Allie update

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Courtney

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Im new and just posted my intro explaining the last three weeks since having Allie diagnosed. The vet has her on a 3 unit dose since her levels were still elevated at her curve test. However, I don't like the changes that started as of Wednesday. She stopped eating all of her food was the first thing I noticed. She gets 1/2 a can at 7am and 1/2 at 7pm. Wednesday morning she left about a spoon full, that night she ate just enough to get her insulin. I was told she had to eat half of her serving in order to get the insulin. Thursday I kept putting her back in front of her food until she ate at least half. Thursday night I found this site. The vet had her on high fiber food since she's so under weight. Now this made no sense to my husband and me. His family has a lot of diabetics and I had gestational when I was pregnant with our newest. Low carbs is what diabetics eat! I talked with the vet about this, but she said Allie is too under weight. Well it doesn't work if she won't eat it. Though she did eat it fine before having her insulin increased. Now we get to her other changes. Dry heaving in the middle of the night. It's not the 9 month old keeping me awake. She's also not as energetic and I swear she's lost more weight. She has none to spear. Friday morning I dropped her back to 1.5, hunted down my blood glucose tester, and bought her low carb friskies can food.

I tested her at 6:56 last night and she was at 156. I fed her the friskies and waited two hours to see where she was since I felt 156 was too low to give insulin. After two hours she was at 188. I gave her 1 unit. And I was still unsure about that. Cat readings are so confusing to me. I get humans, but even with all the reading I'm doing I still am so lost and confused.

Then at 4 am she started her vomit thing again. It's mostly dry heaving, but a little did come up. She drinking normal amounts of water and eating the new food just fine, gobbled it right up. She's not using the litter box excessively and is walking around being lively. I don't understand the vomit. And it's only at night/early morning.

What am I doing wrong? I'm getting ready to test get this morning. Somebody please help me figure out what I need to do. She needs to put on weight, not vomit up any amount of food. I really can't afford any more useless trips to the vet. I've already paid them over $900 in three weeks. I want to figure this out and their solution is to just feed her and give her insulin, without even knowing what her levels are. I also gave the ketone strips but I can never catch her when she's peeing. Three kids!

Thanks
Courtney
 
Hi Courtney. Welcome to you and Allie.:)
First of all, you are not doing anything wrong. It is a big learning curve for all of us when our kitty gets diagnosed with diabetes. The first few weeks is hard as we learn all about diabetes and how our cat is going to react to the insulin.

You did the right thing going out and buying low carb canned food. That is what is best for diabetic cats. Since you have been giving higher carb food, you will need to be aware that Allie's blood sugar could drop quite a bit lower now she is having lower carb food. So you will need to be testing her BSL to ensure she doesn't drop too far.

If she were my cat I would start Allie on 1 unit of insulin twice a day for 3 days to see how she goes and don't increase for those 3 days. If she drops too low then reduce the dose immediately. There are people here who can guide you with dosing.

What insulin are you using? Some insulins need you to feed the cat the meal 20 minutes before the insulin and other insulins are OK to feed more slowly.
It is great you are testing the blood sugar and also you have bought the ketone test strips. Try and get a ketone test done if you can. We would encourage you to test the blood sugar before every dose of insulin and then about 4 hours later to see how low the insulin will take her.

With the vomiting.......does Allie have an empty tummy when she is doing the vomiting? Some cats will vomit frothy white material if they have an empty tummy for too long. You could try feeding several small meals.

When Sheba was first diagnosed with diabetes, she was also very thin and not very interested in eating, but she gradually got her appetite back and put all the weight back on once the insulin started to work.

You sound like a very busy mum who is doing a great job getting Allie sorted. Keep asking lots of questions. Everyone here has been where you are now and is only too happy to help you:)
 
Courtney,

Huge hugs to you! :bighug: I read your welcome post, and I'm so sorry to hear about all that you and Allie have been through.

