Triton has been on a new dose but eating a little less lately and tested 4.7 for ketones. I may need to take him to the ER.. He is currently eating his breakfast but I need some guidance on whether he needs a decrease or same dosing.
Yes and he I just tested him via pee strip and it is slightly a very light pink. and another blood test, 5.8
A blood ketone of 4.7 or 5.8 is very high. And yet the urine test looks small or negative. They show up in the blood first so I would go to the ER or vet immediately as they are very high and there is a risk of DKA developing
i would go to the er ! It’s a serious thing I have seen it . It almost killed my salem ! http://www.diabeticcatinternational.com/knowledge/ketones/
He is eating right now and I will test again. still taking him to the doctors. Its at 10 am and its 8:42am.
I’m glad he is eating more Giselle, food is so important with ketones. Please let us know how you get on at the vets. Sending best wishes to Triton
Before leaving to the vet. Triton dropped to a 1.2 on yhe ketones meter. Although the DR does not agree on the equipment I am using (Relion for insulin and KetoSens for ketones), he believes Triton is doing quite well. He is eating which is wonderful! Normally he would eat all his food but he currently he is leaving some for later. They also tested his BG at the clinic which is 355 So I guess my next question is should I switch my equipment to pet friendly meters? The costs for test strips would be higher of course but if I am doing SLGS I may be able to consider. I personally believe human meters are better to ensure my cat is safe due to it reading lower numbers.
I would most certainly continue to use the human meters - whether your vet likes it or not. The trends are what you're interested in watching... Lower costs of strips = more testing and that helps keep your kitty safe. I agree with others above, this is not the time to be decreasing the dose...Triton needs all the insulin he can handle...I'm not sure why you decreased this morning??? But possibly I missed that conversation...gotta go test Luci...timer is blaring...
Idk. I panicked wasn't sure what I was doing and he also had a rarely low reading of 144 preshot number.
I would stay with the human meter too. And keep testing for ketones. Make sure he is getting plenty to eat. He really needs the insulin so if necessary you can increase the carbs a bit to increase the BG if needed so that he can get the dose of insulin. Also give him extra fluids. Did the vet say anything else?
Very glad to hear Triton is ok. It's also good that the vet sees good outward signs. However, to really be ok, Triton needs to have lower glucose. Long-term, the higher numbers will wear his body down, including his vital organs. The vet saying he's doing quiet well made me cringe a bit (after looking at his SS)!
I will continue to give him the same dose (1.25). He said to do curves once a week. Which I have been slacking off a bit. So I will..
Giselle - I'm sorry I didn't say Triton is doing much better! I acted like a downer . . . just some room for improvement, but you are doing a great job helping Triton feel better. It really takes a while. I was just hoping your vet didn't mean "good enough"!
Number wise... he is a HOT MESS! Haha but when I explained to him the symptoms I am seeing he believed he is no where near DKA because he is eating, drinking and acting "normal". I was concerned because of the high number of ketones in his blood plus that he is leaving some food on the bowl for later.
No you are fine. Definitely room for improvement and I am doing the best that I can. I just hope I can get his numbers under control and prevent from him jumping to the 500s.
Try getting tests in during the cycles whenever you can so we can see how he is going during all the cycles as well as curve day. Is that possible? You did the right thing taking him to the vet with ketones that high. Never get complacent with ketones in the picture. I’m so glad he’s better this morning. You are doing a good job looking after him.
During his PM cycles is definitely possible. Sometimes I work from home like today so I am testing him regularly making sure he is alright but this seems so unreal of how well he is doing. He is drinking less and not as hungry as all the time. I will test again for ketones when its insulin time (2hrs). I am about to test to get a 10+ number.
With ketones in the picture try and get him eating up to 1 1/2 times his normal amount. Food is like a medicine with ketones in the picture, as the body needs that food to use so it doesn't use the fat in Titan's body for fuel, which can trigger the ketones to form. Does he have any underlying infection or inflammation? Would you mind taking the Vetsulin out of the signature please Giselle and just leave the Lantus in there as it could be confusing for some..thanks.
Normally he has one can of FF Pate (3oz) for breakfast/dinner and 1 can for each AM/PM cycles (Total of 2 cans every 12 hours). Triton would still be hungry after breakfast/dinner so I doubled the amount. Then he started to leave some and he has been doing that for the past 3 days now. So today instead of 2 cans, I gave him 1 and tested for ketones. I panicked when it was super high. I don't know if he has any underlying infections or inflammations. When Triton was first diagnosed in Oct of 2019, he was seeing a different vet that doesn't prescribe Lantus. At the clinic, we ran blood work and everything looked fine except for the blood sugar. We did another test to check his pancreas and all was well there too. Since November of 2019, Triton has not been seen by anyone until today because of the high ketones. The vet did a overall check on him and based on the symptoms he knew he was doing fine despite the high ketone reading. I forgot to mention that he heard a little murmur in his heart but it was very difficult to tell without any X-Rays. So now I need to get X-Rays on the little guy to make sure all is well.