A week in ICU

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Quick update. Levels still high (27 pre full feed +8) but he is much happier. He ate some kibble and has been purring with love from the family during his feed.
 
Benny is ok. Just sleeping really. Have fed him and watered by tube. Just keeping an eye on BG this afternoon, hopefully the cumulative effect of that 2.0u dose might have gone now. He is going back in 48 hours to see the specialist I did manage a 4 hours in total last night which was wonderful and I have left him with husband to get more A/D and finally some ketostix! I will test at first opportunity.
 
I’m glad you managed some sleep and Benny is ok.
Thanks for updating the BG.
Hopefully he will be on the way back down off the bounce this cycle or next. Don’t be temped to change the dose because of the bounce.
Is he eating on his own again yet?
 
@Bron and Sheba (GA) Had a little kibble this morning but had a bit of a hack when a piece got stuck. I think it will be a while before he is fully eating on his own. I will send my husband out later for some prawns ( Benny favourite treat) He has just had a walk around and a purr. Seems a bit brighter.
 
I’m glad he is nibbling the food. That’s good. Poor boy has had a rough time but he’s making progress now.
Prawns! Lucky boy.
You might like to start a new thread when you next post as this one is getting a bit long.
I’d call it something like ….post DKA at home being tube fed…..or something similar.
 
Hi Fiona. I see you have givenBenny 1 unit of insulin tonight. It really isn’t a good idea to chop and change the dose all the time as it messes with the depot. Glargine likes consistency and with DKA so recently in the picture you don’t want to be reducing the dose. Especially if you don’t know if there are any ketones in the picture at the moment.
Bennys BG was high enough to have given the 1.5 unit dose.
 
Ah. I did wonder but because the vet said to do 1 unit if he was 10-20 yesterday , I went with that. Thank you for keeping an eye out for us! He has a check up the day after tomorrow and I will go through all this with vet. I was just about to give him the 1.5 and then had a bit of a panic!
 
I don’t know how much your vet knows about glargine but it works much better if the dosing is consistent. Otherwise the depot is not stable and you can get wonky BGs. Remember if the BG is not high enough .. stall, don’t feed and post and ask for assistance.
Also when treating post DKA kitties it is really important that the insulin is kept at a level that prevents the ketones reappearing. The food and insulin are so important in preventing this happening. And the urine testing for ketones helps us know if the balance is right. The vets do a great job saving them when they are so ill but there is more to do at home for a week or two.
They all recover at different rates. Some bounce back. Some wobble around and some take longer. .

We get kitties here all the time who have just got home after having DKA. Most of them have not been given instructions as to what to do once they are home.

How does Benny seem tonight? It must be after midnight there now
 
He is sleepy. Had a purr, seems ok. He did hide in a wardrobe earlier this evening but I think he was escaping Billy. I will start testing for ketones in next time he pees. It is reassuring to hear about how to treat the DKA kitty from you. "Remember if the BG is not high enough .. stall, don’t feed and post and ask for assistance." I will do this from now on!
 
I too wonder about your vet’s expertise with lantus as even with cats that aren’t recovering from dka it’s not dosed based upon the amps/pmps. Those tests are needed to make sure it’s safe to shoot. It sounds like he’s improving and that brings a big sense of relief.
 
The Vet that said to give 1u if he was between 10 and 20 pmps was the emergency one and it was after his hypo. It was not clear if she meant in general to mess around with doses. I should have come here for pmps advice but I panicked and gave 1u again. Reading through your posts and the forum I now realise that you are the most incredible group of people and I should not feel afraid to ask and that I would have got some advice really quickly. Bit of a haze the last week or so but slowly getting my brain back into gear. Thank you all for holding me and Benny up! I will start a new post as @Bron advised, this one is so long!
 
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