one 2 unit shot of Humulin N and cat wont eat anymore

My newly diagnosed 10 yr old cat had one 2 unit shot of Humulin N 26 hours ago and cat wont eat anymore.
(she did eat just before the shot)
She will not even eat her dry food that she always use to eat nibbling all day long.
I did not give her her evening shot, because she would not eat.

Please help. :sad:

 

Could be due to ketones. Can you syringe feed? Can you measure blood glucose? If the cat is urinating you should get some ketone urine test strips and measure for ketones. How is cat acting? Lethargic? O vet visit is highly recommended.

 

She is kind of lethargic, as she has been the last week (why I took her to the vet for blood testing)
Her glucose was 400 from the bloodwork.
she wants to just stay under the bed and not be bothered.
I pulled her out of there and petted her and talked to her on the bed and she was purring.
Then I tried giving her some food and she was not happy with me.
She is not even drinking water now.
She is not urinating.
I do not know anything about ketones and testing of that.
The vet did not want me to start testing her blood at home yet.

Before the shot yesterday, she was drinking tons of water and eating somewhat. Even canned food which she normally never would ever eat.

 

It sounds like you have a sick cat and it's unlikely that insulin is the cause.

There are two serious conditions associated with diabetes, one is diabetic ketoacidosis, Larry mentioned testing for ketones because that's the measurable indicator. To test you will need ketostix, which are available at any drugstore. They are usually kept behind the pharmacy counter. This is a urine test, so you will need to catch Ginger in the box, not easy, but necessary.

The other condition is Hepatic Lipidosis, also called fatty liver disease.

Both DKA and HL can result from a cat not eating, that's why Larry mentioned syringe feeding. BTW Larry is a vet tech and very knowledgable.

The ketone test will tell you if Ginger is a candidate for DKA. The urine testing sticks give a rough measurement, if the reading is negative or small you can treat at home by force feeding and giving insulin. If the ketones are moderate or large you need to go to an emergency hospital because Ginger's life is at risk. It will be expensive, but the sooner you go the less treatment will be needed.

I am not trying to scare you, but I am concerned because you have so little information and so little experience. Here is a link www.marvistavet.com that will take you to a description of many feline diseases, look up diabetes, DKA and Hepatic Lipidosis to get some basic information, then come here with additional questions.

But before you do anything else please get the test sticks and get a urine test. You need that information before you can proceed.

People here have experience with both conditions, so do come back as soon as you know a little more.

Gia & Quirk (GA)

Guilt trips are a detour from life

 

Actually, though all the information you've got above is excellent, I'd go a step further and take kitty into the vet right away. Either it's DKA which requires emergency care right away, or it's HL and the cat must start eating/forcefeeding immediately, and your vet should be able to tell which.

 

I will call the vet tomorrow and take her in.
She just drank a little bit of water and is laying in the living room vs under the bed

All her other blood work came out normal the other day.
The only thing bad was the glucose blood work.

 

If you can get a ketone test your vet may decide a visit is unnecessary, please get the strips and test today.

 

Ginger, if you wait too long you might not have a cat any longer if it is something serious. Cats hide things; what you are describing is very serious!

 

We just got some ketone urine test strips and to measure for ketones.
She is drinking water now, hopefully she will urinate soon.
She is still not eating tho.

I will call the emergency pet hospital (since today is Sunday and no other vets are open) once I get the reading.

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

I'm sorry Ginger isn't feeling well.

If you cannot get her to go to the box so you can test for ketones I would urge you to take her to the emergency vet today. 24 hours can make a difference in care/treatment.

When I need my diabetic to (pardon the expression) pee on demand, I get a disposable tray, such as a foil turkey roaster or cake pan, and put litter in and set it up near my computer desk. She just cannot stand the lure of a new box. Don't fill the box, just use a thin layer of litter.

If that doesn't work the vet tech can get a ketone reading when you go into the office.

Best,
Pam & Layla

 

Any updates Ginger? Did you get a keotone urine test?

 

I could not do a ketone test, she hasnt eaten and drank enough I guess.
She finally did eat a little bit of dry morsels at around 7 pm. But only about 8 pieces.
She seems more alert and is moving around more like she feels better.

