure lasting 45 seconds. After the seizure, the cat ate a small amount.

+12(ish) - 28 small amount diluted honey / small amount food (first post)

+13(ish) - 32 - small amount diluted honey / syringed 5ml chunks in gravy

+14(ish) - 31 - small amount diluted honey / syringed 5ml chunks in gravy
 
Red & Rover (GA) said:
Two questions when you have a moment.

1. What colour are the caps on the insulin syringes?

2. How many hours ago was the last shot given? We are all over the world (Bron is in Australia and I'm in Canada) so knowing how many hours have past helps us with a timeline.
Click to expand...

1. They are orange - BD MicroFine Plus is the brand.

2. His last insulin shot was 15.5 hours ago
 
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