A few questions that will help us help you:
  • What specific food did the vet have Allie on? (And is she eating any of that now or only the Friskies?)
  • Which insulin is Allie on?
  • What insulin syringes are you using?
I apologize if you already mentioned these and I missed them.
 
What kind of insulin are you using Courtney?
I'm so glad you found this sight and are beginning to home test, and caught that 156 and decided to lower her dose. I'm also glad that she is gobbling up her food. Yay!
If she is only eating twice a day, some cats will vomit clear bile early in the morning from stomach acid because their tummy is empty.
I used to wait until J.D. was already peeing, and then approach him, and put a small cup under J.D.'s bottom to get a small sample of pee and then dip the ketone test strip in the small sample in the cup. You want to do that in front of a clock or watch that has a second hand timer, because the timing is important. Some people use fish gravel in the litter box because it will not absorb the pee and you can just tilt the litter box after she goes to get the sample. Some people will put a layer of plastic wrap on top of her normal gravel and press little indentations (small places where the pee can pool) into it and hope to catch a sample that way.
 
Wow! You have been through the wringer with Allie.

I am putting a link to your intro here so others will be able to access the history you provided.

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hello.162579/

It sounds like Allie may have had DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis) and if that is the case, it's really important for you to find a way to test for ketones.
With so many in your clowder, you may have to isolate Allie temporarily to do this but they often piddle after a meal so hopefully you wouldn't have to keep her isolated too long.

Normal range of BG for a cat using a human glucometer would be 50 to 120. We generally suggest no shot under 200 on a human glucometer when there is little in the way of BG readings available, however if Allie had DKA, then not giving insulin is not necessarily the right decision but we can help you with that. Giving her a reduced dose of insulin at a reading of 188 last night would seem to have been a good decision.

We recommend starting kitty off on a low dose and gradually increasing and it seems your vet is being a little aggressive with the dose but then that too may be due to her history at the clinic.

If we can get you to set up a signature (the light grey text at the bottom of the threads) with some info, it will help us help you and keep you from repeatedly answering the same questions over and over.

To set up a signature, hover your mouse over your screen name in the upper right corner of your screen. This brings down an menu and you select Signature from there. That will open a text box for you to type in the info you want to share. You can include things like Kitty's name, age, weight, any other health issues including history of ketones or DKA, type of insulin, type of glucometer, diet and your general location (state). The signature can only be three lines long so you can separate pieces of info with a "|" or slash.

Once you get settled a bit, we will also ask you to set up a spreadsheet to track Allie's BG readings but let's just take this one step at a time.
Now take a deep breath because you've come to the best place you never wanted to be and as you can see we're all eager to help. :bighug::bighug:
 
vomiting.......does Allie have an empty tummy when she is doing the vomiting? Some cats will vomit frothy white material if they have an empty tummy for too long. You could try feeding several small meals.

When Sheba was first diagnosed with diabetes, she was also very thin and not very interested in eating, but she regradually got her appetite back and put all the weight back on once the insulin started to work.


She did vomit up a little
 
Since posting this morning, I tested her before she ate and she was at 208. I gave her 1/2 a can and she didn't want to finish it. Then she promptly vomited it all up. My husband looked at me and said now what? The can I fed her was on the list of low carb, but it was a seafood can that we had for the other cats. It's not from the cans I bought her last night which us all chickens and turkey. I hadn't gone to the store until after she ate last night. She had the other half last night and she did vomit a little. I'm wondering if the sea food just doesn't settle well with her. I gave her a little scoop of turkey and she's not acting weird and ate it all. I think I'll give her 1 unit here in a bit. I'm just a nervous wreck all day. I have baseball World Series starting today and my stomach is in knots that I can't split myself in so many directions. I feel like I'm slowly killing my cat.

Should I give her the rest of the new food since she's now held it down and is searching for more? I don't dare call my vet when I changed everything. I don't think she'll be impressed with me since she did go to school for animals.
 
