HELP!!! Time is running out - cat has DKA! :(

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BJM - her gums are light pink and a little sticky. Sounds like she might be moderately dehydrated. I will try to continue to push syringe fluids. She is getting more feisty with them, but she needs them!
 
You might also "Mom cat" her and take a warm, damp washcloth and stroke her down with it, like a mom cat grooming her kittens. Its a soothing thing for many cats.
 
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Hang in there, you are doing your best for her, and I hope she starts to improve. SubQ fluids can really increase energy/alertness, so I imagine they increase comfort for a cat as well. I thought I'd share:

I have an acquaintance who is a type 1 diabetic and I was curious about the experience that a cat might be going through during severe DKA. This friend of mine had been diagnosed about 10 years ago, and had gone through DKA herself twice, very severe the first time. I asked her what it was like. She said the thing that she remembers most is that she was so thirsty. She said for the most part she was too out if to care a lot about what was going on, but remembers feeling nausea and extreme thirst. She denied that the experience was painful at all, but said she was to tired to move, and just very out of it. I think it's helpful to hear someone's take, because our cats can't speak for themselves.
 
Thank you Meya. She definitely has improved today. It's been slow, and up and down, but she's really returning to herself. She's even rubbing up on my laptop here as I type, which is normal Chloe!!! Now she has quite a bit to go since she's not eating or drinking on her own, but we see the death slowly disappearing. I'm sorry to describe it that way, but that is what we felt like we saw - death on her. It was scary, frightening and overall more than what I could handle. I cried as though she was already gone because I really had thought I lost her. We are certainly not out of the woods yet, but I feel that she is gaining more and more strength. Tonight she's been sniffing my food (last hour only) and that hasn't been happening. She's had two BMs now and we are thrilled. The syringe feeding is so exhausting for myself, husband and of course Chloe. We're hoping she starts eating on her own soon. Earlier when I called the bet and talked to the tech she was so thrilled to hear how Chloe was doing and she's even improved more since then. She was eager to share the news with the vet Dr himself. I'm thankful for everyone here because truly, I think that we would've had a different outcome. Like I said to the vet tech - I'm SOOOOO glad I didn't listen to the ER vet and put her down. She may not recover fully - we're hopeful still that she will, but these extra couple of days are SOO worth the trouble, lack of sleep and even expense. We're a family of 4 and we intend to keep it that way as long as possible! :)
 
I've just read every post since your first one and more than once I could feel the tears stinging at the back of my eyes. I so hope for all of you that Chloe recovers, it sounds like she's on the right track. I've suffered thru many sleepless nights with rescue kitties that were sick with distemper, it exhausting, not just the lack of sleep, but the fear of losing them. Chloe is very blessed to have you all for her owners. Best wishes!
 
Things have been going good until I woke up at 1:30 and checked her glucose after her one unit of Lantus at 9pm (late due to getting her food and water) and her glucose level was all the way down to 43!!!!!! I'm freaking out. I'm giving her Karo syrup and now even shooting small bits down her throat to save her. She's crashed down to 38 and finally is starting to climb to 59. Do I feed her now or not? She's gotten more dehydrated so we're giving syringes of water constantly. She won't drink on her own. We have been fighting this far we can't lose her! I'm praying one of you is awake and can assist!!!!
 
Yes, please give her a little more food - it would be better if she was just a little higher - I'd like to see her in the high 60s or 70s at least before you see what she can do without more food. Unfortunately, you could be in for a long night - you're going to need to see rising numbers even after the food she's already eaten and whatever she eats now wears off. Oh - what type of meter are you using? Just to make sure I'm giving you the right information!
 
manxcat I'm using a human Bayer glucometer. I've given her about 1-2 ml of karo and some water via syringe - she isn't drinking on own and I'm holding her right now. I can't tell if she's shuddering from numbers being low or purring. Hubby thinks she is shuddering. I'm so scared. We are so nervous and he wonders if we need to let her go? I didn't expect a drop like this....
 
OK - I just wanted to make sure you weren't using an Alphatrak or I'd have needed to adjust the number range I was thinking in.

You can get her through this. If you can check her levels again in about 20-30 minutes. And if you can get a little more water into her that would be good too. Don't give up on her yet - that drop means the insulin is working...a little too well maybe, but working and insulin is part of what she needs to get through the DKA.
 
