4/6/21 Gabriel Ketone Q & Behavior

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Nikki D.

Member Since 2021
First, thank you to everyone on this forum. Gabriel has a good vet but educational handling of the diabetes not so good.

1st Q: What do you use to capture urine for Ketone test? Staring at the litter box and using just a stick not working but can't think of how to lift his butt and capture.

2nd:. Comments on following - Gabriel was diagnosed last Tues and he had his first shot (1 unit) Sat morning. Had hypo reaction (see earlier thread) because the nibbler wouldn't eat enough for the shot. Vet said not to start again until he eats more. Oddly, 1 week into eating only 3 percent carbs moist food (was eating dry) (he wasn't yet on the canned food when he was tested at the vet), he is acting awfully normal. No more crying, doesn't drink as much water and down to his normal level of urination. Went back to sleeping on my bed without getting up every 15 minutes.
Still just eating small portions at a time.

Planning on doing a ketone test today and trying glucose level Weds. Would the can food make any difference in such short period of time?

Know now from this forum that diet impacts levels.
 
Nikki D. said:
First, thank you to everyone on this forum. Gabriel has a good vet but educational handling of the diabetes not so good.

1st Q: What do you use to capture urine for Ketone test? Staring at the litter box and using just a stick not working but can't think of how to lift his butt and capture.

2nd:. Comments on following - Gabriel was diagnosed last Tues and he had his first shot (1 unit) Sat morning. Had hypo reaction (see earlier thread) because the nibbler wouldn't eat enough for the shot. Vet said not to start again until he eats more. Oddly, 1 week into eating only 3 percent carbs moist food (was eating dry) (he wasn't yet on the canned food when he was tested at the vet), he is acting awfully normal. No more crying, doesn't drink as much water and down to his normal level of urination. Went back to sleeping on my bed without getting up every 15 minutes.
Still just eating small portions at a time.

Planning on doing a ketone test today and trying glucose level Weds. Would the can food make any difference in such short period of time?

Know now from this forum that diet impacts levels.
Click to expand...
 
Help! Vet wants me to put Gabriel back on insulin, even though he went hypo, without checking his levels. It was recommended on this forum that I give him .5 unit every 12 hours instead of 1. Should I get the vet mad at me or follow my gut? There is a noticeable positive change in Gabriel but the practice said it would get bad for Gabriel if I don't.
 
Here is your previous thread. We link the previous thread to all current threads for continuity https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB...nsulin-until-he-eats-more-before-shot.245721/

To collect a urine sample you need to either put something like a big spoon or a small container under him as he pees or put some plastic in his favourite spot to try and catch some pee.

You really need to be checking the glucose level before giving more insulin. Why do you have to wait until Wednesday to do any tests? Walmart has cheap ReliOn human meters which are perfectly reliable and suitable.
The danger of not giving insulin is ketones, so you need to get that urine test in ASAP and do it each day.
The danger of giving the insulin without testing the BG is you risk another hypo. Don’t worry about the vet getting mad at you. Gabriel’s health is more important than what the vet thinks.
You need to do three things
  1. Go out and buy a human meter today and test the blood glucose. Then post the result here and we will tell you what to do about the insulin
  2. Work on getting that ketones urine test
  3. Keep feeding the low carb diet and make sure he eats well.....important
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
Here is your previous thread. We link the previous thread to all current threads for continuity https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB...nsulin-until-he-eats-more-before-shot.245721/

To collect a urine sample you need to either put something like a big spoon or a small container under him as he pees or put some plastic in his favourite spot to try and catch some pee.

You really need to be checking the glucose level before giving more insulin. Why do you have to wait until Wednesday to do any tests? Walmart has cheap ReliOn human meters which are perfectly reliable and suitable.
The danger of not giving insulin is ketones, so you need to get that urine test in ASAP and do it each day.
The danger of giving the insulin without testing the BG is you risk another hypo. Don’t worry about the vet getting mad at you. Gabriel’s health is more important than what the vet thinks.
You need to do three things
  1. Go out and buy a human meter today and test the blood glucose. Then post the result here and we will tell you what to do about the insulin
  2. Work on getting that ketones urine test
  3. Keep feeding the low carb diet and make sure he eats well.....important
Click to expand...
As of 3 a.m. 4/12/21, Gabriel reads 75 on a human meter. Negative for Ketones.

Lab results from 3/25/21 showed glucose reading of 428.

