does anybody recognize this: extreme weakness??

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ines

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Dear all,

I am new here and would very much like to call upon your 'collective wisdom' regarding a health problem with my sugarcat Kiki. I already checked with many vets but nobody can identify the problem. Since I suspect that it's a combination of neuropathy and food allergy, I really hope somebody here recognizes it.

Kiki is 17 and has had diabetes since October 2004. Since last year she also has CRF and possibly chronical pancreatitis. However, with meds and subcutaneous fluids, she was doing quite well until the beginning of this year.

Kiki was eating Hills m/d but the vets insisted that I use diet food for her kidneys. I then tried several but she got ill on all of them '(diarrhea, a lot of vomiting). I therefore switched her back to the m/d which was fine until a month ago when she apperently also developed problems on that food. Her stool got checked for parasites, she got an echo of the guts/pancreas/liver/heart, etc but no reason could be identified for the diarrhea/vomit except the food. It therefore looks as if she might have a grain allergy and I'm switching her to Porta21 which is grainfree in the hope that that's the reason

However, and that's where I get scared, there is something else more acutely wrong with her since a few weeks which the vets can't explain and for which I hope someone here might be able to recognize it and help me find a treatment.

Sometimes those vomit/diarrhea periods, have resulted in a kind of seizure: 4 times so far after vomiting/diarrhea (one directly after the other always), she became extremely weak, lost all control over her legs and went limp. She remains alert and responsive, has no problem breathing, doesnt foam, doesnt shake or anything. Just seems to become completely paralysed (except for her neck and head which she can still move) for a few minutes. Then she slowly regains control, lays down on her belly for a while and then goes to look for food immediately. She behaves as if coming out of sedation (wobbly, crossing paws, no balance). After about an hour she's normally back to normal.

Of course I immediately tought about a hypo but I've measured her bloodglucose every time and it was never too low. Even last night she actually increased her BG after the vomiting/diarrhea/weakness: it was 6mmol/l about 30 min before the attack and 14 mmol/l about an hour after. I therefore think she gets a stressreaction that shoots her BG up afterwards.

There doesn't seem to be any specific reason for these episodes and I would really like to know if anyone recognizes this???

The only thing we're suspecting is that due to the foodallergy, there's a lot of stress on her body, she doesnt get much nutrients in and the heavy vomiting really weakens her. She does have the start of neuropathy due to the diabetes and maybe this combination of factors could trigger a sort of 'acute' neuropathy that paralyzes her temporarily?

For info: she's getting probiotics, Zobaline (methylcobalamine), caninsuline and meds + subcutaneous fluids for the kidneys..

I'm really getting desperate that there is someting that is missing from her treatment but I took her to 5 vets already (2 of which are holistic/homeopathic) and nobody could identify anything beyond the obvious (it's an old cat with multiple chronical diseases... yeah, that much I knew as well but it still doesnt explain those acute weaknesses/seizures!).

Hopefully this message will help get me a bit closer to helping her.
Many thanks in advance!
Ines
 
I don't know if this is the case with Kiki, but late stage renal failure gives protein poisoning in the blood, making them very naseus and vomiting, also showing poisoning symptons as no balance, fatigue, dizzyness and so on. They also lose a lot of weight due to the body not processing and taking up the protein, which leads to severe muscle atrophy. They might also eat and drink a lot since they are starving from not getting any protein processed, so sometimes confusing if going just by that with the diabetes.
 
I would check Hypokalemia - potassium loss. Kidney cats are known for, FDs an get it too. Too much water intake and output. Low potassium, when Tucker(GA)'s was really low I thought he'd had a seizure, he was lymp could barely move.

Toward the end, and I wish I had done this sooner, we added a pancreatitic enzyme to his food to help him get nutrients better.

Please ask your vet to check electrolytes (potassium). When doing regular bloodwork my vet didn't check that, it was an extra test that had to be done. Once he started potassium supplements, he quickly got better. He did crash two other times, but Tucker suffered from many other ailments so frequent bloodwork was necessary.
 
Also, since you are giving the subqs, if your cat does need potassium, your vet can also prescribe it to be placed directly in the fluid bag. That is what I have done in the past when Witn was with me. She also had diabetes and feline diabetes. Instead of the MD, I fed her the Friskies Special diet canned foods. The only flavor I did not feed her was the Chicken and Gravy because of the high carbs. This may be another option instead of the MD. During the time she was on the Friskies SD, her kidney values remained stable during her routine checks.
 
tuckers mom said:
I would check Hypokalemia - potassium loss. Kidney cats are known for, FDs an get it too. Too much water intake and output. Low potassium, when Tucker(GA)'s was really low I thought he'd had a seizure, he was lymp could barely move.

Toward the end, and I wish I had done this sooner, we added a pancreatitic enzyme to his food to help him get nutrients better.

Please ask your vet to check electrolytes (potassium). When doing regular bloodwork my vet didn't check that, it was an extra test that had to be done. Once he started potassium supplements, he quickly got better. He did crash two other times, but Tucker suffered from many other ailments so frequent bloodwork was necessary.
Click to expand...

Hi,

thanks for that. Kiki is indeed hypokalemic and is supposed to get Potassium. She was getting supplements and her levels were ok again. However I'm not doing it as regularly as I should because she hates being forced to swallow something so maybe she slipped back into a hypokalemic stage both with the vomiting/diarrhea and the fluids I'm giving her.

Otherwise, she looks actually very good, coat is nice, eyes are bright, weight is now more or less stable so I don't think her kidneys are crashing (they almost did last year and she looked very differently then!).

Thanks for thinking with me!
Ines
 
Lisa and Witn (GA) said:
Also, since you are giving the subqs, if your cat does need potassium, your vet can also prescribe it to be placed directly in the fluid bag. That is what I have done in the past when Witn was with me. She also had diabetes and feline diabetes. Instead of the MD, I fed her the Friskies Special diet canned foods. The only flavor I did not feed her was the Chicken and Gravy because of the high carbs. This may be another option instead of the MD. During the time she was on the Friskies SD, her kidney values remained stable during her routine checks.
Click to expand...

Many thanks! that would indeed be a good idea as Kiki hates it when I have to squirt thingsin her mouth. The fight stresses her out everytime so in the end I fear it might cause more damage. It would be really useful if I could put the potassium in her fluids!

Would you remember the name or details ofthe product that you used? I had asked before if I couldnt put things in the fluids but they are quite reluctant. If I could give them a specific name, that might help.

Many thanks!
Ines
 
Tucker took four Tumil-K pills (potassium) per day, 2 morning, 2 night. I crushed them and mixed with some canned food that he liked, added a smidge of water and syringe fed him if he wasn't too hungry. Towards the end (he had a brain tumor that made things difficult), he needed syringe fed meds, but before that he ate his potassium (k) in his treats.

With Hypokalemia you need to stay on top of the supplements, it can quickly go low and cause that lethargy. Once the K is brought back up, Kiki may feel a lot better. By the way, I have diabetic I adopted in December, her name is Kiki too :)
 
Sodium and potassium work together to regulate muscle control, including heart muscle.
The stupour following any seizure is normal - this is the postictal phase of a seizure. Keep kitty safe, warm and close by so you can help your kitty regain his bearings. He'll be OK shortly - but a scary episode to watch.
I hope you are able to find the cause of the problems. I'll be thinking about you.
 
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