Please, need help!!

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We are currently watching our son's diabetic cat. He is taking her home tomorrow. He dropped her off last Saturday and everything went okay Saturday and Sunday. Monday morning after her dose of prozinc she started acting off and to make a long story short, she had a seizure on the way to the vet clinic and stayed there all afternoon because of a hypoglycemic episode. However, her blood sugar was up to 81 when they checked her because I knew to give her some honey when I suspected she was hypoglycemic and it did not prevent the seizure, but got her numbers up again.

The vet said to give her a third of her dose (one unit of prozinc twice daily instead of 3 units twice daily). Everything went okay until last night, she did not seem very hungry. This morning, she did not eat much either. After her dose of insulin she started acting off again and, because she would not eat, we syringe-fed her off and on all day. I also gave her a bit of honey a couple times. It has now been 12.5 hours since her morning shot and neither one of us wants to give her a second shot today.

Also, to clarify, we don't have any glucose monitoring equipment so we have been shooting her "blind" since he dropped her off and have no idea what her glucose level is right now. I am very concerned that she does not want to eat, all of her labs were okay at the vet on Monday except her potassium was quite low and the vet put her on a potassium gel to help with that, pending re-resting by our son's vet. I noticed earlier that her breath smells again (diabetic breath) She is responsive but does not want any food, I've tried 3 different kinds of dry, 5 different kinds of canned, I've offered chicken, cheese, a bit of cream, nothing. Is there anything else to do at this point? Is not giving her the second dose the right decision? Could she still have a hypo episode 12.5 hours after her morning shot even if we don't give her the night time dose? It is 11 and I am tired but so afraid to go to bed if she could still have an episode. :(
 
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How is she acting?
Does she have any of these symptoms?

    • Drinking excessive amounts of water OR no water
    • Excessive urination
    • Diminished activity
    • Not eating for over 12 hours
    • Vomiting
    • Lethargy and depression
    • Weakness
    • Breathing very fast
    • Dehydration
    • Ketone odor on breath (smells like nail-polish remover or fruit)

Edited to add: If kitty is showing any of these symptoms it could mean she's developed ketones. Urine dipsticks (ketostix) can be purchased at most pharmacies. Dip the sick in kitty's urine and folllow the directions on the cannister. If kitty appears any worse, your best bet is to have her seen by a vet asap. She could be developing diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA).

DKA is a life-threatening illness if not treated promptly.

The basic recipe for developing DKA = an insufficient supply of insulin + inappetance + infection OR other systemic stresses.
 
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She has ketone breath and she did drink more today than she has since he dropped her off last Saturday. And she hasn't eaten on her own since this morning, we've been force-feeding.
 
Also, when she was first diagnosed in December and was at the vet's for a week, she refused to eat at the vet clinic and was sent home with a feeding tube for 6 weeks til she started eating on her own again.
 
Tough decision. I can't diagnose over the internet. She may very well be in DKA. If that's the case, the ER is where she should be.
 
Oh geez, I hope that is not it! We are in the boondocks and have no animal er. I wonder if the vet's lowering of her dose was a bad idea. But then, she had the hypo episode Monday.
 
No, Sugarland is 4 hours drive from here. Not sure why that is indicated in the ip adress. Just had husband text son and he is coming down first thing. This has been a very stressful week for her, being in a different environment and hissed at by our kitties, that probably did not help. In your experience, should she have her insulin dosage in the morning provided we force feed?
 
petra said:
In your experience, should she have her insulin dosage in the morning provided we force feed?
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I want to say yes, but I can't because I don't know for sure what's wrong with her. If she's in DKA, no shots should be skipped. If she can't be seen by a vet tonight I would try to get food and water into her even if she has to be syringe fed through the night. It may mean the difference in whether she gets worse or not.
  • Testing her urine with ketostix will let you know if she's throwing ketones.
  • Testing her with a blood glucose meter will let you know what her blood glucose level is.
  • Vets can perform diagnostic tests
 
I used one bottle of Prozinc on Leo, over a year ago. It has no lasting effects past 12 hours.

This sounds like a DKA to me. If you have time you could go to Walgreens and get a $11 bottle of Ketone strips. I bought "TruePlus Ketone Test Strips". You put one in the urine stream. Or you could dip it quickly into the litter of a fresh pee spot. If the reading is high, then it indicates excess ketones, which are quite bad.

If she is still not eating, then I suggest syringe feeding her. Basically a large syringe with liquidy cat food. There are youtube vids. It is a messy deal, but food has to get into the kitteh to keep her going. This is especially important if the ketones are high.
 
I see you are new to the forum. Blood Glucose (BG) testing is important.

Agree with Jill...this is hard to diagnose over the internet without more history. Really the best bet is an animal hospital or emergency vet to get info. If you can't do that tomorrow, I would recommend purchasing the ketosticks, and probably a BG meter. A lot of people are using Relion from Walmart.
 
We've been syringe feeding her all day and yes, it's messy for sure. I suggested a glucose meter to son, I will do so again. We'll stress that he must take her to his vet tomorrow and based on the above info, give her her a.m. shot after force feeding . Thank you so much for all of your help, I am going to see if I can get more food into her.
 
No problem. I'll probably sign off now (almost 1am in Austin).

Reminder for the Ketostiks. They are cheap and the test is pretty easy.
 
