Mittens 2-24-14 AMPS=356, +11=133 & Shaking

Status
Not open for further replies.
Lyndsey & Mittens

Lyndsey & Mittens

Member Since 2013
Mittens blood sugar is still up & down....he gets into the good numbers & then bounces & comes back down & repeats the cycle. Good news is that he's gone from getting 1.75u to 1.25u.

But, the past few days-I've noticed that he shakes badly-which has me really worried. Its not related to what his blood sugar is at the time (at least from what I can tell) b/c it happens whether its in the normal range or high. I'm wondering if its diabetic neuropathy, but it doesn't seem to be in his hind legs (like for example, he can jump up on my bed which is pretty high with no problem). But if he sits in front of me I will notice that his front legs and body/head will shake (like tremors). I'm taking him into the vet tomorrow morning, but has anyone else here experienced anything like this? Other than that he seems to be acting fine, the 5p's are all normal.
I'm pretty worried.... nailbite_smile
 
My Alska's front legs shake. It is arthritis. His back legs are fine. I give him Cosequin for Cats. It comes in capsules which I open and mix in his food. It takes about a month to start working but Alska beats me up the steps now. I thought it was neuropathy at first except his back legs were upright when he walked.
 
Maxwell's front legs also tremor like that but in his case its neurological he has an old healed skull fracture that I'm guessing happened either during the hurricane or shortly there after.

I know low potassium can also cause tremors so that would be one thing to have the vet check. Please keep us updated when you can because you know we are all going to worry about him. Praying that its something simple and easy to fix.

Mel and The Fur Gang
 
Thanks everyone for your responses...I'm really worried about him. I noticed it the other day but thought I was just being overprotective of him as usual...until the boyfriend called me at work today b/c he noticed it too & asked if he should check him for low blood sugar. I'll post after the vet visit tomorrow. Paws crossed it's nothing serious.
 
All different kinds of minerals (potassium, magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, etc) do various jobs in the body. If these minerals get out of balance, you may observe tremors or fasiculation.
 
Well, we are back from the vet. They did an x-ray which showed no signs of arthritis & a urinalysis which was normal (except for glucose in the urine). The vet thinks it is diabetic neuropathy causing the tremors & shaking, so he was started on B-12 injections today & she wants me to increase his insulin back to 1.5u. She thought it was strange that it wasnt really showing in his back legs (his tremors are in his front legs) but since everything else was ruled out & his numbers are still high she felt that it was due to neuropathy. Hopefully the B-12 injections will help.
 
He's bouncing today since he went swimming yesterday :YMSIGH: ...his AMBG was 450 & around 336 at +6. I'm not entirely sold on the idea that it's diabetic neuropathy though...I watched videos online & his legs/feet do nothing like what is shown in the videos, and his is only in his front legs and it is more like tremors/shaking than the slipping of the back legs. But ECID, I guess at this point i'll monitor to see if the B-12 shots make a difference and go from there...I'm not sure what else to do at this point.
 
Did they run any blood work? I would be more likely suspect his minerals are out of whack most specifically his potassium. When giving insulin its fairly common for it to throw the potassium off. I have blood work run on Autumn every 6 months just to keep and eye on her levels.

Mel and The Fur Gang
 
No, they didnt run any bloodwork. I brought up the idea of running some & she suggested that I try the B-12 first to see if that helps first. I had no idea that insulin alone can cause the potassium to get out of whack or I would have pushed it harder. Ugh. ohmygod_smile
 
Another thought although it might be a stretch. Any chance he ate or chewed on a house plant? Or gotten ice melt on his paws?

Mel and The Fur Gang
 
Nope...no chance of either. Kinda peeved at the vet b/c I feel like she had her mind set that it was diabetic neuropathy w/o ruling out an electrolyte imbalance-esp since that it is common to see in cats on insulin. Sigh...
 
Well remember we see more diabetic cats here in a month than most vets see in there entire practice. So what is common for us to see may not be all that common to her.

Mel and The Fur Gang
 
True. I'm going to give it a month & see if the b-12 improves his shaking (provided it doesn't get worse). If no improvement I'll take him back for bloodwork, as I cant afford another vet visit right now.
 
You could leave a message to ask the vet if it would be OK to give a small potassium supplement since insulin can affect the potassium balance. (A polite way to remind the vet of this)
 
Hopefully your vet gave the Methyl B12 shots, not the cyano B12 shots. Only the Methyl B12 crosses over to the nervous system and can help with the neuropathy. If that is what it is.
 
Serum Potassium levels are decreased by insulin - the reason for this is that potassium cannot enter the cells by itself, it 'rides' glucose forced by insulin to get thru the cell walls. (<--VERY simple explanation..) If that whole mix of potassium, glucose and insulin isn't balanced, it will cause issues....shaking and muscle weakness are normally the first things noticed. It's very important to keep an eye on potassium levels when there's something happening. Too HIGH of potassium can also cause the same shaking and weakness.
 
I watched that several times, I would take that to the vet and let him/her watch it. I am thinking a pinched nerve maybe or disc problem but I am not a vet. Dang that would put a scare in me too. Is he showing any weakness or just the shaking?

Terri
 
Nope, no weakness-just the shaking. It only seems to happen right as he sits down and puts pressure on his front paws. Wouldn't an x-ray pick up on a disk problem though? He had x-rays taken of both his front & hind legs & a lateral of his spine & they all looked fine.
His vet is open Saturday morning-think I will call tomorrow to take him back in (poor guy) and show them the video. From what I've seen/researched online, it doesn't look like diabetic neuropathy to me...
 
No that does not look like neuropathy to me either. Not sure but I would show the vet that video and if you can get any more of him doing that I would take that too. Hope you get to the bottom of it.

Terri
 
Nope that's not neuropathy..both Autumn and Musette had neuropathy they were down on their hocks. That is either neurological or a potassium issue. Go on youtube and do a search for Pharoah Shakes. He's an extreme case but that's a kitty with low potassium.

When did Mittens start that? Recently?

Mel
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top