Hypoglycemic cat at 3 am :(

[ddbach]

I woke up at 3 am and realized I was hearing a scratching noise every once in a while. Got up to investigate wondering which cat was stuck where. Found Tori, who's been diabetic for 6 years, trying to crawl as far as possible into the corner behind a door. The only other time she's done this she was hypoglycemic (bs 50).
Went to get the meter. Poked her ear and got a drop of blood, look down at meter and the dying battery icon is flashing Please, please just read the drop before you die, I think. Nope So on empiric evidence I feed her some squeeze frosting and then some moistened dry food. Check to see if there is a closer 24hr pharmacy than the one I know 10mi away. Yes but harder to get there w/ one way streets, etc. Get a new battery and check her sugar. Shes at 90 now at 6am and acting more her usual self. Looks like she's starting to be less forgiving of changes in her schedule. I fed her and gave her pm insulin 2hrs earlier than usual as I took Dad to dinner and a play last night.
I'm beat. Looks like more frequent sugar checks and repeat serial checks for at least a few weekends.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Glad to hear it worked out okay. And kudos to you for caring for her in a state like that - it's a lot of work but it's nice to hear of some pet owners who are caring and willing to go out of their way to make the world a little bit more compassionate. Here's hoping she's with you for a good long time to come.

[masraum]

Ditto, what P o P said.

[crustychief]

Nice save.

[ddbach]

Tori is her usual sweet cranky self today.


She is 16yo so not sure how much longer she'll last since diabetes does shorten her life expectancy. It is sometimes challenging to adjust food portion and insulin dosage/timing as the insulin she gets is a long acting protamine zinc formula (peaks about 12 hrs after admin). We had to change insulin in Sept when the brand she was initially started on was not available and it was no longer being made. I don't know if it is just changes with time and age or with the insulin change but we've now had two hypoglycemic episodes where we had not previously had any, scary all the same. If she hadn't seemed to be improving we would have gone to the emergency vet ($$$$). Fortunately a new battery for the meter was only $4.50. Sugars are upper 200's this afternoon but no surprise w/ sugar + extra food this morning. If I wake up during the night I'll probably check her just for paranoia's sake.