Courtney, Looks like you were trying to quote part of a previous message. To do so, highlight what you want to quote and a little "Reply" button will appear at the end of the highlighted text (sometimes you have to leave out the ending punctuation point for some reason to get the "reply" to display). Click on Reply and it will post that text in a yellow box in your new post area and you can respond underneath the yellow box. :)
 
Is it possible she is eating too fast? Try putting a bit of food in a flat dish and mash it down so she has to work a little more to get it. That should slow her down a bit or feed her a small amount at a time with a little breather between helpings. Sometimes they scarf and barf and with diabetics being so hungry they are notorious for this.
 
Hi Courtney. Some cats will vomit frothy bile in the morning from acid build-up in what is essentially an empty stomach. They can also gobble up breakfast too rapidly, causing them to vomit (scarf-and-barf). In Allie's case, it is possible that the fish/seafood food just does not sit well in her tummy, too! If she is hungry and keeping down the new food I would go ahead and feed it to her. As for your vet...a lot of vets don't know much about feline diabetes, in spite of all their training, and almost all of them know next to nothing about feline nutrition. Maybe you can help educate your vet! (I had to find a new vet after my kitty was diagnosed, if I had stayed with and followed my old vet's advice my beloved boy wouldn't be here with me anymore!)
 
So sorry you are going through all this. Smokey use to vomit all the time the white foamy stuff when I got him. He was literally starving, previous owner had dementia and didn't remember to feed him. Knowing 2 -3 meals a day would cause more vomiting because he wasn't use to eating, I started very tiny meals every hour around the clock until he got use to having food on a regular schedule. Over time we were able to increase amount and intervals of his meals.

Another possibility is he is nauseous causing him to turn away from the food. There are meds to help with that if your vet will give them to you. Another possibility is pancreatitis. Again meds will help and if caught early and treated it won't require a hospital stay.

Good luck I will be following your progress.
 
My Ginger scarfs and barfs if she eats too fast, so if she's really hungry or really likes the food I give her, I mush it down and flatten it out in the bottom of the plate and that makes her eat more slowly, and then she doesn't barf it all up and immediately ask for more please.
 
Thanks so much for all the help, comments, and suggestions. I just got back home and tested Allie. She was 208 this morning pre food and insulin. It's been 4 hours since her insulin dose of 1 unit. She tested at 161. She was acting very hungry, which she hasn't really cared too much about getting fed except in the morning and at night. I gave her a little scoop and she ate that, drank some water and is wandering around now. I'm not sure if I should have done that, but it just seems weird to me that she should get soooo hungry. I had to eat 6 times a day to keep my blood sugars regulated. Was giving her a little snack an ok thing to do? Or am I messing up?

Thanks so much for the support
Courtney
 
Courtney said:
Thanks so much for all the help, comments, and suggestions. I just got back home and tested Allie. She was 208 this morning pre food and insulin. It's been 4 hours since her insulin dose of 1 unit. She tested at 161. She was acting very hungry, which she hasn't really cared too much about getting fed except in the morning and at night. I gave her a little scoop and she ate that, drank some water and is wandering around now. I'm not sure if I should have done that, but it just seems weird to me that she should get soooo hungry. I had to eat 6 times a day to keep my blood sugars regulated. Was giving her a little snack an ok thing to do? Or am I messing up?

Thanks so much for the support
Courtney
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sometimes we all need a snack. :)
 
Kitties are super hungry when glucose is really high and really low. Another time is when their glucose is okay but they are not use to it because they have always been high. Example- Smokey is usually high in the 200-300 range, appetite normal. So when he gets into a 100 number his body "panics" and he just wants food. This morning is a prime example. He started at 193, 3.5 hrs later he's begging for food looking for any crumb but his test was 171. He was in panic mode.

You were fine feeding a small snack as long as it was low carb. I don't see a spreadsheet to know if that is your situation right now.
 
