Low potassium

First off, how old is your cat?

How low is the potassium level; do you know? (and if so, what's your vet lab's normal range for potassium?)

Cat's don't become low in potassium (hypokalemic) for "no reason." Is your Vet not concerned about the cause? It's fine to supplement but the reason for the low potassium needs to be determined. Has your cat been having a lot of diarrhea? Throwing up a lot? Peeing excessively?

Does your cat have kidney disease? The most common cause of low potassium in senior cats is kidney disease.

Potassium is a vital electrolyte; critical for proper muscle function. If it's very low it can impact the function of the heart (which is a muscle). A cat with low potassium will often become lethargic, have hindleg weakness, become constipated, poor appetite.

Here's some info from a popular Feline CRF (chronic renal (kidney) failure) website that speaks on low potassium and treatment for same:

http://www.felinecrf.org/treatments.htm#low_potassium

The most common supplement for low potassium is Tumil-K. It comes in caplets, powder (to mix with food, though most cats are too smart for that trick) and gel. If you can find a "compounding pharmacy" in your area (or there are several online), if your Vet prescribes Tumil-K and you don't think you'll be able to give this to your cat by tablet, a compounding pharmacy should be able to make it into a transdermal gel (that your massage into the ear, it's absorbed through the ear flap).

I'm surprised your Vet didn't start your cat on a supplement right away. Why not? Why wait? What does he think the low potassium is from? Did he check your cat's kidney function? Test for hyperthyroidism?

Ahh, okay.

So in the event that all other bloodwork is normal and no signs of kidney disease, just a tidbit for you. A few years ago I rescued an old Siamese. Found her wandering in my yard, to be exact. She had early kidney failure, not that bad. Her potassium was very low. I started her on the Tumil K but the standard dose wasn't helping. Her potassium continued to drop. I saw various Vets and they all just blew me off, "She's old, she has CRF, nothing you can do." I started researching frantically; there had to be something else causing this very low potassium despite her receiving, by then, a crapload of Tumil K. It was to the point that I had to give her the IV potassium chloride in her subQ fluid bag, that was the only way I could get enough into her to keep her potassium level at the bottom end of normal. Her blood pressure was very high. Of course I was just blown off again, this was attributed to her early CRF. Nothing added up. I started reading up on a rare condition in cats called Hyperaldosteronism; it's characterized by low potassium and high blood pressure. No Vet would test for it, they kept telling me "It's very rare, I've never seen a case of it."

Long story short, I relentlessly pushed for her to have an ultrasound of her adrenal glands; sure enough, they found a mass on one of them. I pushed for them to do a special blood test (check her aldosterone level); one that had to be sent to Michigan State University Vet Lab (I'm here in Canada); was the only place that did it. Sure enough, after 6 months of nobody listening, it was confirmed that she had Hyperaldosteronism. Of course nobody knew how to treat it and my Vet left it up to me to do more research.

I ended up contacting Cornell University Vet Department; requested case studies on cats with this. I arranged for my Vet to speak with a Vet Endocrinologist at the University of Alabama (Auburn). Long story slightly shorter, she was started on the human med Spironalactone and this was the ticket; it helped prevent the loss of excessive potassium and it helped lower her blood pressure. Of course then all the Vets were commended me on my persistance.

Never let a Vet tell you "oh it can't be that, that's very rare." If it can happen, it can happen to ANY cat. The reason it's rare is because Vets don't test for it and there's likely a lot of cats who go undiagnosed to death with it.

It's unlikely your cat has this.............but if all bloodwork comes back normal (kidney function, thyroid, etc) and there doesn't seem to be a reason why your kitty is losing potassium, talk to your Vet about hyperaldosteronism and testing for it.

Keep us posted !

I don't have any suggestions, but a minor warning. If none of you have ever been on potassium supplements you may not know that they can be very bitter - a metallic bitter taste being that potassium is a metal. Similar to salt, but not quite the same.

I hope you find a way to cover or work around that works for Lucy.

True enough about the taste. When I gave the Tumil K caplets to BeeJoo, I'd put the caplet into an empty gelatin capsule so she wouldn't have to taste it....and of course I'd give it to her after she'd eaten, to help avoid upset tummy which it can cause.

Thanks for reminding how much they can upset a stomach! I knew there was something else terrible about them. (note: I'm chronically hypokalemic but docs don't want to do anything long term about it) Hopefully Lucy's vet is a lot smarter.

Try powder in a gel cap, maybe? ..Can't say I blame Lucy.

My Chynna needs a daily potassium supplement. She is in mid stage of renal failure and her urine is very dilute. The supplement I give her is a powder. I give 1/8 teaspoon every morning mixed in with a little of her wet food (just enough to hide the taste....about 1 well rounded teaspoon). I also have to dissolve her Norvasc and her anti-thyroid pill (forget the name). So after she licks up the food with her medication in it, then she gets some more wet food.

So if your kitty likes wet food, you may be able to disguise the medication into the food.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do if Abby needs any pills. She won't eat wet food other than 1 or 2 licks to taste it. She is very skittish and I'm the only human that she trusts. I refuse to traumatize her on a daily basis by forcing pills down her throat. It was a horrid ordeal for her going to the vet earlier this year to have a lump on her head looked at. The poor girl was so terrified that she was literally throwing herself full force against the inside the cat carrier. So for her I think the kindest thing to do would be to let nature take it's course and then help her on her way when the time comes

I don't have any advice or knowledge to share, but wanted to share my vibes for Much and Lucy both! When it rains it pours, huh.

same here