? High Ketones 04/26 Puddin AMPS 320, +3.5 358, +6 289, PMPS 262, +2.5 319, +4 289

Puddin is reading high in ketones; it seems between 40-80 on my color chart.

Is there something I can do for this? I'll try to increase his liquid intake.

https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB...2-5-349-pmps-256-2-5-539.289259/#post-3173554

 

High ketones are a legit emergency. Call your vet or get your cat to an emergency clinic.

 

Thank you. I called my vet; waiting for a call back.

 

Has your vet gotten back to you?

 

Yes, sorry! He isn't concerned so much right now since Puddin is acting otherwise normal and wanting to eat, drink, etc.
I realized Puddin had a 500s reading last night and I'm assuming it's a reaction to that.
His BG when I got home was at least lower and in the 200s.

 

What chart are you looking at? Was this a urine test? I'm not use to seeing numbers 40-80.

 

Please keep a close eye on Puddin. High ketones are concerning. If you can get another test, that would be great. Make sure the strips aren't past their expiration date and that you follow the instructions exactly since if you read the results at a time other than specified, it may give you a false reading.

 

It is the "color match chart" that comes with the test strips; I have the Keto MOJO brand strips. "Urine Reagent Strips for Urinalysis"; are these correct for usage?

The color that corresponded to the strip's coloration was between the 40mg/dl and the 80mg/dl - and I tested with 2 strips to be sure.

They're not expired, however my method of obtaining the urine was from a soaked pee pad. It was fresh, still warm.

 

Yes, I'm hoping to catch him do another fresh pee so I can test again!

 

I just did another test; I'm having a hard time comparing colors with the chart (I will attempt to attach a photo).

The color is not as dark as this morning.

 

Thanks for attaching that pictures. I'm used to the mmol/L numbers, so that explains the difference.

Good to hear he's come down a bit. Though still higher than we like to see.

 

Is there anything I can do to help him with this? I recall you mentioned increasing water to flush the ketones, which I have been doing via additional water in his food.

 

I have a couple ideas, but am talking to others about it. How many calories is he eating compared to what he should? Calories are also part of the equation.

 

He's eating around 500 calories per day. This is 1.5 cans of the 5.5oz cans 2x per day (3 cans/day).
He's always very hungry and would eat more.
Today he was 14lbs but his highest weight before diabetes was around 22lbs; so I'm not sure what his ideal weight would be. At 14lbs I can still feel his spine, so he's underweight for his build.

 

Get a chance to do another ketones test tonight?

500 is a lot of calories! But with him being unregulated he's not properly processing his food. At 14 and a bit lbs, Neko was doing well on 225 calories per day. Each cat varies in their metabolism, so that makes some difference.

One of my thoughts was to go up 0.5 units tomorrow. I know we normally go up by 0.25 units, until they get to 5.0 units total dose. But the lowest he's seen is mid 200's. You can help get rid of ketones with more insulin and I think a 0.5 increase at this point will still be safe. Plus he was higher than that on Prozinc.

 

You could ask your vet about subQ fluids which would help flush out ketones. Ask your vet if he has noticed any heart issues with Puddin including a heart murmur. If there are heart issues that would discount subQ fluids. If he gives the go ahead I would check with us first about the amount of fluids he suggests per day first.
Any update on the ketones?

 

Yes, it's even more than 500 most of the time with the addition of broth he takes after his breathing treatment. He's definitely eating more than double my other cats who are seemingly slightly overweight .

Thank you; I increased .5u today, so we are at 4.5u.

I'm waiting for him to provide a fresh urine sample so I can test ketones.

 

The vet never noticed heart issues and always mentioned it was functioning very well.

A few weeks ago the vet gave me Vetmedin to give Puddin but I never gave it to him. He wrote that it's to aid kidney perfusion; should I try to give it to him?

I will ask about the Subq fluids this week as I was thinking it might help too. Since @Wendy&Neko suggested adding water to his wet food, he has really improved!

I will check ketones soon...waiting for a fresh urine!

Thank you!

 

Ketones improving:

 

The ketone result looks better which is good.
Vetmedin is a medication used for heart issues as far as I am aware. I would ask your vet again about why he ordered it. If there are heart issues I would not recommend subQ fluids. Oral fluids are fine though