My Sam is so so sick....

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rainperimeter

Member Since 2012
Last week he was on antibiotics for a small cold he had. His last dose was Satuday and he did great the whole time as it never affected his appetite. Sunday morning was normal as well, he ate fine and we gave him 1.5units as usual of prozinc. Sun afternoon he looked terrible so we took b/g and it said "low". We got 4 readings in a row like that so we gave him some food and he seemed to perk right up. Sunday night he ate fine and we bumped his dose down to 1.25u.

Monday morning he did not eat more than a few chews and his b/g was 119 so we did not shoot. Sometime during the day he vomited a little bit of brown liquid.
Monday night he barely ate again but his b/g was 365 so we gave him .50u

Tuesday morning his b/g was 435 before breakfast. He ate only a little bit but considering he was so high we gave him 1u. Sometime during the day he ended up eating the rest of his food.
I took him to the vet yesterday for some blood work. They gave him some fluids but when we got home he was not interested in dinner. He ate very little and his b/g was 308 so we gave him 1u anyways.

In the middle of the night about 230 am I woke up to him throwing up brown liquid again. He was in terrible shape trembling and panting so hard. He felt hot and sweaty. We took a b/g and got a 370 and a 350. We honestly thought we were watching him die. He eventually calmed down and we took him to bed where he purred it all off.

This morning he won't eat again. He has no interest. His b/g was 320 and we also got a 230. It was suggested to me that I try to liquefy his food and try to feed him. I did that and got 1 oz of food in him and gave him .5u about 45 mins ago. He looks terrible still. Very lethargic and seems just all around uncomfortable. I hope I am making the right decisions, any suggestions or ideas what last night's episode was all about? I have the day off so I can monitor him and tomorrow my girlfriend will be here to watch him. I will also be getting the results of his blood work today as well and surely I will tell them all about last night.

Thanks
 
Brown liquid could actually be feces due to obstruction in the GI tract; did the vet do palpation, an x-ray, or ultrasound? Check Feline Constipation for tons of good information on this.

One tip is to slowly add plain psyllium fiber to the canned food (plus some water) to provide some bulk to help push things through. Until you have it diagnosed, I wouldn't do any fiber as it could just push a "cork" of stool tighter into the colon and cause it to rupture.

It also could be digested blood from GI tract bleeding, depending on how dark it is. If it is coffee ground brown (darker than the preceding text), that points to blood.
 
They did not do an xray or anything they just gave him fluids and took blood for testing. It was pretty dark for sure and it did not have any real distinct odor to it. It kind of smelled like cat food. He is twitching and trembling right now and I tried and tried to get some blood but his poor ears are so scarred up I can't get a drop big enough to test.
 
I would take him back to the vet to see if he is in DKA or has pancreatitis, both are not good. If he has ketones in his urine he will have to be treated at the vet.
Please call the vet, vomiting and not eating can get bad very quickly.
Vet can test for both DKA and pancreatitis.
Best of luck hope kitty gets to feeling better.

Terri
 
I do think a visit to the vet is in order to make sure he doesn't have pancreatitis or an obstruction.

It also seems like he has been bouncing between very low numbers and high numbers. (when their body senses a number lower than they are used to, it releases extra glucose which makes their numbers "bounce" up.) This can also make him feel lousy. When he is given an all clear from the vet, I'd restart the insulin at .5 or one unit twice daily. Keep track of his numbers. If he is low (50 and under) at midcycle, reduce. If he is higher and flat, add .25. It is much safer to start with a lower dose and increase slowly, using your data.
 
I agree with Sue, my Tiggy acts weird when he is going too low and too high. Sometimes he stops eating. Sometimes he eats so fast he immediately throws it up.

To me 1.5 looks like its too much - it causes a hypo - and the food brought his BG back up. And after that he can be sensitive for a few days. What meter are you using?

As sue said, with any insulin its very important to know how low the dose is taking him. That low number is what you base the dose change on..not the pre shot number. You don't want him going too low.

So I would do this:

- restart the insulin at 1 unit twice daily
- don't shoot under 150
- get tests mid cycle (day and night) - if he goes under 50 - drop the dose by 0.25.
- Hold the dose for a couple of days before making another change - unless he goes under 50 in which case I would reduce immediately.

