Can pancreatitis cause ketones?

[nancy and payne]

My cat Payne was Dx on 10/10 and has had DKA 4x .... 3x right after Dx and then one that started last Sunday. My children had fed her sardines/egg salad (don't say it .... please) and she started getting sick, stopped eating and her ketones skyrocketed! All this happened within 12 hours.

Has anyone heard of pancreatitis causing ketones? causing a cat to go into DKA? In all the reading that I have done it is never mentioned, has anyone ever heard of it? The plan is to control the pancreatitis, which I hear is easier said than done ohmygod_smile but we have tried everything else not to go into DKA.

Any input much appreciated. My vet doesn't seem to have a rosy outlook for any of this .... but Payne is really a fighter, so if she's willing, then so am I.
Nancy and Payne (looking so sad)

 

[Pam and Layla]

Re: Pancreatitis and ketones, DKA?????

Nancy, sorry that Payne is trying to outdo Layla's dka record...

When she comes home from the hospital get some sub-q fluids from the vet - and a spare to keep on-hand for a small ketone-sighting. It hasn't been unusual for my cat to act fine one day and present high ketones the next day, so yes, ketones can escalate quickly.

If she's being treated for an infection with antibiotics (after testing) - get a second round of them to continue when she is home. There is something you can't see lingering in her system causing the recurring dka - so, when this happened to Layla, I was advised here to get an extra round of antibiotics.

I don't know about the sardines - but if they are packed in oil, I don't think the extra fat is good for pancreatitis, but I don't think one serving would throw her into dka. I can't speak to the pancreatitis. Have you read Jojo's Chronic Pancreatitis post? Let me know if you haven't and I'll get the link for you.

That's really all I can suggest at the moment - get the sub-q when she is released to continue and have on-hand for an emergency. Keep her food as consistent as possible to fit the diet for pancreatitis (assuming she's tested positive for this), and work with the insulin to bring the numbers into a reasonable range.

Do you have the Precision xtra blood ketone meter? If not it seems you should get one to test her often when she is home - to get her over the hump.

Best,
Pam & Layla