Possible high ketones, bg 248?

I have not posted for Andy for a while because he was doing ok. Last evening and this morning, his appetite was off but his bg's were normal for him. His breath smells a little fruity. BG tested at 250 at +7. I have a Precision Xtra meter for ketones but have not used it to test ketones for a long time so my strips are 2 yrs old. But I tried testing and it came up as 3.1 and 4.6. I am concerned. Any advice is appreciated. Thx.

 

Did you checked if the strips are still within expiration date?

If the tests results are right I think you should see a vet

 

On the way to vets now. Can't trust the test strips.

 

If I were you I’d get him to the vet. On a blood ketone meter, ketones begin showing at 2.5. Hopefully your ketone meter is just off, but with the higher than usual bg numbers and his appetite being off the ketones would worry me. DKA can happen fast.

 

Keep us posted

 

We are back home. Had extensive bloodwork and discovered he has a UTI. Also after reviewing his bg's , vet wants us to try Vetsulin to see if that is a better fit. Andy has been on Lantus, then PZI, and back to Lantus and his history is like a rollercoaster. We were just accepting that is how he is after yrs of trying to stop his bouncing. Since we never tried Vetsulin, we figured we have nothing to lose. So starting that tonight and Clavamox and he got a shot of Cerenia and some pills also. If he is not improving in 2 days, he goes back to vet. He ate 1/2 can of FF and had his shot and Clavamox and is resting now. Whew!

 

Good to know it wasn't ketones!

 

There were some but they expected them due to the UTI. He still has the fruity breath which concerns me and no appetite despite the Cerenia shot. We syringe-fed a little food to give the Clavamox this am and I gave him a bit of tuna in tuna water - he seemed interested and ate a tiny bit but nothing like I would expect from him. I tested 2x since his shot and his bg's were 217 and 208 on 1u Vetsulin so that seems good. I have to call with an update after an hour so will ask about maybe giving some fluids to help him feel better. My poor baby!

 

fluids would be good to help flush the ketones. Also be sure to get enough calories into him as well as the insulin.

 

UPDATE on Andy
I took him in yesterday because his breath still smelled fruity and he was not eating. I could tell he felt yucky! They kept him and he finally ate for them. I just got a call from the tech that he is doing well and am waiting for the doctor to call. They ended up putting him on Novolin - said he is responding better to that so we shall see. It has been such a roller-coaster ride with Andy - Lantus, PZI, Lantus, Vetsulin and now Novolin. I'll try to post an update later after we find out exactly what we are doing.

 

Did they test for ketones?

 

He might need some ondansetron along with the cerenia. To help with nausea.

 

I did 200 ml fluids and he seemed a bit better but still would not eat that evening or next morning so took him in to the vet. See recent UPDATE.

Doctor called and he is doing well, eating well on his own now. They did not get a good response with Vetsulin so started him on Novolin and good results so far. They want to check him tonight and tomorrow am and he should come home tomorrow. I hope we finally find an insulin that works for him. Such a big difference between my 2 sugarbabies!

 

How can they tell he won't do well in vetsulin after 1 day? That seems weird.

 

He was not responding to the Vetsulin. Andy has been the impossible child. Since we got him, we have not been able to get him regulated. He was on 6 units Lantus (no underlying diseases) when we adopted him and he almost hypoed a few times. So we switched him to PZI but that did not help. Another vet suggested going back to Lantus and I used this board to help - we started over at 1 u and he was much, much better. He had been on 1 to 1.5u maybe for the last year but still was bouncing a lot. This past month we noticed more "turbulence" and then the UTI which probably was result of it. In ER on Friday, they used Vetsulin and sent us home to try it. It seemed good but he wasn't eating other than me syringe-feeding. When he started to eat, it was not lowering his bg's enough so they decided to try Novolin and he responded well to that. Sorry for so much info but Andy has "history" and it is hard to keep it simple as this is over yrs. I will see where we are tomorrow and I assume start over again.

 

Vetsulin and novolin tend to be bouncier than lantus. But who knows.

Generally Vetsulin lasts longer in the system than novolin. They should have given it a month before switching again.

 

Oh jeeeeeeez Yvonne, you must be exhausted. This sounds so taxing and scary. Just wanted to send a hug your way.