2/17 Minnie possible trace ketones, advice please

Liz & Minnie

Liz & Minnie

Member Since 2021
Hi again

Ref my first post, thanks for advice so far!

Question is, what else can I do to help ward off ketones/DKA while BG numbers high still (black/red) and adjusting dose?

Increased to 3u Levemir 2/day yesterday and still tracking. Started feeding more small meals yesterday per recommendation. I'm doing ketostix tests while waiting for NovaMax to arrive. Think it is still negative but it's so hard to tell the colors between negative/trace/on the cusp!

Feeding her Purina DM Selects 10% carb and gave her Purely FF chicken/tuna in broth 0% carb as snacks last night. Bought a variety of cans at Petco last night but hesitant to make lots of diet changes - already seeing a change in her litter tray contributions from the FF.

Anything else you recommend pre-emptively? J

Thanks!
Eliz.
 
Add lots of liquid to her food. Fluid can help flush out ketones.

To verify the ketostix, run a test on yourself. Hopefully that'll let you know what is negative.

I just read through your previous post - did the vet ever give a reason for not wanting to go above 4 units Lantus? Nothing magic about that number if that's what a cat needs. My girl got up to 8.75 units. She had lots of pink to black in the early days. And that's with a human meter so it would have looked even worse on at AT. Thankfully AT's weren't "a thing" with vets at that point so the vet had just told me to get a human meter than needed a small drop of blood. By the time I switched to Levemir, she was on a smaller dose.

Once you've got Minnie on an all wet food or raw diet, you can follow Tight Regulation for dosing and can increase faster.
 
Wendy&Neko said:
Add lots of liquid to her food. Fluid can help flush out ketones.

To verify the ketostix, run a test on yourself. Hopefully that'll let you know what is negative.

I just read through your previous post - did the vet ever give a reason for not wanting to go above 4 units Lantus? Nothing magic about that number if that's what a cat needs. My girl got up to 8.75 units. She had lots of pink to black in the early days. And that's with a human meter so it would have looked even worse on at AT. Thankfully AT's weren't "a thing" with vets at that point so the vet had just told me to get a human meter than needed a small drop of blood. By the time I switched to Levemir, she was on a smaller dose.

Once you've got Minnie on an all wet food or raw diet, you can follow Tight Regulation for dosing and can increase faster.
Click to expand...
Thank you! There are water bowls everywhere too. She is already on all wet food. No kibble since Feb8, and before that it was just a treat/sprinkled on top of the wet anyway.

Vet didn't give a reason for that magic number, just that it was a high dose and Levemir was stronger so might work better for her. You are settling my mind so much with your comparable numbers.Thank you!
 
Levemir is a stronger insulin - in dogs, but not in cats. Most cats end up needing around the same amount of Levemir as Lantus, some more/some less. We have two sayings here. ECID - every cat is different, and a cat needs however much insulin they need. Good to hear dry food is in the past.

I read that you were having a problem with the rice sock, didn't work great here either. I ended up with hot water inside a pill bottle or old film canister. Just make sure it's not too hot. It was smaller and easier to use on the ear for the two of us. There may be some other tips to help you in this post on Testing and Shooting Tips.

As for food, I was a big fan of raw food. Neko needed less volume of food to fill her up - though she would disagree, she had a huge appetite! And the litter box results had no particular smell.
 
Wendy&Neko said:
Levemir is a stronger insulin - in dogs, but not in cats. Most cats end up needing around the same amount of Levemir as Lantus, some more/some less. We have two sayings here. ECID - every cat is different, and a cat needs however much insulin they need. Good to hear dry food is in the past.

I read that you were having a problem with the rice sock, didn't work great here either. I ended up with hot water inside a pill bottle or old film canister. Just make sure it's not too hot. It was smaller and easier to use on the ear for the two of us. There may be some other tips to help you in this post on Testing and Shooting Tips.

As for food, I was a big fan of raw food. Neko needed less volume of food to fill her up - though she would disagree, she had a huge appetite! And the litter box results had no particular smell.
Click to expand...
Thank you again (this will get boring!)

I need to track down a pill bottle - tried using an empty AT strip bottle but they're too thick! Of course now I am realizing how bad my eyesight is so playing around with my glasses just adds to the entertainment value.

I did try raw food (frozen sliders) a while back pre-diabetes which they liked. Will put that on my list of things to try but also try to be patient and not try everything at once! One thing at a time... now to get the next BG sample.
 
My girls are eating Small Batch and Primal and give them both 5 paws!

I found massaging Max’s ear helped with the stick. I also used 25g terumo neeles which my vet preferred and always got blood.
 
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