5/19 RK - AMPS 353 ketones 0.9 +3 257 +5.5 257 PMPS 395 ketones 0.4 +3 229 +5 166 +6.25 148 +8 188

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Wow, has it been over a week since our last post? Time flies…

RK is hanging in there. “Erratic” is the term I’d use, but not just with ketones and BG. She’s had some weird symptoms and unusual abdominal breathing and I honestly don’t know where this is going. This is not anything like what I’ve seen with my previous diabetics. And despite a day at the vet clinic and a goodly amount of money spent, there are no clear explanations for any of it. Two steps forward and one step back.

The good news is… if I can keep her reasonably stable, we can make a run at some preliminary dental work this week.

The not so good news is…despite being on antibiotics continuously for weeks, her white count is still high. And she’s still slightly anemic. And the vet who is going to do the dental work gave me “the talk” to make sure that I’m clear that we could lose her on the table. No stress there.

Anyway, RK is up and down. One minute she’s active and hungry and bright, and then hours later she’s acting dumpy and moaning and won’t eat. Haven't been able to tie it to anything specific yet, but it’s hard to watch her yo-yo and feel so helpless. Ketones have been yo-yo-ing somewhat too. And out of the blue, she threw me a BG of 61 on Friday. Go figure.

Question: Because of her history of DKA, I’m feeding RK whatever she’ll eat, including dry food (although I don’t think she’s really eating much of it, if any). Technically that means we can’t do TR, so Friday’s 61 warranted a dose reduction. However, her ketones popped up to 3.2 so I bumped her back to 1u. Any thoughts how to navigate/balance this — do you think I should have stayed at the reduced (0.75u) dose or perhaps never reduced in the first place? I’m just looking for a reality check here. Hindsight is always 20/20.
@Wendy&Neko @Bron and Sheba (GA)

 

Vines RK does well during the dental and the dental makes a world of difference for both of you. Been lurking your spreadsheet.

 

Thanks for posting, I had been stalking the SS too and worried about the breathing issue.

DKA/ketones present allows us to bend the rules. Both SLGS and TR allow for adjustments with ketones present, if you ask to confirm. When I had looked at the SS a couple days ago, I thought she was due for an increase. Keeping her at a dose over a week with only one barely blue would have meant increase the PM of the 15th, if following SLGS.

So far it's really hard to see patterns as to when she goes lower. Ideally you'd avoid those sudden drops down. I know, easier said than done at this point.

 

@Wendy&Neko @Red & Rover (GA) thank you for stalking our spreadsheet! I genuinely appreciate the care and concern and it helps to know others are rooting for my little feral girl (who has apparently been zapped with the Men In Black flashy-thingy because she has officially forgotten that she’s feral). Truth is, I didn’t have it in me to post for a few days because I wasn’t sure if I was going to lose her. Things seemed to be trending in the wrong direction and I thought I might have to make a decision for her. But she’s tough and for the moment we’re doing much better.

Wendy—as for the dose increase, I’m with you on that. I realized I’d sat on the dose too long so was going to increase…but then she gave me the 61. Feel free to whack me over the head if you notice me doing that again. I think I got distracted by ketones and breathing and everything else.

The dental work may be a necessary evil but I have trepidation about the process as well as whether it’s going to knock her down again. But my #1 goal is to simply get her off the table alive. We’ll just deal with everything else as it comes.

 

You must be feeling absolutely exhausted. It’s gone on for so long but you are doing an amazing job looking after RK.
We’ll all be holding our breath when she has the dental and hoping it all turns out well.
Have you had to revert to any syringe feeding or is she managing to eat everything herself?
Please look after yourself