? Looking for others who've gone through DKA.

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MoonCatMama

MoonCatMama

Member Since 2015
I have no idea what to do or feel right now. We ran a blood test yesterday after a urine sample showed high amounts of glucose. She was originally in for a UTI. Before I could even get the results today Sarah took a turn for the worst and went from active and affectionate to weak and dehydrated. I found her this morning just laying in her litter box. My poor girl had to go potty but didn't have the energy to leave the box. The sight about killed me inside. I called the vet, they had just got the results that confirmed the diabetes and I told them I was on my way back in with her.

They currently have her on fluids and she received her first shot as well. She's also being treated for a UTI.

I'm so worried and am looking for anyone who has gone through this too to talk to.

Thank you.
 
I went through a bad episode of DKA when my cat Max was first diagnosed. I had no idea anything was wrong or that he even had diabetes until he was laying in the bathroom one day limp after a couple days of looking thin and not eating great.

It's really hard when you are trying to wrap your head around your cat having a chronic illness, and then dealing with them being so sick on top of it.

DKA can be really scary, but with the right care, it really only takes a couple weeks to recover. Getting the insulin dose right, getting enough fluids, enough food, and treating the infection are the key to it resolving. Lots of cats with DKA will need electrolyte supplements as well.

Is your cat currently at home or being treated for a few days at the vet?
 
Sadly my Scamp went DKA three times last year - she does okay for a while but when she crashes she crashes hard!! The first time was the week before I was supposed to go on holidays (of course!!) and she spent a few days in ICU at the hospital - they let me bring her home a little early so that she would get used to my roommate giving her shots but she didn't last 48 hours before she crashed again (technically it probably was only one continuous DKA but I had to pay twice so I call it two) - at least she stayed in the hospital while I went on holidays (the vets at the hospital phoned me at least once a day - they were great!!). that was February. Then in October (a very sad month for me) she went DKA again - her numbers were steady not great but steady but one of my other cats was suffering from pancreatitis, ibd, and renal failure and Scamp just crashed - sadly while Scamp was in the hospital I had to put Trouble down and then 9 days later his litter mate, Mischief, had to be put down from renal failure.

Scamp is now getting all my attention and she is just her usual adorable self!! DKA is very scary but Scamp survived it - thankfully - and the vets have all been very supportive of my little girl. Right now she is in her little bed cleaning her self and just resting after her dinner.

Your Sarah is in the right place where she is getting fluids and the care that she needs. I will keep her in my prayers.
 
Hi Elizabeth! Glad to see you made it over here from the Facebook group! The people here have lots of experience with feline diabetes, and there are several who've been through a DKA diagnosis too, so I'm sure you'll get some extra support here.

Sending lots of vines for Sarah and prayers that she'll be able to come home to you soon!
 
DKA is not a very happy disease to have for cats. Though the insulin levels can be maintained with proper care, the prognosis is not very satisfactory. So you have to be alert and look for signs like vomiting, yellowing of the skin or weight loss once she is back from the hospital. The recommended dose of insulin has to be given religiously till the vet advises you to stop. With love and care,she should be able to live a normal life. Prayers for her speedy recovery.
 
My buddy J.D. was diagnosed with diabetes in the summer of 2005. By the end of that year (Christmas) he went into DKA.
He was in critical condition when he was hospitalized. He very slowly got a little bit better and better. He never had another episode. He had insulin for the following 9 years and we never did get his diabetes well regulated. He just passed on last November 2014, a couple weeks after his 20th Birthday. Lots of cats can survive DKA if they are hospitalized and given the care they need.
 
Vyktor went DKA after initial diagnosis because his vet at that time thought he was too old to worry about treating for the diabetes. It was incredibly frightening and it was touch and go for a while there but after a few days at the (new) vet on fluids and after starting on insulin he bounced back good as new. I followed the tight regulation protocol with Lantus and Vyktor has been in remission for three years now without having had another DKA episode along the way.

The support and advice I found on this site was invaluable. Welcome to you and Sarah.
 
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Thank you everyone! Monday's blood panel showed her kidneys in good condition, yesterday they were at almost failing levels. They didn't get the results until this morning. Can kidney's go that quick from DKA?

I went it and spent time with her and she was purring for me. One of the technicians said that she seemed to have perked up some from the following day.

