HELP! Ketones in Urine... (ALL BETTER NOW)

Hello Everyone!
I havent posted in a bit (sorry!) but I am in a panic right now... nailbite_smile
My Boo has been doing good since being put on Lantis in 11/08 after a DKA crisis and a week in the emergency hospital. For the last few days she has been acting a little bit not herself - just a LITTLE different, but not much, and I have been testing her and her BG #'s have been staying usually between 80-120 and we usually give her 3/4 unit at 11am & 11pm. Lately she has been testing really low in the mornings, so we have not been giving her the shot so she doesn't go to low during the day if we are not around. She did seem a bit dehydrated, so the past 2 evenings, we did give her 50-75 of fluid (we also have a CRF kitty, so we have it on hand). She does eat a little, but not much. I decided to test her urin with the stix, and it tested POSITIVE! I didnt even think to test it before with her numbers being low and not high!! WHAT DO I DO??? :?: Fluid her up? Increase insulin? The vet stay cost us over $3,000.00 my dad helped pay & they wont even take her in without a credit card, & I dont have one! My dad is in the hospital, so I'm at home & gonna go get her some electrolyte fluid to give to her and stock up on some more needles for fluid. PLEASE help... :cry: :sad: (sniffle, sniffle...)

 

Re: HELP! Ketones in Urine...

no advice here, but hang in there, someone with experience will be here soon!

 

Re: HELP! Ketones in Urine...

If it were me I would go to the ER.
I don't have first hand experience with ketones. I do know they can kill and that fluids are a good thing to give.
I HOPE some more experienced ketone people come by quickly.
Everybody, bump this thread if it goes down the list.

 

Re: HELP! Ketones in Urine...

I don't think this is something that can be treated at home...but I am not familiar with it....what about a regular vet? Would that be ok instead of the emergency vet? Can you get to your usual vet office as soon as possible? Maybe give a call....have you been able to test again?

 

Re: HELP! Ketones in Urine...

just say the word ketones and I bet they would see you right away

 

Re: HELP! Ketones in Urine...

sorry I can't give advice but I am sending healing thoughts your kitty's way.
Is there another vet you could take her to?

 

Re: HELP! Ketones in Urine...

When you say she tested positive, what do you mean? A trace amount of ketones can be managed at home with fluids. I would not give electrolytes unless your vet told you to do so. If there are more than a trace amount, I wouldn't try to manage this at home.

How old are your Ketostix? Test yourself and see if you get a negative test. Ketostix have a short shelf-life and we recently had a member go through this and found out her Ketostix were no longer good. Also, how did you do the test? You should wait 15 sec. and then compare to the color coding.

 

Re: HELP! Ketones in Urine...

Mainly another bump up here. Ketones are really serious. Just one thought, how old are your ketostix? They have a shelf life of 3 or 4 months once opened.

 

Re: HELP! Ketones in Urine...

Definitely check the strips to make sure they haven't expired. Test yourself like Sienne said to see if you get a positive reading. Her BGs have been in the normal range? Have they spiked up, at all?

 

Re: HELP! Ketones in Urine...

bump

 

Re: HELP! Ketones in Urine...

ok - just wanted to reply quick - i just got back & i am going to test her BG now - the ketones did test more than trace. I had gone to the store the other day and bought a new bottle of strips & just opened them to make sure I got correct readings because the strips I already had were in the cabinet for a few months and I didnt want to take a chance - I knew they have a short shelf life after being opened.

Like i had said, I would take her, but they wont take her without a credit card - they want payment upfront - they give you an estimate and you pay a downpayment and basicly a retainer with a credit card. I dont have one - last time I called my dad (felt like an idiot crying uncontrolably calling my dad to come to the emergency vet with a credit card - he was there within 20 min). my dad is in the hospital right now because he just had a stent put in his heart.

I have to TRY - She is acting nothing like she was the time she was DKA before & I know everything ther did for her at the hospital & I talked with the doctor ALL the time and visited her more than I was suppose to. I had originally taken her to her regular vet that time & her reg vet had called the emergency vet and immediately sent me there with her, so I dont know if the reg vet will do anything. I can try to call. I am going to test her in a min & post an update in a few. I just wanted to check on replys.

Well, again, they would SEE her, but wouldnt do anything due to the payment situation... gotta love it...

She did test more than trace amount of ketones. I had gone to the store the other day and bought a new bottle of strips & just opened them to make sure I got correct readings because the strips I already had were in the cabinet for a few months and I didnt want to take a chance - I knew they have a short shelf life after being opened. I did wait the 15 seconds & also did 3 tests to make sure

Her BG's have been normal for the pas 2 months or so since we bought a new bottle of insulin.


