Cuddles Passed out (updated)

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Fievel

Fievel

Member Since 2013
I am freaking out here this morning. I tested Cuddles blood sugar and got a reading of 174, gave him his insulin and right after he got off my lap he passed out and was completely limp for about 10-15 seconds. He is 14 and also might have renal issues. This is the first time he has ever done this. My vet is booked up today so I am currently trying to find a good vet in Tucson who isn't too expensive that is also good and caring.
 
I'm sorry, I can't help with a good vet in Tucson. But if you find one, I'd be inclined to stick with them if your regular vet won't help you in an emergency - if they can't see Cuddles immediately, they should at least have given you a phone number for an ER vet who can. I really hope Cuddles is OK and you find a vet who will help soon. :bighug:
 
They did give me a number for an ER vet, however money is an issue and from what I heard they are really expensive.
 
Ahh, yes - our local ER vet is expensive too. I hope you can find someone a bit more reasonable on cost who can see Cuddles today.
 
How is he now?
It sounds like some kind of seizure. His electrolytes could be messed up by renal issues and cause that. Blood work may be needed.
 
All emergency vets are not horrendously expensive. The one I went to also had a regular practice. They only charge about 10 dollars more for an emergency visit than for a regular appt. The other emergency clinic in town is insanely expensive. It's worth a call to see what they charge.
 
This happened to me with my old cat. He was not a sugar cat , one day he was just walking past me and went down for about 30 seconds. It turned out to be kidney failure as well as a thyroid issue. I'm not saying this is you issue but could be....keep us posted.
 
I live in Tucson and know all three ER vet clinics that I would use very well. They are all expensive.

My first choice is Pima Pet Clinic on Speedway. I really like them because they are all full up vets and not interns.

I like Sputhern AZ Veterinary Specialty and they have a location on Broadway/Prudence and Ft. Lowell/Stone but you have to ask if a non-intern or non-resident vet is working. dr. Jen Klaus is the best critical care specialist I've ever seen.

Third is Veterinary Specialty which is on La Cholla and river I believe. I've not used their emergency clinic but have used their specialists and been happy.

My vet is Sunrise Pet Clinic at Swan and Sunrise. Dr. Weintraub is the best versed in FD. They don't have emergency hours.
 
Thank you for the support. I got back from the vet and his blood work is all normal except his BUN is slightly elevated, but that was expected. They aren't sure what happened and said that if it happens again that an ECG might be called for to check out his heart since in the past a murmur was detected, however the vet didn't hear a murmur this time.
 
Check with your local Red Cross - they have a Pet First Aid course you might find helpful to take.

See my signature link Secondary Monitoring Tools for some other routine assessments you can make.
 
BJM said:
Check with your local Red Cross - they have a Pet First Aid course you might find helpful to take.

See my signature link Secondary Monitoring Tools for some other routine assessments you can make.
Click to expand...
I didn't know that some Red Cross stations offer pet first aid courses. That would be a good think to take.
 
Thank you all for all the great advice. I will be checking out the local red cross to see about the tests and that book looks exactly like what I have been looking for.
 
Fievel said:
Thank you for the support. I got back from the vet and his blood work is all normal except his BUN is slightly elevated, but that was expected. They aren't sure what happened and said that if it happens again that an ECG might be called for to check out his heart since in the past a murmur was detected, however the vet didn't hear a murmur this time.
Click to expand...

@Fievel - You might want to think about getting a chest x-ray for Cuddles, that is the least expensive place to start and your vet can do it. I had a kitty the vet said had a murmur, and sometimes she could hear it and sometimes she could not. She suggested a chest x-ray first since it was a lot cheaper and discovered his heart was enlarged. We ended up at the specialty clinic seeing the cardiologist they looked at the x-rays, blood work and did an echo-cardiogram which confirmed the enlarged heart but no real issues at the moment. We took him in once a year over the next 3 years for an echo before any changes showed up that required medication. That was back in 2008 and we lost Rasta in January due to heart failure, he was 16/17 years old.

Just offering a suggestion, x-ray may not show anything but at least you will a little ahead of the game. And if it does show something then you know you need to get Cuddles into a specialist sooner than later.
 
@Fievel, I think Nancey's exactly right. Heart disease can be hard to dx in a cat. In my case, I had two different cats die of saddle clots and in both cats, it was the first thing I knew there was anything wrong. An enlarged heart was the culprit.
 
@Fievel, Also, the other thing the x-ray showed early on was a little fluid on his lungs, so my vet prescribed a diuretic at that time to get rid of the excess fluid. The cardiologist suggested we leave him on it even before putting him on other the other drugs. Once issues and changes started occurring the blood clot was the cardiologists biggest concern. (Rasta was diagnosed with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM)) She put him on a blood thinner and blood pressure meds, which I had filled at Walgreen's via their prescription plan. That really helped the cost of the drugs. She also told us a lot of heart disease in cats goes undiagnosed until the blood clot hits the back legs causing partial or complete paralysis.

One more thing to note, I remembered my vet saying she could hear the murmur more when he was sedated than when awake. He was in for a dental when she first noticed the murmur, and only heard it once when he was in for a check up.
 
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