10/12 Boomer AMPS 140 +3 140 +6 97 PMPS 196 +3 160, info on pred please?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Judy and Boomer

Judy and Boomer

Member Since 2014
Yesterday
Good morning!
AMPS 140 :cool: shooting 3u. That was a nice surprise:cool:

Boomer ate most of his +3, about half of his +6 (all by himself) and got me up to give him more +9. Last night I was wondering whether I had given him enough +9...I had given him just chicken pieces instead of chicken pieces and chicken pate and I had meant to add more before I went to bed. sigh.
Allen ate well overnight.
Yesterday DH went to petsmart to get the two ff varieties that Allen will eat and in one of the half-cases that he picked up off the shelf there was a can of "Chopped Grill Feast Pate". On the label it says "New". So I checked it out on Dr Lisa's list....yup it's there and only 3% carb but must be new to Canada. High phosphorous so not good for Allen but I gave Boomer a bit and he seemed to like it. So I mixed some in with his +6 last night and perhaps that's why he ate without calling me.

Thank you everyone for all the vines and prayers for Allen yesterday! :bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug:I didn't hear anything more about Allen's test results from Dr Larry yesterday; perhaps he and the radiologist haven't connected or perhaps he needed some time to research the best next steps for Allen. The ultrasound showed a small spot on his pancreas (which is exactly what I had predicted given his hypoglycaemia). I don't know yet whether there was anything else (IBD for example) and I also don't know how his kidneys look (blood/urine indicates 2nd stage CKD); we were told yesterday that the Dr would be comparing the ultrasound to the one from February and would talk to Dr Larry. Will update condo when I hear.
 
Allen's ultrasound results are in. Here is the conclusion from Dr Etue...."The most significant finding is the small mass in the left pancreas. It does not look like a typical adenocarcinoma but with that history of persistent hypoglycemia could be a very rare finding...an insulinoma. I hesitate to suggest given the uncommon nature but it just is so smooth and circumscribed and likely has taken a while to be visible so I am suggesting it. If it is an insulinoma I doubt a FNA will get the answer but I am willing to try. You will have to consider your options with the client"

Speaking with Dr Larry now and asking lots of questions.
 
Judy and Boomer said:
Allen's ultrasound results are in. Here is the conclusion from Dr Etue...."The most significant finding is the small mass in the left pancreas. It does not look like a typical adenocarcinoma but with that history of persistent hypoglycemia could be a very rare finding...an insulinoma. I hesitate to suggest given the uncommon nature but it just is so smooth and circumscribed and likely has taken a while to be visible so I am suggesting it. If it is an insulinoma I doubt a FNA will get the answer but I am willing to try. You will have to consider your options with the client"

Speaking with Dr Larry now and asking lots of questions.
Click to expand...
:bighug::bighug::bighug:
 
Judy and Boomer said:
Allen's ultrasound results are in. Here is the conclusion from Dr Etue...."The most significant finding is the small mass in the left pancreas. It does not look like a typical adenocarcinoma but with that history of persistent hypoglycemia could be a very rare finding...an insulinoma. I hesitate to suggest given the uncommon nature but it just is so smooth and circumscribed and likely has taken a while to be visible so I am suggesting it. If it is an insulinoma I doubt a FNA will get the answer but I am willing to try. You will have to consider your options with the client"

Speaking with Dr Larry now and asking lots of questions.
Click to expand...
Sorry, I don't know if this is good or bad. I don't have enough knowledge but either way - bunches of hugs. :bighug::bighug:

Judy and Boomer said:
+6 97
Click to expand...
Nice!:D
 
Hey Judy, I don't have any experience or knowledge of Allen's DX so I hope that you will get lots of good guidance. As Alicia said above, pred is a steroid and can cause diabetes. Is a steroid the only choice for treatment? I hope some knowledgeable peeps will weigh in.
 
Bobbie And Bubba said:
Hey Judy, I don't have any experience or knowledge of Allen's DX so I hope that you will get lots of good guidance. As Alicia said above, pred is a steroid and can cause diabetes. Is a steroid the only choice for treatment? I hope some knowledgeable peeps will weigh in.
Click to expand...
Allen has hypoglycaemia very likely caused by a small mass on his pancreas called an insulinoma which dumps extra insulin into his body. Apparently pred is the recommended treatment for this condition. Given that he has hypoglycaemia I don't think diabetes will be an issue.

Can't believe I have a hypoglycaemic cat and a hyperglycaemic cat. What are the chances? :rolleyes:
 
@Judy and Boomer Wow! Insulinomas are pretty rare! I have seen only one in my 11 years as a vet tech. As far as I'm aware, steroids (typically Pred) are the only treatment.

I can tell you that I have a civvie that has been on Pred for a LONG time. He's about 16.5 years old, and has severe arthritis in the spine. He has been on some dose of Pred for, at least, 8 years! **KNOCK ON WOOD** he hasn't developed FD, and hopefully will not. It can cause a noticeable increase in water consumption/urine output, and can cause an increased hunger. We recently increased Ben's Pred to twice daily, and boy does he ASK for his food more now! Other than that, he has done VERY well on it!
ETA: You're probably right though, that the change of FD is much less due to the hypoglycemia!
 