I will call the vet tomorrow.

 

This morning Ginger ate 10 dry morsels and drank a little water.
I called the vet and am bringing her in so they can monitor her for the day and test her glucose level.

 

I took her to the vet.
She is dehydrated and probably Ketonoic.
They are going to tube feed her to restart her system and perform tests.
They are keeping her overnight

 

I'm sorry to read this but not surprised given the symptoms you described. Hopefully they know how to treat DKA and she'll feel better soon. If you want to question them on their treatment, we can get you info on what is appropriate protocols, etc.

Jen

 

The vet sounded like he knew what to do.
He plans to feed tube her and re-hydrate her, check her BG and give insulin when its time.
I brought her dry food, plus canned food of the only one she has ever attemped to eat and her insulin.

She had only had one 2 unit shot of insulin. (first and only shot)
Since she wasnt eating or drinking at all, I could not give her anymore.

 

The vet just called.
First they tested her BG.
Its NORMAL. And even though she hasnt eaten much, the vet said, thats really strange.....
Her BG was 460 on saturday.
They asked permisson to redo some of the blood work testing.

Right now they are giving her fluid and tube feeding.

 

Perhaps she wasn't really diabetic....????

 

confused_cat
what would cause her BG level to be so high on Saturday besides Diabetes?

 

Stres and/or infection perhaps. Was she diagnosed with a simple blood glucose test or did they do a fructosamine?

 

I do not know.... confused_cat
They did a full blood analysis (Cost for that and visit was $185.00 (us)
Then they did a urine analysis from urine I collected at home later that day for an additional charge.
Both showed BG as very high.

 

Also today they took her temperature and it was normal, so I would think that would indicate no infection.
But they did start her on antibiotics today, just incase I guess.

 

There are better ways to check for infection but I'm not a vet or a vet tech so I cannot tell you exactly what they should be doing. giving antibiotics profilactically (sp?) is one approach but it would be good if they could find out for certain so that they give the right antibiotic...

 

I talked to the vet and they are still not done diagnosing her condition.
Her secondary blood work came out normal except for 2 of the liver tests being very slightly elevated. The other liver tests were normal.
Normally the vet said that is not reason to be concerned.
After force or tube feeding and re-hydrating her, her BG level was 260, which is a little high, but alot of that could be caused from stress of the situation there.
Now they are not sure she is diabetic....
I should know more tomorrow when (hopefully) we bring her home.

Fridays BG was 460 from the blood work and her urine test was off the charts.
She had one 2 unit shot of insulin on saturday.
She then refused to eat or drink water at all.
Today before she was tube fed, her BG was normal......(which vet cannot understand)
After she ate it was 260.

 

It is not really abnormal for liver values to be off after not eating for a few days.

 

You have seen a lot of information on home testing blood glucose, I think this is something you should learn to do for your peace of mind.

Things that could affect Ginger's elevated b/g reading are vet stress and infection. A fructosamine test, which shows blood glucose avaerages over a 2-3 week period will be more reliable because stress isn't a factor and you would likely have noticed an infection. Be sure your vet does this test, it is definitive for diabetes.

Those readings were pretty high, that's why I suggest keeping track of Ginger's b/gs on a fairly regular basis and, definitely, whenever she is under the weather.

 

She was tube feed again at 6 last night and then sometime during the night (at the vets) she ate 1/2 can of 9 lives tuna select.
This morning her BG was 75.
She has had no insulin during her time at the vets. The only insulin shot she had was sat. 2 units.

They do not think she is diabetic after all.
They are doing x-rays now because they wonder if it is pancritis or hepitits.
I am very worried. :cry:

 

Could you remind us please, have they checked THOROUGHLY for infection?

 

She had a full blood analysis. It all came out good.

 

Whether she's diabetic or not, her blood sugar is being triggered sometimes to go very high.

2U of N is way too high a starting dose in any case, and it will really help you to get a cheap glucometer from the drugstore and start testing her blood sugar at home once in a while. Remember blood sugar changes, sometimes dramatically, over the course of a day. And it goes quite high at the vet's for some cats, due to cortisol release from all the stress.

