? Rukia AMPS 459 | 7 Units General Advice

Auora

Auora

Member Since 2019
Hi guys,
Just wondering if anyone could take a look at Rukia's SS? The past week or so I'm starting to feel like she's actually just gone back in progress and that her units are getting too high. It had seemed like her BS was starting to be lower overall.... just over a week ago she was having AMPS and PMPS in the pinks but now it's back to red. Her Nadir's seem higher too. I haven't changed her food or anything. Granted, I haven't been able to test as much lately as I would like. I'm starting to wonder if maybe she's getting resistant or if I'm just doing something wrong.
 
A cat needs however much insulin they need. In Rukia’s case and at 7 units, it’s time to get her tested for acromegaly. Normally I would suggest testing for insulin auto antibodies or IAA too, it that is only done in North America. Snacking on inappropriate food like Doritos is also a clue. The benign pituitary tumour that caused acromegaly can pulse up and down, causing a need for more or less insulin. One in four diabetic cats has acromegaly.
 
Yes. It's very difficult when she tries to get into everything. We've tried to cat-proof our house and kitchen as best as possible, but even things that are left unattended for only a minute get snatched. We've slipped up more than I'm happy to admit.

You say that 1 in 4 have acromegaly. Is the tumour itself usually treated? Or do most cat parents just deal with the symptoms of it? It sounds expensive to treat. I'll contact the vet today and set up an appointment, and maybe try to get a blood analysis done this weekend as well. But, I'll probably need to research ahead of time and be specific about what I need. My vet is a very nice lady but self-admittedly not very up to date about or a specialist in diabetes.
 
Ugh, I feel your pain. My buddy Lou is an IAA-only kitty, and he never had any problems eating human foods prior to the FD diagnosis. However, after he was diagnosed, he would get into the garbage and if there was food out anywhere he'd find it. It was an absolute pain in the behind. He's gotten much much better now that he's regulated. There are different treatment options for acro kitties, from surgery to medication. You can find a lot of good info on all high-dose conditions, including treatments on the Acro/IAA/Cushings forum, which is located HERE. Go ahead and review the stickies and the different threads to learn what you can prior to your vet appointment.
 
As Wendy said they need as much as they need.

There are 3 treatments available for Acro. Radiation, Removal of pituitary gland or medical (drug). The ones here including me do or have done one of them. Some don't and just give high doses of insulin.

For the resistance you just raise doses until it breaks through. It is self limiting, usually about a year.

Once you know, then looking into all options would be next.
 
There is a surgeon in Australia who has been trained to do the hypophysectomy, or pituitary removal surgery. Look at the Facebook page of the Royal Veterinary College’s Diabetes remission clinic to find the name. I am out of country so don’t have details. The drug referred to is cabergoline, which is quite new but has helped many here.
 
Sorry for the late response and thanks so much for the info. We'll be going to the vet this Tuesday so all of this will be very useful. We might end up having to be referred to a specialist. My vet had said before that she knows of one here in Melbourne, but is not sure if she's still practising or not. :-/

@Olive & Paula What did you mean by "It is self limiting, usually about a year." Sorry, I didn't quite understand there.
 
Auora said:
@Olive & Paula What did you mean by "It is self limiting, usually about a year." Sorry, I didn't quite understand there.
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Paula was talking about insulin autoantibodies (IAA), also known as insulin resistance, being what we call "self-limiting", which means the antibodies eventually break without any medical intervention. All I have done for Lou is dosed according to his numbers. I haven't had to give him any meds or anything for the IAA. As you can see from his spreadsheet, he's finally in blues and greens and earning reductions instead of needed increases. It had been 9 months since his IAA diagnosis before we saw consistent blue/green numbers.
 
Ah okay, so basically the IAA will just give up? Haha. Good to know.

9 months seems like an eternity. At least things are better now :( Poor thing. I know what you mean about getting into everything though. I'm really hoping Ruki can get regulated soon....she's absolutely driving me crazy. Even ate plastic the other day because it probably had some kind of juice/smell on it. Thankfully she threw it up but.....it's self-sabotage. I just recently had to buy a new garbage can that she couldn't knock over and has a locking lid on it. :( So frustrating.
 
Amanda is correct in explaining the IAA. You keep raising the dose safely according to method you are following and eventually the antibodies stop reproducing and the ones already there start dying off.
 
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