Hypoglycemia in Kittens

"Captain" kneaded my heart into silly putty. Now I miss him and foolishly regret not keeping him. Funny how attached you get when an animal has siezures in your hands. OK, it's not funny at all, it was a very scary and costly experience.

I found him one evening lying on the floor (as if he'd fallen) when I picked him up I knew something was wrong. He was lifeless and cold. Were it not for the tiny mew he let out I would have thought him dead. I felt he needed treatment immediately and rather than take him for a half hour drive to the shelter vet, I chose to take him to a nearby emergency clinic. he siezed a couple of times on the way. He had so little life in him that even his siezures seemed half hearted.

I got him in, they looked very worried. They rushed him back to the doctor and once he was stabilized, I was told that his blood sugar had become fatally low and he would have died had treatment been delayed. We discussed how this could have happened and the vet was implying that maybe with all the kittens in the house, this one didn't get enough to eat. Once they had brought him around, he ate very hungrily. I'm sure the vet thought that he had missed a few meals but I knew better, I had seen him at breakfast. They believed he needed to be hospitalized for the night. The bill was already 350.00 and the hospital stay would have brought it to over 700.00. "This isn't even my cat! He's a foster kitten, I can't spend that kind of money on him!" They had brought him out during his revival and while he was sleepy, he seemed OK. He meowed and purred, bless his heart. They suggested they keep him until closing and in the meantime I went out to buy a heating pad and baby food.

Against their advice, I took him home. I put him in my bed and stayed up most of the night with him. He got too hot for the heating pad and eventually ended up under my neck. His brother and sister joined us in the morning and all assumed their positions under my neck to knead and suckle my blanket (I have learned to get them on the blanket and off my skin, kitten hickies are only cute for a little while). He showed no signs of brain damage but was the "wussiest" of all the kittens, crying immediately when tackled. Maybe he was always like that, he had only become affectionate a few days before this incident so I didn't know him very well. I did a little research and bought a bottle of Karo syrup to rub on his gums should this ever happen again. I also made certain that he ate at every meal and even started buying the rediculously expensive Fancy Feast Elegant Medleys because he liked them.

When we did a follow up another vet said that the whole thing was just a fluke and would probably never happen again. This would not mean he is at risk for feline diabetes or anything. I explained this to the shelter when I surrendered him and his brother and sister. Anybody adopting him would certainly have enquired as to why his arm and neck had been shaved. It must not have been of much concern to whover adopted him because he was gone before the weekend was over.

Thursday, I took my teenagers (Sacha and Smokey) in for their final round of shots. I took them to the low cost vaccination clinic (just under 50 bucks each... I shudder at the thought of "high cost") I like the vet there. I refer to him as "Dr. No Nonsense". I asked him about Captain's incident. What I found out was that while it may have been a fluke, there are non diabetic animals that have delicate blood sugar levels. He said that certain small dog breeds are notorious for it. and that they usually have a strong taste for human food and maybe even a sweet tooth. (These guys were eating muffins in their dressing room) Captain definitely had more of an interest in what I was eating than any of the other kittens ever showed.

He said that there was no need for concern or high vet bills because all that's needed is the Karo syrup. If it's caught right away, the animal will come right around and you can give it some food and it will be fine. BUT if not caught or a person doesn't know what to do, the siezures start and brain damage or death can result.

So it's been a week since I said "Goodbye" to Captain and I'll admit I've regretted it ever since. No, I shouldn't have adopted him but I do miss him even more than I thought I would. But hey, that's what happens! You fall in love! Get over it, the job is to take care of them not to adopt them all and become the crazy cat lady of the neighborhood!

BUT what if this happens to Captain again? If I was his owner I would certainly want to know that a simple bottle of Karo syrup could save money, brain cells and even his life. I know all adoptions are confidential. Animal services is a law enforcement agency and can't give any information on adoptors but I wrote to my two contacts to see if they had any way of contacting his owners if they could please pass on the information. It's no big deal, no reason to not keep the cat, it may never happen again but just buy a bottle of Karo syrup and keep it around.

I'm sure I looked like an idiot for writing the letter but I couldn't rest until I did.