Wendy
 
Thanks so much for all the responses and kind words everyone, I truly appreciate everyone's input and concern. It is a hard place loving a pet who is sick and it's amazing how people on this board and the feline diabetes page on fb really come together for everyone and offer their well wishes and advice. I don't know what I would do without it. His blood tests showed that he likely has pancreatitis with a combination of an intestinal and/or urinary tract infection - essentially where the nausea and vomiting is coming from and is why he won't eat. He is also severely dehydrated. We dropped him off for a 24 hr stay and by the time we left he had woken up, was alert and had even got up to check out his water bowl. He had a bad episode last night but he bounced back so hard. We thought we were gonna watch him die last night and it wasn't until we had the whole family surrounding him that he eventually calmed down and came to. At least with a stay, some medication and fluids we will know where he is at. We do our very best for him and even though vet costs are killer we can't risk another night like last night. We also refuse to sit here and watch him have episode after episode and die here sick and in distress.

We always tell him that if love could make him better he would live forever.
 
I am so glad you took your kitty to the vet. I am sending prayers for him to get better and come home soon. Pancreatitis can be painful so please make sure he gets some pain meds(buprenex is the best). Do not let them give you Metacam. So hopefully they will get him feeling better.

Terri
 
I hate this. He is at the vet for the night and will be on antibiotics and fluids. They are open until 8 and have a nurse that lives on site and will check in periodically until 11 and not return until 6 am. His iv and monitoring equipment will alert the nurse if they stop working. The ER hospital is in another town and will be another $300 - $300 that's likely better spend leaving him where he is for another night of treatment if need be. I am so torn and heartbroken.
 
They said they were very surprised with how bad he looked. His temp is 98 and he is on a heating pad. Still has no interest in food whatsoever.
 
Like I said they also need to give pain meds, buprenex and you need to insist on it. My cat had pancreatitis twice. Please insist on it.
Panceatitis is painful and I am sure UTI is probably as well.

Terri
 
He's in the best place right now for this. Sending prayers to you guys that he has a speedy recovery and isn't in a lot of pain. :YMHUG:
 
Sending prayers for healing and comfort to your Sam. It is so hard to see them sick. I hope he feels better soon.

:YMHUG:
 
So....they were able to get a full jar of baby food in him earlier and a little more food a couple hours ago as well. They did a b/g after his big feast and he was a 230 so they gave him 1u. He is on fluids and antibiotics. We went and visited him and he meowed when he saw us and started purring. We even snuck him a cat nip sack. Earlier they said he looked "pretty rough" and then at 6 he was doing "pretty good". He looked really tired but he was totally awake and very alert. Honestly he looked incredible after the past few days and last nights terrible scare. I feel really good about the treatment and care he is getting and it was such a good idea to visit him so I can actually sleep in peace tonight. I'll be paying him another visit tomorrow if he ends up having to stay again. I feel so so good about him eating on his own.
 
Myself, my girlfriend, Sam and his little cat lady friend Lucy appreciate all the kind words and support. Thanks so much again.
 
Boy, it's sure been one hell of a ride the past two days. He went in and was in terrible shape which progressed to "pretty good" last night. He was able to eat a little and his b/g has been stable. This am he was up and cleaning his paws and stuff but this afternoon he had another episode. Sort of like a seizure. They can't figure it out at the vet. They have done test after test (some of which I am not even getting billed for including x-rays). The next step would be an ultrasound to see if he has pancreatic cancer. They sort of suspect that because his pancreas is in the worst shape they have ever seen. He is basically really bad all around. We just spent an hour with him there and will get an update in the am. If he is still down and out and lethargic and not eating we're going to take him home for one last night and let him fly away on Sat morning. It's so heartbreaking but the reality is that he is a very very sick cat and has been for a while. We don't want him to suffer anymore as we do not want to suffer any more either. About a year ago I started planning his legacy. I am going to be a future farmer if it's the last thing I do. We call Sam "Bub" because he is my best buddy so what better name for a farm could I come up with than Bub's Farm? There is a page for it on fb where we document our adventures in growing. We're going to have him cremated and I will add a little teaspoon of Bub in all my garden beds, every hole I plant a tree and I will spread him all over Bub's Farm when we get our land and make it a reality.

