BScott
Member Since 2024
Hello. First time posting.
Long story short: McKinley (about 13-1/2 yrs young) was diagnosed on 11/9/23 along with bad kidneys. Our vet told us to give 2 units of insulin (Lantus) twice a day and that was it. We have been doing just that up until yesterday night (1/12/24). Little bit of a back story first, It "seems" like he temporarily lost his eye sight on 11/25/23. I say "seem" because he constantly was sniffing around and staying near walls or sometimes walked in circles, but at the same time he went down stairs and maneuvered other obstacles with no problem during this time. It almost seemed like he was in a trance. I didn't know what to do. Called the Vet. Vet checked BG, it was at 144 (taken around 4pm, he had insulin at 830am and he started this episode around 3pm). The vet said this episode was most likely caused by high blood pressure from stress because of him having bad kidneys. He has never done this before. Same thing happened 12/16/23, 12/21/23, and lastly 01/12/24. Each time, the loss of eyesight only lasted from a period of 2-4 hours. We always thought it was derived from high blood pressure until the last episode that happened yesterday. I saw McKinley lying under the table with his mouth slightly cracked opened (he was breathing normally), periodically he had an ever so slighlty twitch of his ear and sometimes head (not normal), he walked across the room to go lay down in another spot and was lightly stumbling on his way. His eyes were not dilated (previous times they were), but he seemed like he was in a trance. I started to suspect he might be having a hypo-event. At this time I got some wet food and he ate it. He was still showing the symptoms. 30-min later gave him another spoonful of wet food and he ate it. At this time, I went to the store to get a BG meter and the rest of the items to take his measurements (as it seems, I should have had this long time ago). In the meantime while I was at the store, my wife gave him another spoonful of wet food and he ate it. At some point shortly after eating, his eyes got dilated and he seemed to lose vision once again (all prior symptoms were continuing as well). I got home and it had seemed he immediately snapped out of vision loss but still wad showing the initial symptoms. My wife and I tried, but failed getting blood from his ear at that time. He got back to his old self shorty after that time. We tried to get blood again later that night before his feeding, but again failed. We decided not to give him any insulin fearing Low BG. This AM (01/13/24) we didn't give him any insulin because we usually have a little bit of dry food down during the day and night because of his grazing habits. He has always (been a grazer) ate small amounts of food since he was a kitten. This PM, we were successful at getting blood before his dinner meal (we put the dry food dish away over 2-hours prior). His BG was at 78. Again, we decided not to give him any insulin. This is now the third consecutive cycle he hasn't been given insulin, fearing another episode of sorts. I really don't know where to go from here except knowing that more BG testing will be required. He has been acting normal ever since the end of his episode from yesterday. I have been reading, reading, reading, and reading information about this illness and had no idea how complicated it is. I am very surprised our Vet didn't give us any additional information on any steps on what to do. I know there are plenty of holes that need to be filled with my story, but figured I needed to start somewhere. Any help is much appreciated. Thanks for reading the novel.
Long story short: McKinley (about 13-1/2 yrs young) was diagnosed on 11/9/23 along with bad kidneys. Our vet told us to give 2 units of insulin (Lantus) twice a day and that was it. We have been doing just that up until yesterday night (1/12/24). Little bit of a back story first, It "seems" like he temporarily lost his eye sight on 11/25/23. I say "seem" because he constantly was sniffing around and staying near walls or sometimes walked in circles, but at the same time he went down stairs and maneuvered other obstacles with no problem during this time. It almost seemed like he was in a trance. I didn't know what to do. Called the Vet. Vet checked BG, it was at 144 (taken around 4pm, he had insulin at 830am and he started this episode around 3pm). The vet said this episode was most likely caused by high blood pressure from stress because of him having bad kidneys. He has never done this before. Same thing happened 12/16/23, 12/21/23, and lastly 01/12/24. Each time, the loss of eyesight only lasted from a period of 2-4 hours. We always thought it was derived from high blood pressure until the last episode that happened yesterday. I saw McKinley lying under the table with his mouth slightly cracked opened (he was breathing normally), periodically he had an ever so slighlty twitch of his ear and sometimes head (not normal), he walked across the room to go lay down in another spot and was lightly stumbling on his way. His eyes were not dilated (previous times they were), but he seemed like he was in a trance. I started to suspect he might be having a hypo-event. At this time I got some wet food and he ate it. He was still showing the symptoms. 30-min later gave him another spoonful of wet food and he ate it. At this time, I went to the store to get a BG meter and the rest of the items to take his measurements (as it seems, I should have had this long time ago). In the meantime while I was at the store, my wife gave him another spoonful of wet food and he ate it. At some point shortly after eating, his eyes got dilated and he seemed to lose vision once again (all prior symptoms were continuing as well). I got home and it had seemed he immediately snapped out of vision loss but still wad showing the initial symptoms. My wife and I tried, but failed getting blood from his ear at that time. He got back to his old self shorty after that time. We tried to get blood again later that night before his feeding, but again failed. We decided not to give him any insulin fearing Low BG. This AM (01/13/24) we didn't give him any insulin because we usually have a little bit of dry food down during the day and night because of his grazing habits. He has always (been a grazer) ate small amounts of food since he was a kitten. This PM, we were successful at getting blood before his dinner meal (we put the dry food dish away over 2-hours prior). His BG was at 78. Again, we decided not to give him any insulin. This is now the third consecutive cycle he hasn't been given insulin, fearing another episode of sorts. I really don't know where to go from here except knowing that more BG testing will be required. He has been acting normal ever since the end of his episode from yesterday. I have been reading, reading, reading, and reading information about this illness and had no idea how complicated it is. I am very surprised our Vet didn't give us any additional information on any steps on what to do. I know there are plenty of holes that need to be filled with my story, but figured I needed to start somewhere. Any help is much appreciated. Thanks for reading the novel.
