DKA Cat - when to feed after anesthesia? giving fluids

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Hi Dale,

Thank you so much for the offer. I actually finally got some sleep because my boyfriend took care of her overnight, he is doing the night care and I'll be in the day. When he got the medicine they gave us some diaper pad things for her to sit on. We tried cleaning her up some but figured the bath would stress her too much, so just used towels and cut some hair off. This morning she seems better, and is pulling tricks to try and get out of the bathroom. Both banging the door, purring at us, and casually sauntering out the second your back is turned.

Karrie, I think it may be the zenequin you mention. The diarrheea happened about 2 hours after that, she is on 1/2 of a pill a day. They didn't do a culture yet because we thought it more important to get the other care we could afford. She did have a urinalysis where the bacteria was found. Do you think a urine culture could help?

If we feed every three hours instead, do we split the amount recommended? She is supposed to go to 30ml today.
 
Ok, you are welcome. My cat just had a massive drop in BG from pre-shot to +2. So, I am stuck here for a while.

I would say your cat is showing some very, very good signs. The "whole cat" test gets a high mark! She is trying to manipulate you, and that means she feels quite good, I would say. You are doing an excellent job. I am so glad to hear that your boyfriend is very helpful!
 
I also am happy to hear your last report. Maybe, she could come out of the bathroom for some supervised visits.
It sounds like she is feeling better. I'm glad you decided not to bathe her.

I also agree with the more frequent every 3 hours or so, feeding schedule, for now. I am not sure about the amount of food, question. Perhaps Karrie will stop by soon to answer that. I think splitting the total amount in 8, and feeding every 3 hours sounds a lot better for her, than feeding every 6 hours.
 
Dale, do you happen to know anywhere which carries the Iams around here? Seems most of the vets only have Hills
 
I don't know, sorry. I looked on the Iams website and there is a number that vets can call 1=888-535 8387, but I called the number, and it is not answered on the weekends. The automated system allows the vet to put in the vet's fax number and have "information" faxed to him/her. I don't know if Iams will fax a list of the vets who carry Iams Maximum Calorie Plus to YOUR vet, but I'm quite sure that if your vet called on Monday, he or she could get someone to help her get an idea of where to get this food fast.

Given the way your cat is acting, I suspect you will be okay until Monday, and then you can find a vet that has this in stock, but I would take as much action as you can right now to ensure that you are covered just in case. This may be overkill, but I would:

Start calling every ER in the whole county, and I'll bet you can get at least a couple of cans of MaxCal by tonight or tomorrow.

PM Karrie and Rachel (& Gus) to ask what you can do in the meantime. There must be some commercially available food that can get you through until Monday or Tuesday.

Post a brand new post on the board in Health asking what to do about this problem. Call it : "Tube Feeding Fatty L Cat; Can't Get MaxCal. Help!" Check that post often. (Your current post is getting too long, and it's better to have new one now.)

I have to go for the day, sorry. Good luck! You are doing fine, I think, but you do need the MaxCal as soon as you can get it according to others who have dealt with this problem.
 
Elizabeth

Thinking of you all and all you are going through. Poor Priss with the diarrhea! I'm sure that on top of everything else, that just makes her feel worse.

I hope you shot the 1u. It's important to get insulin into a cat with ketones or who is recovering from DKA. Here is some important information, summarized from another member who had a kitty with DKA numerous times, in case her numbers start to go low:

If a kitty with a feeding tube starts going into lower numbers, it is more productive to rub the karo on the gums. Rub the karo - Do not try to put anything down a tube if a cat is having hypo symptoms, seizures, etc. Use the karo on the gums - once that is under control - then look to food.

Get the little 3cc syringes - with no needles from the vet, and fill a couple with some karo. Place one on kitchen counter for easy access, and the other wherever you hang out for quick easy access for an emergency and it allows you to think it through ahead of time so response will be automatic in an emergency.

Do NOT put the karo through the tube - too hard to clean. Have another syringe loaded with gravy taken off some high carb food. 3 ccs isn't very much as far as food is concerned but would be sufficient to bring up the bg.

So if you have low numbers, 1. karo on gums, 2. gravy through the tube. If the number is rising at this point - then give the regular feeding - at least partial.

The 3cc syringes are cheap - they can get a handful from vet for next to nothing.
Click to expand...