Please advise what I should do. More testing? Vet wanted me to start immediately on 1 unit twice/day, but I didn't feel comfortable doing this without checking levels and hearing back from the group.

Besides the hypo incident, Gabriel has not had any more insulin shots. Just that one. Acting normal for him, just doesn't care for the moist food and I am afraid he is not eating enough.
 
75 on a human meter is a normal BG number for a cat.
The lab results from the 25/3 showing 428 are now old and you would not give insulin based on those results. We need to see current BG numbers.

Are you able to start a spreadsheet and put in all your BG tests?
We really need to see those before we can advise on dosing insulin....if at all.
Here is a link to the SS. If you have any trouble I am going to tag @Bandit's Mom and she will be able to help you if needed.
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/spreadsheets-tech-support-testing-area.6/

areyou still testing every day for ketones? ....very important
Are you still feeding a low carb diet?
It is very very important that he eats well.
No insulin and not eating could be responsible for ketones developing if he is susceptible.

So the things you need to do are
  1. Set up a SS and add the BG data
  2. Keep testing the BGs
  3. Make sure Gabriel is eating enough food.
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
75 on a human meter is a normal BG number for a cat.
The lab results from the 25/3 showing 428 are now old and you would not give insulin based on those results. We need to see current BG numbers.

Are you able to start a spreadsheet and put in all your BG tests?
We really need to see those before we can advise on dosing insulin....if at all.
Here is a link to the SS. If you have any trouble I am going to tag @Bandit's Mom and she will be able to help you if needed.
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/spreadsheets-tech-support-testing-area.6/

areyou still testing every day for ketones? ....very important
Are you still feeding a low carb diet?
It is very very important that he eats well.
No insulin and not eating could be responsible for ketones developing if he is susceptible.

So the things you need to do are
  1. Set up a SS and add the BG data
  2. Keep testing the BGs
  3. Make sure Gabriel is eating enough food.
Click to expand...
 
No
3 a.m today BG = 75.
3:40 p.m. BG = 85.

Have not yet had chance to set up chart.

I really don't know what I'm doing, so when and how often to test?

Can the meter be defective? I don't understand how he could go from high to normal like that. Only thing new is change from dry fd to low carb canned, fish oil, and mobiflex for his arthritis.

On Mon, Apr 12, 2021, 11:09 AM nikki durkin <npdurkin@gmail.com> wrote:
This was my 1st successful BG. No others to add to chart.

How often should I test? Any time of day better than another?

Still testing for ketones. Still on low carb canned. Not eating as much as should. I'm going to try Dr Elsey's Clean protein dry food to supplement canned.
 
I will tag @Bandit's Mom to stop by and give you a hand with the spreadsheet as it is important that it is up and running so we can see what is happening. So much easier than just a few random numbers.
Test the meter on yourself and see if you get a normal number.

I would test before each main meal (twice a day) and again about 3 hours later both cycles.
Are you offering snacks during the day as well as the main meals? Cats do much better with several smaller meals than just 2 big meals.
I’m glad you are still testing for ketones, that’s important.I’m assuming the tests are negative.
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
I will tag @Bandit's Mom to stop by and give you a hand with the spreadsheet as it is important that it is up and running so we can see what is happening. So much easier than just a few random numbers.
Test the meter on yourself and see if you get a normal number.

I would test before each main meal (twice a day) and again about 3 hours later both cycles.
Are you offering snacks during the day as well as the main meals? Cats do much better with several smaller meals than just 2 big meals.
I’m glad you are still testing for ketones, that’s important.I’m assuming the tests are negative.
Click to expand...
Ketones are negative. As Gabriel will never eat one large meal I leave our his larger morning moist food until late a.m., refresh with smaller portion, and then he gets a larger meal again at night and then another snack. His food is left out a couple hours then tossed. He's a nibbler.

Thanks for the assist. Mom is in the hospital and I'm currently a caregiver for a family member.
 
Nikki D. said:
Ketones are negative. As Gabriel will never eat one large meal I leave our his larger morning moist food until late a.m., refresh with smaller portion, and then he gets a larger meal again at night and then another snack. His food is left out a couple hours then tossed. He's a nibbler.

Thanks for the assist. Mom is in the hospital and I'm currently a caregiver for a family member.
Click to expand...
Sounds good with the food, and good no ketones!
I’m sorry your Mom is in hospital. I hope she gets better son.
 
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