Please, please pray for Noodle. Hospitalized today with DKA.

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Christianna

Member Since 2014
Hello everyone,
I am asking you to say a prayer for my sweet Noodle. For some reason his ketones skyrocketed overnight and he became very ill. We rushed him to the vet, tests were run and he's in DKA. I know that is the best place for him but I'm in shock at how fast he crashed and am beside myself with worry. I don't think I could bear losing him. Please say a prayer that he makes it through. Many, many thanks.

Christi
 
Re: Please, please pray for Noodle. Hospitalized today with

Sending you and Noodle lots of positive and healing thoughts.
 
Re: Please, please pray for Noodle. Hospitalized today with

Many prayers, hugs and headbutts for you and Noodle.
 
Re: Please, please pray for Noodle. Hospitalized today with

(((((((Christi & Noodle)))))))
praying lots for you and dear little Noodle. Tibbs had very serious dka when he was first diagnosed. they give iv fluids and iv insulin. they got him stabilzed and i hope they can do the same for Noodle. so glad you got him.in so fast Christi. i'm praying...... xoxoxoxox
 
Re: Please, please pray for Noodle. Hospitalized today with

Healing prayers for Noodle and a big hug for you too.
 
Re: Please, please pray for Noodle. Hospitalized today with

Prayers on there way!! All fingers, toes, paws and tails crossed. Its scary how fast they can go from fine to critically ill.

Mel and The Fur Gang
 
Re: Please, please pray for Noodle. Hospitalized today with

RobinCot, Nadine, Voula, Mel and BJM,

Thank you all so very much for your prayers, hugs and encouragement. I am so grateful for your kindness. I feel very sad and worried about poor Noodle being alone at the vet tonight, as he really hates to be left alone. Your responses really mean a lot to me, more than you can probably know. Thank you...

Christi
 
Re: Please, please pray for Noodle. Hospitalized today with

Christi & Noodle said:
RobinCot, Nadine, Voula, Mel and BJM,

Thank you all so very much for your prayers, hugs and encouragement. I am so grateful for your kindness. I feel very sad and worried about poor Noodle being alone at the vet tonight, as he really hates to be left alone. Your responses really mean a lot to me, more than you can probably know. Thank you...

Christi
Click to expand...

Hi Christi. I am able to relate. My cat had DKA early last week and was hospitalized for four days and I know what you are going through. All I could think about was him being in an unfamiliar place and missing me as much as I missed him. Please stop by and see him tomorrow, he will be glad to see you. Noodles is being cared for by the pros and is being given care that he can not receive at home.

As for my cat Webster, he pulled through and one week after being released he is almost back to normal with the exception of crazy BG all over the place. Once I get his food switched over he will be much happier and healthier. I'll be thinking about noodles and sending positive vibes your way.

Mike
 
Re: Please, please pray for Noodle. Hospitalized today with

Hi Mike,
Thank you so much for writing to me and telling me about Webster. I am so glad he pulled through and is on the road to being happy and healthy again. It really helped to hear from you because you have experienced this so recently, so you know the worries and the lonely feeling of missing our sick ones. You can bet I'll be going to see Noodle first thing in the morning. I hate that he is all alone at the hospital but know it was the only way to save him. But I probably won't be sleeping much until he is home and safe. Thank you so much for your kind encouragement and understanding--it really means a lot to me that you responded.


Christi
 
Re: Please, please pray for Noodle. Hospitalized today with

Christi & Noodle said:
Hi Mike,
Thank you so much for writing to me and telling me about Webster. I am so glad he pulled through and is on the road to being happy and healthy again. It really helped to hear from you because you have experienced this so recently, so you know the worries and the lonely feeling of missing our sick ones. You can bet I'll be going to see Noodle first thing in the morning. I hate that he is all alone at the hospital but know it was the only way to save him. But I probably won't be sleeping much until he is home and safe. Thank you so much for your kind encouragement and understanding--it really means a lot to me that you responded.


Christi
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You are welcome. I know exactly what you are going through. It's tough. Please keep us updated on how Noodles is doing. Cats do pull through DKA. I've read posts from several others who had cats that pulled through and my Webster made it so Noodles can too!
 
Re: Please, please pray for Noodle. Hospitalized today with

that's right Christi. They can definitely pull through dka and we will all send hugs to him at the hospital so he doesn't feel alone. Let us know about your visit when you go tomorrow. For tonight, i will send Noodle lots of white light and hugs so he heals fast.
:YMHUG: :YMHUG: :YMHUG: :YMHUG: :YMHUG:
cat_pet_icon cat_pet_icon cat_pet_icon cat_pet_icon cat_pet_icon
 
Re: Please, please pray for Noodle. Hospitalized today with

Big hugs to you both and lots of healing vines and white light for Noodle to get better soon! :YMHUG: :YMHUG:
 
Re: Please, please pray for Noodle. Hospitalized today with

Prayers on the way from me, Saoirse and the other Noodle (Lúnasa).