Thank you all so so much for your support, well wishes and prayers. We are all so lucky to have a support base like this page and the Feline Diabetes page on fb.
 
rainperimeter said:
Boy, it's sure been one hell of a ride the past two days. He went in and was in terrible shape which progressed to "pretty good" last night. He was able to eat a little and his b/g has been stable. This am he was up and cleaning his paws and stuff but this afternoon he had another episode. Sort of like a seizure. They can't figure it out at the vet. They have done test after test (some of which I am not even getting billed for including x-rays). The next step would be an ultrasound to see if he has pancreatic cancer. They sort of suspect that because his pancreas is in the worst shape they have ever seen. He is basically really bad all around. We just spent an hour with him there and will get an update in the am. If he is still down and out and lethargic and not eating we're going to take him home for one last night and let him fly away on Sat morning. It's so heartbreaking but the reality is that he is a very very sick cat and has been for a while. We don't want him to suffer anymore as we do not want to suffer any more either. About a year ago I started planning his legacy. I am going to be a future farmer if it's the last thing I do. We call Sam "Bub" because he is my best buddy so what better name for a farm could I come up with than Bub's Farm? There is a page for it on fb where we document our adventures in growing. We're going to have him cremated and I will add a little teaspoon of Bub in all my garden beds, every hole I plant a tree and I will spread him all over Bub's Farm when we get our land and make it a reality.

Thank you all so so much for your support, well wishes and prayers. We are all so lucky to have a support base like this page and the Feline Diabetes page on fb.
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I'm sorry to hear Sam's not doing well. Best wishes with whatever happens - it's obvious you care so much and will do whatever is best for him. The farm sounds like a beautiful idea.
 
You are all so very, very kind. It was really something else to have a place to come and vent and have so much support and kind words. It's a hard time loving a sick pet and here we really are all in it together.

Sam was a very sick cat. For one, he had one of the worst cases of pancreatitis they had ever seen. Just as he was coming back from his first seizure-like episode the other night at home he had another one yesterday. We sat with him for an hour last night and he was in tough shape. This morning they found some sort of lesion on his pancreas that was leaking puss and fluids. They drained it but in all reality considering his white blood cell count was at 16% it was fair to assume that he did indeed have pancreatic cancer. The vet was amazing. Of coarse it was a hard hit to the bank but they went above and beyond and performed all kinds of services free of charge to determine what was taking Sam's life.

It was a really peaceful and beautiful goodbye. He was alert at first and pretty scared but by the time the Dr came in he was resting his eyes and was at peace. I had a good half hour to sit with him to tell him how wonderful he made my life and how I am going to be a better person because of him. Really, who gets such an easy passing in the arms of their best friend? Sam sure did. I paid to have him cremated and I am going to leave a pinch of his ashes in all of my garden beds and everywhere I plant trees. Someday when we have our land we'll spread him there as well. We did Bub's Farm last year in his honor and it was bigger than the year before. Next year it's gonna be massive and someday it's going to be our livelihood. He sure is a legend and legends never die.
 
Oh, I am so very sorry to hear that Sam has passed... (((Hugs))) to you....

But how wonderful that you were there with him, and able to tell him what he meant to you. Such precious moments.....
He was SO blessed in having you as a friend and caregiver.

I'll be holding you in my thoughts...

All good wishes to you,

Elizabeth x
 
I am so sorry to hear about Sam. You certainly did all you could, and yes, you are absolutely right - the very best way to leave this life is in the arms of a loving friend. The farm sounds like a wonderful tribute!
 
This has me in tears. :cry: I'm so sorry for your loss. May you be reunited at Rainbow Bridge. rb_icon
 
My deepest sympathies are with you on your recent loss of your beloved Sam.

Lighting a ring of candles, in memory of your Sam.
 

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I am so sorry to hear about Sam. You were a wonderful bean to him and he was so lucky to pass on being in your loving arms. He is now free of all pain and smiling at your courage to help him.
Fly free sweet Sam and land softly wings_cat
 
Aw. I'm so sorry you lost your friend. I know it must be difficult, especially the ups and downs of his treatment. It's hard to let them go, but honest love tells us when continuing to treat is more for us than them. It sounds like everything was done for him that was possible. You gave him the best parting gift ever... relief from further suffering. *big hugs*

I love your idea about spreading Sam's ashes. What a perfect way to honor him.
 
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