Douglas' ProZinc dosage question

[Suzanne & Darcy]

Are you both okay? I hope you’re seeing my posts on your thread?

 

[Suzanne & Darcy]

How did it go with the vet discussion? As I write this on Tuesday evening, I see he’s in a bounce. I am sorry for all of the bouncing. It’s frustrating.

 

[cocokittybrown]

Have you read this on ketones?

https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB...and-diabetic-cats-a-primer-on-ketones.239971/[/QUOTE

Thank you for this link. I have a KetoSens blood keto meter. 50 test strips are about $48.00. My vet's office uses the Abbott Precision Xtra Meter. 10 test strips are around $50.00, making test strips almost $5 each. I am testing 1x to 2x per day. The vet told me up to 2.4 is considered normal. That seems to agree with the statement "Two of the latest scientific studies (linked below) concerning measurement of ketones when using a blood ketone meter provide an up-to-date interpretation that when a blood ketone concentration of 2.4 and 2.55 are obtained, DKA is more likely to be present."

The highest he has gotten since I have been taking his blood ketones is 1.5 and that was a pre-shot number. When I tested later that day, when the blood glucose was lower, it was 0.5. I am not going to panic at numbers in the 1 range, unless he is also exhibiting other symptoms that are in the list. His ketones are high, but they seem to go down.

 

[cocokittybrown]

With ketones it’s extremely important to keep him hydrated (add water to his food) make sure he eats enough calories (a lot of food) and not to skip insulin shots. With my cat, and many others I have seen, the ketones usually start to come down as you get closer to a good insulin dose — even before you start to see the BG numbers come down into normal range. His ketones fluctuate with those high BG numbers. So he is not stuck in high ketones all day long at least.

He gets lots of food and I try to be very careful not to give a fur shot. I tried adding water to his food, but he wouldn't eat it. I asked the vet about getting fluids, but she did not think it was necessary. I have 5 water bowls throughout my house that I change 1 to 2 times a day. Maybe I will try to find some tuna juice to add to water to see if that gives him extra encouragement to drink when his ketones are high. I don't understand why a lot of food would help with ketones. I know that food increasing blood glucose, and this can increase ketones. It is my understanding sometimes they give higher carb foods, so they can give more insulin, so that can help with ketones. I am giving Douglas the Fancy Feast low carb pates from the low carb list.

 

[cocokittybrown]

Are you both okay? I hope you’re seeing my posts on your thread?

We are both okay. Thanks for checking in. Yesterday was very busy at work, and I did not sleep well. I keep waking up to check on Douglas. And sometimes he likes to wake me up too early. He seems too be doing really well, considering how hi his BG levels are. He loves to eat and wants lots of love from me. Sometimes he even feels well enough to chase after our other cat.

 

[cocokittybrown]

How did it go with the vet discussion? As I write this on Tuesday evening, I see he’s in a bounce. I am sorry for all of the bouncing. It’s frustrating.

It went surprisingly well with the vet discussion. She wants me to stay at a dosage for at least 7 days, which I agreed to. You also suggested the same thing. I picked up the prescription for the Libre3, which I have already dropped off at the pharmacy. She mentioned that she would like to continue with the ProZinc and increasing the dosage for about another month and maybe reevaluate if we should switch insulins, or do the dental, or switch to an internal medicine doctor. She mentioned that she would like to see how Douglas does if I leave him at increased doses for longer terms. One piece of advice that I would not follow is that she mentioned to keep giving him the same dose, unless the Libre reads 80 or less, then only give him 1/2 the dose. I think what I've learned is that that is a "skip a dose" value. I'd always follow up the libre reading with a blood glucose reading. This is a complex problem and it takes time for his body to stabilize, and I am learning not to panic unnecessarily. And learning when to panic. The vet did not scold me, like I thought she would. I think she really is trying to help, but I take some of her guidance/advice with a "grain of salt".

 

[cocokittybrown]

Don’t worry about it. If you have new questions you can just add it to this thread. When the thread gets over 50 posts, you can start a new one and just link this thread in the first post of the new thread. To do that, you just copy and paste the “address” of the old thread.

It looks like this is up to 57 post now, so I will start a new one in the Prozinc area.