My cat went hypo and is in the ICU

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alexia&wednesday

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Ok, so my cat had been pretty stable for awhile now. She is on a high dose of insulin and usually her numbers are around 300 or 250 before insulin. Her nadir is usually around 150. I don't have a recent chart.

So, recently she has had diarrhea for a week or so and had a vet appointment lined up.
Yesterday I noticed she was lethargic (I had been out of town 2 days, and she was being taken care of at my house by a cat sitter who is also a vet tech), I tested her BG and the machine read "Low". I fed her immediately and re-tested her 20 min later and it still read "low". I gave her sugar syrup and rushed her to the hospital because she did not seem well.

At the hospital they started to give her a sugar + water infusion and tested her BG. She continued to read "low" and eventually shot up to 156, then awhile later 300.
However, her BG continued to trend DOWN since last evening. Even on the sugar + water IV she was hypo, and even at one point read "low" again. She was around 60, dipped to 29 at 3am....and then at 9am TODAY she has started to increase, slowly.

Her last BG was 311 at 3pm, and I am waiting for the vet to call with her most recent BG.

Has anyone ever experienced this? I find it very weird that she is still running so low even on the sugar + water.
They say she could be in remission? She could have not been eating so well with the diarrhea and then with the regular insulin doses she went hypo, but it's very weird that even with the sugar Iv at the hospital she was still hypo.
Does cancer in cats cause hypoglycemia?

Help!
 
some other things:

- her normal dose of insulin was 4u, i know this is a lot. i titrated her up slowly and her numbers finally stabilized at 4u
- her last dose of insulin was at 11am
- i took her to the hospital at 5pm
- her BG finally started increasing at 9am today, a full 24 hrs since her last dose
 
cancer does prefer the carb calories; it is one of the reasons that those with cancer lose weight and also why dietary recommendations may promote a high protein diet.

How are you doing? That had to be pretty scarey.
 
i am stressed out.
and poor.
i am still paying off her last bill from 1.5 years ago when she had pancreatitis and DKA.
now this, which is already 1,500$ on its own.

it was very scary.

however, would cancer make her hypo so quickly? i was gone 2 days, but looking at her glucometer, for 2 days before i left she had some low numbers (160s before insulin).
otherwise, all looked normal until yesterday (besides bad diarrhea for a week and those 2 days of lower than usual numbers).
 
Hi Alexia,

I'm so sorry to hear that Wednesday hypoed and is in the hospital...

Did any of the ER vets mention if she's been able to eat and keep down any food at the hospital? Food will help sustain BG levels longer than the sugar/water IV. That's an emergency protocol for immediately elevating low readings -- much like you did yesterday by giving her syrup.

It is not uncommon for a diabetic cat to have diminishing insulin needs when cancer is involved. BJM explained it well...

Please know that you and Wednesday are in my hopeful, healing thoughts and prayers, dear Alexia. And, please try to get some rest while your furry little girl is in the hospital... I can only imagine how worried you are, so you need to take care of you, too...

Love and countless hopeful, healing hugs for you both,
Deb and Nikki -- and, Giz, forever dancing in my heart...
 
yes, she is eating fine.
she has pretty bad diarrhea though...

the goal is to take her off the sugar/water IV and see how her BG holds up.
if it can't stabilize we will look into other causes.

i really hope it isn't cancer. i lost my last cat to cancer.

thanks for the help.
 
Hi again, dear Alexia,

So, she's eating fine at the hospital. Well, that's positive! A lot of cats won't even look at food at the vet's... Do you know what kind of food they're feeding her? Back in Gizzie's sugar dance days, I learned that the DM in Purina DM wasn't just for Diabetic Management. It also was lesser known for Diarrhea Management (and came in handy a time or two...). Are the ER vets working on her diarrhea issues as well? Perhaps giving her some medication for it? I understand their immediate concern is stabilizing her BGs. But, perhaps getting the diarrhea under control might also help her BGs... Just my humble, yet hopeful thinking out loud...

Oh, my dear girl, please don't think the worst. Remember that it was your quick thinking and reacting that got her to the ER. You are her heroine in my book!

There could be many reasons why she might need less insulin that don't involve cancer. A week or so of diarrhea could do it. I mean if she's not exactly processing her food normally, that alone could affect her BGs, right? Maybe she ate less when you were out of town because she missed her mom. That could affect her BGs, right? It could be anything. Just please don't think the worst.

