I'm back, but with a new cat

My tuna is still holding onto his remission woo! But I've taken on a foster that has been diagnosed with fd since November. So a solid 3 months of no insulin. I just got this foster at 2 am. He came to me because he could be in DKA. I'm at the vet now waiting because he refused to pee. Since I can't get a ketone level the vets gonna have to charge me for it. His symptoms are:
Lethargic, inappetence (though he ate full FF can via syringe licking like a hamster), weak front legs, possible acetone smell?, possibly nauseous, and he hasn't pooped in 3 days.

He didn't seem to have a fever, nor has he vomited. I'm hopeful since he ate that full can of food gruel that Maybe it isn't dka? Oh, and I have a BG result. +1 after eating was 269. I need to link his own spreadsheet.

 

I can tag Bron for you
@Bron and Sheba (GA)

 

Hi Katrina. Lovely to see you. I’m glad Tuna is still in remission

Oh my goodness …3 months a diabetic and no insulin!
I do hope he doesn’t have DKA. I’m really glad you took him to the vet. It is really good you were able to get a full can of FF into him.
Please let us know how you get on at the vet and what the diagnosis is. His symptoms are not good but hopefully it might just be ketones. Or it could be pancreatitis. He will need a fPL snap or fPL spec test for that. It’s not in the routine blood tests.
He needs to start insulin asap.
Even if it is DKA… they can treat that ….it doesn’t sound as if it has progressed too far along yet.
I will give you a list of what you will need to do in case it is DKA. Even if it is just ketones I would follow the same advice.

• you need to give one and a half times as many calories as he normally eats. Offer snacks every couple of hours during the day and evening as well as the 2 main meals. Food is like a medicine and helps keep ketones away. If he won’t eat the low carb food, feed him whatever he will eat as eating any food is better than not eating,
• Don’t skip any doses of insulin as insulin helps keep ketones away. If the BG is not high enough to give the dose…stall, dont feed and test again in 20 minutes and post and ask for help.
• Test daily for ketones. Put the results of the tests into the remarks column of the SS so we can see. Please report any trace ketones at all. Sounds like you already have some Ketostix at home
• Give antinausea medication if needed. Ask for some Cerenia and Ondansetron. Ondansetron is better for nausea and the two anti nausea meds can be given together as they apwork on different pathways. Ondansetron can be given three times a day and Cerenia once a day. I would ask the vet to give him a Cerenia injection before you leave.
• Give appetite stimulant if needed after the antinausea medication
• Give extra fluids. If kitty will tolerate warm water in the food, put a teaspoon into each snack..
• Ask the vet about subQ fluids
• Set up a spreadsheet and test the BG frequently
• Post daily with updates and ask for help as often as needed.

Bron

 

The lethargy and acetone smell are not good signs. How is the kitty doing?