911 Cat not eating! Vet emergency

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SilverSap

SilverSap

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Blackberry (diagnosed in May 2016, no regulation, tried Lantus, now on ProZinc) has not been eating well the last 2 days. I did not give him insulin this morning as he would not eat (BG = 197). I scheduled an urgent appointment with my vet tomorrow at 9:30am to run blood tests, check pancreas, liver, etc.

I am at work all day but just drove 30min home to check on him for 5 min (his BG =313, not much food had been eaten, we have 2 other cats so somewhat difficult to monitor who eats from what bowl when were not home). He seems lethargic, walking slowly, not interested in food, he feels lighter too. I put some food on my finger which sometimes works, but he wouldn't eat it off. Tried tuna and treats and he just walked away. He did drink water. I left him and he was laying down in his usual spot against the wall, usual position on his side.

My vet told me that tonight when I get home from work to monitor him and if need be, bring him to the animal hospital in the next town for an emergency visit. What signs/symptoms should I be monitoring, what types of behaviors warrant an emergency visit?

Thanks everyone :/
 
These are all signs of DKA, and can be an emergency. I suggest that you go to the emergency vet tonight if possible, otherwise, pick up some ketone strips and at least test his urine for ketones. Skipping insulin can cause ketones to go even higher, so if you are able to give a small dose tonight at least, that would be better if you can't see the vet until the AM. You can try to syringe feed wet food as well, or give treats, or dry food, or anything you think he might eat.
 
I can get ketone test strips at a regular pharmacy? Is there a specific brand? Is it difficult to administer?
I will also pick up some different food to see if I can get him to eat that. I didn't know that skipping insulin can cause ketones to go higher! I was just concerned that giving insulin if he didn't eat would cause him to dip too low.
 
You can usually pick them up at any pharmacy for under $10. Any brand will be ok. You catch a small amount of urine and dip the stick into urine, and follow directions on the bottle about how long to wait to read it. I find that using an old soup ladle under my kitty's butt when he is peeing is the easiest way to catch the urine. You can also cover the litter with a small piece of saran wrap in the place he "aims" and make a little well for some urine to collect into.

Skipping shots can cause the body to burn fat which leads to ketone production. It's better to give some and then monitor the BS as much as you can. You can always use an oral syringe with honey in it to bring him up if the sugars go low. I'd give at least 1U tonight and test every 2-3 hours if you can't take him in tonight.
 
Hi everyone, Blackberry has been at the vet since this morning being treated for DKA :( He had ketones in his urine. The vet told me he was 4+ but i'm not sure exactly what that means. The vet ran blood tests but did not find anything too abnormal other than a liver value being high but that is most likely due to his non eating for the last 2 days. I am very upset, i do not know why or how this happened to him. We have been trying to regulate him for so many months... Recently, we were not giving him shots when the BG was in the 100s at night because we thought he was bouncing and his numbers finally started to give us some patterns - could this have caused him to go in to DKA? Should we have been giving him even a very small dose rather than nothing? We were actually finally seeing some "regulation" so we thought, and then this.

Has anyone had a kitty in DKA at the vet for treatment? The vet is going to keep him over night and into tomorrow. My concern is that no one is there at the vet overnight with him. We do have the option of transferring him to a 24 hour facility, and then transferring him back to his vet in the morning. Any suggestions?
 
SilverSap said:
Hi everyone, Blackberry has been at the vet since this morning being treated for DKA :( He had ketones in his urine. The vet told me he was 4+ but i'm not sure exactly what that means. The vet ran blood tests but did not find anything too abnormal other than a liver value being high but that is most likely due to his non eating for the last 2 days. I am very upset, i do not know why or how this happened to him. We have been trying to regulate him for so many months... Recently, we were not giving him shots when the BG was in the 100s at night because we thought he was bouncing and his numbers finally started to give us some patterns - could this have caused him to go in to DKA? Should we have been giving him even a very small dose rather than nothing? We were actually finally seeing some "regulation" so we thought, and then this.

Has anyone had a kitty in DKA at the vet for treatment? The vet is going to keep him over night and into tomorrow. My concern is that no one is there at the vet overnight with him. We do have the option of transferring him to a 24 hour facility, and then transferring him back to his vet in the morning. Any suggestions?
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@SilverSap

To get the best feedback you should start your own thread on:

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/feline-health-the-main-forum.28/

With a title of something like "Kitty diagnosed with DKA Need advice"

In the mean time, the best place for your kitty is at a 24 hours clinic. DKA can be very serious and is treated with IV fluids to balance the electrolytes and a rapid acting insulin to bring the glucose and ketone levels down quickly. A rapid acting insulin must be monitored carefully and regularly on an ongoing basis since it can sometimes bring the glucose too low and glucose solution needs to be administered. DKA CANNOT be treated properly without 24 hour supervision.


ETA DKA is usually brought on when a kitty is not eating properly, glucose levels are too high and there is an infection or unusual stress or any combination of these
 
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Thank you for the quick responses - we are transferring him to overnight care right now for 24 hour supervision and will then bring him back to our vet in the morning.
 
SilverSap said:
Thank you for the quick responses - we are transferring him to overnight care right now for 24 hour supervision and will then bring him back to our vet in the morning.
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That is the best decision. DKA requires constant care and monitoring. I would consider leaving him at the 24 hour facility for the whole treatment if you can since they would be better able to deal with the process. Monitoring and treatment may take a few days depending on the response and better to be somewhere that they are familiar with the treatment protocol.

Sending prayers and hugs :bighug: :bighug: :bighug:
 
This clinic is actually only an overnight clinic :( So looks like we have to go back and forth between the vet and this clinic over the next 12 hours. Ugh.

Thank you for the prayers and hugs!
 
SilverSap said:
This clinic is actually only an overnight clinic :( So looks like we have to go back and forth between the vet and this clinic over the next 12 hours. Ugh.

Thank you for the prayers and hugs!
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If you have to take him back to the other vet, make sure they are given proper instructions and guidelines for the treatment. Some vet clinic are not familiar with all that is involved with treating DKA.

:bighug: :bighug: :bighug:
 
I'm really sorry your furbaby has DKA. It sounds like you are being super awesome in making sure blackberry gets whwt he needs. I dont have advice experience with dka, so sending you well wishes!!
 
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