Update on Jake

Jake is steadily improving - actually he is very well. He is my miracle guy. He still has a feeding tube, but it is eating on his own at least half of the time. He is purring like I have never heard him purr before and looks wonderful. He met his new regular vet on Tuesday who gave him a UA - no ketones, no infections. Jake had never had ketones and/or ketoacidosis before the old vet took him off the insulin when he was still registering in the 400 and 500's. He has never been regulated much since his diabetic diagnosis in July 2009 with high numbers all the time. I had UAs done regularly, and ketones were never an issue - probably because I never skipped insulin doses unless his numbers were very, very low which was not often. So now, I am wondering because he did develop ketones and subsequent ketoacidosis that one time due to old veterinarian error, is Jake now more prone to getting ketones? His numbers are much better now (244 this morning), but everyone so often he gets really high which doesn't last long, but nevertheless still happens as the regulation process continues. If he IS prone to redeveloping ketones now, how can I help to prevent this from happening?

Thanks,
Judy & Jake

 

Judy, it's very good to hear that Jake is doing so well. I have no advice, just good healing thoughts & prayers for Jake.

 

((((Judy)))) I it so good to hear from you and the update on Jake sounds great. I cannot give you any advice on whether or not having ketones will make him more prone to it, but I am going to see if I can get someone to come and talk to you. :mrgreen:

It is tough until you get the right dose. I went crazy wanting things to move faster but with Lantus the main things is go start low and go slow. So keep on keeping on!!! You are a great mommbean and Jake is such a trooper!!!!

PS Glad you found a new vet. ;-)

 

Judy, please revisit the FAQs about DKA. It takes two of three conditions for ketones to develop 1. Not enough food 2. An underlying infection 3. Not enough insulin. If you have conditions 1 and 2 the insulin is not a factor in DKA.

Gia & Quirk

Guilt trips are a detour from life

 

Gia,

I am not specifically finding DKA FAQs - can you direct me how to find it on this forum. I am pretty new so please forgive my apparent blindness.

Thanks much,
Judy

 

Hi Judy,

On the main page, the board index, there is a forum for Health Links. I think this is what Gia intended for you to see. Here is the link to FAQ.
http://binkyspage.tripod.com/faq.html

I'm not sure anyone can answer the question you want to know - if Jake is more prone to ketones. It depends on the cat. I've seen many come to the board, have one DKA episode, and then a little later go off the juice, and then others, like my cat, tend to be prone to get ketones.

When a kitty is recovering (ketones cleared) I just think it is very important to test for ketones once a day or every other day at the very least. If you use the ketodiastix you can also monitor the amount of glucose he is spilling in his urine. The glucose should subside once you get the blood glucose numbers under control (by testing with the glucometer).

Another thing you might want to consider is getting the Precision Xtra blood ketone meter. You use it as you would a regular glucometer - little prick to the ear, and it measures blood ketones. Deanie and Boo posted this link once and I found it very helpful. http://www.childrenwithdiabetes.com/d_0n_030.htm

The Precision Xtra meter is expensive, so you might look on ebay. The strips are also very expensive, so, I shop ebay for those as well. Just make sure you buy the ones marked "blood ketone" strips - versus the glucose strips. If you go this route you won't need to use it everyday longterm, but, maybe once a day for a couple of weeks, then, if no issues, you can use it once a week or as-needed if you suspect something is off with Jake.

I hope this helps. FYI - with Layla, her number's were always all over the place when recovering from DKA (also HL). I does/can get better.

Hang in there and give Jake scritches from Layla


Best,
Pam & Layla