Again, thank you everyone for your support.
 
Acute renal failure can happen from the dehydration and if she had a UTI on to of it. Fluids can do a lot to clear out the elevated urea and support the kidneys.
 
Visiting her every day and bringing something that has your scent on it to the hospital will help her.
Healing vines to your girl, and hugs to you because I know how stressful it is.
 
Thank you. She has my shirt with her. I really want her home :( She is so young. I will be visiting every day. This is so much to handle. She has a human family here and cat family. She mated with one of my males before I could get either of them fixed, that mating resulted in one kitten (likely due to immaturity on both sides), and she has never really left his side and nursed him passed 4 months old. Her baby will be 4 years old this year but both him and her other litter mates are lost without her.

This is very difficult for my children as well. Thank you all for your healing thoughts, prayers and vibes.
 
Kidney levels have not changed but there was a huge difference in personality! She was sitting upright, standing and even tried jumping down off the exam table. We're looking at Monday hopefully for her to come home.
 
Hi Elizabeth,

Glad to hear that Sarah is responding well to her treatment. It's recommended to do spot checks for ketones with all diabetic cats, but once a cat is known to be ketone-prone the general recommendation here is to monitor very regularly for ketones. You can monitor either blood (with a meter - a bit like home testing blood glucose) or urine (with test strips such as KetoDiastix). The ketone meters and strips may cost a little more but you will get a much quicker alert that ketones are building. (It can take days before they show up in urine tests).
 
So happy to hear that Sarah is doing well and will hopefully be coming home to you soon!!

You should have the vet show you how to do fluids at home too. When you test for ketones at home, if she starts to show any ketones (if you catch it early, you can sometimes handle it at home) being able to give fluids at home will be really helpful.
 
Sarah is improving! The vet was optimistic that she would hopefully come home Monday :) When I called Saturday she was getting her energy back and started pushing away the vet techs when being held. She doesn't like beung held so that was a huge relief to me as she is really starting to act like my Sarah again!

My next concern is diet. I have 3 other cats and they've all been free fed, always and on a commercial food for urinary tract health. Free feeding will have to stop, which is going to upset their world but honestly they need it to stop. They'll likely drive me nuts for a week but we'll figure it out. Has anyone made their cats food? I'm thinking of going that route as it'll be a little more affordable with all 4 cats.
 
That's great news, Elizabeth! I'm very glad for you both. I bet both of you can't wait till she gets home. :)

Check out Dr Lisa Pierson's site, catinfo.org for nutrition advice. She has very good information there about diet and urinary tract health.
 
Another option is to feed canned food to everyone. There's no special ingredients in those "Urinary Tract Health" foods. What will keep all your cats healthier in ALL ways is to add more water in their diet. Putting everyone on canned, low carb foods will help all your cats....and you don't have to worry if your diabetic gets into it!

Friskies pate's are low carb and very affordable...especially if you buy the 13oz cans
 
MoonCatMama said:
My next concern is diet. I have 3 other cats and they've all been free fed, always and on a commercial food for urinary tract health. Free feeding will have to stop, which is going to upset their world but honestly they need it to stop.
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As Chris says above, another option is to feed low carb wet to all the kitties. All 6 my kitties (with varying health needs) get free-fed low carb wet food (and if they need anything in addition to that I sneak it to them while the others aren't looking...;) )
I think it was Dr Lisa Pierson who stressed the importance of wet food for urinary tract health by writing that; "The solution to pollution is dilution."

Am so pleased that Sarah is improving; and I do hope she'll be home with you very, very soon. :bighug:
 
Vet called this morning and Sarah is eating on her own & up and rubbing against her kennel! They're doing one more lab on her and they said after that it's very possible that she'll get to come home this afternoon!

Sarah is my only girl and then I've got 3 boys. They are all fresh water hogs and I've constantly seem to have a faucet on somewhere for them :) I've always known wet was better for them and they did get it as a treat here or there but now they'll be getting it all the time. I also have 5 children so free feeding the dry was always easiest but they mean the world to me too so we'll adjust to timed feedings around her insulin. I'm pulling all their remaining dry here soon and donating it later today and heading out to buy wet.

The vet had Sarah on Science Diet DM. Is that something I should continue with her though?
 
