A year into diagnosis, from stable to DKA overnight. Confidence gone.

Hi all,
We've got a 5 year old cat who was diagnosed a year ago. After the massive stress involved in learning how to test glucose (that was a fun week...), getting her to eat again (greatest feeling in the world), working through glucose curves, and finally finding the perfect dosage of insulin, we got her to an incredibly stable glucose range of 150 highs and 50 lows. She was perfectly fine for the rest of the year and was back to her old amazing self the entire time. We felt great, confident, and closer than ever to her.

Then we went on vacation for a week and a half, boarding her at the vet. She came home missing a claw and was slightly less cuddly, but we didn't think much of it since we knew she needed to get comfortable again after that week and a half.

A week later, we went on another trip and boarded her at a local cat specialist with incredibly great reviews. A couple days into our trip, we got the call... She was vomiting and dropped significantly in temperature. They moved her to a 24-hour care vet, and she went into shock. After stabilizing her, they determined it was a DKA along with Pancreatitis. Her glucose levels were in the 500s. They couldn't figure out what the cause was since their tests showed we were perfectly regulating her insulin and glucose levels at home.

Since then she has stopped eating completely, she barely moves at all the entire day. We'll place her somewhere comfortable to feed or medicate her, and she'll simply curl up at that spot and not move for at least 3 hours. We're now syringe feeding her which she hates, and we're dreading the possibility she'll need a feeding tube installed. We also have IV fluids with B Vitamins and Potassium, Anti-Nausea medication, a long acting Antibiotic, and Mirtazapine to spur appetite.

I work from home, so I've been able to take care of her while my better half is out during the day. The problem is that I'm spending nearly my entire day worrying about, caring for, and cleaning her (syringe feeding an unhappy cat is ridiculously messier than expected). I don't mind it at all, but I'm having an increasingly harder time focusing on work when I'm constantly shifting focus back to her every hour or so.

We're unbelievably exhausted, terrified that we won't be able to get her back to her old self, and are constantly reassured by the Vet that she'll get better despite her not showing literally any signs of improvement in an entire week. We were recommended this site given how supportive the community is, and we're really struggling here. If we could just get her to eat... Literally anything nutritional... it would make all the difference in the world. She won't even touch her treats, her favorite food, or even deli meat (which she would normally go insane over despite us never giving her more than a fingertip sized minibite once a month). We're scared that the more we syringe feed her, the less likely she'll be to ever actually eat again herself.

I can post this in the health forum, but I figured this history was a good introduction as to where we're at with this incredibly important member of our family.

 

I am sorry that you have to go through all this. You are right that you need to post on the health forum. That is where you will get the most traffic. There are people here that have experience with DKA and pancreatitis. I don't think there is any problem that someone hasn't delt with. Someone will be by soon to help you.

Thhis is one of the best boards you could want. It is filled with supportive people.

 

Thank you for the quick response and support, donnalea. I've reposted this in the Health forum, and will simply treat this topic as a "Hello, nice to meet you all" topic. If the moderators want me to delete this topic and post a more general introductory topic, I'm perfectly fine with that.

This is the link to the topic I made in the Health Forum:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/...-stable-to-dka-pancreatitis-overnight.162559/

 

What a horrible time you have been having lately!!

It sounds like the boardings did not go over very well. Coming home missing a claw at the first boarding would have indicated a very stressful week and a half. There is a good chance that she was not eating well there either. You are doing all the right things with the IV fluids and supplements and the home testing. DKA can certainly drain a kitty's body and it can take some time for the kitty to build her strength back up.

I see you have mentioned that you posted in the Health section. There are some very experienced people there that will be able to offer some information, opinions and advice. In the meantime I am sending prayers and hugs for your kitty and your family.