Finally Home Animal Haven in Scottsville, Virginia

September 10th

We made a trip to the vet to try to find an answer as to why she has diabetes at such a young age and potentially get her levels under control.

Before arriving at FHAH, her previous vet had recorded her blood sugars around 483 so he started her on insulin. Over the next several weeks he kept increasing from 1 unit to 2 and then 3…because what they were seeing in the office was still over the 300 range. However cats can also spike their blood glucose higher in a stressful situation, such as a vet visit.

After she arrived here, we noticed in a 2 hour period (on our own monitor) she went from a blood glucose level of 133 then jumped to 428…yet there were no stressful events. It was consistently rising yet was still 3 hours before her insulin was due. Overtime, having spikes like this can be life threatening. Yet the following day (when she was given the same 3 units of insulin) she was close to bordering a blood glucose of 70s…a number so low we weren’t comfortable with. When cats dip lower than 70 they can essentially exhibit weakness, lethargy, confusion or seizures.

It can be very bad.

We won’t give up on Evie but it may take time and several vet visits to figure out what is going on. We are currently waiting on her labs to determine a plan. She deserves to have an advocate and there is not always an easy solution.

Her first vet visit was $455 and so far we’ve raised $75, so we are about $380 short. Your support literally means the difference in saying “yes” to an animal like Evie…who if sent to another shelter, would have 100% meant the end of her journey. With overcrowding and no 24/7 staff at most facilities, there would have been no way to get Evie the medical care she needed. Helping support heavy medical cases like her who are left with no other options, literally makes you a hero…and you probably don’t even realize it.

Every single dollar helps them heal and ensure they get the care they deserve.

September 25th

Evie (the 2 year old cat who arrived to us with critically high blood sugars), has us frantically trying to get to the bottom of her health issues. After her last visit to the vet, the Dr. was left scratching her head. She had never seen labs quite like Evie's-multiple values ranging from extremely high to extremely low...mimicking a cat with severe vomiting, high white blood cells, high platelets, decreased liver values and more...nothing she’s been experiencing nor which correlate with what they should be seeing with a cat with only diabetes. In addition to that, when Evie receives her insulin her blood sugar goes from spiking really high to bottoming out really low! Nothing that makes sense in the medical field.

The vet, left with so many questions, was forced to bring in a specialist to get a 2nd opinion on what she was looking at. They decided to halt her insulin for now and see if her full panel of lab values improve, as currently they are worried about what is happening with the rest of her body every time she gets the insulin she needs. It is possible that something else internally is not functioning correctly, so we need to get to the bottom of whether she is a true diabetic or if something else could be causing this.

We have been monitoring her blood sugars closely as being without insulin as a diabetic can be dangerous, but so is what reaction her body is having when it's administered.

We meet back at the drawing board over the next week to see if her values have improved since being off the insulin…if they have then we need to figure out why her injections are causing this reaction. Yet if they haven’t, then we will continue the search to see what is causing her lab values to be so unstable.

Meanwhile, Evie is a truly adorable gal who loves to play and is a kitten at heart It’s heartbreaking to think she has all this going on at only 2.

We will continue to work to figure this out, no matter how long it takes.

October 8th

Evie is far from being out of the woods as we still don't quite know what is going on with her yet.

We are consulting with a specialist

She's been off of her insulin for two weeks now (under vet advisement) to see if her labs improve. After her last visit, we discovered her labs ranged from high to low in multiple areas warranting much worry and nothing quite making sense. They pointed to several different ailments and a VERY sick cat, nothing that adds up for a cat being only 2 years old with none of those corresponding symptoms.

Previously her insulin had been throwing her into readings ranging from 418 all the way down to 75! Testing her off of insulin was the only way to truly see what her sugars had been prior to the original vet's diagnosis and planned treatment. On insulin, her sugars are shooting way too high.

After two weeks of being off of insulin, we monitored her blood glucose consistently for 12 hours but they randomly ranged from 73 to 206. These readings show that if she is truly a diabetic, her blood sugars are way too low to treat with insulin without being worried that you could bottom her out and send her into a coma. However, we weren't reassured with these readings because when we tested her she was indeed positive for having sugar in her urine...something that she just wouldn't have if she wasn't diabetic.

Nothing from her labs are quite making sense.

Our next step is to apply a continuous monitor for the next 3-4 days to keep track of her highs and lows so we know when her spikes happen. We may also need to plan an ultrasound of her pancreas to get a closer look and make sure we aren't missing something there that's happening internally.

Weve finally paid off her original vet bills but we are consulting with a specialist who has a deeper experience with these type of cases, due to the fact her labs showed spikes in values everywhere. We need your help! The testing the specialist advises is extensive but necessary, and we cannot give up.

We need to raise at least $600 for her next two upcoming vet appointments. We can't let her just suffer without getting to the bottom of this!

When we agreed to take her in, we were the only rescue who would help. There is just no support for diabetic cats or cats with health issues. They often get euthanized without supportive care.

