Home Rehabilitation after Diabetic Coma

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inthemargins

Member Since 2013
While staying with us, my mother's cat fell into a diabetic coma. She suffered seizures, and we are now told that it will take a while for her brain to heal and rewire itself. She'll be staying with us during part of this process.

My question to everyone here is, could you share any experiences you have with this type of situation? We want to provide her with the best possible environment to facilitate her recovery, including any types of therapy or rehab activities we can engage her in to aid this process.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
 
Some of the neurological connections may be broken. She may need to learn how to move correctly again, so taking her limbs through range of motion may help.

Some things may not heal. How low did she go for how long?
 
In order to give advise, we need to understand what happened. It would help if you answered some questions.

When you say "diabetic coma" do you mean hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) or hyperglycemia (high blood sugar or ketoacidosis)? Do you know the blood glucose number when the cat was hospitalized?

Is the cat getting insulin? What kind? What dose?
 
I know that her blood sugar when admitted was extremely low. She had been receiving 2 units of insulin twice a day, but the vet believes that was too much and that she may have transitioned out of diabetes.

I'm not sure about the number. My husband found her unresponsive when he checked on her at 7:30 am. He knows that she was fine at 1:00 am, but other than that, I'm not sure.

I realize she may not completely recover, but we want to give her the best possible shot at it that we can.
 
I will say that she is sniffing and licking at food, meowing, swishing her tail, and has bladder control. She also recognizes my mom. These are pretty good signs, right?
 
Yes, those are all very good signs.

Going forward, you can help prevent hypoglycemia (hypo in our slang) by learning to home test with a human glucometer. This allows you to know if the blood glucose (bg) is high enough to safely give a shot. It also lets you track how well the insulin is working and if an adjustment in dose is needed. Most of us test by pricking the edge of the cat's ear to get the blood drop needed. We can help you and your mother learn how. Let us know if we can help.
 
These are good signs for sure.

Now is she getting insulin currently? You want to be super careful if you do, as she may already be in remission and so home testing her blood is key before you shoot - that way you are doing the total best you can for her.


let us know

Wendy
 
She is still at the vet hospital until the weekend. They are going to run a curve on her over the next few days.

Just got back from seeing her. She sat up on her hind legs this morning and by this afternoon, she was attempting to walk, though she's still wobbly. She's also cleaning herself and is very cuddly, if easily tired. It's a far cry from the cat we didn't think would make it last weekend. The doctors are hopeful she will continue to improve, as are we.
 
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