4/19/26 56 AMP Kaz - Drop sudden blindness

Claire and Kaz

Claire and Kaz

Member Since 2022
@Suzanne & Darcy
@Bron and Sheba (GA)
@FrostD

Hello

I could do with some advice with Kaz. This afternoon has been extremely stressful. About 1.30pm (4 hours ago) I heard Kaz cry I thought he was telling me he was going to throw up so I went grabbed him took him into the kitchen. Then he seemed ok but still bit off he did not throw up. Next he went into his box to see if there was any food in there. I was watching him and he did not seem to know how to get out. After few minutes I opened box from above and carried him out. I knew something was not right. Then all of a sudden he started walking into the wall. I grabbed him immediately and try to do a blood test which was impossible as he refused to sit still which is totally out character. I guessed it was a sudden drop in blood sugar so gave him some high carb food but he was not improving so rubbed some Karo on his gums.
He still was not improving so rubbed more syrup and kept offering him food. He finally allowed me to do a blood test and he was at 56. I kept giving him food but he was still acting really weird. He would go behind a door and then could not get out. I suddenly realised he had gone blind.
I had caught this almost immediately and I had kept feeding him and doing blood tests. He is now normal again and his sight has now come back. I will email the vet but the emergency itself is over.

I am guessing that even though his numbers are normal again I should not give him any insulin tonight and I will drop again by another .25.

If there is someone more experienced can you confirmn that I should hold insulin. Right now hes high due to food and syrup and I do not want him crashing again tonight but also don't want him going too high either so any advice would be great.

Proble is insulin is due in about 20 minutes.

Thanks Claire
 
Karolina & Nestle said:
That must have been so scary amd stressful. I'm glad he's ok now. Always good to follow up with your vet tomorrow.

I'll tag a couple more members. Maybe someone is around.
@Wendy&Neko
@tiffmaxee
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Thanks I am emailing my vet now and decided to pass on the insulin tonight. Hes now playing with his brother never know anything happened. The eyes are also now nearly back to normal.
 
Claire and Kaz said:
@Suzanne & Darcy
@Bron and Sheba (GA)
@FrostD

Hello

I could do with some advice with Kaz. This afternoon has been extremely stressful. About 1.30pm (4 hours ago) I heard Kaz cry I thought he was telling me he was going to throw up so I went grabbed him took him into the kitchen. Then he seemed ok but still bit off he did not throw up. Next he went into his box to see if there was any food in there. I was watching him and he did not seem to know how to get out. After few minutes I opened box from above and carried him out. I knew something was not right. Then all of a sudden he started walking into the wall. I grabbed him immediately and try to do a blood test which was impossible as he refused to sit still which is totally out character. I guessed it was a sudden drop in blood sugar so gave him some high carb food but he was not improving so rubbed some Karo on his gums.
He still was not improving so rubbed more syrup and kept offering him food. He finally allowed me to do a blood test and he was at 56. I kept giving him food but he was still acting really weird. He would go behind a door and then could not get out. I suddenly realised he had gone blind.
I had caught this almost immediately and I had kept feeding him and doing blood tests. He is now normal again and his sight has now come back. I will email the vet but the emergency itself is over.

I am guessing that even though his numbers are normal again I should not give him any insulin tonight and I will drop again by another .25.

If there is someone more experienced can you confirmn that I should hold insulin. Right now hes high due to food and syrup and I do not want him crashing again tonight but also don't want him going too high either so any advice would be great.

Proble is insulin is due in about 20 minutes.

Thanks Claire
Click to expand...

Claire and Kaz said:
Thanks I am emailing my vet now and decided to pass on the insulin tonight. Hes now playing with his brother never know anything happened. The eyes are also now nearly back to normal.
Click to expand...
oh my goodness, Claire, I am just seeing this. That is so scary. It’s good to hear from you! I was just thinking about you the other day because I was thinking of people who haven’t posted in a long time. It’s good to know that Kaz is recovered now. It’s good you were with him. His BG must have been very low if you got that low of a number after a couple applications of HC and karo. I am glad you skipped tonight’s dose. If Kaz were my cat, I would probably reduce his dose by more than .25 — I would reduce by .5 units and monitor for several days before making any decision about increasing the dose.

