Anyone had heart problems or seizures after started insulin or Friskies pate?

[Cara & Sabrina]

Sabrina is having episodes every 10-15 minutes today where she kinda freezes and sticks out her neck, and may stumble or flop over, then after 2 to 7 seconds, goes back to normal. Her eyes seem to glaze over during the episode as well. They are very quick and minor, but disconcerting. Not like a typical seizure and there isn't spasming or shaking. She has been having these occasionally for the last 5-6 weeks. I might not see any for days, and then one day I'd see 5. Today is extremely bad and she's in the emergency vet right now. It's not due to hypoglycemia as her BG has been in the 300s when I test right after an episode. My recent theory was that perhaps it was an odd presentation of neuropathy on days her numbers were bouncing, but today has been a completely different story. :-(

The vets are a bit stumped. They watched a video of an episode from this morning and seem to have seen one in person, and aren't sure what it is. Said her heartbeat was irregular a few times, but normal other times. Suspect it's a heart arrhythmia or heart problem and suggest seeing a cardiac specialist ($2000-$4000 just to diagnose). Or it could be small seizures.

This has all developed since Sabrina was diagnosed with Diabetes 2 months ago. So it has me wondering if there's a link. She started on insulin and I changed her food all in the past 2 months. Maybe the Lantus is triggering it, or making a small issue worse. Or maybe something about the change in food or in the can Friskies pate is a problem. I know it's not likely, but I'm considering all options, especially since the timing matches up. She likely has had Diabetes for over a year, so why is this problem escalating now that she's being treated? Perhaps one of these factors is playing a part. Has anyone heard of anything like this? Or have any ideas?

 

[Lisa and Witn (GA)]

I feed Friskies Pate and have never experience any type of issues. Have they tried anti-seizure meds like phenobarbital? I used to have a dog with seizures and she never had spasms. Her body would freeze up. The phenobarbital helped get them under control. She went from having them several times daily to only a few each month.

It also could be neurological also. Are they checking for that?

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

I'm sorry to hear you're having such trouble with Sabrina!

I've never seen anybody else that had that type of problem from food or insulin though so the problem has to be something else. Unfortunately with seizures, there isn't always a definite diagnoses to explain them.

 

[Denver & Magic (GA)]

Have they ran the blood workup for electrolytes? Cat's (and people) live due to an electro-chemical interaction. If potassium, sodium, etc. are screwed up it can mess with an animals heart. And if the heart screws up, so does the brain.

When my cat was diagnosed since he was so dehydrated they ran the full panel. My vet said that electrolyte imbalance will typically do more damage to a diabetic cat than the sugar itself will and can be fatal if not identified.

Since your cat is likely still drinking and peeing buckets that may be in play.

 

[Cara & Sabrina]

I feed Friskies Pate and have never experience any type of issues. Have they tried anti-seizure meds like phenobarbital? I used to have a dog with seizures and she never had spasms. Her body would freeze up. The phenobarbital helped get them under control. She went from having them several times daily to only a few each month.

It also could be neurological also. Are they checking for that?

That's encouraging! Thanks! If it is seizures, those are neurological. They didn't mention any other neurological topics but I told them that until this week my theory was that it might be neuropathy presenting a bit unusually.

 

[Cara & Sabrina]

Have they ran the blood workup for electrolytes? Cat's (and people) live due to an electro-chemical interaction. If potassium, sodium, etc. are screwed up it can mess with an animals heart. And if the heart screws up, so does the brain.

When my cat was diagnosed since he was so dehydrated they ran the full panel. My vet said that electrolyte imbalance will typically do more damage to a diabetic cat than the sugar itself will and can be fatal if not identified.

Since your cat is likely still drinking and peeing buckets that may be in play.

I'm waiting for them to send the blood test results to me. What is the treatment for electrolyte imbalance? Was it a short term fix, or something to treat long term?

 

[Denver & Magic (GA)]

I'm waiting for them to send the blood test results to me. What is the treatment for electrolyte imbalance? Was it a short term fix, or something to treat long term?

They basically would give IV fluids with the correct concentrations and may need to give you meds to supplement potassium, etc. until things stabilize to normal and keep things normal until whatever is causing the imbalance resolves itself.