At FHAH we help the animals who we know may be hard BUT need us the most despite anticipating many sleepless nights, long hours, extensive medical care, tons of digging and sometimes even heartbreak.

Your contribution (no matter how small) goes a long way and cats like Evie depend on our love, support and care to help them get better.

October 9th

Evie had a continuous monitor applied yesterday to track her blood sugars since they were spiking extremely high then bottoming out very low. This will better help the vets understand her numbers so we don’t have to draw her blood constantly. She is having to wear a recovery suit to keep her from picking at the device so we can hopefully see the values long enough to make sense.

Due to the fact that her previous labs showed spikes all over (13 to be exact…in addition to inflammation and concerning high liver values) we are rechecking her labs to see if they have improved since being off of the insulin (in case for some reason it was causing havoc on her system).

The current vet who is also under advisement of a specialist are putting their heads together to work on her case. We have an internalist guiding us through these steps. They drew an additional extensive lab panel that should tell us if more things are going on internally that are deeper than what we are seeing.

Her case is SO COMPLEX we have been working nonstop to help her. We won’t stop digging but we need your help.

Yesterday’s vet visit was $775 but is vital to figuring this out. So far we have raised $180

Her labs show values of a very sick cat, nothing she should be suffering from at such a young age (only 2).

Please help us get to the bottom of Evie’s case-we can’t do it without your support!

October 27th

We wish we had answers for Evie, but sadly, we are still in limbo.

She’s had a continuous blood glucose monitor on for the last 12 days, and the readings have been even more concerning than before. This monitor has been incredibly valuable, giving us glucose values at all hours, day and night, and alerting us to dangerously high or life-threatening low values via a mobile device. Previously, she had lost a pound after stopping insulin, so these readings are critical.

The Libre monitor showed that at times her glucose was in the right range, but at multiple times at night it would drop below 40 without warning and stay there for hours, even with constant feeding. Night after night we monitored her closely and stayed with her. Normally, this is a medical emergency, yet Evie remained tired but alert and never became lethargic - a huge saving grace.

Other times, her glucose would struggle to rise, then suddenly spike unexpectedly, triggering alarms and requiring careful feedings every three hours, day and night. We have remained in constant contact with her veterinarian and a specialist team, working together to understand why her body cannot process food consistently. Despite these wild swings, we are relieved to report that Evie has gained the pound back with the frequent feedings (5 cans a day).

While waiting for her latest GI lab results, we’ve started treating her severe vitamin B12 deficiency, which can contribute to weight loss, fatigue, and other health issues. She received her first injection yesterday and may need weekly shots until her levels are stable enough for oral supplementation.

Please keep Evie in your thoughts and prayers. Thanks to our faithful supporters, we are only $300 short of her current balance - a true blessing. Every donation, share, and bit of support makes a huge difference in Evie’s journey!

October 28th

We finally heard back from our vets, but received very upsetting news. We were hopeful that Evie had a pancreatic enzyme deficiency (a condition that would be much easier to treat) but the lab results we received proved that is not the case. 3 vets are currently overlooking the case as well as being under a 4th vet's advisement (a special internist), so this news is heartbreaking. What we are seeing is that it's almost as if her body is unable to process nutrients and something is seriously wrong. With all the testing we've done, we are just as clueless as what is plaguing her little body as we were in the beginning. We have no options left but to send her to a specialist for a pancreatic ultrasound to get an internal look. However, we know as a small nonprofit that at some point we will be limited to how much more testing we will be able AFFORD to do, this much we are not naive to.

We are losing hope for little Evie even though we are trying to be strong...we are still human.

I'd be lying if I said when we got off the phone we didn't cry after we heard the news. We balled our eyes out.

We feel as if we are failing Evie.

Evie despite how sick she is internally, is the type of cat who loves people. She found a way to wiggle herself into our hearts. She loves nose bops and snuggling. She wants to be a kitten and she wants to play. She trusts us and deep down inside we know she feels safe with us. On the rescuer side of it, it is literally so gut wrenchingly tough to know that you might do everything you possibly can and it still might not be enough....but looking into those big deep eyes you know she counts on YOU, regardless to figure it out. She wants to live, she wants to run and jump and play and LOVE.

In the meantime we started her on weekly B12 injections as well as an oral supplement to start treatment while waiting. We (along with so many vets) are doing all we know to do.

We need your help to get her there. Her ultrasound is scheduled for Thursday at 7:45am.

We need your help to figure this out for Evie.

Please, please, if you can....skip that $5 latte just to donate $5 to a life like Evie's, a life that we promise you is worth saving.

We cannot do this alone.

October 30th

EVIE UPDATE FROM THE HOSPITAL:

Just received an update from the specialist…

We will start with the good…her diabetes has now gone into remission!!!!! Her blood sugar and urine are normal!

