If there’s an infection do you need to adjust dosing?

[Katie & Marcy]

My cat Marcy was doing well, and then I woke up yesterday and she looked lethargic, felt feverish, and refused to eat. There was pee outside the litter box, I’m assuming she has another UTI. I made an appointment for the vet but they can’t get her in till Monday because they have limited hours Saturday and all of the places around here are closed Sundays except animal hospitals. They told me if she gets worse before then to bring her in to a hospital, but last time that costed thousands. I still have some leftover antibiotics from her last UTI, and started her on them. Yesterday morning I syringe fed her so she could get her morning insulin. When I came home from work she was back to eating again and perked up a little. Woke up again today, and she’s looking the same as yesterday morning, but she’s still eating. Her blood sugar is pretty high though, I’m wondering is stress dosing something that’s done with insulin? Like do you increase the dose slightly if there’s an infection present, probably not right? Just wondering if there’s anything else I can do to make her more comfortable, and also is there any ways to help prevent getting UTI’s in a diabetic cat? I add water to her food, and scoop her litter box at least twice a day. Oh also her urine tested negative for ketones, but I’m wondering how effective the strips I have are. They always test negative.

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

Any sort of infection or inflammation can raise BG numbers. Please keep an eye on your kitty. An infection plus not eating and not getting enough insulin is a recipe for ketones developing. It's good that you're making sure she's eating. Prozinc is a bit more forgiving so it may be fine to increase the dose depending on what the numbers look like. What you don't know is whether numbers dropped last night and if you're seeing a bounce this morning.

 

[Katie & Marcy]

Yeah that’s what I was thinking too, I don’t know if it’s a bounce or not. I’d guess not just because she felt warm again this morning. Her antibiotic is only once a day in the morning, so I’m thinking maybe it was wearing off. But no way to know for sure. I’ve had people at home checking up on her for me and giving me updates while I’m at work. I have off tomorrow so I’ll be able to monitor her better and do spot checks.