New Member, cat in ketoacidosis

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Jacob Armitage

Jacob Armitage

Member Since 2022
Hello all,
I recently joined this forum and I was hoping my first post would be something a bit more mild but unfortunately that is not the case.
Our cat Loki (3 years old) was very recently diagnosed after we observed him drinking and peeing a lot. So recently that we only received a lantus solarstar pen in the mail yesterday. We were going to start injecting him when we got it but he refused to eat at all yesterday. He has had a stuffy nose for a bit so we thought it might just be a temporary thing but this morning he was much worse and basically limp. We did measure his blood glucose yesterday and got in the upper 200's but we were still afraid to give him insulin because he had not eaten at all. This morning we took him back to the vet and they found very high level of ketones in his blood. Our vet does not do multiday 24 hour care so we are going to have to have him transferred to an animal hospital. At this point we are scared, sad and confused how he took such a decline.

We are asking for both advice from people who have had to deal with this before as well as asking people if they know any resources that might help us deal with what is sure to be a very large vet bill from his hospitalization. We are a young couple and we have already been finically strained by the multiple appointments it has taken to diagnose him in the first place. Thank you so much for your help.

Jacob and Kenza
 
Hi Jacob, Kenya and Loki and welcome to the forum.
I’m really sorry Loki has DKA but he’s in the best place to be treated for it. They can go down hill quickly with DKA but it sounds do as if you have taken him in early so hopefully with the right treatment he will be OK. We have quite a few kitties arrive here after having had DKA so are experienced in what to do.
Once he gets back home we can help you a lot with how to help him recover fully. I won’t go into that right now though.
Please keep us informed with his progress. Sending many best wishes to him. I will tag @Chris & China (GA) for you as she may have some information about financial help available to you.
Once you get him home the only expenses will be the insulin, the test strips and the food basically. It is always expensive in the beginning and more so if DKA crops up.:bighug:
 
Hey thanks for the input so far, right now he is at an animal hospital and they are saying that he might not make....They said his potassium levels are really low and so is his blood pressure. We are feeling really devastated right now
 
Jacob Armitage said:
Hey thanks for the input so far, right now he is at an animal hospital and they are saying that he might not make....They said his potassium levels are really low and so is his blood pressure. We are feeling really devastated right now
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Hang in there. The vets often say that and most of the kitties we hear of make it. As long as he has started treatment, he has a fighting chance. He’s so young still. :bighug:
Don’t let them talk you into euthanasia…….keep fighting for him. It’s amazing how resilient cats can be. And he has youth on his side.
 
Hi.
My J.D. survived DKA and lived another happy 9 years, until just over his 20th birthday.
I didn't think it was that expensive (9 days in hospital for a little past $4K at a university, as compared to a human that would have been billed 100 times that much, or more) because of insurance. Do you have a university hospital near you?
 
@Jacob Armitage You might want to check into Care Credit.....they often approve for up to 2 years at zero percent (but be sure to know exactly how long you have to pay it back....if you miss a payment or go longer than their offer, the interest is added from day 1 of the loan)

I'm also a Case Manager with DCIN (Diabetic Cats In Need). You might want to fill out our application for assistance. While it does say we aren't doing emergencies at this time, if you're denied Care Credit, we may be willing to help some but having your application on file already will help.

https://dcin.dreamhosters.com/assistance-programs/
 
I never saw the tag, so I am very sorry for my late reply. I pray your Loki is going to make it. He's so young! My heart goes out to you. My Darcy went DKA and had to spend a week in the animal hospital with 24 hour care. Actually, I had to pick him up from the ER every morning and transport him to my regular vet for the day and then pick him up again in the evening and take him back to the ER (because they only are open in the evenings and all day/night on the weekends.) They should be able to get his electrolytes stabilized (like the potassium) and manage him with IV fluids. He does need the critical care for sure. My boy also was not eating anything at the vet for several days... I kept sounding the alarm about this because I didn't want him to get hepatic lipidosis. He did. Anyway, he had to have a feeding tube inserted (after he was stable enough ... quick procedure about 15 minutes under anesthesia). This, I believe, really saved his life as he was able to get nutrition via the tube. Did Loki have an infection? My Darcy did have an infection and that is what made him go into DKA. His temperature was over 105 when I took him into the emergency vet. He was vomiting up all his food.