Now to the POTENTIALLY heartbreaking part…

Her labwork has improved in certain areas but her ultrasound shows thickening in particular areas of her intestines. Based off of the labwork, images and previous values…we are looking at two diagnosis’s.

One could be an inflammatory disorder or the other lymphoma.

Regardless we owe it to Evie to find answers as we can’t just sit on the news and let her suffer day after day with no treatment or answers. We are left with two options: an expensive exploratory surgery (with potentially serious added risks) or an aspiration. If it is cancer then the exploratory surgery may be unnecessary. The aspiration could tell us what we need to know without risking her life with an exploratory surgery and the additional pain with the added recovery.

She’s still at the hospital. They can do the aspiration TODAY so she doesnt have to wait but we need help raising the $500 to make this happen. We chose the cheaper and less risk option in hopes that it will be a simpler answer and that we won’t have to put her through potential added, unnecessary suffering with exploratory surgery.

PLEASE, PLEASE help us raise the funds for Evie. Can you imagine if we said “I’m sorry Evie but we can’t fight anymore.” She needs us.

We can’t just give up on her.

November 8th

We know some of you have been waiting for an update on Evie—but the truth is we don’t have any concrete answers yet. Her case has been so complex that no explanation is simple.

As of last week at the internal specialist, the ultrasound confirmed prominent lymph nodes, thickening of her intestines and elevated liver labs. These prove consistent with IBD (an inflammatory bowel disease) or lymphoma.

Both have two different treatment options.

Not knowing what to treat is the HARDEST part.

We went ahead with the liver aspiration ($500), as it was the simplest and less risky thing to do out of all 3 options. The other two suggested by the specialist were biopsy’s of the intestines ($3500-$5000) or biopsies of all 3-lymph nodes, intestinal tract & liver ($5,000-$7,000).

The liver aspiration came back containing no cancer cells, however this does not mean that she doesn’t have cancer- it just means the sample does not contain cancer cells. We chose this option because if it came back as lymphoma we would automatically choose palliative care, but we also knew that it wasn’t a sure diagnosis this way. However, being told that there were only 3 options-we knew we couldn’t spend thousands of dollars if there was a simpler answer.

So in a sense, we are closer with 2 separate possible diagnosis’s. IBD and lymphoma have the exact same symptoms, both leading to malnourishment, which is why it is so hard for her to process food. She is eating 6 cans a day just to maintain her current weight (6.9lbs) and is ALWAYS hungry. She is still receiving weekly B12 injections due to her current inability to absorb these nutrients.

There is a vet in Richmond who likes to use a different trial, one that was not offered by the specialist. He wants to start her on steroids, (but only a short enough trial to get the inflammation down) so that hopefully it won’t cause her to develop diabetes again (which is a risk, but we may not have another choice). We will carefully monitor her glucose for any spikes while performing this test.

If we start her on steroids for a trial period and then wean her off and her symptoms come back, then she has lymphoma. If we start her on steroids and then wean her off and her symptoms go away for a couple of weeks then she has severe IBD and we can start her on prebiotics, probiotics, oral B12, and a prescription diet which should keep the inflammatory disease at bay.

We have been in touch with our regular vet about this process and we continue to have several heads working together on her case. We wish figuring out this diagnosis for Evie was simply cut and dry, but it’s proved to be far from that entirely.

We won’t give up fighting in your corner sweet girl!

December 8th

It’s been over a month since we’ve updated regarding Evie, but the truth is…we sadly don’t have much to update.

The 8th vet to look over her case decided to take her on and was determined to do a small enough trial of steroids to differentiate between IBD and lymphoma. Due to the fact that her sugars were extremely high in the past, we needed this trial to be short enough and low enough so that her high sugars wouldn’t return. Evie’s case has been looked on by many vets along with four internal specialists, but no one has been able to find the root of her health issues. Multiple times we have been told that she was a “very strange case”, in which none of them have seen before.

Unfortunately after only 4 days of a very low dose of steroids, her sugars shot into the 400s after a month long of having the exact opposite (extremely low sugars in the 40s…no matter what we did). We tried dropping the steroids to every other day, and then every 3 days…but she was having other side effects and we were no closer to an answer.

Her appetite remains ravenous and we have increased her intake even more. Despite the large amounts of food she is getting, it is almost like her body is not processing the majority of it, so she has lost some weight again.

She loves to play and cuddle, never acting like a cat who has such high or low blood sugars (other than the 24/7 ravenous appetite which at times makes it hard for her to rest). Due to her extremely low B12, we have been administering weekly injections in hopes that she will be able to maintain it with oral supplementation after it is finally high enough.

We are back to the drawing board with our main vet, along with recommendations from a specialist. They are testing her for certain GI disorders but we haven’t heard back yet. We are doing the best we can to find a treatment for this young girl but we are hitting dead ends with every turn.

We are still here and we haven’t given up-we just don’t have any answers, no matter how many great minds we have looking on. There are so many people rooting for you sweet girl.