Newbie. Question about ketones

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Natalia & Enana

Natalia & Enana

Very Active Member
Hi,

Do I have to give the insulin shot at the same time everyday? How much leeway do I have?

My cat was just diagnosed and even though I read the "message from the cat" post , I'm still very stressed out. :(

Thanks

Natalia
 
Re: Newbie. Question about insulin

What kind of insulin are you using? that will have more bearing into times of giving the insulin..
You are in the right place, welcome! With some more infomation people will be able to better inform you :)
 
Re: Newbie. Question about insulin

Can you tell us what type of insulin? It would also help if you could tell us more about your cat, what food does he eat, how was he diagnosed.

In general, try to stay as close to the same shot time as possible. Some insulins do much better with consistency, exactly 12 hours apart each time, but in the real world we can't always do that. I try to stay within a 15 minute window, + or - 15 minutes from 7:30 each shot.
 
Re: Newbie. Question about insulin

I took Enana (she's 8 pounds) last Monday to my Vet, she told me to take her to Emergency where she was diagnosed at that moment with DKA. She was at the hospital until yesterday morning, when I took her to my vet for observation. I was asked to give her .5 units of Lantus (100) twice daily. My vet showed me how to give her the glucose test and insulin the shot.

I brought her home and she ate and acted normally. This morning when I gave her the blood test she was 360 :( . I gave her to eat (Fancy Feast Classics) and put 1 unit of insulin (my doctor gave me a chart about how much insulin to give or not). I emailed my vet about the high glucose level, she told me to monitor and check glucose level tonight.

She has eaten and drank water. She is acting normally. Sleeping right now.

Thanks for your help!
 
Re: Newbie. Question about insulin

If you are not testing her urine for ketones, please do so. You can purchase either Ketostix (ketones only) or KetoDiastix (ketones and glucose). If she's already had a bout, especially DKA, you are going to need to catch her urine and test as much as possible so if she starts throwing ketones you can get on it right away and keep it, hopefully, from going into DKA. Ketones really need vet treatment.
 
Re: Newbie. Question about insulin

What kind of chart did your vet give you regarding doses? Does it say to give a different dose for different numbers?

With Lantus it's important to stick to one dose and not vary it. Lantus likes consistency.
 
Re: Newbie. Question about insulin

Lantus is an excellent insulin but does require shots about 12 hours apart and dosages based on nadirs (lowest point in the cycle - usually around 5-6 hours after the shot), not on the preshot numbers. We have a Lantus forum with excellent information on the top of the page in stickies. Please read them to find out how to care for Lantus and how to use it: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewforum.php?f=9
 
Re: Newbie. Question about insulin

I went and bought a Precision Xtra with Ketone and Glucose strips. The ketone came back as 0.4 which is OK according to what I read (but it should be zero...isn't it?) and glucose came back 140.

My vet wrote a little chart for me to ease my stress about what to do if the Glucose was higher than 250, 200 or below 200 and 50. I think we are still looking for what works for her. In the hospital they tried 0.8 and her glucose level dropped too low, so they tried 0.5 and it worked for 1 1/2 days. Yesterday before bringing her here I have her 0.5 and this morning the glucose was 360, so I gave her 1 unit.

Thanks for all your help. I will read about Lantus.
 
Re: Newbie. Question about insulin

Change your subject to Ketones 0.4. and ask for help. I am not a ketone expert, but we have some. I think you are supposed to get negative ketones, but I don't know about the PrecisionXtra and whether it works like the ketostix. I thought you used two different kinds of strips - one for ketones and one for glucose. What do the directions say? Edited to add - just googled it and it says below 0.6 is normal. Good!

140 is a lowish number if it is right after the shot. How many hours since you gave the shot?
 
Re: Newbie. Ketones 0.4 Precision Xtra

Yes, I went to the Precision Xtra website and that's were I found that 0.6 is good. I think still I heard it should be zero...

The PX has two different strips, Glucose and Ketones. I couldn't imagine trying to catch urine from my very shy/skittish cat.

The 140 was around 9 hours after the shot...but she was 360 when I gave the shot to her at 7 am....so i guess that's good. no?

I have information overload.
 
Re: Newbie. Question about insulin

I know it is so overwhelming at first. You are doing fine. Someday soon you will telling a newbie about how panicked you were at first and about how now it is routine.

I think the negative/trace may be the ketostix, not the meter that tests for ketones.