Please keep hope in your heart, dear Alexia. Wednesday is a fighter. I'm guessing and hoping she takes after her loving mom...

We're keeping you both close in our hopeful, healing thoughts and prayers...

... and sending as many hugs as you and Wednesday can handle,
Deb and Nikki -- and, Giz...
 
the update is:

wednesday was released from the vet last night.
i have been doing a glucose curve all day and her numbers look good. low for her, but "normal".
Her nadir today was 126, with the highest number being 201 before insulin. usually she would only dip to about 160 or so.

she seems lethargic and sick. she has lost a ton of weight, down 1.5 lbs from her last vet visit which was in march!
i hope she gets a little more energy after she recovers.

she is eating well, but not ravenous like she normally is.

she is getting old, i am afraid.
she is 13, is that old?
 
she's been thru quite the ordeal so i would think being tired right now would be expected. as long as she keeps eating, her BG's remain good, and you can possibly get a ketone test in here and there I would let her rest. i wouldn't think ketones are that big of a concern really but you don't want to let them slip into the picture while we're not looking so that is why i suggest testing her for them a time or two over the next several days.

fwiw, i don't think 13 is old. my late Kitty lived to be 18 & I've got 3 right now that are 16
 
Hi Alexia, and, welcome home, precious Wednesday,

Thank you so much for this update. I'm so glad she's home and eating! She's been through a lot, so it's understandable she's a bit lethargic...

alexia&wednesday said:
she is getting old, i am afraid.
she is 13, is that old?
Click to expand...

No. She's like 65, meaning she's just now eligible for Social Security... It would be nice if they could actually collect for all those years of working those naps 16 hours a day...

Hmmm...



Love and we're glad she's home kind of grateful hugs,
Deb and Nikki -- and, Giz, forever dancing in my heart...
 
yes, if she could pay off the 5K i have in vet bills....

so, her numbers have been below 180 since last night. she was 144 at 11pm, 12 hours after the curve started and hours after she ate ate dinner. i did not give her insulin. (she had also dropped to 109 at 10pm, so i gave her a dry food snack to get her up since it seemed very odd to be so low 12 hours after insulin....)

i woke up at 230am and tested her and she was 200, because this was one test,and would throw the schedule off, i did not give insulin.
this morning at 830am she was 152, and i fed her.
retested at 1030am and she is now 180.

i am not giving insulin and waiting to hear from the vet to run this by her.

currently she is back on 1/2u, down from 4u!

she is eating GREAT! the only time i see her run is to the food! hehe.

- a & w
 
Hi Alexia, and, of course, you too, sweet Wednesday,

Must confess I'm torn... Why?

alexia&wednesday said:
she is eating GREAT! the only time i see her run is to the food! hehe.
Click to expand...

Love the fact that she is eating GREAT! Also love the fact that you allowed yourself a chuckle...



You should know I'm a registered independent. Here's my vote:

I vote for Wednesday running to her food! That way it's a tie -- you both win! She is eating GREAT and you are chuckling/laughing/smiling!

Sometimes it pays to have no party affiliation...


Big hugs for you both,
Deb and Nikki -- and, Giz, forever dancing in my heart...

PS: You know, Alexia, there is a chance you're going to have to give Wednesday insulin, right? Are you okay with that?
 
Ask your vet if he/she did a blood panel (screening) on your cat when it was in. If they did ask for the results and post the results here. There are many people that could help you here with the number.

A blood panel/screening costs about 80-100 depending where you are. I request them on all my sick cats and once my cats get a certain again I have them done every other year as they get older every year. It will tell you where her renal values are, in will tell you a lot about her Thyriod, blood counts etc. . . There could be an underlining cause that is simple that you are not picking up and it could just be the diabetes with the weight. I am not expert in diabetes but I am familiar with other cat things. The blood panel actaully can also save you a lot of money.

I am not sure why more vets don't do them. Often you will pay 30-40 dollars for one blood test. Depending how that comes out they may do another one. You pay again and so on. The blood panel screens most things and gives a very good outlook on the cats health in general. it also usually winds up being cheaper in the long run for many reason. Most vets do not tell patients about it so they don't know about blood panels but if it very helpful to have all the info in front of you and it can help stop guessing games.
 
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