Dyana said:
I used to wait until J.D. was already peeing, and then approach him, and put a small cup under J.D.'s bottom to get a small sample of pee and then dip the ketone test strip in the small sample in the cup. You want to do that in front of a clock or watch that has a second hand timer, because the timing is important. Some people use fish gravel in the litter box because it will not absorb the pee and you can just tilt the litter box after she goes to get the sample. Some people will put a layer of plastic wrap on top of her normal gravel and press little indentations (small places where the pee can pool) into it and hope to catch a sample that way.
Click to expand...

She's a stinking sneaking peeer. It's never when she should pee. It's when I'm sound asleep and by the time I realize I'm hearing litter scratching and get into the bathroom, she's done. :arghh: I'm thinking I'll have to be sneaky back and wrap that box in plastic.
 
Courtney said:
Thanks so much for all the help, comments, and suggestions. I just got back home and tested Allie. She was 208 this morning pre food and insulin. It's been 4 hours since her insulin dose of 1 unit. She tested at 161. She was acting very hungry, which she hasn't really cared too much about getting fed except in the morning and at night. I gave her a little scoop and she ate that, drank some water and is wandering around now. I'm not sure if I should have done that, but it just seems weird to me that she should get soooo hungry. I had to eat 6 times a day to keep my blood sugars regulated. Was giving her a little snack an ok thing to do? Or am I messing up?
Thanks so much for the support
Courtney
Click to expand...
It is OK to give Allie some food at +4. She is going to be hungry/starving because when the diabetes is uncontrolled, she cannot utilise all the nutrients in her food. Once she gets more under control she will be less starving. For the time being, if Allie were mine, I would feed her when she asks for food.....except for the 2 hours before you test, feed and give the next dose of insulin. We don't feed any food for the last two hours of a cycle unless they drop too low. That way the test is not influenced by food.
Sheba eats too fast and will vomit if I don't give her smaller amounts more often. So I feed her her breakfast for example in about 4 lots with a few minutes in between each lot.
It is not good to feed a cat seafood all the time. How about just sticking to the chicken and turkey one she seems to like and tolerate and see how she goes with that?
 
My Squallie is very private about his litter box habits. I used to have to stalk him all around the house, sometimes for hours, lurking around corners and pretending to not know he was there, lol! Once he started to pee I'd have to time it just perfectly - too soon and he'd leave before he started, too late and he'd already be done. When I thought the time was ripe I'd sneak up behind him with a test strip and frantically wave it around under his butt, hoping to get some urine on it. He would turn his head and look over his shoulder at me in absolute horror and disdain! He's gotten used to it now, thankfully, so no more stalking, lurking, and being shamed by my cat, lol!
 
MrWorfMen's Mom said:
It sounds like Allie may have had DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis) and if that is the case, it's really important for you to find a way to test for ketones.
With so many in your clowder, you may have to isolate Allie temporarily to do this but they often piddle after a meal so hopefully you wouldn't have to keep her isolated too long
Click to expand...

We've had her in our bedroom since she came home from the vet. Her litter box and food are in our bathroom. If she wants out, we just put the dry food up until she's ready to go back into our room or the other cats start to complain too much. I'm just having trouble catching her in that box. It's never when I expect her to. Normally the middle of the night.

MrWorfMen's Mom said:
Normal range of BG for a cat using a human glucometer would be 50 to 120. We generally suggest no shot under 200 on a human glucometer when there is little in the way of BG readings available, however if Allie had DKA, then not giving insulin is not necessarily the right decision but we can help you with that. Giving her a reduced dose of insulin at a reading of 188 last night would seem to have been a good decision.
Click to expand...

DKA is really what confuses me the most. I've read about it and still don't get it. Her numbers have been 100s to low 200s. She's drinking water. Eating her food now that it's not the icky vet stuff. I know her number were really high when at the vet and on Monday for her curve, though. The vet did say it was in her urine, but didn't seem concerned about it. Just said we needed to get her levels under control and it would help.

MrWorfMen's Mom said:
Once you get settled a bit, we will also ask you to set up a spreadsheet to track Allie's BG readings but let's just take this one step at a time.
Click to expand...