Your best bets are to have the fructosamine test, and to keep testing at home. And make sure she keeps eating about the right amount. And only low-carb food. She could be just fine.

 

They suspect either hepititis or pancreitis.
No tumors were found in x-rays but.....
They also suspect she has the heart disese Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy from the condition of her heart in the x-rays.

They said if she has Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy she has maybe 1 to 1-1/2 yrs to live if she goes back to eating normally and is lucky.

I do not know what to do now...

 

(( :YMHUG: ))
I'm sorry to hear this, I'm not familiar with these health issues, but I was wondering if they will confirm their suspicions for you?
Does anyone know what kind of tests would confirm?

 

I know that we have kitties on the board that have hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Why don't you start a new post with this term in the subject line? That will get the attention of people who have dealt with this disease.

Don't give up! You'll get good first-hand advice about this, and I bet things are more optimistic than your vet is leading you to believe.

 

For a heart issue I would go to a cardiologist. An echocardiogram (ultrasound) and blood pressure measurement are probably in order.

 

Thanks everyone.

I private messaged someone that has a kitty with the heart condition and got a few answers.

Gingers blood sugar yesterday and today has been around 80, with no insulin since the one dosage on Saturday.

The vet said their whole office is totally confused by this.
Friday it was 460.

They had given her antiboitics with her fluids while there and gave me pills to continue it for 5 more days.
They also gave me a prescription for beta blockers for her heart.

When I brought her home today, she immediatly went for the water and drank and drank and drank. (this worries me)
Then she ate some of the canned food, probably 2 tbls.
She has been coming out periodically to drink water and get more food.
She has always ate dry food and picked all day, eating alot at one time is going to be a slow going adjustment for her.
She never even would eat treats.
She only liked her food.

She seems alert and ok tho.
I will keep you updated.

 

I agree that you should start a new topic asking for HCM info to draw in fresh eyes. There are several cats with various types / degrees of HCM and they may be able to give you some info.

I do agree that a visit to a cardiologist -- preferably one that's board-certified --is in order. They'll probably do some more tests (mine did an echocardiogram) and will then be able tell you more about what's going on with your cat and how best to proceed from there. There are different types of HCM, and different degrees of HCM; and each variation can mean something a little different regarding treatment or prognosis. Also, if you get an echo done, that should hopefully show whether there are any *other* heart problems that you may want to take into consideration. I really think a cardiologist will be able to give you the best possible guidance here.

If Jess & Earl find this thread, please give special attention to her comments; she is long-time vet-tech in a practice that does a lot of heart-related work.

 

What's the evidence? They think her heart is big? Many cats with HCM don't have big hearts on x-rays, even. If she's not in heart failure, I see no reason to saddle her with a tick-tock prognosis. If I understand you correctly, she has been receiving fluids for a few days with no problems?

You can check out acvim.org for information on cardiologists in your area (US and Canada). I would get her an echocardiogram by a board-certified cardiologist. Also, in the meantime, while her heart diagnosis is still undecided, ask that she is NOT given steroids or sedated with ketamine. Both of these can send cats with overall mild heart disease into heart failure.

I'm off to work now but feel free to ask any questions, I'll check back on this thread.

 

In the x-ray her heart appears to be "heart-shaped" as in valentines day heart, and the vet believes the walls of her heart are thicker than they should be.
She has no signs of fluid around her lungs or heart tho.

She was prescribed Atenolol (a beta blocker) 1/4 of a 25mg tablet - 2 times a day.
She is also on an antibiotic in case she has an infection that is not showing up in her blood work, since her BG sugar levels are strangly normal now but were not a few days ago.

During her tube feeding and rehydrating of fluids at the vets for 2 days, she did fine.
Her BG levels monday and tuesday were around 75-80 each time they tested her.
Since she has been home (from last night) she has eaten a little of canned food, maybe 1 tbls a couple of times yesterday and today, and a few morsels of dry, but is back to drinking tons of water and is a little lathargic.
I have a syringe to force feed her if it comes to that.

The beta blockers I guess can cause drowsiness, so not really sure if she's a little lathargic from that or "something else"

 

Also, Ginger's Mom has started a new HCM-specific thread over in general health, here http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=4225. Anyone with anything they can add to the thread, please chip in!