Hypoglycaemia, or low blood glucose, can be very dangerous for our cats. Hypoglycaemia in cats can be caused by various reasons, the majority being a sudden drop in glucose due to insulin treatment used in diabetic cats. Other more or less frequent causes are hypoglycemia in the newborn, sepsis, liver disease, pancreatic tumors that release a lot of insulin, prolonged fasting or diseases that cause malnutrition.
Symptoms can range from mild disorientation, blurred vision, and weakness to severe symptoms such as ataxia, tremors, seizures, depression, and even coma and death. The diagnosis is made fundamentally with blood tests and the measurement of glucose levels and the treatment will seek to recover blood glucose as soon as possible. Keep reading this article on our site to learn more about hypoglycemia in cats, causes, symptoms and treatment to apply.
What is hypoglycemia in cats?
Hypoglycemia is a low blood sugar (glucose) in a body's blood. Glucose is one of the main sources of energy, and the food source of the brain of our felines.
When blood glucose drops, the body's cells do not have enough fuel and begin to glitch, loss of consciousness and the life of the cat is in danger. Hypoglycemia is not a disease, but rather a symptom of underlying problems.
Causes of hypoglycemia in cats
The main causes of hypoglycemia in cats are:
- Insulin treatment can cause hypoglycemia in diabetic cats.
- Tumor of the pancreas (insulinoma).
- Liver disorders (lipidosis, neoplasia, portosystemic shunts, glycogen storage disorders).
- Sepsis.
- Feline Infectious Peritonitis.
- Intestinal malabsorption.
- Long fast.
- Cushing's syndrome (hyperadrenocorticism).
- Prolonged seizures.
- Erythrocytosis (increased red blood cells).
- Excessive carbohydrates in the diet and sudden reduction in protein (cats can live perfectly well with very low amounts of these nutrients, since they synthesize glucose with proteins as they are carnivores).
- Hypoglycemia in baby cats (they are usually more predisposed to it, since their liver, which is responsible for stabilizing glucose levels, is still developing, so very spaced meals, stress or infections can cause hypoglycemia in kittens).
Feline hypoglycemia symptoms
The symptoms that can trigger hypoglycemia in cats are:
- Anorexia or increased appetite.
- Blurry vision.
- Weakness.
- Lethargy.
- Disorientation.
- Anxiety or nervousness.
- Increased heart rate (tachycardia).
- Low power.
- Confusion.
- Loss of consciousness.
- Tremors.
- Ataxia.
- Heart palpitations.
- Seizures.
- Depression.
- Death.
Depending on the severity of the hypoglycemia, some cats will only be disoriented and shaky and others will have seizures, fainting, and even shock.
Diagnosis of hypoglycemia in cats
As the symptoms are very non-specific, to diagnose hypoglycemia in a cat, a blood test must be performed, measuring glucose. When blood glucose is less than 3.5 mmol/L hypoglycemia is diagnosed. However, the most striking and worrying symptoms usually occur when blood glucose drops below 2.8 mmol/L. In addition, we will look at the following:
- Medication dose: Inquire if the diabetes medication dose is too high, has not been updated, or has been a dosage error has occurred.
- Malnutrition: If the cat is dehydrated and thin, consider malnutrition or prolonged fasting and investigate underlying disease.
- Fever: if the cat has a fever, it should be thought that a microorganism in the blood is causing this problem, causing septicemia. Laboratory tests may show leukocytosis (increased white blood cells), neutrophilia with a shift to the left, or neutropenia with toxic neutrophils.
- Blood serum chemistry: A complete blood serum chemistry should be performed to look for liver enzyme abnormalities for any abnormalities liver, in addition to an ultrasound with sampling if any alteration is observed.
- Ultrasound: The abdominal ultrasound will be done to look for a tumor in the pancreas, intestine or liver.
Feline hypoglycemia treatment
Asymptomatic hypoglycemia is resolved by feeding frequent small meals, especially in kittens. Honey can also be applied to the cat's lips to quickly obtain a source of glucose.
When a cat has already developed more or less severe symptoms of hypoglycaemia, it is necessary to take it urgently to a veterinary center for treatment. Said treatment will include:
- Dextrose serum: administration of intravenous dextrose fluids. Rapid clinical improvement should be noted and glucose should be measured within 5-10 minutes of bolus dextrose administration. A glucometer can be used for this measurement, which is less stressful for the feline.
- Corticosteroids: In cases of insulin overdose in diabetic cats, corticosteroids such as dexamethasone at a dose of 0.1 mg should be used /kg intravenously or prednisolone at a dose of 0.5 mg/kg orally, in order to antagonize the action of insulin.
- Intravenous glucagon infusion: For insulin overdose or when intravenous supplementation does not work, an infusion can also be used of intravenous glucagon.
- Treat Disease: After the cat is stabilized, treatment of the underlying disease, if present, should be started to avoid future hypoglycemia that can endanger the life of our little feline.
