Hypoglycemia

Newbie here!
My 4y baby was diagnosed a week ago. It answers a lot of her other health issues, namely her UTIs and bladder infections. We just finished her anti-inflammatory and are still taking an antibiotic for it.

Yesterday she became hypoglycemic, and it was absolutely terrifying. I thought I was going to lose her. About an hour after I gave her her insulin she starting seizing. She had 3 seizures within an hour and after the last one her breathing was very labored, she stopped moving, and did not respond. The vet told me to put honey around her mouth and under her tongue, and after about an hour she finally started responding and moving. I was instructed to give her sugar water every half hour, but she needed to eat as soon as possible. Its now been over 24 hours, and although shes running around and acting normal again, she still won't eat. She's acting like she's starving - meowing and running to her food bowl when I put something in it, but she'll just sniff it and walk away. Ive given her wet food, dry food, a can of tuna, and pieces of chicken.

I need some help on how to get her to eat, please!!

Edit: Shes taking Vetsulin I believe? 2 units every 12 hours. I have not given her any more until I can take her to the vet Monday morning.
Thank you guys so much for the help. I didnt even know feline diabetes was a thing until last week. Its been overwhelming learning how to give her a shot and make changes to her diet.

 

Hi I hope you're doing OK!!

I think if you change your thread type to 911 people may get to it quicker *fingers crossed*

Also if you could post want insulin type you are using and what dose. That may help the really experienced members get you on the right track.

I'm sure you'll be out of the woods in no time x

 

Oh no, how terrifying!!!!

It is very important that she eats. Sounds like you've tried a bunch of tricks already, some other options you can try are baby food (just meat, no onions or garlic) or sprinking a bit of parmesan cheese on her food.

What I'm wondering, though, is if she's feeling a bit nauseated-- sniffing and then walking away, acting hungry but not actually eating, those are nausea signs. I can't think of a reason that the hypoglycemia would have caused it, but it may be that she hasn't been eating well for a while, and that's partly how she went hypoglycemic yesterday.

There are good anti-nausea meds you can ask your vet for-- Cerenia is one, ondansetron is a human med that also works well for cats. If the other tricks don't work and she doesn't start eating soon, I'd see if you can get your hands on one or both.

 

Oh yikes, okay! Please tell us what insulin she is on and how many units. She needs a reduction. Have you been giving insulin since?

 

It's also possible that the hypoglycemia came about because the antibiotic cleared up some of her discomfort, leading to lower insulin needs. We can talk about this and how to figure out what she needs now later, after she starts eating again-- that's priority #1 (I assume you aren't shooting insulin right now with her not eating?)

 

What a frightening experience! Thank goodness your kitty is OK.

Have you got any higher carb food with gravy in it? Try some of that: she might lick off some of the gravy.

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So members here can understand better what is happening at your end and make better suggestions to help, please can you answer the following questions ASAP:

1. Which insulin are you using to treat your kitty?

2. Has your kitty had any insulin today?

3. If insulin has been given, how long ago did you give the injection? What dose?


Mogs
.

 

Wow. Thank goodness your cat survived. Bullet dodged. And welcome to the best place you never thought you would be. We can help and will do our best to help you keep your cat safe. There is a wealth of information and experience here from people who have done their research and have lived feline diabetes 24/7. If you ever find yourself in a hypo situation again, at least one of us (and likely more) will commit to guiding you through every step and staying with you until it is safe.

She may be having some residual effects from yesterday's hypo. She may not want to lower her head to eat (induces nausea). Try raising her food bowl 4-6 inches.
There are some good tips on getting a cat to feed here:

• Suggestions on How to Stimulate Kitty's Appetite

The only way to ensure safety is to home testing. We can help with that too. In the meantime, read and print out these two links.

• How to treat HYPOS - THEY CAN KILL! Print this Out!!
• jojo and bunny's HYPO TOOL BOX

 

Welcome! You've already received good sound advice. I hope you are able to follow it.

You've landed in a SAFE place with good people that will help you make the best decisions possible.

I just wanted to say hello and this little kitty is as cute as she can be! We are glad you found us!
jeanne

 

Kaylups memtioned this in her post. Edit: Shes taking Vetsulin I believe? 2 units every 12 hours. I have not given her any more until I can take her to the vet Monday morning.
Thank you guys so much for the help. I didnt even know feline diabetes was a thing until last week. Its been overwhelming learning how to give her a shot and make changes to her diet.

Last edited: Today at 3:34 PM

 

I'm glad to see that she said she has not given her anymore insulin until she takes her to the vet Monday morning, poor baby

If she is on vetsulin I even wonder if the vet told her to wait 30 minutes after her cat eats, and 2 units seems a lot to start with .
I hope she comes back on tomorrow

 

@Diane Tyler's Mom -

Thanks for that, Diane. I'd have missed the edit in the opening post.


Mogs
.

 

When you are talking to the vet tomorrow, do keep in mind and mention that some cats are insulin sensitive after a hypo event.

There are far better insulins for cats than Vetsulin (also called Caninsulin). It was designed for dogs who have a different metabolism that cats. Vetsulin is a harsh insulin for cats.

And before your vet talks you into purchasing an AlpahTrak pet glucometer, the strips are crazy expensive. A human glucometer will work just fine. That's what vets used before pet meters were invented.

Good luck, tomorrow. Please let us know how it goes.

 

Hi I would definitely ask your Vet for both nausea meds . I had to give my cat both of them . Please try what Nan & Amber suggested about the baby food it’s just a small jar any meat you choose I had to hand feed my cat she ate it off a spoon . They have to eat something.
Please update us how it’s going ok

 

Just to add to this: Lantus (a human insulin, works great in cats) and Prozinc (designed for pets) are two excellent insulins with a lot of experinced users on this site. They both tend to be more expensive than Vetsulin, but we have some tips on how to get a better price (in the case of Lantus, often a lot better!) if your vet is willing to prescribe them.

 

Thank you guys so much! I had a container of veggie chicken for my human baby and she finally ate about half of it!

I had gestational diabetes so I have a meter and a few test strips, where do I prick her to test her sugar?

 

Just make sure that it didn't have any garlic or onion in it

 

Here is a video posted by one of our members , do you have 28 gauge lancets
VIDEO: How to test your cat's blood sugar

 

As you test the ears they will grow more cappilaries and testing will become easier
Aim for the sweet spot , You might want to purchase 28 gauge lancets and do it free hand on a 45 degree angle, eventually more capillaries will grow and it becomes easier
Start to rub his ears to get him used to it, warm them up first, if need be put some rice in a sock and warm it in the microwave and put it on his ears, make sure its not to hot. You don't want to aim for the vein

Diabetic Cat Care Home Testing Your Cat’s BG

 

@Kaylups -

If at all possible, please have a read through this list of nausea symptoms. Nausea (from whatever root cause) is a very common reason why cats sometimes don't want to eat, even when they're really hungry. (Dehydration is another one.)

The list will give you a steer on what behaviours to look out for and let the vet know about should you observe them.

A couple of questions:

* Did you switch to a lower carb food after starting insulin treatment?

* Did your vet run a fructosamine test as part of the FD diagnostic work up?


Mogs
.

 

Very unhealthy and too salty human food. Share your Big Mac with her. When Pie wasn't eating, the only thing she wanted was my food

 

Any updates?

(please reply below with a new message on this thread-- we don't always spot updates to previous posts, as the forum software always takes us to the "last unread")