As for the bill. Yes, it was a lot. I had to get a Care Credit card to pay for it. They have plans with promotional financing where you can pay it off over a period of time without paying interest if you pay within the allotted time (can be up to 18 months, I believe.) Otherwise, once you receive the final bill, I would consider a small loan at your financial institution (or wait until the Care Credit promotional financing is about to expire and then if you still haven't paid it all off... look into an even smaller loan to pay that off before you have to pay back interest to the date of the original transaction. I have done this as well when I still had a large amount to pay off. I took a $2500 loan with my bank with a payment of $120 a month and a much better interest rate than I would have had to pay with Care Credit (with huge back interest). I've just about paid it off now... that was the rest of what I owed for Darcy's medical care.
 
Chris & China (GA) said:
@Jacob Armitage You might want to check into Care Credit.....they often approve for up to 2 years at zero percent (but be sure to know exactly how long you have to pay it back....if you miss a payment or go longer than their offer, the interest is added from day 1 of the loan)

I'm also a Case Manager with DCIN (Diabetic Cats In Need). You might want to fill out our application for assistance. While it does say we aren't doing emergencies at this time, if you're denied Care Credit, we may be willing to help some but having your application on file already will help.

https://dcin.dreamhosters.com/assistance-programs/
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Yea we end up getting care credit, total cost was 5.8k. We is still hospitalized right now but they think he will make it. We were plan on filling out the one time assistance through here to at least get some more supplies.
 
So good to hear he's doing better!! Yes, it's terribly expensive to treat a DKA so learning as much as you can about how to properly treat the diabetes will help keep you out of the ER again!
 
So as I said in our original post we only had insulin for one day before he went into DKA and we didn't give him any because he had stopped eating that morning and we were afraid of hypo. What does everyone one else do if their kitty is not eating for some reason? Do you skip an insulin injection? Take him right to the vet? We are unsure if he stopped eating because he was already starting to go into DKA or because of his sinus infection that he had. We just want to make sure we can keep this from ever happening to him again.
 
Jacob Armitage said:
we only had insulin for one day before he went into DKA and we didn't give him any because he had stopped eating that morning and we were afraid of hypo.
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I think what probably happened was he was starting down the road to DKA...the "recipe" is Not enough food + not enough insulin + infection/inflammation....You had just started insulin so that counts as "not enough insulin" and he had a sinus infection (which could also affect his appetite)....He was probably already producing ketones which made him feel sick so he didn't want to eat.

It will be important when he comes home that he eats...up to 150% of what he'd usually eat. Food is one of the best medicines to combat DKA along with insulin and getting the infection cleared up (some antibiotics, especially Clavamox/ammoxicillin) are common for causing nausea too)

Do some reading in the Lantus forum so you can start to learn more about your insulin. When he comes home, we'll be here to help you!
 
DKA is terrifying, I still sometimes watch Hendrick anxiously after putting food in front of him, and breathe a sign of relief when he digs in.

for me, if a cat won't eat for 24 hours I get them to the vet, I don't wait any longer than that. Hendrick was in a similar situation, he had only just got diagnosed with diabetes and he went into DKA before we got any insulin into him.

Glad to hear the vet reports improvement!! I'm rooting for Loki hard.
 
Jacob Armitage said:
So as I said in our original post we only had insulin for one day before he went into DKA and we didn't give him any because he had stopped eating that morning and we were afraid of hypo. What does everyone one else do if their kitty is not eating for some reason? Do you skip an insulin injection? Take him right to the vet? We are unsure if he stopped eating because he was already starting to go into DKA or because of his sinus infection that he had. We just want to make sure we can keep this from ever happening to him again.
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DKA. happens when there is not enough insulin, not enough food and an infection or inflammation present. So it looks like Loki had all three. We can help you with how to prevent it once Loki is home and on the mend. Can you give us any updates on a Loki?
 
Hendrick Cuddleclaw said:
@Jacob Armitage any udpate?
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Hey everyone, sorry for being gone for a bit. We got Loki back home last night! He is doing okay, he lost some weight and is a little dirty looking. This morning he did not eat super great. He ate about a third of what his normal meal should be so we gave him only a half unit of insulin. We called the vet to ask about getting an appetite stimulant and are waiting for them to call us back. He has a freestyle libre attached to his back that is good for 13 more days so we have been scanning it with our phone. It should produce for us some good curves over the next two weeks if anyone would like to seem them and give advice once he is eating properly and taking his full dosages.

It has been about 3 hours since he had his little meal and his partial dosage of insulin and his blood sugar is sitting at around 127
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
DKA. happens when there is not enough insulin, not enough food and an infection or inflammation present. So it looks like Loki had all three. We can help you with how to prevent it once Loki is home and on the mend. Can you give us any updates on a Loki?
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I am not sure if everyone gets a notification when I reply in the thread or just a person I respond to but I gave an update about Loki! Kenza and I really appreciate the concern and that people want to follow up :)
 
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Good to hear Loki is home again! I'm sure he feels better being around his own surroundings with his loving people.

