I had to put my 13 year-old-cat to sleep on Tuesday night after a whirlwind of two days. Bobo was diagnosed with diabetes three years ago and since then had been maintained on twice-daily insulin injections and once or twice a year glucose curves at the vet (I was never successful with the home meter, though I tried). He was an indoor and outdoor cat--he came inside during cold or rainy weather, and I would let him outside as soon as it was nice out. I inherited Bobo when my dad passed away six years ago. He spent close to a year in our laundry room for the most part as we tried to regulate his diabetes because he had poor control of his urine and bowels, but we eventually got it under control to the point where we could let him outside when it was nice. He was the sweetest cat in the world and the neighborhood kids all adored him.
On Sunday, my neighbor called me to let me know that he was by their porch, couldn't walk, and was crying. I rushed him to the emergency vet and he was having a hypoglycemic episode--he hadn't had one before. He stayed overnight and then I transferred him to his vet in the morning where he stayed all day getting testing, fluids, and his glucose monitored. He went from a blood glucose level of 27 the night before to 280 the next evening before I took him home. The vet encouraged me to bring him back for fluids and monitoring the next day, which I did. However, she wasn't sure what caused this episode since he'd never had one before, and she felt like it must be an underlying issue. Since the overnight hospital stay and the all-day vet stay cost about $2,000, I wasn't able to pay for ultrasound or additional imaging, knowing also that I wouldn't be able to pay for subsequent treatment for an underlying illness. If I had the money to do it I would have, but I simply don't and I can't get over this guilt.
Bobo did well at the vet all day Tuesday, but when I went to feed him dinner at home on Tuesday night I found him lying in a pool of pee. I rushed him back to the emergency hospital where his blood sugar had once again dropped to 25. The vet said that she could give him fluids again and do further testing, but that he would likely need to be hospitalized multiple nights to get him stable and then there would be an underlying issue to identify and treat. In the area where I live, this would have amounted to nearly $10,000, which I don't have, nor do I have the credit or credit score to take out more loans. The vet said that she didn't think it would be wrong or inhumane to euthanize him. Right before they put him to sleep he ate some baby food and purred while I pet him for a while, and he seemed content and calm right before they administered the medication.
I don't know if anyone else has experience with diabetic cats or hypoglycemic episodes, but I would love to hear any stories. I've tried to look online but can't find any examples of multiple incidents back-to-back. I feel horribly guilty because if maybe I had just paid for one more day of hospitalization it could have broken the cycle, but I had no financial means to continue this process. I feel like I let Bobo down and my dad, too. Thanks for reading/listening.
