"In conditions associated with acidosis, urinary ketones are tested to assess the severity of acidosis and to monitor treatment response.
Urine ketones appear before there is any significant increase in blood ketones;[2] therefore, urine ketone measurement is especially helpful in emergency situations"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketonuria
"Acid-base balance is critical for maintaining the narrow pH range that is required for various enzyme systems to function optimally in the body.4 Normal blood pH ranges from 7.3-7.4."
Mishka is ketone prone and has had DKA several times, especially when I first adopted her 7 years ago. Mishka can also throw ketones ranging from trace to max and still act fine, no vomiting, eating and playing well, and then come back up negative. If she doesn't eat, she goes to ER and I don't even bother with the testing. She goes! The first thing I want to know is her blood pH which will tell me whether she is in true DKA or just throwing ketones. Having ketones does not mean DKA.
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At low levels, ketones can be detected in the urine (ketonuria) before they are found in the blood (ketonemia/ketonaemia)[37]."
http://petdiabetes.wikia.com/wiki/Ketoacidosis
I test Mishka's urine only. I keep a ladle and plastic cups handy and catch the "liquid gold" as I call it every chance I get. She is also more apt to show problems in the 100's, never high numbers. She has never ever even hit the 400's in the years I've had her. Other than one time where she did end up with Acute Pancreatitis, no reason has ever been found as to the reasons why. No URI, no UTI, dentals are done every 6 months because of FORL. When I first adopted her I understood the reasons for DKA....weight loss of 10 1/2lbs. (obesity) before I got her, vaccinated 3 days before I got her, never started on insulin before I got her and those first 3 months were a battle. She is my 4th diabetic, Vinnie is my 5th, and out of the 5 I've had, the only one that has ever thrown ketones. I truly believe some cats, no matter how high, will just never throw them, and some cats, even with good numbers will throw them.
Ketone bodies are three water-soluble compounds that are produced as by-products when fatty acids are broken down for energy in the liver and kidney. They are used as a source of energy in the heart and brain. In the brain, they are a vital source of energy during fasting.
The three ketone bodies are acetone, acetoacetic acid, and beta-hydroxybutyric acid, although beta-hydroxybutyric acid is not technically a ketone but a carboxylic acid.
(The Precision only tests for beta-hydroxybutyric acid)
Ketone bodies are produced from acetyl-CoA (see ketogenesis) mainly in the mitochondrial matrix of liver cells when carbohydrates are so scarce that energy must be obtained from breaking down fatty acids.
Acetone is formed from spontaneous decarboxylation of acetoacetate. In a corresponding manner, the levels of acetone are much lower than those of the other two types of ketone bodies. And, unlike the other two, acetone cannot be converted back to acetyl-CoA, so it is excreted in the urine and exhaled (it can be exhaled readily because it has a high vapor pressure and thus evaporates easily). The exhalation of acetone is responsible for the characteristic "fruity" odour of the breath of persons in ketotic states.
Ketosis and ketoacidosis
Any production of these compounds is called ketogenesis, and this is necessary in small amounts.
But, when excess ketone bodies accumulate, this abnormal (but not necessarily harmful) state is called ketoacidosis. Ketoacidosis can be quantified by sampling the patient's exhaled air, and testing for acetone by gas chromatography.[1]
When even larger amounts of ketone bodies accumulate such that the body's pH is lowered to dangerously acidic levels, this state is called ketoacidosis.
She doesn't seem
but this latest discussion