I am going to test her & do a few things with her & get back to update - PLEASE keep the help coming! Thanks to EVERYONE for your time!!
Head butts & purrrrrs... confused_cat from me & my McBooPuff... ;-) :sad: nailbite_smile :YMSIGH:

 

Re: HELP! Ketones in Urine...

bump

 

Re: HELP! Ketones in Urine...

dawn, i'm sorry you're going through this.

first of all, a little bit of history from BudLt's profile on the "old" board:

OK, here is the “quick scoop”…
Jazmine (my Booga-Boo) was diagnosed with diabetes on 6/23/08. She is 8 years old now (birthday is September 3rd 2008), a Tortoiseshell color Persian, weighs about 6 lbs, and loves to tell stories. She has a 17 lb Cream Point Himalayan brother (12 yrs old) that she loves, and a black short-hair domestic sister “Soprano” (is what we call her; about 15 yrs old; not sure-found as a kitten) that yells at both of them just for something to do.

She is on the insulin by the name of HUMULIN N. Her vet started on 1 ½ units every 12 hours. The vet also started her on a low carb, high protein diet and told us to get Hills M/D (I call it kat-kins instead of at-kins – apparently A LOT of people do; I thought I had come up with a good one!). Of course since then I have learned SO much and know better about the Hills M/D and she is on the FF diet now.

As of beginning Oct/08, insulin is up to 3 units per shot. Boo can’t seem to get regulated and she seems unhappy. She will eat, I will give her the shot, and she will actually walk around and meow for the next 2 hours. Her BG is never at a constant range; it HAS to be uncomfortable for her BG levels to be going up and down so much so often. I have got to look into maybe a new vet…

As of beginning Nov/08, I have changed Boos diet to all low-carb, wheat gluten free varieties of Fancy Feast (thanks Janet & Binky's Charts!) and also lowered her insulin to 2 units per shot. I believe this has helped a lot in keeping her BG levels from going as high as they were. They are still not GREAT, but getting better than they were. I still do not think she should be going up and down so much so often. I think it is time for the new insulin.

***UPDATED Dec/08...
THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED AT THE HOSPITAL THRU WHAT WE ARE DOING NOW...

November sucked. Boo was not acting normal; she was sitting by her water bowl and not drinking, and had not wanted to eat so we called the vet and she had us bring her in to check her out. She told us the news – we had to take her immediately to the hospital. She called the hospital to let them know we were on our way.
11/17/08 Boo was admitted into the emergency hospital with DKA where she spent 5 LONG days as I spent 5 LONG days worrying about her. Seeing her each day and the condition she was in crushed my heart more and more. I would hold her and she would instantly fall asleep in my arms due to not having much sleep in a strange place with strange people working around her 24 hrs a day. I would sit with her as long as they would allow with my tears saturating her blankie or t-shirt I would bring to her each day for a reminder of home to keep with her. I knew she was content; she doesn’t like to be held, so when she would stare into my eyes and happily drift into a nap, I knew she was happy I was there with her.

Basically, now she is home and doing better. Do to all the info I keep on her (and I do have FILES) and I have shared with the doctor, we decided to change her insulin to Lantus and started her on ½ unit per day.
Boo had also become anemic while in the hospital, so I am giving her a B-12 shot once a week. As of now, she is also on antibiotics.

In the hospital they performed an ultrasound and revealed an enlarged, bright liver and a nodule in her pancreas. The liver issue is consistent with diabetes in general, but not specific for diabetes meaning there could be an underlying disease. As for the nodule, it could be a benign change due to chronic inflammation, or indicate a malignant cancer. The only way to determine this is with a biopsy. Instead of invasive procedures, we opted to run a blood test for pancreatitis; it came back positive. Pancreatitis it is typically managed long term with diet, and they feel no change is necessary in her diet at this time.

We suspect she may have a disease called triaditis; this is the inflammation in three organs – liver, pancreas, and GI tract. The only way to diagnose this condition is with biopsies of her liver and GI tract (we already know she has pancreatitis), and typically treated with steroids in which she cannot receive due to the diabetes. We decided to wait on the biopsies, however we opted for a maldigestion profile (blood test) to measure her vitamin B levels and detect any bacterial overgrowth. The test came back negative for the bacteria, but low on the vitamin B12.

Overall we are treating her with 3 things for the suspect triaditis; B-12 for 6 weeks, a 4 week course of antibiotic (baytril), and a liver protectant called denamarin. We go back for a check-up in 6 weeks for an ultrasound to check her pancreatic nodule, her liver enzymes, and her vitamin B-12 levels.


you mentioned ketones were "more than a trace"... what were they on the color chart? trace, small, moderate, or large?

a presence of ketones suggests an inadequate supply of insulin and the possibility of infection/systemic stress going on somewhere in the body. given boo's prior history, the behavior you've mentioned, skipped shots, and not eating much... she really should be seen by a vet. there could very well be something triggering the presence of ketones. imho, your vet needs to examine and run tests on boo to find the underlying cause.

i encourage you to call your vet, explain the situation, and try to work out some sort of payment plan.
delaying a vet visit may result in boo's condition worsening... not to mention becoming more costly. once ketones develop, they can escalate very quickly and become life threatening if not treated properly.

just my thoughts...