I am very sorry for the long post:
I brought my 17 year old cat Ching 2 days ago to the vet for a check-up because she hasn't been interested in her food but would eat her treats. I then found out she would eat her food if she was hand-fed but I still brought her to the vet to be sure. She did look a bit thin but I didn't realize she lost a significant amount of weight. She was around 5kg from her last checkup in October and now is 3kg. The vet went through a panel of laboratory tests, her glucose was high at 221mg/dl and there was glucose in her urine. ALT and ALP was also very high. Her abdominal ultrasound and xray was also normal aside from her small kidney stones which has been there for a while. The vet recommended to have her admitted. She then concluded the next day that she is diabetic and have taurine deficiency from the poor nutrition.
The vet then said they'd have to keep her in the hospital for a few days to figure out the dose of her insulin. Unfortunately, today after her insulin dose her blood sugar went down to 65mg/dl even with half dose of insulin, it then got back to normal at 101mg/dl after giving her dextrose solution via IV. The vet then decided to bring her dose down to one insulin injection per day and to still have her blood sugar monitored every hour. All her laboratory tests have improved ALT now down to 344u/L from 586u/L and ALP 140u/L from 204u/L. Still high but at least it's improving. Total Bilirubin at 1.09 mg/dl from 0.23 (N=1.00mg/dl), SDMA 23.2 ug/dl from 54.7 (N=14ug/dl).
However despite the improvements, the vet still said to prepare for the worst. She said that they will need to admit her for 4 to 5 more days to get her stabilized and to figure out her insulin dosing. She hasn't been eating her food at the vet but I expect that because she is very stressed in that environment. I've tried to reason with the vet that she might be better at home since she's more comfortable there but the vet thinks she is in critical condition and would definitely need hospital care. I feel completely helpless because I don't know if her condition is getting better or getting worse. She seems very depressed in there and her energy levels are low probably also due to her hypoglycemic episode. I just feel anxious that she will get too depressed and stressed out in the hospital to recover.. the vet did reassure that she is getting regular petting sessions and aromatherapy. I want to be hopeful that she'll get through this but even the vet is worried about her.. do you think she'll be alright?
Edit: attaching her lab results
January 21, 2024 Labs:
Whole abdominal ultrasound was unremarkable aside from her 2 small kidney stones and kidney cyst in the right kidney which has always been there
January 22&23, 2024 Labs:
Urinalysis:
CBC:
Blood Chemistry
I brought my 17 year old cat Ching 2 days ago to the vet for a check-up because she hasn't been interested in her food but would eat her treats. I then found out she would eat her food if she was hand-fed but I still brought her to the vet to be sure. She did look a bit thin but I didn't realize she lost a significant amount of weight. She was around 5kg from her last checkup in October and now is 3kg. The vet went through a panel of laboratory tests, her glucose was high at 221mg/dl and there was glucose in her urine. ALT and ALP was also very high. Her abdominal ultrasound and xray was also normal aside from her small kidney stones which has been there for a while. The vet recommended to have her admitted. She then concluded the next day that she is diabetic and have taurine deficiency from the poor nutrition.
The vet then said they'd have to keep her in the hospital for a few days to figure out the dose of her insulin. Unfortunately, today after her insulin dose her blood sugar went down to 65mg/dl even with half dose of insulin, it then got back to normal at 101mg/dl after giving her dextrose solution via IV. The vet then decided to bring her dose down to one insulin injection per day and to still have her blood sugar monitored every hour. All her laboratory tests have improved ALT now down to 344u/L from 586u/L and ALP 140u/L from 204u/L. Still high but at least it's improving. Total Bilirubin at 1.09 mg/dl from 0.23 (N=1.00mg/dl), SDMA 23.2 ug/dl from 54.7 (N=14ug/dl).
However despite the improvements, the vet still said to prepare for the worst. She said that they will need to admit her for 4 to 5 more days to get her stabilized and to figure out her insulin dosing. She hasn't been eating her food at the vet but I expect that because she is very stressed in that environment. I've tried to reason with the vet that she might be better at home since she's more comfortable there but the vet thinks she is in critical condition and would definitely need hospital care. I feel completely helpless because I don't know if her condition is getting better or getting worse. She seems very depressed in there and her energy levels are low probably also due to her hypoglycemic episode. I just feel anxious that she will get too depressed and stressed out in the hospital to recover.. the vet did reassure that she is getting regular petting sessions and aromatherapy. I want to be hopeful that she'll get through this but even the vet is worried about her.. do you think she'll be alright?
Edit: attaching her lab results
January 21, 2024 Labs:
Whole abdominal ultrasound was unremarkable aside from her 2 small kidney stones and kidney cyst in the right kidney which has always been there
January 22&23, 2024 Labs:
Urinalysis:
CBC:
Blood Chemistry
Attachments
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