? Reduced dose and now won’t eat

Emily C

Emily C

Member Since 2020
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/cont-lowering-dose.229768/

I’ve linked my previous thread above

My cat Ginger has been on Prozinc starting at 4 units and now that she is on FF pate and some Dr. Elsey I’m going down on dose after some pretty big lows from where she was and bouncing. She has now been on 1.5u for the past 3 days (6 cycles) and she doesn’t seem well. She has barely eaten (for her) the last two days, hidding under beds and today she seems weak and having a hard time jumping up on things, which she normally was a very frisky kitty before. I’m really worried, was the 1.5u too low? Should I go back up? What would cause the low appetite and weakness all of a sudden? Her BGs have been better today, mid and highs 200s, but it’s just her low energy and not eating that’s I’m concerned about. Hi h and her urine output and drinking have increased again. Would love your insight.
 
You test for ketones using ketostix. You can get them at walmart in the diabetic section or any pharmacy. You have to dip them in the urine wait 15 seconds and compare to color on side of container. Anything above a trace needs to be seen by a vet. Ketones can form if not enough insulin, not enough food and an infection I believe.

My cat is easy to catch the urine from when he uses the litterbox I will hold test under him while he pees. Others might have better ways of doing it some cats would not like what I do Teal'c is ok with it.
 
Patty & Teal'c said:
You test for ketones using ketostix. You can get them at walmart in the diabetic section or any pharmacy. You have to dip them in the urine wait 15 seconds and compare to color on side of container. Anything above a trace needs to be seen by a vet. Ketones can form if not enough insulin, not enough food and an infection I believe.

My cat is easy to catch the urine from when he uses the litterbox I will hold test under him while he pees. Others might have better ways of doing it some cats would not like what I do Teal'c is ok with it.
Click to expand...

Thank you so much for this info. I will look into getting some tomorrow. Oh no, did this happen because I lowered the dose too much? Oh I feel so bad for her. :(
Should I up her dose? Her +2 just now was 308. Maybe go up to 2u?
 
I really can't give dosing advice. Hopefully someone will come along who can. I have a hard time figuring dosing myself and would hate to tell you wrong.
 
Emily C said:
Should I up her dose? Her +2 just now was 308. Maybe go up to 2u?
Click to expand...
Our protocols only make dosing changes in 0.25U increments. That is because a jump in insulin dose of 0.5 or 1 unit can end up bypassing a good dose for your cat.

If you feel that Ginger would do better on a bit more insulin, then increase the dose to 1.75U on the next cycle. That's my recommendation. Of course, you hold the needle, you know what your life/work schedule and responsibilities are, you know if you have enough test strips. So if you decide to increase to 2U, be sure to monitor the next few cycles closely and have your hypo toolkit ready in case Ginger drops low again.

Ketones can form under the conditions that Patty stated, in post #4 above.

It's the holiday weekend, so there won't be many people on the message board this Friday through Monday.
 
Thank you @Deb & Wink
I understand that the protocol is .25u increments, but when I had gone from the suggested jump from 3u to 1.5u, there’s a lot of possible missed doses in there too so I wasn’t sure if I should go closer to her previous dose.
I thank you for your help.
 
Patty & Teal'c said:
You test for ketones using ketostix. You can get them at walmart in the diabetic section or any pharmacy. You have to dip them in the urine wait 15 seconds and compare to color on side of container. Anything above a trace needs to be seen by a vet. Ketones can form if not enough insulin, not enough food and an infection I believe.

My cat is easy to catch the urine from when he uses the litterbox I will hold test under him while he pees. Others might have better ways of doing it some cats would not like what I do Teal'c is ok with it.
Click to expand...

Luckily I think my Ginger will be ok with it too
How often do you test your cat for ketones? Is it a regular thing like for testing for BG?
I think I am going to take her in to see the vet tomorrow. I’ve never seen her like this. It’s like she doesn’t see very well or something. She will just paw at the air after my other cat walks by her.
 
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