:ymhug:

Did you bring in something with your scent on it, Christi? It's really comforting to them.
 
Re: Please, please pray for Noodle. Hospitalized today with

Any more news on Noodle today?

Juliet and Silver
 
Re: Please, please pray for Noodle. Hospitalized today with

Christi,

How you holding up hon? Did you get to go see Noodle yesterday? It's just so tough when they aren't with us, even though we know they are exactly where they need to be, it's still tough because we want to protect them and make them all better and we just plain miss them. They really are our babies and we don't worry about them any less than we would if they were a human child.

My little Musette not only survived DKA once she survived it twice! And it was anemia and a vet missing it on 3 separate blood panels that finally earned her, her wings. They look awful while they are fighting it, and Noodle will probably look worse when you go see him before he looks better. But please, if you haven't go see him, go give him hugs and kisses from all of us, and tell him just how many people are pulling for him and praying for him. He loves you as much as you love him. Just seeing you will help him fight harder to defeat this and come back home to those he loves.

And until he does, we are here for you. You are so very welcome to just vent, cry on our shoulders etc. We're family, and that is just what families do at times like theses.

(((((((((((BIG GIANT HUGS))))))))))))))

Mel and The Fur Gang
 
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Oh christie. Poor noodle but you obviously caught it early and whilst you might not like to think of him at the vets it is the best place for him. Sending healing thoughts to noodle.
 
Re: Please, please pray for Noodle. Hospitalized today with

christi.
i'm so worried about Noodle. How is he?
 
Re: Please, please pray for Noodle. UPDATE 11-22

Thank you all so much for your prayers, kind words and encouragement. It made me cry, all of you so caring and making me know I'm not alone. I stayed 2 hours at the vet with Noodle--they are so nice to let me be there even after the office was closed for the day. The vet tech stayed with me which I thought was wonderful. But, oh, poor Noodle looked so sad. His arm was all shaved where the I.V. was in, and then his leg and throat shaved for other blood testing. He looks so scruffy and thin right now--just breaks my heart. They periodically give him Humulin-R in addition to the Lantus to get the blood sugar down. The vet and tech both said he was doing much better and I want to believe it but it's hard right now. I hand-fed him while I was there and also coaxed him to eat some Gerber meat baby food, normally his favorite but it was a slow-go today. They also are giving him additional potassium, as that was very low. The vet tech said I could come in tomorrow for awhile while she tends to him and the other patients so I'm counting the hours. I worry about his state of mind--he gets so depressed when he is away from home at the vet. I just hope he sleeps a lot and the time goes fast for him. I don't know if he understands me but when I leave I always tell him I'm coming back and would never leave him. (He was abandoned and had spent 7 months in a crummy shelter cage when we adopted him) and I'm afraid the vet cage will make him think he's being left again. I thank you all so much for your prayers and kindnesses. You really make me feel like family and I cannot tell you how much that lights these dark hours.

Christi
 
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(((((((( Christi ))))))
It's great that you tell him that you will be back and that you love him. I really do believe that they understand that so keep telling him that. He knows you love him and i really think he also knows that you are trying to make him better. Cats are amazing, they are very smart. He knows you aren't going to leave him there. I am sure he understands that. Give Noodle hugs and kisses from me too OK. I know how you feel about leaving him there. If my vet would have let me sleep on the floor next to Tibbs' cage, I would have. That's great that they say he is improving. I know it doesn't look like it with the IV's and everything but cats are really such patient creatures. They are certainly better than us with dealing with whatever they need to do. Noodle DOES know that you will be back to get him and bring him home so don't worry. He knows you love him.
Take care Christi and Noodle ... you get better fast so you can get home to your mama.
:YMHUG: cat_pet_icon :YMHUG: cat_pet_icon :YMHUG: cat_pet_icon
 
Re: Please, please pray for Noodle. Hospitalized today with

Mel,
In reading through your posts I can see that you have, sadly, had a lot of experience with DKA. I am still puzzled how and why Noodle went dangerously downhill in 24 hours. Can you explain more about rapid ketone development and how to keep things from getting critical again? This scares me so much because I came so close to losing Noodle and he's still not out of the woods entirely. If he ever starts to show trace-small ketones again, should I start sub-Qs immediately, force feed him food and water and immediately raise his insulin dosage? I just am puzzling about how this could have reached a critical point so fast and want to be better prepared to act more knowledgably next time if, God forbid, it happens again because he is ketone-prone, for whatever reason.
Also, if Noodle comes through this ok, the vet and I are considering switching him to Levemir because he just has not really come down on Lantus and has had bothersome side effects. He is currently on 3.5 U of Lantus. If we switch, would he start right out on 3.5U Levemir? I don't want to goof that up too :?
Thanks so much for any advice and for all your encouraging words throughout Noodle's crisis.