Oh, and believe me, I know you're scared. Make sure you take some deep breaths - you're going to get through this. Just keep on with what you're doing - once you get the next test we'll know whether she needs more karo or whether she might start holding higher numbers on her own. :bighug:
 
manxcat, something to note - two different ketone test strips show trace amounts of ketones. (We bought two sets when one showed trace, we thought they would be higher). talked to vet and they said that even trace was too much. Chloe is still not eating or drinking on her own - but have no idea quite how many ketones she had from ER, except that they said "high". I'm hoping this therapy is working, yet why is she not eating or drinking? I will give food now. Thank you for helping me. Will post momentarily.
 
manxcat we started at 43, then she went to 38, and then went to 45 with karo, and last was at 59. Having trouble getting blood as she is a bit dehydrated. I have the subq fluids, but she was given 200ml last at around 11:30 yesterday morning. I was waiting until tomorrow (later today) at the same time to give. I think I will just have to keep shooting water down her??????
 
No ketones is definitely what we want to see, but if she's down from "high" to "trace" that's good progress. It does sound as though what you're doing is working - I know it's difficult but you are seeing results. If she won't eat on her own, if you can assist feed her just a small amount that would be good. :)

And yes, I would go with getting a little more water into her if you can too. I don't think I'd try doing subq while she's running low - I think getting some food and water in at this point is more important right now.
 
Ok, no food given, but literally at 2:39, I just checked again and it is at 111. So we are climbing! I have NOOOO idea how long she was in those lower numbers though. Can she have permanent damage???
 
Vet said to get vet ketone strips tomorrow. I'm using the human ones from Walmart at CVS. I'm afraid that the ketone strips may be inaccurate?
 
Those are the same ones I used for Rosa when I was testing for ketones - and the same ones most people here use I think. I don't think there's much difference between the Walmart ones and the vet ones apart from price!
 
If you can get her to take a little food, yes please. The higher numbers you're seeing now are going to be influenced by the syrup and that doesn't last long in a cat's system. How many hours is it since her last insulin shot?
 
Oh and her eyes are dilated somewhat. She's not on any Mirtazapine or anything other than the Cerenia at 11am. Still pretty lethargic, but definitely more herself this evening than we have seen in days (minus this late night hypoglycemic episode)
 
She's probably feeling a whole lot better overall with the ketones down a long way and her BG more under control. It will take her a while to get all the way back to normal though - getting over DKA isn't going to be instant. She's not in the danger zone right now at 59 - we just want to make sure she stays above 50 for the rest of this cycle.
 
As of 10 mins ago, she's at 111. I'm giving her some gravy, but as hubby mentioned, we don't want to push her in the other direction either. Should we still opt for food at 111?
 
You could give her a little low carb food if she'll have it. I wouldn't give any more carbs for now - you need to find out if she's going to be able to maintain those higher numbers once the karo wears off.
 
How long does it take for the karo to wear off? Vet sent us home with Royal Canin Recovery RS food to give her calories. Right now we're just giving her Simply Nourish seafood bisque gravy. Should we trying the Purina DM diabetes food, or the Recovery? Thank you for your help - we just really want to give her the right thing.
 
We just don't know why she's not interested in water on her own now. The Mirtazapine makes her loopy, but at least she was infatuated with water to drink and play.
 
When her numbers are lower, she won't be as thirsty - the crazy water drinking is one of the symptoms of hyperglycemia so the better her numbers are, the more you should see her drinking reduce. It's important with recent DKA that she stays hydrated though, so if you have to syringe some water into her, that might be the way to go for now. Not a whole lot, just little bits here and there.
 
Ok quick update - just had an accident where she had very loose stool -diarrhea (consistency of like stew or thick cheese sauce - sorry I know that's gross) and peed. Had to give her a bath. Her urine is still a dark yellow, which I'm not sure why. I've been so used to almost clear the last couple of years with the diabetes. Should. This be a concern? At least she's had 3 stools tonight. I'm not sure what to think of all of this?!?!?
 
So not all is lost in the fact we have to syringe water? Hubby worries she's too far gone when she's not wanting water. Again so used to her drinking so much. Thank you again!!! Cleaning her up now and mess in litter box. Haven't gotten to hardly any food at all. Trying not to traumatize the poor thing.
 
Sorry, missed your message about the karo - it should be wearing off by 2 hours out at the most...probably a little less. What you need to make sure is that she can maintain her number above 50 all that time. You really need to check her at 30 minutes, 30 minutes and then an hour starting from when she last had karo (assuming her numbers don't drop low again at any of those tests). Sorry - I know that probably means an all-nighter for you but I'll check back in with you to make sure you're doing OK.