I went on a hunt recently for a low-cost wet food and found a few good ones:
Trader joe's ~0.89/5.5 oz
Innova cat and kitten ~1.83/13 oz
Max Cat ~0.99/5.5 oz
Natural Balance (amazon sometimes has awesome deals)
 
MoonCatMama said:
Vet called this morning and Sarah is eating on her own & up and rubbing against her kennel! They're doing one more lab on her and they said after that it's very possible that she'll get to come home this afternoon!

Sarah is my only girl and then I've got 3 boys. ... I also have 5 children ...
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Wow! Awful lotta legs in your house. I bet you're really fit, Elizabeth. ;)

So pleased to hear Sarah is coming home today. I can feel your happy vibes from here! :D

Just to recap, Sarah is now receiving insulin. Is the Science Diet Hills m/d for Diabetics? If yes, is it wet or dry? You need to know the percentage of kilocalories in the food that come from carbohydrates. If your vet can't give you this info, we can help you to work it out.

Now that Sarah is receiving insulin, you need to be very cautious about switching her to a diet that may be lower in carbohydrates than the diet she has been given by the vet. If you need to make such a diet change, you should not do so until you are home testing Sarah's blood glucose. Reducing the carbs in a diabetic cat's diet can drop blood glucose levels significantly and quickly, which could mean that a previously safe dose of insulin may end up being too high for the new food. Home BG monitoring will help you to keep Sarah safe should you need to transition to a lower carb diet. I think if she were mine, I'd get her home first and allow things to settle for a few days. Her body will need a little time to get used to the insulin, too. Needless to say, discuss any changes to diet with your vet and also ask lots of questions here. We'll all be only too happy to help any way we can.

I'm really happy for you that your baby's coming home! :)
 
Hi Elizabeth, just saw your post. Glad your babycat is getting better! My cat had KDA too. You can read about my experience of it here: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/...ones-and-levemir-starting-dose-issues.135251/

It's a long thread and there's A Lot of info and advice concerning ketones/KDA. Invaluable! Good to be informed because those nasty ketones can come back again. I hope they wont, BUT if they do, you need to be prepared. Good luck!
 
"Just to recap, Sarah is now receiving insulin. Is the Science Diet Hills m/d for Diabetics? If yes, is it wet or dry? You need to know the percentage of kilocalories in the food that come from carbohydrates. If your vet can't give you this info, we can help you to work it out."

Yes, she is on insulin now 2x per day. The food is Purina DM, which is a wet food for diabetics. I didn't even think to ask about kilocalories. They gave me 10 cans and I'm just going to keep her on that and the boys on a separate wet pate food and feed her separately so I can monitor her intake.

She is home and so happy to be home!

Thank you all for your help!
 
Sarah's home. Yay! And I think her bean is maybe even happier about it than she is. :D

Purina DM canned food is under the 10% carb threshold recommended for diabetic cats. It's good that Sarah is on an insulin dose that's working with a fairly low carb wet food; definitely a good foundation upon which to build. As you learn more, you'll be able to explore more food choices for your precious girl (and many of them are possibly better - and definitely cheaper - than DM ;) ).
 
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ProZinc, 2 units 2x per day.

Help for home testing would be great! I have meters, lancets and strips here for myself and my daughters. Me and 2 of my daughters have a rare mild form of diabetes. Can I just use one of our meters, switching out the lancet of course?
 
Yes, you can use the meter you have, but if you look at some of our spreadsheets, you'll see a lot of us test 6-8(or more) times per day, so the cost of the strips has to be a consideration for most people.

One of the favorites around here is the Relion Confirm or Micro from WalMart...it takes the tiniest sample and the strips are affordable
 
MoonCatMama said:
How do you all get a blood sample with all thr fur and where is the best place to get the sample from?
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Hi,
Most of us get a little drop of blood from the outer edge of the kitty's ear. There are very few nerve endings there and it shouldn't hurt the kitty. Some people prefer to test a paw pad instead of the ear.
Hometesting is essentially a very simple process, but it may take you a few goes to get the hang of it, just like learning anything new.

If you reward the kitty for each test (or attempted test) with a treat or a cuddle, she may soon come to look forward to test times. :cat:

Here's the link to the FDMB page of hometesting info, tips and tricks, and example videos so you can get an idea of what's involved.
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/

Eliz
 
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