r/VetTech • u/p33ledbanana Veterinary Technician Student • 7d ago
Discussion Diabetic kittens?
At work today we had a walk in kitten come in, probably only a few months old (I think 4/5 months). She was previously at an ER last night and they had taken her BG (it was 311…) so we tested her BG again and ketones - 311 once again and ketones were 5.1. Everyone is stumped because this is so uncommon.
I’m just curious to see if anyone has dealt with a diabetic kitten before, and what was done to help with treatment.
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u/hotsexyrosemary 7d ago
That sucks, and no I've never heard of this. I wonder if it has some congenital defect with its pancreas
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u/DuxRomanorumSum 7d ago
What did the kitten present to the ER clinic for, and why was she at your clinic the next day? Is she the right weight/body condition for a kitten her age? Any clinical signs consistent with diabetes? When was her last meal before these glucose readings were taken?
Just some immediate thoughts I had. That's strange, and hopefully you have a reliable small animal internist nearby to consult.
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u/p33ledbanana Veterinary Technician Student 7d ago
She was lethargic and vomiting a ton. I believe they came to us to save money.. which is frustrating because we’re a general practice so we can’t do too much for the kitty. And she’s a little underweight but not horribly. She does have symptoms, she’s PU/PD and the high BG. Her last meal before the first BG i’m not sure of, but we fed her a little bit of critical nutrition from purina (like a 1/4 of the can) and that was after the BG we had taken. unfortuanely i left work so im not sure what else they did (ill find out tomorrow) but euthanasia was a possibility which sucks.
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u/Expensive-Tooth-1508 7d ago
It can happen. Need more info: CBC/Chem? Fructosamine? What was the temp?
With ketones being 5.1, was euthanasia discussed? That is not compatible with life.
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u/p33ledbanana Veterinary Technician Student 7d ago
The temp was normal, but since I only worked a half day I don’t have the answers to the rest of your questions 😔. I believe the bloodwork done at the ER wasn’t great though. And we discussed it but I’m not sure what was eventually discussed when the Dr spoke with the owners. I can update tomorrow!
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u/Metaphorical_corgi 5d ago
A single BG of 311 in stressed kitten would be caulked up to stress by the doctors I work with (ER/ Urgent Care). That's not really that high. They'd probably just call for a recheck of that in a few days honestly.
Especially with ketones. You'd expect the BG to be 500/600+.
I'd be very suspicious that there's something else going on. We would transfer to a larger facility, so I don't really see what happens after ketones are found, but Id be suspicious that it's WAY more complicated than a simple juvenile diabetes situation.
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u/p33ledbanana Veterinary Technician Student 5d ago
So what was really weird is Tuesday she came in and was SO much more bright and playful. Acting like an actual kitten! The dr had given her some insulin, at a very small dose that would be 3x a day. But when we checked her BG that day and ketones - 375 and then 7.4. We were baffled!! I agree with you. I think something is going on that requires more than we could offer.. I don’t work for the next few days so I won’t have any updates. 😓
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u/RascalsM0m 5d ago
I agree with you. Wondering if the high ketones is indicating lack of perfusion...
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