Let's hope things start to improve on the diarrhea forefront. You can use a/d in place of the MaxCal until you get it; the only problem with the a/d is that it is lower in calories so you have to feed more (170kcal/can as opposed to 330 for the Max Cal) and it's higher in carbs. I just got some MaxCal but my vet didn't carry it and so I called around. I had to have a prescription from my vet before I could get it at another. So I hope you have a script from your vet.
 
Hi Marjorie,

We did end up giving her the shot when I retested she was around 275. I think the food we are giving her may be higher in carbs than we usually give, the vet said to give the l/d and said that the fat in the a/d would not be as good for her. We found one place that carried the maxcal but was out. Thank you for the advise on continuing to give the shot, last night we were worried because after everything we didn't want her to get hypoglycemic and crash.

Her ears are still yellowed, but today she ate some dry food on her own! We don't normally give her dry but the vet said to try to get her to eat on her own. Today she was
amps 419
+6 280
 
Sorry was at my aunts all day today and she had zero reception.

Do not worry about the fat content. its the calories that are critical. you have multiple illnesses with DKA FHL and possible pancreatits. \The yellowing of the ears means the liver is very damaged. Only lots of calories can reverse this. high fat can be hard on a pancreatic cat but not as hard as not enough calories on a DKA FHL cat.

Until you get maxcal you can feed wellness chicken which is 200 calories a can. possibly 220 i can't remember. feed 30 mls a feeding every three hours and then the next day up to 40 mls. Let me look up the wellness calories.

So glad she is keeping the food down. Thats so awesome. you didn't give the cypro/mirtz right?

Focus exclusively on tube feeding for the whole week. Don't start tempting her to eat on her own yet.
 
Priss, I posted on your other thread. Clinicare is what I always used for my tube feeders. Some vet out there should have some. Liquid high potency for tube feeding. Autumn was on it for 9 weeks. For people who syringe feed I would also use it to mix into the food instead of just water.
 
Clinicare is too high in carbs and not enough calories on its own. Its one calorie per ml. Clinicare is a great way to add calories though using it to thin out food to tube feed instead of using calorie free water.
 
Posted on your other thread.... ps i'm using a spare mini laptop while mine is in for repair and its driving me mad. the shift key is a very small one and the enter key is in a weird position too.

Can you get maxcal from petsmart near you?
Can you have it shipped from a place like petfood direct without crazy shipping charges?

I posted on your other thread. Wellness chicken is 220 calories per 5.5oz can. This is better than AD by 50 calories. A DKA cat needs 1.5xs the normal amount of calories. This is why a lower calorie food is less than ideal. Even more than a cat recovering from just FHL - with FHL the goal is a minumum of maintenance calories.

I don't know if anyone explained fatty liver/feline hepatic lipidosis to you. The yellowing of her ears is liver failure. A cat has a unique biology in that it can't process body fat to make up for a calorie defecit from food like humans can. Their livers clog with the fat - causing fhl/fatty liver. Maverick almost died from this - his story is in my signature. This is why i'm such an advocate for safe weight loss and jumping in with assist feeding right away. I wish someone had warned us. Liver disease is horribly nauseating. My dad got liver disease a year after Maverick recovered and my dad was able to verbalize how horrible it made him feel. In the six weeks prior to getting help and a diagnosis my dad didn't eat solid food for six weeks. Ondansetron is a cornerstone to FHL recovery. Once my dad got treated with antinausea medications he ate food that very day. Vets don't recognize nausea in cats and they should. Sorry got side tracked - anyways.... with FHL the goal is to prevent the liver from having access to body fat stores so at a minimum feeding maintenance calories so no more weight is lost. With a DKA cat you need even more calories.

The only way to know if you are feeding enough is with a baby scale or pet or shipping scale that weighs to the ounce. Do you happen to have on already or can you borrow one from someone? A sick and recovering cat often needs a lot more calories than they did before they got sick to maintain weight. Maverick for the first two weeks needed a can and a half of high calorie food to maintain his 13 lbs but once he started recovering he gained really well on the same amount.

Hang in there, you are doing great. It will get easier. You got thrown into the fire but you are doing everything you can to get her through this. A lot of us have been right where you are. Sending lots of hugs.
 
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