MrPouncersMom
Member Since 2013
Hi Everyone,
This is my first time posting to a Message Board anywhere so I apologize in advance for any mistakes or annoyances.
On New Years Day we had to rush my 8 year male cat, Mr Pouncers to the Emergency vet. He had been losing weight and was acting lethargic for a couple of months. We kept putting off going to the regular vet because my father had a heart attack and has been going to doctors and for procedures and is scheduling surgery so everything has been crazy and up in the air. We tried switching Mr Pouncers to a grain free dry food. He is the pickiest cat when it comes to eating. He only eats dry food and prefers what we call the "naughty salmon" (its the only thing my 14 yr old persian will eat so we cant not offer it) since it is not grain free but will eat the grain free chicken dry food. Hes been eating his food and seeming to act more like himself so we thought he might be getting better.
Late on New Years Eve Mr Pouncers threw up once and then stopped eating. We couldnt get him to drink water either. He is normally addicted to water. As an 8 month old he had a urinary tract blockage that required surgery and ever since hes been addicted to water. Given the chance he will jump into the shower with you and get soaking wet and never be happier. The drip of a faucet would have him running in excitment so his not wanting water was the major sign something was really wrong.
On New Years Day he just laid on the bed not wanting to move much but did attempt to jump off to hide under the bed but knowing he was really sick we didnt let him. We rushed him to the emergency vet and they examined him and ran his blood work. His blood glucose level was 657 and he had ketones in his urine. His white blood cell count was also high showing some kind of infection. So the vet told us he had DKA, was severly dehydrated and needed to stay with them.
At 11 pm that night the vet called to tell us that his blood pressure had dropped really low but they were able to bring it back up but he was still severly dehydrated and she felt he had a 50/50 chance of survival. She did say that they retested his BG level and it had dropped to 550 just with fluids. Of course we rushed to the hospital to see him and when he saw us he actually stood up and walked to the edge of the cage and kept trying to jump out. While there i got him to drink a little of the water from the dish. He seemed a little better.
Yesterday the vet called to tell us that he had an ultrasound done and it did not show any tumors or any sign of cancer. His chest xray was good and his heart appeared strong and healthy. She said that his blood pressure was good and staying normal. She said he was still dehydrated but they couldnt push the fluids any faster. She said at 2 am they gave him some insulin and his BG level was down to the 150 range but he didnt pee for them yet so they couldnt check the ketones. She said they did see that he has a kidney infection so they were starting him on antibiotics. She also said he tried to eat a bite of the food they were offereing him but not much of anything. They were starting him on some anti nauseous to see if that helped.
We went to visit him and he was very lethargic again. He picked his head up for us, was purring and swung the front of his body to the front of the cage but didnt try to stand up or anything. He seemed worse then the night before. When we asked the vet on call she said it was because he was still dehydrated and they couldnt push fluids faster because of brain swelling. This came as a shock since no one mentioned anything about brain swelling before! We couldnt ask more because an emergency came in and we were pretty much shown the door. We left some of his regular food so they could try to get him to eat more.
This morning the regular vet called and said that he ate half the amount of food they gave him and he was more active and walking around his cage. They tested his urine and found ketones again but the biggest problem was that his blood pressure dropped again. They were able to bring it back up again but said he was still critical and still 50/50. She was going to have the Internal Medicine doc examine him today and call us later with an update but we are so lost and worried.
Does anyone have any experience with DKA like this? Are these problems like the low blood pressure normal? Are there any lasting side effects from DKA? Do cats normally survive DKA like this?
We are so worried that we are going to lose him and hearing 50/50 chances doesnt help. Any advice, thoughts or past experience would help a lot.
Thanks for taking the time to read this long post.
MrPouncers Mom- Bethany
This is my first time posting to a Message Board anywhere so I apologize in advance for any mistakes or annoyances.
On New Years Day we had to rush my 8 year male cat, Mr Pouncers to the Emergency vet. He had been losing weight and was acting lethargic for a couple of months. We kept putting off going to the regular vet because my father had a heart attack and has been going to doctors and for procedures and is scheduling surgery so everything has been crazy and up in the air. We tried switching Mr Pouncers to a grain free dry food. He is the pickiest cat when it comes to eating. He only eats dry food and prefers what we call the "naughty salmon" (its the only thing my 14 yr old persian will eat so we cant not offer it) since it is not grain free but will eat the grain free chicken dry food. Hes been eating his food and seeming to act more like himself so we thought he might be getting better.
Late on New Years Eve Mr Pouncers threw up once and then stopped eating. We couldnt get him to drink water either. He is normally addicted to water. As an 8 month old he had a urinary tract blockage that required surgery and ever since hes been addicted to water. Given the chance he will jump into the shower with you and get soaking wet and never be happier. The drip of a faucet would have him running in excitment so his not wanting water was the major sign something was really wrong.
On New Years Day he just laid on the bed not wanting to move much but did attempt to jump off to hide under the bed but knowing he was really sick we didnt let him. We rushed him to the emergency vet and they examined him and ran his blood work. His blood glucose level was 657 and he had ketones in his urine. His white blood cell count was also high showing some kind of infection. So the vet told us he had DKA, was severly dehydrated and needed to stay with them.
At 11 pm that night the vet called to tell us that his blood pressure had dropped really low but they were able to bring it back up but he was still severly dehydrated and she felt he had a 50/50 chance of survival. She did say that they retested his BG level and it had dropped to 550 just with fluids. Of course we rushed to the hospital to see him and when he saw us he actually stood up and walked to the edge of the cage and kept trying to jump out. While there i got him to drink a little of the water from the dish. He seemed a little better.
Yesterday the vet called to tell us that he had an ultrasound done and it did not show any tumors or any sign of cancer. His chest xray was good and his heart appeared strong and healthy. She said that his blood pressure was good and staying normal. She said he was still dehydrated but they couldnt push the fluids any faster. She said at 2 am they gave him some insulin and his BG level was down to the 150 range but he didnt pee for them yet so they couldnt check the ketones. She said they did see that he has a kidney infection so they were starting him on antibiotics. She also said he tried to eat a bite of the food they were offereing him but not much of anything. They were starting him on some anti nauseous to see if that helped.
We went to visit him and he was very lethargic again. He picked his head up for us, was purring and swung the front of his body to the front of the cage but didnt try to stand up or anything. He seemed worse then the night before. When we asked the vet on call she said it was because he was still dehydrated and they couldnt push fluids faster because of brain swelling. This came as a shock since no one mentioned anything about brain swelling before! We couldnt ask more because an emergency came in and we were pretty much shown the door. We left some of his regular food so they could try to get him to eat more.
This morning the regular vet called and said that he ate half the amount of food they gave him and he was more active and walking around his cage. They tested his urine and found ketones again but the biggest problem was that his blood pressure dropped again. They were able to bring it back up again but said he was still critical and still 50/50. She was going to have the Internal Medicine doc examine him today and call us later with an update but we are so lost and worried.
Does anyone have any experience with DKA like this? Are these problems like the low blood pressure normal? Are there any lasting side effects from DKA? Do cats normally survive DKA like this?
We are so worried that we are going to lose him and hearing 50/50 chances doesnt help. Any advice, thoughts or past experience would help a lot.
Thanks for taking the time to read this long post.
MrPouncers Mom- Bethany