Just a quick update, since he is 2.5 hours drive away I called son very early and told him to contact his vet clinic (where she was originally treated) as soon as they open and arrange to take her in this morning. We left at the same time and were able to split the driving time so he was able to get her into the vet before they closed. They are examining her and have already called us with questions and are checking the labs and notes from Monday's vet visit. They will discuss treatment options with son.

I don't hold out much hope because he already spent well over $2000 in December when she was first diagnosed and had to have a feeding tube for weeks. I wish we were in a position to pay for her treatment beyond Monday's vet bill, but we are not. So, at least she is being evaluated and if son has to decide to do the saddest thing we cat/pet people have to do, at least she will have a gentle passing.

Thank you so much for all your help in the wee hours, it clarified to me that this was a very urgent health problem and, after reading up on DKA due to your advice, it allowed me to stress to him that she MUST go in this morning, not Monday. Whichever way this turns out, you guys have saved a little kitty from much suffering.
 
Thanks for the followup. Best wishes for your kitteh. With a little care and some treatment time, many kittehs recover from DKA. But it does take some dedicated treatment...if that is the underlying issue. Getting food into the kitteh is important.

Healing vines for your sweet kitteh.
 
Very, very good news!! She does have ketoacidosis (and, again, thank you SO MUCH for advising me that is what might be wrong, if it hadn't been for you guys things would have turned out very differently). Anyway, the keto is not too advanced yet and they feel they can get it under control by Monday. She also has a bad bladder infection which no one was aware of. So she is staying at the vet's til Monday and then she can go home. The vet said because she is a new diabetic, things can easily go amiss. This is a huge relief for all of us, husband and I were pretty sure this would be it for her and are so very, very glad we were wrong!!
 
Thank you so much for giving us an update! Sending good wishes for a quick recovery! Tell your son we'd be happy to help him learn to manage her diabetes once she's home.
 
So glad to hear she is getting the proper vet care. There can be issues after DKA, so it is important for the followup routine to be followed. The most important things are:
- keeping BG regulated
- properly hydrated
- ensure the kitteh eats well
 
Djamila, I will certainly do that!! Jeff, have been trying to recommend home blood glucose testing to him (we used to have 2 diabetic kitties who eventually went into remission and the glucose testing was really helpful). Will advise him re. hydration and to be sure she eats enough. It is difficult for him because he is at work all day and can't watch her. She was a bit droopy when he dropped her off, so it's possible the bladder infection had been going on for a while and finally caused problems.
 
You're welcome!

Awesome news!!! I'm glad they're addressing the infection. As Jeff mentioned, making sure she gets an adequate supply of insulin, is hydrated well, and eats is extremely important to recovery from DKA. Try for about 1.5 times the amount she usually consumes daily. If she's being finicky, feed her whatever she'll eat. If necessary, feed a higher carb food in order not to skip any shots.

We have many DKA survivors on the board. Invite your son to take advantage of the many, many years of collective experience found on the FDMB. Hope to see him posting!

Such good news! You just made my day!
 
petra said:
Very, very good news!! She does have ketoacidosis (and, again, thank you SO MUCH for advising me that is what might be wrong, if it hadn't been for you guys things would have turned out very differently). Anyway, the keto is not too advanced yet and they feel they can get it under control by Monday. She also has a bad bladder infection which no one was aware of. So she is staying at the vet's til Monday and then she can go home. The vet said because she is a new diabetic, things can easily go amiss. This is a huge relief for all of us, husband and I were pretty sure this would be it for her and are so very, very glad we were wrong!!
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Goodness. Brilliant news . So pleased for you all.

Have your son join this group. It is the best place ever.

Great smiles down here for this.
 
petra said:
Djamila, I will certainly do that!! Jeff, have been trying to recommend home blood glucose testing to him (we used to have 2 diabetic kitties who eventually went into remission and the glucose testing was really helpful). Will advise him re. hydration and to be sure she eats enough. It is difficult for him because he is at work all day and can't watch her. She was a bit droopy when he dropped her off, so it's possible the bladder infection had been going on for a while and finally caused problems.
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Have him join this forum. Many of us work during the day, myself included. Testing is still very doable and we can help.
 
I will most certainly encourage him to join this forum, he would learn so much. It is very daunting and stressful when you are first confronted with a pet diabetes diagnosis, I remember it well. The vet back then told us quite a few people have their cats/dogs euthanized because of the expense and being tied to home due to the 2 shots per day.
 
SO glad to hear this! I've been wondering all day.

Yes, we've helped plenty of people get through this FD diagnosis...and we've helped people who have post-DKA kitties too! It requires the caregiver to be more aggressive with dosing usually, along with other things. We'd really love it if your son would join this board...even before the kitty gets home...so we can meet him and help him start to learn how to care for a kitty during a post-DKA.

It is awfully overwhelming and you can feel so alone when dealing with an FD kitty. I'm glad he has such supportive parents! We've been both a support system and a sounding board for kitties and caregivers who are going through this plenty of times (this place is the only reason I'm still sane!) and we'd be happy to be here for your son as well!
 
Longer term diabetic care is fairly affordable. Many of us get our supplies off the web, including insulin. Examples:
- 100 needles, Walgreens $18
- 5 pens of Lantus, 1500 units worth of insulin, $200 off the web - probably 1 year's worth for most kittehs
- BG tester, Walmart $40
- test strips, $0.20-$0.50 apiece
- extra loving for sweet diabetic kittehs = free!
 
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