Episode 3: Hyperkalemia in Blocked Cats — Do Adjunct Therapies Really Help?

Welcome to The VetEmCrit Podcast — where we break down complex veterinary emergency and critical care topics into clear, evidence-based insights you can use right away in practice. Each episode of the VetEmCrit Podcast is the audio version of our YouTube videos, created so you can learn emergency and critical care on the go. If you’re new here, I’m Dr. Igor Yankin, DACVECC, a small animal emergency and critical care specialist and founder of vetemcrit.com. A recent study on hyperkalemia in blocked cats makes a bold claim: adjunct therapies like insulin-dextrose, sodium bicarbonate, and terbutaline offer no added benefit over fluids and calcium. But when you look closer, the story isn’t so simple. In this episode of the VetEmCrit Podcast, we break down the study design, results, and limitations, and explore what this evidence means for real-world emergency care. Do adjunctive therapies truly add value, or are fluids and calcium enough? And how should ER vets apply these findings at the cage-side while caring for unstable patients? Tune in to hear the data, the context, and the unanswered questions that matter for your clinical decision-making. Free resources to help you level up: Youtube channel Free Acid-Base Analysis Workshop Free veterinary emergency tools, protocols, and articles Online courses on acid-base and electrolyte disorders Free RACE-approved CE on IV potassium supplementation