Christi
 
Re: Please, please pray for Noodle. Hospitalized today with

Some cats, like people, may be "brittle" diabetics and prone to more complications such as DKA.

One of the things that may be helpful is to get the more pricey blood ketone meter, such as a NovaMax (see ADW through our SHOP link above) and test any time you're concerned, ex food refusal, vomiting, "meatloafing", or breath odors of fruit or nail polish remover (2 of 3 ketones have detectable odors.

Using the Secondary Monitoring Tools in my signature link may help too, as you'll be tracking the more general signs of diabetes - thirst, urination, dehydration, hunger, and weight, along with behavior.

Finally, you may want to obtain some Regular Humulin or Novolin insulin This may be used as an adjunct to treating high numbers when you need them to come down quickly. We use it in tiny doses until we know how the cat responds. I used it with Spitzer.
 
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http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0050Z48I ... SY200_QL40

Christi
Tibbs is also ketone prone and i use this meter to check him for ketones. i find it much easier than trying to catch him in the litter box. i set up this meter for ketones and the relion for glucose and then just use the same ear stick to get both tests. i test him every few days or so for ketones (the strips are a bit expensive so can't use them every day) but i can't always catch him in the potty.
i add water to his food all the time to flush him out and i have several bags of sub q fluids and iv sets in the house just in case. ( i also have a kitty who gets urine crystals so i give her sub q every month too). i hope Noodle comes home soon. i also want to know about rapid ketone development so let me know what u find out.
Come home little Noodle. mama is waiting for you.
 
Re: Please, please pray for Noodle. Hospitalized today with

The biggest help to stay on top of the situation is the ketone testing. DKA is a perfect storm of: Not enough insulin + Not enough food + infection = DKA so if you start seeing even a trace, I would start raising the insulin, either up the portion size if eating on their own,or if not eating on their own force feed, and get to the vet asap to look for infection. At small, I would start running fluids.

The person I know on this board with the most ketone experience is Nancy and Payne, but I haven't seen anything posted from her lately so you might want to try sending her a PM. Her girl Payne starting throwing ketones if you looked at her funny. So Nancy has all the tricks of the trade.

As far as switching him over to Lev, you would want to start him on a slightly lower dose that his current Lantus dose about 75% of the current dose which if he is on 3.5 Lantus you would start the Lev at 2.75 - 3u.

Mel and The Fur Gang
 
Re: Please, please pray for Noodle. Hospitalized today with

Hi BJM,
Thank you for the heads-up about the blood ketone meter. Do ketones show up first in the blood and then spill over into the urine, or the other way around? If they're in the blood first, that meter would be an "early-warning" system I would think. Clearly Noodle needs that.
Is the Humulin something I can get OTC? I know that is what they used on Noodle to get his BG down fast. Having some on hand sounds like something I should do in case I get snowbound and have to do something fast. What dose do you start at? I hope I never have to find out but it would be good to know how to proceed if necessary.
Thanks so much for your input and suggestions--I really appreciate it.

Christi
 
Re: Please, please pray for Noodle. Hospitalized today with

Hi Mel,
Thanks for telling me about Nancy and Payne. I will try to contact her.
The weird thing is that I was testing Noodle's urine ketones every day and he just went from trace to large overnight. His BG numbers are still in the 300s but I often look at peoples' spreadsheets showing their cats in the 400-500 range with no ketones yet Noodle seems really prone to a quick change. Really scares me. I guess you can never take anything for granted with this disease :sad:
Thank you for the Lantus-Levemir dosage information. My vet and I had talked about it last week before Noodle got sick and his opinion was that 4+ months with no real change in Noodle's BG was enough time and he was in favor of switching him to Lev. I talked at length with him today and it turns out that he had trained with one of the foremost Levemir researchers so he recommends Lev first. I thought that was interesting.
Thanks so much for all your advice and help!

Christi
 
Re: Please, please pray for Noodle. Hospitalized today with

Christi & Noodle said:
Hi BJM,
Thank you for the heads-up about the blood ketone meter. Do ketones show up first in the blood and then spill over into the urine, or the other way around? If they're in the blood first, that meter would be an "early-warning" system I would think. Clearly Noodle needs that.
Is the Humulin something I can get OTC? I know that is what they used on Noodle to get his BG down fast. Having some on hand sounds like something I should do in case I get snowbound and have to do something fast. What dose do you start at? I hope I never have to find out but it would be good to know how to proceed if necessary.
Thanks so much for your input and suggestions--I really appreciate it.

Christi
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Hey Christi. I've been thinking about noodle. How's he doing?
 