Don't worry about it being gross - we have 6 cats here...I've dealt with just about every type of kitty accident there is! Cat's urine, under normal circumstances, is very concentrated. As long as she's not straining, she should be fine.

No, having to give her water is fine - she's probably still out of routine too from everything that's happened in the last couple of days. None of the cats here really drink water now they're on wet food. I have a huge bowl of fresh water out for them every day but it's usually barely touched.
 
If you find she's keeping her numbers up without food, that's fine too - though you will need to keep assist feeding her for the DKA until she does start eating on her own of course. But for the purposes of the hypo, if her numbers stay up without food that's fine. :)
 
Oh, and no - she's not going to have permanent damage from this. My Rosa was down in the 30s a couple of times and the 40s relatively often and she's absolutely fine. It's worrying at the time but the good thing about home monitoring is that you know when they're heading into the risk zone and you can deal with it before it turns into a problem. You caught the low number and did all the right things - she didn't lose consciousness or have obvious hypo symptoms. She's going to be fine. What you're doing now is monitoring to make sure she stays up in good numbers but well out of the danger zone. You'd know if she'd been symptomatically hypo enough to cause instant and permanent damage.
 
Ok great. I didn't check this last urine for ketones as she went straight on to the litter. Shortly after she peed - more like immediately after she had the diarrhea episode. She just now jumped up onto the bed on her own accord with me and she's getting some strength which is great. I'm right about the diarrhea or loose still so I will call the vet in the morning and ask if I should be more like immediately after she had the diarrhea episode. She just now jumped up onto the bed on her own accord with me and she's getting some strength which is great. I'm right about the diarrhea or loose still so I will call the vet in the morning and ask if I should be of a concern. She snuggled up to me right now which is great but back to the whole glucose level I'm not sure exactly what to do I'm going to check in just a few moments and I will reply back thank you.
 
Awww - she must be feeling better if she jumped up on the bed with you. :) Enjoy your snuggles with her! I agree on checking with the vet about the diarrhea just to be safe - with the DKA, I wouldn't leave anything like that to chance. Let me know what her number is when you check her and we'll figure it out from there. :)
 
Did you manage to get another reading yet? I'm expecting the start of a bounce at her next reading, but you'll need to know for sure before you leave her and get some sleep.
 
Omg! I am serious right now- Chloe is eating on her own!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This episode tonight is just a roller coaster but she is seriously eating some of the dry kibble hubby got out for her. It's not ideal, but her eating is key. I cannot believe this!!!!!!!
 
That's great news! I'm so happy for you that she's eating on her own - she really must be feeling better!! :D :D I wouldn't worry too much about WHAT she's eating, just that she IS eating! Oh and with dry kibble out, if she's at a decent number now she should be fine for a couple of hours at least until you test her next. :)
 
I started to do another reading when I observed her going after the kibble - a last minute effort idea of hubby since he knows she likes it. Will do a reading right now!
 
Ouch! OK, you don't want her going back under 50 tonight. I'd give a couple of drops of karo - the dry kibble takes a bit longer to get into their system. And another test in 30 minutes - sorry, I was hoping to be able to let you get some sleep around now.
 
I think that's a good idea. And then test again in 30 minutes - she's not making this easy for you tonight. You're doing great by the way - you're doing everything right and she will come up and level out...it's just taking her a while.
 
Read that you give 1ml per kg of weight and she is about 3kg right now. We had given approx 1.5ml of 75:25 karo:water and just gave her 1/2ml of straight karo. Will check again in 30.
 
I have to admit I didn't know that calculation - I just gave "a bit" when I needed to...not very scientific! ;) Hopefully that extra 1/2 ml will bring her up a bit more. I'll check back with you in 30. :)
 
Ok she is coming up but only slowly. If you can get her to eat just a little that would be good. Let's see how she does with just food and no more karo this time - we don't want her numbers carb influenced heading into her next shot time if we can avoid it. Though if she drops again we might not have much choice.
 
That's ok. If necessary you can delay her next shot by an hour and work the time back over the next couple of days. Let's see where she is in another 30 minutes.
 
No interest in food at the moment. Seems to want to cuddle with me now though. I'm sure she's exhausted with the glucose roller coaster, accident, bath and now this again. I will check again in 30
 
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