GA Diabetic Emergency!

hi my name is Tara
I really neeed some help for my diabetic ketoacidosis cat.
My cat daisy is 8 years old & was diagnosed with diabetes a little over a month ago.
2 weeks ago now she nose dived & almost passed, we've been to the er & literally at the vet every single day for 2 weeks.
Saturday was really bad for her so the vet has her again, she was doing sooo good on Friday then got awful out of mo where, her blood glucose was 800 & keeps going for 210 to the 400s to 800 again.
I feel like it's up to me now to save her! I will not give up on her. I'm shutting down because I cannot let her go.
Please please help me.
She's on novalin insulin 3 units am and pm & im not sure what they are feeding her but I think it's what's hurting her.
Thank you so much. Sorry if this is hard to read, I'm literally I'll over this & I'm shaking because im so scared.
Tara

 

Hi Tara - breath! This is a great site and the members here have a ton on knowledge to share.
Breathe.

So what food are you feeding her and what food are they feeding her?
Are you home testing at all to see where that dose is taking her?
I take it she is back at the vets which if she is DKA, that is where she should be.

 

The vet & I have been giving her science diet hills a/d urgent care wet food. Which I thought was good, but the more I read on here I find out it might be what's hurting her. Then I started thinking, when she first got this all she ate was tune & then she got betterish, but now she's eating the hills again which I feel could be why she's at 800 blood sugar.
But I don't know. I'm running out of time, it's been more than 2 weeks now & she's getting sicker & sicker, the vet is giving up I think. & I don't have a device to check her at home

 

Wow. Feline diabetes is a sharp learning curve on its own, without throwing all these other curves at you.

You will get a lot more eyes on this in the Health Forum. There are quire a few cats here who have had ketones (and are having ketones). Just copy and paste and start a new thread there, giving as much information as you can.

In the meantime, here's a bit of selected reading on DKA: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/...oacidosis-dka-and-blood-ketone-meters.135952/

 

Her ketone levels are off the charts because we can't get her blood sugar down to stabilize it.
I need to know what I should do to get it down.
I'm going to get her from the vet in a little.
So far what I've read is that I should make sure she's getting lots of water & even mix pedialite in it & possibly give her raw food.

 

The A/D is higher in carbs than the FF pate which quite a few owners feed here. The important thing with DKA from my understanding is to have her eat....so if that is what she will eat, I would leave that for now. The folks here and help with dosing around the food for now and get her BG'S into better ranges and then maybe when the crisis is over you can work on the food.

Trust me, I am an expert at throwing everything at the problem but then you don't know what worked, what didn't. I would focus on the DKA recovery which may take a it and slowly work with the members here to help with dosing. You received a link above with information. If you have further questions, post over on the main forum and lots of eyes will see. Title your thread with a question mark. You will be amazed at the replies.

 

I can't figure out to post on it

 

In the upper right hand corner, just under the search box, click "post new thread"

 

Before you go to pick her up - can you stop at Walmart (if are in the US) and buy human meter, testing strips and lancets gauge 26 or 28?
I use Relion Micro but the strips Relion Prime much much cheaper. I'd buy a hundred strips pack to start.
My cat was DKA and recovered (touching the wood). There are many others, too.
We were giving her Lantus and SQ fluids.
Testing at home is absolutely necessary for safety and dose adjustments.

 

Treating DKA at home is very intense and difficult. If your cat still has high ketones, she is better off staying in hospital until they can flush the ketones out of her system and get her BG under better control.

Sounds to me like there is a strong possibility that this situation has at least in part been contributed to by the dose of Novolin she is on. The dose is too high, has caused her to go hypoglycemic and that is now causing the ketones and resulting ketoacidosis. Treating this requires continuous monitoring, fluids, and insulin and it is a fine balancing act.