This is why in kids or adults when they have severe vomiting, diarrhea, etc. doctors instruct you to drink Gatorade, PediaLite, etc. Those 'drinks' have those electrolytes in them to help normalize the body and prevent those types of issues. Have no idea if there's such a thing as feline PediaLite but it's basically the same concept.

Here's a page from HealthLine that explains it better than I am:
https://www.healthline.com/health/food-nutrition/how-to-prevent-an-electrolyte-imbalance#imbalance

 

[Cara & Sabrina]

I called them back that day and asked them about electrolytes. They checked and said hers were fine. But thanks for the idea! Attached is from the vet. She's been on Phenobarbital for a week now and without insulin for 5 days. I also changed her food to Fancy Feast Classic Pate. One of those things seems to be making a difference because I haven't seen an episode since Sunday! I feel so much better knowing that she's not constantly going through that. She could be having episodes when I'm not home, but at the very least it has improved! I looked up the side effects of Lantus and they include irregular heartbeat and seizures, so it was worth a shot to remove the insulin and see if that helps. It was the lesser of 2 evils, because she was having so many episodes that it was quickly becoming a quality of life issue. We definitely have more work to do to try and help her, but I'm glad that she's not having to go through that every few minutes.

 

[Noah & me (GA)]

I'm not for one second suggesting you not pursue the neurological end of this but it can be an inconclusive nightmare. Jasper had an MRI and a spinal tap, they were looking for something that wasn't there. The whole thing was a major guilt trip and pages of "inconclusive". Some conditions need input from the patient and cats aren't too good at that. In the short term look for some chemical imbalance and the cardiac issue and go from there.
Six of our cats with cardiomyopathy and Noah's enlarged heart were diagnosed with a single ultrasound and two smart vets. Like any of us I would have done anything for them but $4,000 sounds a bit extreme before they've ruled anything else out. That's not an answer, vets sometimes forget this is a living thing and not some curiosity. That's a quality of life issue for me.
Without making this about me I've been there too. First came two psychiatrists because this just couldn't be, then eight neurologists. I'm that one in a million patient, too long of a story. What does apply is that some of my very painful neurological oddities just went away and no one knows why.

 

[Lisa and Witn (GA)]

Are you still testing her glucose levels while she is off insulin? If insulin is needed you may want to try the Lantus again or possibly switch to ProZinc. The phenobarbital is most likely what has stopped the seizures but you still need to monitor the glucose levels to prevent DKA

 

[Noah & me (GA)]

I need to quickly explain my previous post which wasn't much help medically.
What I don't want to see happen is for you to fall into the Love=Money trap. There have been times when I would have been happy to call for a medevac if the roads were blocked with four feet of snow. Other times it felt like someone just reached into my pocket for my Visa card with no explanation. I've just never heard of a cardiac specialist charging as much as $4,000. That's it.

 

[Cara & Sabrina]

I've updated her spreadsheet. I took a break from testing for a few days, to give both of us a breather. I was feeling really hopeful since the episodes had diminished or stopped, but then I got home last night and her left eye was cloudy, with a white haze over it. This happened all in a day! And this morning it was much worse, almost all white and I can't see her pupil or iris. Internet searches have not helped me to figure anything out and that's not listed as a side effect from her meds or diabetes...at least not sudden onset of cloudiness. I'm waiting for the vet to call me back.

Another thing is that her blood looks different. When I tested her blood last night and this morning, it looks noticeably different! It is a brighter red and looks more opaque or cloudy. Almost like a drop of acrylic paint. Otherwise she is acting normally. She may be a little more run down that usual and her coat may be a bit more rumply, but I'm also overanalyzing and worrying. I don't know what is happening to my sweet girl and why she keeps having new and different problems cropping up. Anyone have any input about what it might be?

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

Bump

 

[Noah & me (GA)]

The photo below is not great quality. Elmo had liver and kidney issues late in his life, his eye turned to this almost overnight. No one knew why but now you know you're not imagining it. Elmo was not a diabetic and whatever meds he was on is erased from my memory, he did not have cardiac or neurological problems.