I'm running a bit right now, with baseball, but once I'm home for more than a few hours, I'll look into this and get it figured out. I'm recording everything in a book right now.
 
MrWorfMen's Mom said:
Courtney, Looks like you were trying to quote part of a previous message. To do so, highlight what you want to quote and a little "Reply" button will appear at the end of the highlighted text (sometimes you have to leave out the ending punctuation point for some reason to get the "reply" to display). Click on Reply and it will post that text in a yellow box in your new post area and you can respond underneath the yellow box
Click to expand...

Thanks, I was using my Ipad and it wouldn't let me do that. I'm on the laptop now. :)
 
Woodsywife said:
Kitties are super hungry when glucose is really high and really low. Another time is when their glucose is okay but they are not use to it because they have always been high. Example- Smokey is usually high in the 200-300 range, appetite normal. So when he gets into a 100 number his body "panics" and he just wants food. This morning is a prime example. He started at 193, 3.5 hrs later he's begging for food looking for any crumb but his test was 171. He was in panic mode.

You were fine feeding a small snack as long as it was low carb. I don't see a spreadsheet to know if that is your situation right now.
Click to expand...

Pre diabetes diagnosis, we called Allie our little garbage disposal. Naturally it was because of the diabetes she ate everything in sight. Since she's been home, she hasn't been searching for food. No more jumping on counters. This afternoon was a first for her wanting food in three weeks. I felt compelled to give it to her.
 
Courtney said:
DKA is really what confuses me the most. I've read about it and still don't get it. Her numbers have been 100s to low 200s. She's drinking water. Eating her food now that it's not the icky vet stuff. I know her number were really high when at the vet and on Monday for her curve, though. The vet did say it was in her urine, but didn't seem concerned about it. Just said we needed to get her levels under control and it would help.
Click to expand...
Are you saying Allie had ketones when she was sick at the vet and the vet sent you home with ketones still in her urine?
If that is the case, you really need to recheck her urine as soon as possible to see how many ketones are in her urine. Ketones in the urine can lead to DKA which can be life threatening if not treated early enough.
I don't want to frighten you....just make you aware that it can potentially be very serious.
If she did/does have ketones it is very important she is eating enough, drinking enough and getting enough insulin.
So I would make it a priority to somehow get a sample of her urine to test.
Good luck!!
I think you are doing a really good job getting on top of this.:)
 
Courtney said:
She's a stinking sneaking peeer. It's never when she should pee. It's when I'm sound asleep and by the time I realize I'm hearing litter scratching and get into the bathroom, she's done. :arghh: I'm thinking I'll have to be sneaky back and wrap that box in plastic.
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my cat is 13. I've seen her pee with my own eyes a total of about 10 times in her life. lol
 
When I tested Allie tonight before dinner, she was 152. So my husband fed her like normal but I told him no insulin and I'd recheck her again when I got home from baseball for the night. It was just over two hours after she'd ate that I got home, so 9:20ish. She'd only gone up one point to 153. I didn't give her insulin. I thought it might bottom her out if I did. Am I understanding that right? It seems with the new low carb diet she stays in the 150-160ish range for now and that's with me giving her snacks. Saturday was also the first full day without the high fiber perscription cat food. I hope I get to the point when I can feel completely sure about decisions. Allies depending on me/my husband to get her healthy again.

Thanks
Courtney
 
Bron and Sheba said:
Are you saying Allie had ketones when she was sick at the vet and the vet sent you home with ketones still in her urine?
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I believe she said Allie was still high and had blood sugar crystals in her urine. I don't ever remember her saying at any time that there was ketones in her urine. I do remember having a conversation about ketones the day I took her to the vet. I was told they would be keeping a close eye on that since she was sooooo high.
 
Bron and Sheba said:
It is not good to feed a cat seafood all the time. How about just sticking to the chicken and turkey one she seems to like and tolerate and see how she goes with that?
Click to expand...