You might also want to ask for something for nausea. It's very common in DKA cases and you want to make sure he's not nauseous before you give him an appetite stimulant! Ondansetron (Zofran...used for humans getting chemo to help with nausea) or Cerenia (used for vomiting/motion sickness in dogs but also approved for cats) are the two most common.

It would be great if you'd go ahead and start our spreadsheet and start putting your test results in it. We're very data driven and our spreadsheet is one of our most valuable tools (If Bandit's Mom didn't already contact you to make one)
Here are the Instructions on setting up the spreadsheet but if you need some help, I can also set one up for you if Bandit's mom hasn't already done it. Send me a private message if you'd like some help by clicking on my name and choosing "start a conversation"

It's important for you to go ahead and start recording the numbers you get on the Libre....also remember, any low numbers should be re-checked using a regular blood glucose meter. The Libre doesn't have a very good reputation when it comes to low numbers and those are the most important ones! (like under 60)
 
Chris & China (GA) said:
Good to hear Loki is home again! I'm sure he feels better being around his own surroundings with his loving people.

You might also want to ask for something for nausea. It's very common in DKA cases and you want to make sure he's not nauseous before you give him an appetite stimulant! Ondansetron (Zofran...used for humans getting chemo to help with nausea) or Cerenia (used for vomiting/motion sickness in dogs but also approved for cats) are the two most common.

It would be great if you'd go ahead and start our spreadsheet and start putting your test results in it. We're very data driven and our spreadsheet is one of our most valuable tools (If Bandit's Mom didn't already contact you to make one)
Here are the Instructions on setting up the spreadsheet but if you need some help, I can also set one up for you if Bandit's mom hasn't already done it. Send me a private message if you'd like some help by clicking on my name and choosing "start a conversation"

It's important for you to go ahead and start recording the numbers you get on the Libre....also remember, any low numbers should be re-checked using a regular blood glucose meter. The Libre doesn't have a very good reputation when it comes to low numbers and those are the most important ones! (like under 60)
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The vet still has not called us back today, but when they do we will make sure to ask about anti nausea meds, I am fairly tech savy so I think with this guide I can get the spread sheet setup so people can start taking a look. I will update the thread once we have some useable data in there.
 
Jacob Armitage said:
Hey everyone, sorry for being gone for a bit. We got Loki back home last night! He is doing okay, he lost some weight and is a little dirty looking. This morning he did not eat super great. He ate about a third of what his normal meal should be so we gave him only a half unit of insulin. We called the vet to ask about getting an appetite stimulant and are waiting for them to call us back. He has a freestyle libre attached to his back that is good for 13 more days so we have been scanning it with our phone. It should produce for us some good curves over the next two weeks if anyone would like to seem them and give advice once he is eating properly and taking his full dosages.

It has been about 3 hours since he had his little meal and his partial dosage of insulin and his blood sugar is sitting at around 127
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I’m so glad you have your Loki back home.
Please ask you vet for an antinausea medication as well as the appetite stimulant. Most DKA kitties are nauseated after coming home. He needs to have the antinausea medication first.

Here is a plan for you to follow for after care of DKA. Please don’t skip or give 1/2 doses of insulin of at all possible because it is the food and the insulin that will keep the ketones at bay.


  • you need to give one and a half times as many calories as he normally eats. Offer snacks every couple of hours during the day and evening as well as the 2 main meals. Food is like a medicine and helps keep ketones away. If your kitty won’t eat the low carb food, feed him whatever he will eat as eating any food is better than not eating,
  • Don’t skip any doses of insulin as insulin helps keep ketones away. If the BG is not high enough to give the dose…stall, dont feed and test again in 20 minutes and post and ask for help.
  • Test daily for ketones. Put the results of the tests into the remarks column of the SS so we can see. Please report any trace ketones at all. You will need a bottle of Ketostix from Walmart or a pharmacy for this and follow the directions on the bottle. There should be no ketones in the urine.
  • Give antinausea medication if needed. Ask for ondansetron..this is best ..or cerenia.
  • Give appetite stimulant if needed after the antinausea medication
  • Give extra fluids. If kitty will tolerate warm water in the food, put a teaspoon into each snack..
  • Ask the vet about subQ fluids
  • Set up a spreadsheet and test the BG frequently
  • Post daily with updates and ask for help as often as needed.
 
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