Was Kaz eating normally today during the cycle— as far as snacks go?

I hope you are well, Claire. And your mum and brother too!
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
oh my goodness, Claire, I am just seeing this. That is so scary. It’s good to hear from you! I was just thinking about you the other day because I was thinking of people who haven’t posted in a long time. It’s good to know that Kaz is recovered now. It’s good you were with him. His BG must have been very low if you got that low of a number after a couple applications of HC and karo. I am glad you skipped tonight’s dose. If Kaz were my cat, I would probably reduce his dose by more than .25 — I would reduce by .5 units and monitor for several days before making any decision about increasing the dose.

Was Kaz eating normally today during the cycle— as far as snacks go?

I hope you are well, Claire. And your mum and brother too!
Click to expand...
Hi nice to hear from you too.
Had a few issues with his appetite lately. Think lots tied to the kidney disease. Kaz and his brother are a couple old men now they turn 20 this year which is huge as they are both street cats. I think with age comes more pickiness with food. I keep him to the food that's good for him but sadly this does not treat the kidney disease. I think as the disease gets worse the kidneys are no longer breaking down the insulin as they should which is why I have been getting the high readings where I increase dose but in fact he needs less insulin.
Asked the vet for tablets for the kidney disease versus the kidney supplement medication he gave me last August.

Hopefully I can figure something out as its going to get tricky to monitor him. Food is an issue for diabetes low-carbohydrate, high-protein diet but for the kidney he needs restricted protein and phosphorus. Should I alternate foods so in morning he gets diabetic food then in the evening he gets kidney food?

Maybe diabetic food for both main meals but the 6 snacks he gets every three hours is kidney food?

Trying to figure out some sort solution.

Claire & Kaz
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
@Claire and Kaz I am thinking he may have been in the 30s with the sudden blindness. That is why I am saying I would do a .5 unit reduction for the time being. I notice he had several incidences of 40s recently. Of course, I also see that you reduced the doses.
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I did reduce by .25 and may go back to the 1.50 but I think this may be too low. I think he's naseasas today as he doesn't really want to eat but his number this morning was so hi it would not register on the monitor. Give him a sick tablet.
 
I'm glad you reduced. He's now bouncing, so stick with this dose at least three days to wait for the bounce to clear.

Claire and Kaz said:
I think as the disease gets worse the kidneys are no longer breaking down the insulin as they should
Click to expand...
Kidneys do not break down insulin, they do clear help clear it out of the blood stream and he pees it out.

Claire and Kaz said:
Food is an issue for diabetes low-carbohydrate, high-protein diet but for the kidney he needs restricted protein and phosphorus.
Click to expand...
Unless he's in a really high stage of CKD, you can feed the same food for both conditions. This food list has a number of options that are both good for diabetes and kidney disease, meaning low in phosphorus. Diabetic CKD Foods
 
Wendy&Neko said:
I'm glad you reduced. He's now bouncing, so stick with this dose at least three days to wait for the bounce to clear.


Kidneys do not break down insulin, they do clear help clear it out of the blood stream and he pees it out.


Unless he's in a really high stage of CKD, you can feed the same food for both conditions. This food list has a number of options that are both good for diabetes and kidney disease, meaning low in phosphorus. Diabetic CKD Foods
Click to expand...
Thanks for the list I just spent last three hours researching and saw this after.
My cat is already on Weruva and Tiki but only a few set items due to the other list I got when Kaz was first diagnosed.
I'll use this to cross reference against the other list.
Been a bit picky lately so maybe I might find a good substitute.

Thanks
 
IMG_4226.jpeg
 
You handled a scary situation well. Been there, done that.
Rover had a symptomatic hypo once. He walked in a straight line bumping into things. We loaded him up with corn syrup and raced to the emergency vet. It was a temporary blindness. It was gone by the time we got to the emergency vet. The vet performed a very simple test: take a cotton puff and drop it from the side so the cat's peripheral vision should catch sight of it. Do the other side. Then in front of the cat. A cotton puff is light enough not to disturb the air as it goes by.
 
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