The seafood is a no go. She's been marked with a big intolerant stamp. So far she's done well with the turkey and even had mixed grill. No more vomiting. She thinks she's starving all the time, though. I guess going from being in the 300s most of the time down to the 150-160s could make her feel like that, though.
 
JanetNJ said:
my cat is 13. I've seen her pee with my own eyes a total of about 10 times in her life. lol
Click to expand...

Before we knew Allie was diabetic, she was in that litter box all day. She had no shame and didn't care who was around. Since she's been home from the vet and the UTI is gone, she's rarely in the box now. When I came home to test her between games tonight, I just happen to be in the bathroom after testing her and she climbed in the box. I quickly grabbed a strip and promptly realized she wasn't in there to pee. LOL. The box is wrapped in plastic now, so I'm hoping I'll have a sample come morning. :nailbiting:
 
My kitty still acts like she is starving at times, I am getting to the point I can almost predict her levels by her behaviour. She would also vomit during the night when she was still getting regulated but that stopped once I changed her diet and got better control. She also had really nasty cow pat type poops the smell of which greeted me at the door every time I got home from work or out of bed in the mornings. I went through a lot of air freshener at that point!

If the plastic doesn't work try some aquarium gravel in the litter box, it is non absorbent and you get a puddle to dip the stick into. My kitty gets a bit fussy about being watched using the litter box, but I sneak up behind her with a spoon and hold it under her to catch the urine, much easier than trying to hold the strip under - I always have to have a spoon to hand near the box because she is very quick to go. She is very fussy about the cleanliness of the box so I find a good time is just after I change it as she usually hops straight in having kept her legs crossed!
 
Courtney said:
When I tested Allie tonight before dinner, she was 152. So my husband fed her like normal but I told him no insulin and I'd recheck her again when I got home from baseball for the night. It was just over two hours after she'd ate that I got home, so 9:20ish. She'd only gone up one point to 153. I didn't give her insulin. I thought it might bottom her out if I did. Am I understanding that right? It seems with the new low carb diet she stays in the 150-160ish range for now and that's with me giving her snacks. Saturday was also the first full day without the high fiber perscription cat food. I hope I get to the point when I can feel completely sure about decisions. Allies depending on me/my husband to get her healthy again.

Thanks
Courtney
Click to expand...
You did right.
Courtney said:
The seafood is a no go. She's been marked with a big intolerant stamp. So far she's done well with the turkey and even had mixed grill. No more vomiting. She thinks she's starving all the time, though. I guess going from being in the 300s most of the time down to the 150-160s could make her feel like that, though.
Click to expand...
it sounds like she's doing well! You could give her several small meals if she's hungry. How much are you feeding her now?
 
Courtney said:
When I tested Allie tonight before dinner, she was 152. So my husband fed her like normal but I told him no insulin and I'd recheck her again when I got home from baseball for the night. It was just over two hours after she'd ate that I got home, so 9:20ish. She'd only gone up one point to 153. I didn't give her insulin. I thought it might bottom her out if I did. Am I understanding that right? It seems with the new low carb diet she stays in the 150-160ish range for now and that's with me giving her snacks. Saturday was also the first full day without the high fiber perscription cat food. I hope I get to the point when I can feel completely sure about decisions. Allies depending on me/my husband to get her healthy again.
Thanks
Courtney
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Courtney, if Allie stays under 200 and you can't give insulin, it might be that you need to reduce the dose of insulin further so you can shoot. (you did right not to shoot under 200). Looks like the low carb food has made a big difference to the numbers.
I am not familiar with Novolin insulin so can't give you any dosing advise. But I will tag a few people who might be able to help. Hopefully one of them has used Novolin.
@BJM @Elizabeth and Bertie @Marje and Gracie @Larry and Kitties @Sue and Oliver (GA)
 
I agree that no shot was right. I have not used Novolin but it is an in and out insulin like ProZinc which I am familiar with. Two unusual things - either the insulin was still working at +14 (very unusual) or her pancreas is starting to work. It is true that less food can mean lower levels, but if she started eating again, that is less likely to be a factor.

