New Member: Cat w/ ketones and not gaining weight

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jrong001

jrong001

Member Since 2020
My cat Milo was recently diagnosed this year and has been in the hospital twice in the last couple of months. I am still trying to get his diabetes regulated and he is currently on 2.5 units of Prozinc. During my last visit to the vet (a week ago), the insulin dosage was increased from 2 to 2.5. He tested for traces of ketones, but the doctor sent him home and said the ketones would be out of the system within 3-5 days with the increased insulin dosage. I have another appointment next week to see how well he is doing on the dosage of insulin and it will be adjusted accordingly.

During the last 2 days Milo has had an increased appetite and increased intake of water (urine output remains the same as before) but does not seem to be gaining any weight.

My question is whether or not there is a reason that he seems to be eating more than usual and still not gaining weight and if it has to do with the ketones or the fact that his diabetes is still unregulated. Because he is also eating more, should I let him eat as much as he wants for the time being so that he can gain weight? I normally feed him once every 12 hours but I have increased the amount that I give him due to his increased appetite. I have heard noises from his stomach in the afternoon and I do not want him to starve until it is time for his next feeding.

Any advice is greatly appreciated, thank you!
 
Hi to you and Milo and welcome!

There is lots you can do you help Milo.
First of all I am glad he is ok after having the ketones. They can turn dangerous if they are not treated early.
Ketones form when there is not enough insulin and not enough food. Diabetic cats that are newly diagnosed can often have them. And some cats are more prone to them then others. If Milo has had them you will need to keep that in mind for the future and be aware that he could get them again......not saying he will but it’s a possibility.

So the treatment for ketones is for Milo to eat up to 1 1/2 times as much as he normally would and make sure he is getting enough insulin and if he has any infections or inflammation then make sure that is being treated too.

So feeding Milo more is good. Give him a good feed before the shots and then give him small meals throughout the day and night.
Are you feeding him low carb food?

With the insulin I would highly recommend you think about home testing the blood glucose. We all do that here and it keeps our kitties safe and we can tell if you are using the correct dose or not....no guess work.
Here is a link to home testing you might like to look at. It sounds scary but it’s not. Milo will not hate you and it will very soon become routine. I would recommend getting a human glucose meter. It is much cheaper to run than a pet meter
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/

Another very important thing you need to be doing after ketones is to test the urine for ketones daily. You can do this by buying a bottle of Ketostix from a pharmacy or Walmart if you live in the US. Then you need to collect a urine sample form Milo and dip the test strip into the urine and read the result against the colours on the side of the bottle exactly 15 seconds later. Anything above a trace is of concern and you should ring the vet. If it is a trace I would increase the food.
Once you are testing the BG levels we can see what the BG is and if the dose of insulin needs increasing to help keep the ketones at bay.

Hopefully no ketones will reappear but it is far better to be monitoring them then for them to suddenly be there and causing problems.

The reason Milo is eating more and not putting on weight is because he is unregulated, and unregulated cats can’t absorb all the nutrients in the food so are hungry and don’t put on weight. So if he isn’t overweight, I would let him eat more.......we need him to eat more because of the ketones so that is good. If he wasn’t hungry that would be a problem and many cats with ketones are not hungry.

If I haven’t answered all your questions please ask again.......questions are encouraged.
Do you live in the US or the UK?
Bron
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
Hi to you and Milo and welcome!

There is lots you can do you help Milo.
First of all I am glad he is ok after having the ketones. They can turn dangerous if they are not treated early.
Ketones form when there is not enough insulin and not enough food. Diabetic cats that are newly diagnosed can often have them. And some cats are more prone to them then others. If Milo has had them you will need to keep that in mind for the future and be aware that he could get them again......not saying he will but it’s a possibility.

So the treatment for ketones is for Milo to eat up to 1 1/2 times as much as he normally would and make sure he is getting enough insulin and if he has any infections or inflammation then make sure that is being treated too.

So feeding Milo more is good. Give him a good feed before the shots and then give him small meals throughout the day and night.
Are you feeding him low carb food?

With the insulin I would highly recommend you think about home testing the blood glucose. We all do that here and it keeps our kitties safe and we can tell if you are using the correct dose or not....no guess work.
Here is a link to home testing you might like to look at. It sounds scary but it’s not. Milo will not hate you and it will very soon become routine. I would recommend getting a human glucose meter. It is much cheaper to run than a pet meter
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/

Another very important thing you need to be doing after ketones is to test the urine for ketones daily. You can do this by buying a bottle of Ketostix from a pharmacy or Walmart if you live in the US. Then you need to collect a urine sample form Milo and dip the test strip into the urine and read the result against the colours on the side of the bottle exactly 15 seconds later. Anything above a trace is of concern and you should ring the vet. If it is a trace I would increase the food.
Once you are testing the BG levels we can see what the BG is and if the dose of insulin needs increasing to help keep the ketones at bay.

Hopefully no ketones will reappear but it is far better to be monitoring them then for them to suddenly be there and causing problems.

The reason Milo is eating more and not putting on weight is because he is unregulated, and unregulated cats can’t absorb all the nutrients in the food so are hungry and don’t put on weight. So if he isn’t overweight, I would let him eat more.......we need him to eat more because of the ketones so that is good. If he wasn’t hungry that would be a problem and many cats with ketones are not hungry.

If I haven’t answered all your questions please ask again.......questions are encouraged.
Do you live in the US or the UK?
Bron
Click to expand...
Thank you very much for the advice, I am currently feeding him Hills MD dry. I know wet food is lower in carbs but Milo is not interested in wet food and it goes to waste. I will definitely look into testing his glucose and for ketones at home!

To answer your question I live in the US.
 
jrong001 said:
Thank you very much for the advice, I am currently feeding him Hills MD dry. I know wet food is lower in carbs but Milo is not interested in wet food and it goes to waste. I will definitely look into testing his glucose and for ketones at home!

To answer your question I live in the US.
Click to expand...
At the moment it is more important that Milo eats than what he eats if there are ketones in the picture.
Eventually I would look at getting him onto low carb canned food. It is so much better for him than dry not only because of the carbs but because there is so much more moisture in the canned 78% compared to 7% in dry which is so much better for his kidney health.
Here is a link to transitioning on to wet.....keep it for when he is completely over the ketones and they are in his distant past and be aware that when you transition you need to watch the BG levels closely as they will most likely drop up to 100 points because of the fewer carbs and you will need to adjust the insulin dose.
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/transitioning-your-cat-from-dry-to-wet-food.956/
 
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