Re: Please, please pray for Noodle. Hospitalized today with

Hi Mike,
Thank you so much for asking! Noodle got to come home from the hospital today! His labs are all stable and even though he looks a little rough around the edges, his appetite is back and the vet feels he is definitely well enough to be nursed at home now. He will get sub-Q fluids for a few days and careful monitoring but hopefully the crisis is past us. I sure will be more vigilant from now on :?
How are you doing with Webster's BGs? I haven't had a chance to go and look at spreadsheets but I believe you mentioned that his BGs were all over the place (Noodle's are too.) Have Webster's numbers leveled out? Sure hope so.
Thanks so much for "holding my hand" through this DKA crisis. It really helped to hear from you because you had so recently been through it--you knew just the right things to say to help me and I appreciate it very much. I hope you and Webster have a Happy Thanksgiving! :smile:

Christi
 
Re: Please, please pray for Noodle. Hospitalized today with

Christi & Noodle said:
Hi Mike,
Thank you so much for asking! Noodle got to come home from the hospital today! His labs are all stable and even though he looks a little rough around the edges, his appetite is back and the vet feels he is definitely well enough to be nursed at home now. He will get sub-Q fluids for a few days and careful monitoring but hopefully the crisis is past us. I sure will be more vigilant from now on :?
How are you doing with Webster's BGs? I haven't had a chance to go and look at spreadsheets but I believe you mentioned that his BGs were all over the place (Noodle's are too.) Have Webster's numbers leveled out? Sure hope so.
Thanks so much for "holding my hand" through this DKA crisis. It really helped to hear from you because you had so recently been through it--you knew just the right things to say to help me and I appreciate it very much. I hope you and Webster have a Happy Thanksgiving! :smile:

Christi
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I'm so glad to hear that he his home. It must feel great to have Noodles back in your care and out of the hospital! Trust me, I know exactly how you felt and are feeling right now. I never knew how deep my love was for my cat until DKA happened. While unfortunate, it has brought Webster and I closer together.

Webster has improved tremendously over the past couple days. He's active, looking clean and shiny, and has been eating well. His BG's have been a bit on the elevated side but are at least fairly consistent... As of a couple hours ago- fingers/paws crossed.

I was actually able to cross off several overdue tasks off of my list today and even got a bit of work done. I hope tomorrow is business as usual. It's been one heck of a two weeks!

Please keep us updated. Keep an eye on those ketones and take care of your boy!
 
Re: Please, please pray for Noodle. Hospitalized today with

Hi Mike,
Oh, I'm so glad to hear that Webster is doing so well! It is such a relief when a crisis is past and you see them acting like their old selves. It sounds like Webster has really bounced back from his scary DKA episode and finally you can exhale. I just fall apart when Noodle gets sick and this was really scary. I was really afraid maybe he wouldn't pull through this time, so I am really, really thankful he made it through. I know you felt the same.
I understand what you mean about being happy if you can get back to business as usual and just be able to concentrate on the little everyday things. I have been useless these last few days, alternately crying, hoping, researching and traveling to see Noodle. I am so happy to have him home where I can be with him constantly. I HATED it when he was in the hospital but of course knew it was his only chance. This disease really does cause you to bond more with your cat because you share things that normally would not come up with a lucky, healthy cat. But it's really rough at times.
It sounds like Webster's "clinical signs" are really good and that's so important. Fingers and paws crossed that his numbers level out soon and you can have more of those "business as usual" days :smile:
Thanks so much, Mike, you've been a real help to me.

Christi
 
Re: Please, please pray for Noodle. Hospitalized today with

Christi & Noodle said:
Hi Mike,
Oh, I'm so glad to hear that Webster is doing so well! It is such a relief when a crisis is past and you see them acting like their old selves. It sounds like Webster has really bounced back from his scary DKA episode and finally you can exhale. I just fall apart when Noodle gets sick and this was really scary. I was really afraid maybe he wouldn't pull through this time, so I am really, really thankful he made it through. I know you felt the same.
I understand what you mean about being happy if you can get back to business as usual and just be able to concentrate on the little everyday things. I have been useless these last few days, alternately crying, hoping, researching and traveling to see Noodle. I am so happy to have him home where I can be with him constantly. I HATED it when he was in the hospital but of course knew it was his only chance. This disease really does cause you to bond more with your cat because you share things that normally would not come up with a lucky, healthy cat. But it's really rough at times.
It sounds like Webster's "clinical signs" are really good and that's so important. Fingers and paws crossed that his numbers level out soon and you can have more of those "business as usual" days :smile:
Thanks so much, Mike, you've been a real help to me.

Christi
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I'm happy to hear Noodle is back and on the road to recovery. I'm still amazed how quickly they can go downhill and on the flip side, how fast they recover when given the proper care.

I hope things get back to normal for you soon. Take care.
 
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