She might be high this am because it will have been 24 hours since her last shot. If she is over 200, you might give her a shot, but reduce the amount. I think I'd be very cautious and draw up 0.5 and let a few drops out. She might be high because, if her pancreas is starting to "wake up", it is an on and off process. It may wake up for a few hours and then "rest", so a little insulin can help out.

Or she may still be in lower numbers as the low carb food is making the difference and she doesn't need insulin for now. I would not shoot under 200 but would monitor carefully.
 
I tested Allie this morning and she was too low to read. I fed her immediately and gave her a bit of gravy from one of my other cans that has a bit higher of carbs. She's not acting weird or anything just like she's really hungry. When she bottomed out at the vet she started rolling around and was really out of it. She's running after me when I went to get her food, rubbing against my leg as I was getting it, meowing like normal when she senses it's coming. I fed her slowly in bits so she wouldn't eat too quickly. I also tested her urine this morning and it showed a trace amount color on the scale. So what do I do about that? If she's too low to read, how can I give her insulin? Do I need to administer more water? She's drinking, but maybe not enough.

Thanks
Courtney
 
Courtney said:
I tested Allie this morning and she was too low to read. I fed her immediately and gave her a bit of gravy from one of my other cans that has a bit higher of carbs. She's not acting weird or anything just like she's really hungry. When she bottomed out at the vet she started rolling around and was really out of it. She's running after me when I went to get her food, rubbing against my leg as I was getting it, meowing like normal when she senses it's coming. I fed her slowly in bits so she wouldn't eat too quickly. I also tested her urine this morning and it showed a trace amount color on the scale. So what do I do about that? If she's too low to read, how can I give her insulin? Do I need to administer more water? She's drinking, but maybe not enough.

Thanks
Courtney
Click to expand...
No insulin if she's too low!! Wait 15 min and test again.
 
Hi Courtney. You may have already stated this but I can't find it anywhere so thought I'd ask: What type/brand of glucometer are you using?
 
If she got a LO on the meter, I would suggest changing the Subject Line on your first post to something like "LO BG and Trace Ketones - Help Please" to get more eyes on your thread.
I am on my way to work and can not log on from there.
 
So if I am understanding correctly, Allie had no insulin last night because her BG was 152 & 153 but she showed LOW on the meter this morning and is showing trace ketones? If she had no insulin, then I wouldn't expect her to be THAT low and would suggest if that happens again, you retest immediately without feeding her to confirm the reading. Since you gave her some higher carb gravy (which you didn't need to if she's had no insulin) her BG should be up now but that would be food influenced. Not sure what to make of the trace ketones unless she is still clearing them from her system but that would suggest she had higher ketones before.
 
Update: I'm using a relion glucometer and I fed her half a can with a tiny drizzle of gravy. The vet told me to give her kerosyrup if she bottomed out, but I didn't think that would be accurate since she hadn't had insulin for close to 24 hours. I posted and then tested her again after eating, so about 15 minutes. It was 299. Would the food jump it that high or did I have some bad test strips? I checked her twice and it gave me an error both times, too low to read.

I'm at the ball fields now, but my husband stayed home to keep an eye on her. She drank her water and looked in her food dish after getting tested again. No food so she jumped on the bed to settle in for a nap.

Is there something I need to be doing about the trace ketones? I think I'll call my vet tomorrow morning and get clarification on all her numbers and results of everything, maybe a print out if they have one. That way I can give a more thorough background. I feel like I'm guessing all the time.
 
Keep checking the urine as ketones can take time to appear in the urine, and they may disappear or go up. She needs fluids so try mixing water with her food as well as making sure she has access to water. As you are not giving insulin we worry about ketones developing. Anything more than a trace please post immediately for advice.
 