Tasha & Darwin said:
Insulinomas are pretty rare! I have seen only one in my 11 years as a vet tech.
Click to expand...
Thanks Tasha! Yes the Radiologist claimed to have only seen 5 or 6 documented cases. sigh. Did my cat have to be the 7th? Of course insulinoma has not been confirmed and we're not planning on doing either surgery or a fine needle aspiration. So it will remain an unofficial diagnosis....it's just the obvious one because of the hypoglycaemia.
 
Judy and Boomer said:
Thanks Tasha! Yes the Radiologist claimed to have only seen 5 or 6 documented cases. sigh. Did my cat have to be the 7th? Of course insulinoma has not been confirmed and we're not planning on doing either surgery or a fine needle aspiration. So it will remain an unofficial diagnosis....it's just the obvious one because of the hypoglycaemia.
Click to expand...
Yeah, it's never good to be in that unlucky percent :( We have a senior German Shepherd that was diagnosed with a rare mass in her chest cavity about 6 months ago now, and we elected not to do the very invasive surgery to have it removed. It is technically benign, but because of the location will eventually grow too large - it's so hard when they get "weird" things that are just no good! :(
 
Great day for Boomer!

We have had a couple of kitties here with insulinoma. But they were diabetic first. Did Dr. Larry say anything about the IBD possibility? The only reason I ask is that to 100% confirm IBD, you need either an endoscopy or a biopsy. If you are giving pred before doing either of those, it can reduce the bowel inflammation enough that you don't get a good answer from the endoscopy/biopsy. Note that neither Neko nor Theo had biopsy/endoscopies. Neko because it requires anesthesia and her heart couldn't take it.

Theo was on pred for almost a year and a half. It raised his BG, but still in normal number range. Yes, I was a regular tester.:rolleyes: There are a couple of side effects of pred. The first is that it can lower immunities. Theo did some coughing/sniffing shortly after starting pred. Maybe some underlying kitty flu? He came to me after years of being in a shelter. It can also cause some muscle weakness after long term use. He did get a limpy leg. I had a love/hate relationship with pred. It really helped reduce his bowel inflammation and did away with his vomiting.

Pred is usually given as a pill. Depending on how easy Allen is to pill (I buried in a pill pocket), you can get it compounded into treats.
 
Wendy&Neko said:
Great day for Boomer!

We have had a couple of kitties here with insulinoma. But they were diabetic first. Did Dr. Larry say anything about the IBD possibility? The only reason I ask is that to 100% confirm IBD, you need either an endoscopy or a biopsy. If you are giving pred before doing either of those, it can reduce the bowel inflammation enough that you don't get a good answer from the endoscopy/biopsy. Note that neither Neko nor Theo had biopsy/endoscopies. Neko because it requires anesthesia and her heart couldn't take it.

Theo was on pred for almost a year and a half. It raised his BG, but still in normal number range. Yes, I was a regular tester.:rolleyes: There are a couple of side effects of pred. The first is that it can lower immunities. Theo did some coughing/sniffing shortly after starting pred. Maybe some underlying kitty flu? He came to me after years of being in a shelter. It can also cause some muscle weakness after long term use. He did get a limpy leg. I had a love/hate relationship with pred. It really helped reduce his bowel inflammation and did away with his vomiting.

Pred is usually given as a pill. Depending on how easy Allen is to pill (I buried in a pill pocket), you can get it compounded into treats.
Click to expand...

Thanks Wendy. No, there is no IBD. There is the spot on the pancreas and the spleen and liver are slightly enlarged which could be that the spot is cancer and has metastasized. The kidneys look normal.
Dr Larry confirmed the pred is in pill form. Allen isn't terribly easy to pill but it's got somewhat easier since we have to give him the fosomax once per week he's decided we're not going to kill him :rolleyes: DH holds him while I do the pilling.
 
LizzieInTexas said:
No advise on the pred. Not sure which steroid Gizmo got when he was on it for pancreatitis (it may have been pred). He did fine on it and had no issues but it may have contributed to him getting FD. How is Allen feeling/doing?

ETA-he was on the steroid for 30 days.


Nice PMPS Boomer.
Click to expand...
I think Allen is feeling a bit weak. I don't think he's in pain (I really hope not).
 
Good luck Judy - Pred is very well known to increase hunger so maybe Allen will be a good eater now. It also can cause hypokalemia, so in kitites with CKD, another complication. In any case, it does seem ironic to have a hypo and hyper kitty.
 
Judy and Boomer said:
Thanks Tracey. So it might even help shrink the tumour?
Click to expand...


I am not sure... I have used it before in a drooler for lymphoma (it was a band aid solution in this case while we tried to figure things out).

I think it is more of "addition" to or instead of conventional chemotherapy protocols when those are not an option.


Sending you many hugs and vines as you and family work through this.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top