3/25 amps 626, +6 416 at vet getting fluids - need advice

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babbie & otto

babbie & otto

Member Since 2015
Hey there. We have upped Otto's dose to 3.75 after not much progress and a sudden dehydration spell. This spell continues. His appetite is good but often can't get blood. Vet says the high numbers are due to the dehydration and inability to flush out the glucose. Just cant figure out why the dehydration suddenly. He's running tests and all is looking good. New bottle of insulin so thats not it. Any thoughts? He wants to increase tonight by .50 for 3 days. Thanks.
 
You might want to also ask your vet to show you how to do fluids at home...would save you time and money having them done there as well as keeping Otto more comfortable if he continues to be dehydrated often
 
Giving fluids can often lower BG numbers. If Otto gets rehydrated, I'd be very careful about increasing too much without getting tests in. Since you are using the Alphatrak, some of those yellows you are seeing would be high blues on the human meters, which would only mean going up by .25U. The up side - you'd be back on the line again when dosing.

I second Chris's thought of doing fluids at home. Marje made a video on how to give SubQ fluids at home.
 
I have fluids at house and Im still out of town but the vet tech is coming to live at my house for the next 5 days! Do cats just go through this dehydration phase every now and then?
 
They don't dehydrate without a reason.

Squeaker is on daily fluids at home due to CRF. It is a lot less expensive but at the same time it is a big commitment to make. For me, it was a lot harder for me to take emotionally to give sub-q at home.
 
Is Otto peeing a lot? He may be dehydrated due to his high numbers. Often poorly regulated cats will both drink and pee in larger than usual amounts. If he's urinating but not drinking, that could be contributing to the dehydration. If the vet has done labs, was his sodium within normal limits? Are you adding lots of water to his food?

The issue may self correct once he's in a better number range.

 
Otto eats like a horse, pees a ton, drinks a lot as well. We add food to the bottom of cans a few times a day to get him to drink more but I often catch him drinking from the bowl as well. This all started with a small amount of dry oatmeal he dug out of the recycling. His glucose shot up, got 3U of fluids and has been getting dehydrated since. I keep hoping this will just stop. I asked about CRF and vet is checking his last labs but says most cats with that don't have his appetite. Everytime I think I may be hitting a new normal he seems to get out of whack again. Vet really wants me to go up by .75. I read his text wrong. I know this is too high.
 
Hyperthyroidism may cause excessive urination too; has that been checked? You need tests for TSH and free T4.

A pretty rare condition, hyperaldosteronism, may also cause excessive urination.
 
looks like you decided to go up 0.5u.

i'd really want to have pm cycle tests, especially with some significant dose increases.

Couple of suggestions for helping the vet techget blood:

1. maybe s/he can use a little rice bag to heat up his ear before trying to test. That gets the blood to flow better.

2. If they are using a lancet device, the directions in mine said if you couldn't get a blood drop, to place the clear cap on the device, press it against the skin for about 5-10 seconds before releasing the lancet. Then keep the pressure on and hold it another 5-10 seconds to allow the blood to well up for a test.

Here's a link to Testing & Shooting Tips that might have something else helpful in it. It's just really important for safety to know how low the dose is taking him before increasing it.
 
my vet scared me so bad about getting the numbers down that I felt I had to. I have fluids at the house etc. Only problem is ,tonite he's too dehydrated to get blood. Tomorrow is another day and hopefully we will see some relief from the dehydration and get some better numbers. On the pricks, I have the rice socks and do the pressure as well. All great advice.
 
Maybe time the fluids an hour or so before shot time to improve the chances of success.

Also, use any of the Secondary Monitoring Tools in my signature link that you can. While less direct measures of diabetes, they still provide important information about how Otto is doing.
 
great idea on the fluid timing. so far Ive just taken him to vet but with fluids at home now hopefully we can keep him hydrated. I like your monitoring tools. He does pee cups, eats everything so theres no moisture left and hard to monitor his fluid intake with another cat in house but intake is good. Praying we're just going through a rough spot and I can't wait to get home to take care of him. Thank you all for the advice. Im having a rough go with differing opinions from vet staff and lack of readings.
 
I am new to the forum. My cat,Sheba, came out of remission over a year ago and was in high numbers frequently. She peed buckets and did drank water, but not enough to keep up with the peeing I don't think. I looked at your SS and Sheba's used to look like that too.
She used to get quite lethargic and I would have to take her to the vet and she would get sub Q fluids and be much better within about 6 hours.
I started to give her extra fluids myself (orally )with her food and also chicken broth which I made myself. Chicken bones and water, nothing else which she loved. I let it set, skimmed off the fat and froze in ice cube tray so always had some. I recorded all fluids I gave her and tried to give at least 300 mls a day. That stopped her lethegy and dehydration. It made a huge difference and also stopped the need for subQ fluids. Now that she is in lower numbers I give her less fluid...
 
great advice!!!!! I have tried chick broth before but he didn't go for it. Ill do it again.. Thanks for taking the time to read my ss and respond. Im desperate for a glimmer of hope. Looked at renal failure today and cried, talked to vet about numbers and he made me go higher on units by scaring me to death about mortality due to continued high numbers. Its been rough but everyone here is so kind and supportive and full of great advice.
 
Was your chicken broth homemade? If not, that can make a big difference in whether they'll accept it or not. I know a lot of the canned chicken broths are too full of salt, which just makes the problem worse.

We're all pulling and praying for Otto and know he'll get through this!!
 
We've had a lot of kitties here with prolonged high numbers and so try not to let the vet scare you like that. I believe in all the time we've been here, I've only seen one kitty pass from prolonged hyperglycemia and that was due to the caregiver never increasing the dose and the kitty had some other issues as well. Just keep up with dose increases by the protocol.

CRF is now called chronic kidney disease (CKD) and when caught early, cats have a good chance of many normal years. Our Gussie had CKD for four years, passed away at almost 18 and his kidney values were still amazingly stable; he did not pass from CKD. He ate really well even with CKD. It's usually when their phosphorus gets high, as well as creatinine, when they don't want to eat. There are ways to keep the P down.

If you have labs done, you can post them on the lab tab on the SS and we can have a look.
 
Chris is right. You don't want to use canned chicken broth- too high in salt.

When I make the broth, I use at least 12 or 16 drumstick bones. You can cook the legs in water then take off the meat to use for yourself or take it off raw. You can use what bones you like but long bones (drumstick, thigh, wing) seem to make the best broth. I cover them in water and simmer for 8 hours or more, topping up the water when needed. Don't add anything else at all. I put the broth in the frig and it should come out as jelly the next day, if not you might have added too much water. I skim off the fat but only because Sheba is prone to pancreatitis. It will keep in the frig for about 4 days but in the freezer for months. I use it every day. It should defrost to a lump of jelly or sometimes to a liquid if there is more water in it but it should taste ok still.
I use a lump of the jelly when I test her BSL and she thinks she is getting a real treat.
At night I put a frozen lump in each compartment of Sheba's Autofeeder (6 compartments) with a tiny piece of chicken and she loves it and is a good way to get fluids in overnight.
I agree with what Sienne said about the dehydration and high numbers as that is what happened to Sheba.
She is a scarfer and barfer and I have to feed her more slowly but this means I can also put water in with all her mini feeds and it adds up to a lot. I make it quite soupy.
Everyone has given you great advice.........it is hard when our kitties are unwell, but you will get there. It just takes time
 
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now my phone died (like really dead not just battery), caretaker said the litter box was full of pee this morning and she couldn't get a reading. Still dehydrated. Im beside myself and think I need a new vet.
 
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