@Squalliesmom Do the Relion meters read if there is too small a sample? My meters beep to tell me when I have a sufficient sample and there is a display of lines moving on the screen that doesn't start until a sufficient sample has been taken into the strip. Just wondering if that could account for the LOW this morning followed by what seems to be a fairly high food spike?
 
Mine errors if insufficient blood is on the strip. This morning it beeped that there was enough blood and started the reading process and errored after about 15 seconds. So I did it again right away. Same thing. I'm gonna test her again when I get home. And I'll add water with her food.
 
She has a water bowl and the toilet, which she prefers mostly. But I'm concerned all the time and feel like I'm constantly sticking her in front of her water. I'll start adding water to her food.
 
Update: This morning I had a funny feeling, and I'm glad I went with my gut. I did give her 1 unit of insulin before I left for the ball game. I'm really glad I did. I did some research on the strips I'd been using since Friday and found out they had a recall on them for bad test numbers. The two times I tested her this morning were the last two strips in that brand's bottle since they were the ones I used durning my pregnancy. I opened a new bottle that the pharmacist recommended when I tested her after she ate. The extreme spike after eating puzzled me. I know cats are different from people somewhat, but there are some similarities. So now I don't trust any of the low numbers I've been getting for the past two days. She's probably been high and I've been giving her snacks and no insulin. Poor cat can't catch a break with me in charge. So I tested her again a few minutes ago. It's been 5 hours since she had 1 unit and she went from 299 right after eating to 251. Should I maybe up the dose to 1.5 tonight? Should I be doing anything more since she does have the trace amount of ketones? She's still acting like she's starving. She wanted food after getting tested, but I'm not sure that's the right thing to do. I'm feeding her 1 can a day. The vet told me she can have up to 1.5 cans a day. I don't want to cause more problems for her. Her first dx week was hell on her, and she's been better at home, but I need to find a balance. Vet said she needs 1/4 can to get insulin, so should I do 1/4 every 4 hours to help with her hunger to do the insulin 2x with her last snack 4 hours before the next injection? Overload of questions here LOL.
 
What is the size of the can of food you are giving Allie?
If she is starving I would let her eat all she wants. She is underweight isn't she?
You can adjust her insulin if she is eating more and her numbers go up.
If she has ketones, she needs food, water and insulin. All are really important.
I am going to tag someone about ketones. I just need to find her username...can't remember it off the top of my head BRB.
 
Bron, Do you mean eat whenever she appears to be hungry, or let her eat until she's full at the scheduled feeding times? And yes very under weight. Skinny, skinny, skinny! Sorry I'm on my iPad and not able to highlight to reply.
 
Bron and Sheba said:
What is the size of the can of food you are giving Allie?
If she is starving I would let her eat all she wants. She is underweight isn't she?
You can adjust her insulin if she is eating more and her numbers go up.
If she has ketones, she needs food, water and insulin. All are really important.
I am going to tag someone about ketones. I just need to find her username...can't remember it off the top of my head BRB.
Click to expand...

I figured it out, lol. She's eating 5.5 oz cans. I feel bad as I watch her searching the kitchen for something to eat. Every time I head to my room she chases me, thinking I'm heading in to feed her.
 
I would let her eat whenever she is hungry at this point. Her body can't absorb all the nutrients in the food at the moment because of the unregulated diabetes and she needs the extra food to compensate. Just don't feed her in the two hours before preshot as you don't want the preshot number to be influenced by food.
I would also try mixing a little bit of warm water in with the food to add fluids, which she needs if she has ketones.
 
Courtney said:
Bron, Do you mean eat whenever she appears to be hungry, or let her eat until she's full at the scheduled feeding times? And yes very under weight. Skinny, skinny, skinny! Sorry I'm on my iPad and not able to highlight to reply.
Click to expand...
I would probably feed her what you normally do at mealtimes, then give the extra in between. That way she is getting food often and is less likely to vomit from overeating all at once. If she is skinny she needs more food. You are lucky she is willing to eat!!
 
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