Watching ketones - what to expect?

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Holly and Sunny Bear

Holly and Sunny Bear

Member Since 2021
Sunny was recently diagnosed and I am keeping an eye on his ketones with a glucometer that reads ketones. It has been reading at 0.5mmol, 0.7, and 0.4. The 0.4mmol was today.
My understanding is that the point to worry and get him to the vet would be about 2.4

Are these readings expected or anything to be worried about? Should I be seeing 0 for ketones?

I have been adding lots of water to his meals, making a FF soup. And his appetite is good so he's eating plenty: 4.5 ounces of FF in the AM and PM, and additionally 3 ounces once or twice a day when he asks for food. He's a 16 pound cat.

In June we'll be having a house sitter watching him for 10 days and I'm going to ask her to test ketones daily because I've heard that their ketones can kick up when you're out of town if they're not eating or drinking like they normally would. Hopefully he will be cooperative with the sitter and eat well while we're gone.
 
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Those ketone readings are fine. Other things to look for are lethargy, not eating, vomiting.
Is your pet sitter going to be testing the BGs while you are away? And is she going to be there all the time?
You may want to post 2 days before you leave to ask about a vacation dose which is slightly lower, to keep Sunny Bear safe.
 
thanks @Bron and Sheba (GA) :bighug: We really appreciate you weighing in on this. I've read a couple of horror stories about what diabetic cats can get up to when you go out of town so I've been stressing over it.

Yes I'm going to show the sitter (my niece) how to check BG and Ketones while we're gone. She won't be here all the time unfortunately, but will be staying overnight. I thought about boarding Sunny but he would be so stressed. This way he can be around his brother and sisters (kitties and pup). Hope I'm making the right decision.
 
Much better to keep them at home if at all possible. I always hated going away and leaving Sheba so do understand, but it sounds as if you have a good plan in place.
You could show your niece how to post and we could help her if she is concerned at all..
Main things are he eats well and she can check the BG and ketones.
Have a plan B in case he won’t eat his food........are there foods he loves that he normally can’t have? Have some there in case they are needed to tempt him.
I remember when I had to go away and my daughter minded Harry...he wasn’t a diabetic....but all cats must eat. He had gone to her place and refused to eat. She rang me after 24 hours and I suggested giving him some cheese which he loved and only ever got a small amount. He gobbled it down and was fine with food after that.
 
Good ideas! I'll buy some canned salmon and tuna in case he's stubborn about eating. He gets some of that on special occasions. And some yummy canned food varieties (lc and hc for the hypo kit). And we have glycobalance dry that we bought before we knew what were doing. And I'll set my niece up on this site in case she needs you all. I also told her to call me anytime. Thank you again!
 
I've had the pet sitter experience a few times, so I know the feeling of being worried, it's only natural, since you need to leave Sunny Bear under someone else's care. I have what I call the smorgasbord- lots of different canned foods, and varying carb content, pates and minced in gravies, just in case. My pantry can compete with many small pet supply stores :p. It may not be needed, but perhaps have this handy for your niece.

How to stimulate kitty's appetite
 
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