Kitty made it through the night.....

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kse

kse

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Kitty responded well to the therapy at the Emergency Vet. I transported her to the vet hospital this morning for continued therapy and fluids. I saw the new vet and very firmly and compassionately expressed my concerns over Kitty's previous treatment. I think we are on the same page and from the look on the new vet's face--- I think she realizes I am not happy and very frustrated. I have made every attempt to give my Kitty the proper treatment and support, and to see her in the shape she was in yesterday---was uncalled for. I firmly believe Kitty would not have faced DKA if the vet had her on adequate insulin dosing. The bitter part is, I had a consultation last Saturday to discuss my concerns, and was told by the vet---I was feeding too much, testing too much and to relax.

Oh well--today I will purchase a keatones monitor. Where do I get one and is there a preferred monitor?

Kitty will go back to the Emergency Vet tonight for monitoring and therapy--as I don't want to leave her alone at the vet hospital. She was bright eyed, vocal and hungry this morning. Hopefull this will get corrected and with the help of new vet thereapy she will get better.

Every vet I have seen (3) over the weekend has indicated Kitty should have been on twice a day insulin and was poorly regulated. What a shame--- after the commitment I have made, both finacially and physically-- no vet should hinder her regulation.

And I must say it....."You told me so!"

Thanks to everyone and please continue to keep Kitty in your thoughts.
 
Wonderful! I was hoping for good news this am. It sounds like you have a good plan in place and vets who know what they are doing. But don't for a minute, blame yourself. You had every right to expect that your vet knew what he was talking about - he's an expert you paid to treat your cat. This is his problem, not yours.

You can get a ketone meter - the only one I know is PrecisionXtra. You can use it for blood glucose and ketones. The big disadvantage is that the ketone strips are costly. I would look on Ebay first to see if there are any available before I considered the meter. )The normal blood glucose strips are expensive also, but we did get them on Ebay for less than 1/2 price of the stores. Most people use ketostix - cheap and available at any drug store. The problem here is that you have to stick the strip or a ladle into the cat's urine stream to get the sample. That was a problem with Oliver as he would not use the litter box if we were in the same room. So we put him in a room with a litter box with aquarium gravel, water and food. Eventually he would go and we would have our sample.

After this emergency is resolved, I would write a letter to your previous vet. They really should pick up the bills for the DKA care.

I did respond on your thread in Health also. The two ladies that had the DKA experiences, Nancy and Janelle, can be good resources for you. Just wanted to let you know that every cat does not require that much intervention. Sometimes you need to do fluids for awhile. Sometimes not. I would certainly try the PZI twice daily before I changed the timing or added other insulin.

Fingers and paws crossed for more good news today.
 
So glad Kitty is doing better. I can't imagine what you're going through with your mom in the hospital and now Kitty. Fingers and paws crossed that they both continue to improve. Like Sue said, I would try twice a day dosing on the PZI before switching insulin as it seemed like Kitty had a good response and the dose just needed to be adjusted. And you shouldn't feel guilty as you thought you were doing everything right and following your vet's advice. Seems like you're vet needs to brush up on how to treat feline diabetes.
 
So glad to hear Kitty is doing better! Thanks to your quick intervention it sounds like she will be alright.

That vet so needs to brush up on their reading. According to the PZ website, even they admitted that once a day dosing was not optimal for their product. A strongly worded letter is a great approach - with supporting documentation. Maybe even report this vet to the BBB?

Purrs and rubs all around.
 
I am glad to hear Kitty is doing better today.
I feel for you being upset and worried about both your mother and Kitty.
Hope Kitty will continue to improve; bright -eyed and hungry is a good sign.
Prayers for Kitty and your mom.
 
Thanks to everyone.

I just spoke with the vet and Kitty's BG is 200 and holding. I am going to pick her up at 5:30 to take her back to the Emergency vet for the night. Hopefully this will resolve itself.

Thanks for your support and thoughts.

Kim
 
I am so glad she is doing better, YAY!!!! As I understand it (limited) DKA is usually caused by a combination of too little insulin, and either infection or lack of eating (or both). I think there is a third factor that can cause it but I can't remember what it is (dehydration?). She will always be prone to ketones I think, so you want to be sure to test regularly (pee stix are what most people use - you can get them at Walmart for under $5, and also I think you have already been writing about the blood meter - there are a few people on the board with that, I'm not sure if you really need it though). Also you will want to consider being a little more aggressive than some of us are with dosing, as with a ketone-prone kitty they have less tolerance for not getting enough insulin.

Anyhow, that's mostly all I know about it. You can read a lot in the Wiki, and hopefully those with direct experience can guide you.
 
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