140 9 hours after the shot is a good number. Generally they get to a low point somewhere between 5 - 6 hours after the shot and then head back up. You have 3 hours before you shoot so it will should come up and be high enough to shoot. If it is near 200, come on for advice. We generally tell new diabetics not to shoot under 200. You are using Lantus, right?

I did post for you over in Community to see if anyone lives near you.
 
Re: Newbie. Question about insulin

Yes, she is using Lantus.

She was 140 at about 4pm. I gave she the AM shot at 6:50 am

I gave her the PM shot at 6:50 pm :( ...It was 208, I gave her 0.5. I thought about not giving her the shot....my Vet also told me to skip if BG is less 200.

Is 208 too close to 200? Should I have skipped?



Thanks for the words of encouragement.
 
Re: Newbie. Question about insulin

.5 sounds like a safe dose. You can find out by testing her. It's the beauty of being able to know her bg level any time.

BTW, the cheapest place to get strips for your meter is on ebay. I found strips for less than half of the price in stores. Just watch the expiration date and the reputation of the seller.
 
Re: Newbie. Question about insulin

On the. serum ketone levels, anything over 1.5 would be considered elevated. If you get a reading over 3.0, I would bring the cat into the vet right away. Just to give you some prospective, the second time my cat had DKA is serum level was 4.5. His serum level went up even before he had any symptoms of DKA. His BG was only 240. High BG does make it more likely DKA will occur, but it can also happen at lower numbers.
 
Re: Newbie. Question about insulin

I would add possible ketones to your heading. DKA is very dangerous and you are not far from
it. We have had many discussions here about urine sticks and meters ohmygod_smile and one
thing I have found, the ketone test strips are very accurate, the meters???
(not wanting to start another long discussion)

My cat had DKA 3X and I bought a meter because I didn't want to be stalking the litter box and
when she is really sick, she doesn't pee a lot. But the meter scared the **** out of me because
one reading said 5.6 and the urine strip said trace. Now trace isn't good, you don't want ANY
ketones but a big difference to what the meter said. So I would use the strips for now,
just to be sure because you can stop DKA IF you catch the ketones early. I know some here use
the meters and have been successful, maybe they will chime in tomorrow.

The lancet gets easier, be sure to use a warm rice sock, it will help the blood come, I use a cotton
ball in the ear to help hold it up and not prick me! There are many stickies that explains in detail
all of this, just hang in, it is a steep learning curve but you will be fine.
Nancy and Payne (who feels way too much talk about ketones and has left the room cat(2)_steam
 
Re: Newbie. Question Ketones.

I have tried to change the subject twice to Ketones, but I guess Im not doing it correctly. :(

I tested the glucose but not for ketones this morning. She was 180. Did not give her insulin.
 
Re: Newbie. Question Ketones.

Enana said:
I have tried to change the subject twice to Ketones, but I guess Im not doing it correctly. :(
Click to expand...


Just click on the edit button at the bottom of your first post and then change the subject and click on Save.

Enana said:
I tested the glucose but not for ketones this morning. She was 180. Did not give her insulin.
Click to expand...

Good :smile: 180 is an ok number, a little high but not overly so. What some people do is retest in half an hour and if the bg has gone up over 200, then give the insulin.

Make sure you test your cat's urine for ketones. You can buy KetoStix or KetoDiastix from the Human pharmacy. Just stick a strip into your cat's fresh urine and match the color change to the chart on the bottle. If you need tips on how to catch a fresh sample of urine, just ask :smile:

Enana said:
Do I have to give the insulin shot at the same time everyday? How much leeway do I have?
Click to expand...


You don't need to give insulin *exactly* every 12 hours apart on the dot. Generally you have +/- an hour to give the insulin, epspecially for Lantus. Give try to give the insulin at approximately the same times every day.
 
Re: Newbie. Question about insulin

Just so you know in the future, to change a heading on a thread go back to your very first post and click the edit button here then type in your changed heading and click submit that will change it on the list we see on the board. Hope that helps.

Mel, Max & The Fur Gang
 
Re: Newbie. Question about insulin

FYI everyone. Natalia is also over on the Lantus forum getting dose advice this am. We don't want to her to get confused posting in two places and getting different advice.

Natalia, the people on the Lantus forum use your insulin and should have the best handle on guiding you. I would continue to post over there for dosage info this morning if I were you.
 
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