5/28 Loudogg AMPS 333 +3 308 +7 277 PMPS 242 - 2.5 Ketones on NovaMax +3 1.8 PMPS 2.0

May 27, 2018 Condo

Good morning all!
So go figure that today was the first uneventful morning with insulin/BGs after starting the glargine, yet I still have excitement in the form of the highest reading of blood ketones Lou has ever thrown down. I'm not sure if the values are considered trace or if I need to go to the ER vet. I am in the US, so none of the regular vets are open today because of Memorial Day.

According to the Ketones, Diabetic Ketoacidosis (DKA), and Blood Ketones Meters article, "The latest published research/studies in cats indicate ketones will begin to show up at readings of 2.4 and 2.55 on a blood ketone meter:" Lou first tested at 2.9, and then at 2.5 when I repeated the test. He's only ever been up to 0.6 previously on the meter. He is displaying no odd symptoms, I was just doing a weekly check. I ran a QC test on the NovaMax and it was within normal limits.

Does anyone know what is considered trace on a blood ketone meter? I'm going to search the database, but I wanted to get this out there if anyone happens to know the answer. Now of course I'm kicking myself even more for skipping his shot yesterday morning...

 

I believe that is trace ketones. Make sure you get fluids and food into Lou. Try not to skip any shots because he is very prone to ketones. Keep monitoring the ketones and if they go higher, you might want to call ER vet and see what they say.

 

Do you have sub-q fluids? If so, might give some.

 

No, unfortunately not. I've been lucky: he's never had anything but negative ketones (the 0.5-0.6 results considered negative on the blood ketones meter as far as I'm aware). I just fed him a bit ago and gave him extra water. I'll recheck his ketones when I next check his blood glucose within the next hour or so. I think if they're still increased I'm going to call the vet and see if they have a proper scale for blood ketones meters. I also ordered some urine ketones strips from Walmart (I've never been able to find any in the store) that I can pick up today. I'd like to see if I can see what the results would be on the strip (if I can catch him in the litter box that is).

 

I hope you have more than a few of the blood ketone test strips, as if I were you, I would test at least a couple more times today. Ketones can increase quickly. Hopefully with the extra water and eating, his will decrease.

The blood ketone test will tell you what they are now, and the urine ketone test will tell you what they were (I don't know how long ago, maybe hours ago).

 

I had to go find my notes....

Re: blood ketone meter:
The latest published research/studies in cats indicate ketones will begin to show up at readings of 2.4 and 2.55 on a blood ketone meter

Ketones will show up in blood before the urine.

 

Well thankfully I just checked both his BG and ketones just now and his ketones have gone down to 1.8. He has been eating and I've been giving him extra (even for him) water with his food. I'll check again later today. I do have now 8 strips left (had a full 10 and lost one to an error message ).

 

So frustrating. Especially with the cost of them. Just be sure you have a good amount of blood when using the ketone strips.

 

Well holding steadyish I suppose with his ketones... he tested at 2.0 on the Novamax at PMPS. I was surprised considering his PMPS BG was 242. So my question really is at this point:

Taking into consideration the information from the Ketones, Diabetic Ketoacidosis (DKA), and Blood Ketones Meters article, "The latest published research/studies in cats indicate ketones will begin to show up at readings of 2.4 and 2.55 on a blood ketone meter:" Should I consider 0.0 to 2.4 on the meter negative and not worry so much about the specific number (other than realizing my kitty is closer to trace)? I wonder how others utilize this information when it's higher but not technically above the range above.

 

How is he acting? Is he eating well? I would keep up the feeding him plenty, with as much water as he will accept.
Did you get the urine ketone test strips? I would place an order for some more blood ketone test strips, just so you have them. Just because he his ketones were 2.9 this morning, I would keep up with testing the blood ketones at least once per cycle for a couple of days and do some urine ketone tests in between, when he allows it. Again, I think right now, the blood ketone tests are more important as they tell you what he is presently and they can increase rapidly, so stay on top of it.

 

Hey there! My Bubba started throwing ketones while he was in the mid 200's. Anything over 2.5 is considered a trace amount. Keep an eye on it. Test daily and make sure he is eating and add lots of water to his food each feeding to help flush the ketones. They can come and go. When they are problematic is when :

Kitty has in appetence, A systemic infection, and not getting enough insulin.
The above is the recipe for a DKA event.

How is his eating? Does he seem to feel okay? Any reason for concern as to not be well?

I think if you can use the ketone strips the better. That is a snap shot of what is happening now where as the ketone urine strips can be 4-8 hours behind what is really happening.

 

Thanks so much for your responses! He has been acting and eating perfectly normally today, if not a bit more lovey. I wouldn't have known anything was amiss by how he's acting. He has been napping quite a bit, but I feel like that's been relatively normal for him since it's gotten warmer out (it was 80-90s this weekend). I have been giving him extra water, even more than he would normally drink. If he doesn't really want it (because there's "too much" water), I've been coaxing him to drink it with a bit of Parmesan. Even if he doesn't eat the food, he'll at least drink all the water.

Great minds Dyana! I ordered 2 more boxes of strips for my ketones meter from ADW after we talked earlier today, and I picked up the urine strips from Walmart. I will definitely keep checking blood ketones at least once a cycle and hopefully they'll start to go down soon. I like it better when that's not something I have to worry about (as I'm sure everyone here can agree with me on)!!