Is the vet currently treating her the same one that prescribed the Novolin? If so I strongly recommend you take Daisy to another veterinary clinic (ER preferably) because you need a vet who has more knowledge about treating a diabetic cat. This is not IMHO anything you can deal with at home.

 

I just got her from the vet, I didn't stop to get a meter
The vet told me at this point to just try and get her to eat anything so I'm going to boil some chicken & im trying to get some tuna in her now.
I've been syringe feeding her tuna juice, pedialyte and water.
The vet told me to continue giving her 3 units every 12 hours since her levels are still so high.

 

Tara, you CANNOT do this without a meter to test Daisy's BG. If you continue to give 3u of insulin and the dose is too high, her defences will get exhausted and she will go hypo. If she is not eating, trying to get her BG back to safe levels if she does go hypo will be next to impossible. DKA is very difficult to treat under normal circumstances but if this has been caused by excessive insulin, it's even more difficult to deal with. PLEASE take your cat to an ER where she can be properly monitored and treated. This is not the time to be learning to home test Daisy's BG.

 

The vet told me her levels are past 800, what should be done now?
I just got her from the vet & they said they've done everything & nothing's working

 

Is that an Emergency vet or your regular vet that's telling you they've done everything? If not ER then I would take her to the ER ASAP. It can be dealt with but it is going to take some very close monitoring riding a fine line of getting her BG down but not too low and the only place that can be handled is in hospital.

 

It was the regular vet that told me that.
She was at the er last week, they open at 6 pm

 

Ok is there another vet you can take Daisy to? They need to put her on a glucose drip and give her regular insulin to bring her numbers down into more normal range. You cannot do this at home and it seems your vet is not knowledgeable enough to deal with this.

 

Your ER isn't open 24/7? That is where Daisy needs to be. This is something you can not do at home.

 

Then I strongly suggest you take Daisy to the ER at 6pm. In the meantime, you are going to need to get food and fluids into Daisy. This will mean assist feeding her if she won't eat on her own. There is a video on this HERE. You have to keep her well hydrated and nourished until you can get her to the vet. You can mix wet food with water to make a soupy mixture and see if she will lap it up. If she'll eat tuna, that's fine too. Give her anything she will eat.

 

Here is the link to the 911 post in Main Health Forum.
I hope that no updates means they went to ER or Tara is getting testing supplies.

 

@Meya14 are you able to assist here.

 

I feel for the cat. I hope it's not uncomfortable.

 

Hi Tara - We are all really pulling for Daisy, and hope she is improving with ER care.

 

She past last night.
Thank you all for the advice but unfortunately she was too far gone & I let her down.

 

Tara I am so very sorry to hear Daisy has passed. You did not let Daisy down. Your vet should never have sent her home with you so please do not blame yourself. You tried your best! Daisy was lucky to have you as her person! RIP Sweet Daisy!

 

Oh Tara, I'm SO sorry it was her time to leave. You didn't fail her....BIG HUGE looooooong hug.

Soar high on your new angel wings sweet girl...landing softly back in Mama's broken hearts.

More hugs and prayer for comfort, you did well...

 

I'm so sorry to hear of your kitty. If it brings you any comfort of piece of mind, DKA is typically not painful, especially near the end. The ketones and high blood sugars cause somewhat of a coma state, and there isn't much in the way of pain or discomfort - passing is usually peaceful. Really wished we could have helped you, unfortunately DKA can sneak up very quickly and once a kitty is sick from it, it can be difficult for them to recover. You did what you could for her, you didn't let her down.

 

May fond memories of your beloved, Daisy, warm your heart always

 

I'm so so sorry for your loss. I'm really sorry you had to go through that but know that you did all you could.

 

Very very sorry -RIP sweet Daisy
Tara - take care of yourself

 

I am sorry that Daisy had to go away from you. It will just be awhile though.

Tara - big hugs for you. Don't ever think you let her down - she had a warm loving home, food and cuddles whenever she wanted them. That is not letting her down and she wouldn't want you to think of it that way