Scratchy's Mom
Member
Those who have seen my prior post know that I can't seem to get my cat's ear to bleed. I'm able to warm the ear and lance it with the device, but no blood. I know I'm hitting the ear because I can see a mark afterward and can tell that he feels it. I live alone, so I only have 2 hands to work with. He can get free when I try to squeeze the ear for blood. Yesterday I took him for a fructosamine and they did a BG and it was 38. He had no symptoms of hypoglycemia which really scares me. They gave him glucose on the spot and he went up to 189 and they sent me to the 24 hour vet. 2 hours later he was down to 107. They had to admit him and I was presented with a $1,000 and $1,600 estimate for an overnight stay with tests every 2 hours. I nearly had a heart attack. They gave no insulin last night and he went up to 280. He's been taking 4 units of lantus twice a day. A lot, but lower doses seemed to have no effect. They are cutting the insulin in half and said we may be able to wean him off. He is now about 5 weeks on an almost entirely carb-free diet. The technician will work with me tonight to give me tips and tricks for testing. Its got to work because this cannot happen again. I don't want to lose him and I can't keep incurirng $1000 bills! Plus he won't eat at the vet.
Is it typical for a cat to experience such severe hypoglycemia and have no symptoms? This may have been going on for days. He was his usual self when I had to get him into the carrier. He was active, not overly hungry (although he did eat) and not at all wobbly. Because I've been unable to test, I've been relying on his symptoms to guide me. Hopefully the vet will be able to help tonight. I've tried different lancets, different lancing devices, the ear and the paw pad. I warm his ear with the rice sock and still nothing. The vet has had trouble getting blood too, although yesterday they couldn't get him to stop bleeding. They put some kind of powder on it and it stopped.
Is it typical for a cat to experience such severe hypoglycemia and have no symptoms? This may have been going on for days. He was his usual self when I had to get him into the carrier. He was active, not overly hungry (although he did eat) and not at all wobbly. Because I've been unable to test, I've been relying on his symptoms to guide me. Hopefully the vet will be able to help tonight. I've tried different lancets, different lancing devices, the ear and the paw pad. I warm his ear with the rice sock and still nothing. The vet has had trouble getting blood too, although yesterday they couldn't get him to stop bleeding. They put some kind of powder on it and it stopped.