Ladybug update and need more help | Feline Diabetes Message Board - FDMB

Ladybug update and need more help

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ladybug991

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she does have cushings because she has one of her adrenal glands giant. So it’s adrenal cushings. They recommended surgery but I heard it’s a dangerous surgery and she has mild to moderate HCM. She is a happy cat most of the time but she’s getting worse and needs help. Also they said they didn’t have experience with cushings but they have good surgeons. However they said go to an internal medicine vet if I can afford it. They are looking into internal medicine vets that are endocrinologists. What about meds I heard they are also dangerous.
 
Thank you for the tag @Wendy&Neko

Our Roxi had adrenal-based Cushing's. We had a really good IM and surgical team work on her case. The problem, as they explained it to me, is that the tumors that cause adrenal-based Cushing's in cats are almost always malignant although they only spread locally. However, because the adrenal sits right next to both the caudal vena cava and the abdominal aorta, the tumor will grow around and into one of both of those blood vessels. So removal isn't recommended so much as required if you want to give her a good chance at survival. The meds that are used for pituitary-based Cushing's just won't work on the adrenal-based type, all concerns for tumor growth aside. And you will reach the point, as we did, where her glucose is not able to be controlled because the tumor will start to pulse production of cortisol on and off. So while it's producing cortisol, you'll need a really high dose...but it can then pulse off with no warning at all leaving you fighting super low hypo numbers for prolonged periods of time (days, not hours where you have to feed glucose every 20 minutes).

It is a fairly intense surgery though. I would want the same type of team that we had - a board-certified IM specialist plus a board-certified surgeon (a vet who specializes and has extra training specifically in surgery). In your case, I would also absolutely want a board-certified cardiologist on your team. It is significantly more expensive to go the specialist route, but her chances of making it through surgery and into a full recovery are also so much higher that way.

If you decide to go the surgical route, please let me know so I can give you more information.
 
manxcat419 said:
Thank you for the tag @Wendy&Neko

Our Roxi had adrenal-based Cushing's. We had a really good IM and surgical team work on her case. The problem, as they explained it to me, is that the tumors that cause adrenal-based Cushing's in cats are almost always malignant although they only spread locally. However, because the adrenal sits right next to both the caudal vena cava and the abdominal aorta, the tumor will grow around and into one of both of those blood vessels. So removal isn't recommended so much as required if you want to give her a good chance at survival. The meds that are used for pituitary-based Cushing's just won't work on the adrenal-based type, all concerns for tumor growth aside. And you will reach the point, as we did, where her glucose is not able to be controlled because the tumor will start to pulse production of cortisol on and off. So while it's producing cortisol, you'll need a really high dose...but it can then pulse off with no warning at all leaving you fighting super low hypo numbers for prolonged periods of time (days, not hours where you have to feed glucose every 20 minutes).

It is a fairly intense surgery though. I would want the same type of team that we had - a board-certified IM specialist plus a board-certified surgeon (a vet who specializes and has extra training specifically in surgery). In your case, I would also absolutely want a board-certified cardiologist on your team. It is significantly more expensive to go the specialist route, but her chances of making it through surgery and into a full recovery are also so much higher that way.

If you decide to go the surgical route, please let me know so I can give you more information.
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Thank you. I will try to find an internal medicine vet that has all of that and is highly rated. I don’t have pet insurance and I am disabled myself and working like 25 hours a week making no money. But I’m going to try so hard to make this happen. 😭 if it’s more than a couple thousand idk what I will do. Im going to need to get the surgery. Luckily this ultrasound specialist vet did say based on the way it looks it does not look malignant but she can’t say for sure.
 
ladybug991 said:
Thank you. I will try to find an internal medicine vet that has all of that and is highly rated. I don’t have pet insurance and I am disabled myself and working like 25 hours a week making no money. But I’m going to try so hard to make this happen. 😭 if it’s more than a couple thousand idk what I will do. Im going to need to get the surgery. Luckily this ultrasound specialist vet did say based on the way it looks it does not look malignant but she can’t say for sure.
Click to expand...
Costs quite often depend on where you live. We're in one of the more expensive areas, and Roxi's surgery was a lot more than $2000. But I've seen people post much lower prices for all kinds of things than we've ever been able to find, so if you're in a less expensive area I wouldn't even be able to guess at the likely cost. You could try either Care Credit or Scratchpay for spreading out payment over a longer period if that's of any help.
 
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