suki & crystal (GA)
Member Since 2014
Good morning everyone
Bit of a long saga to report from yesterday's vet visit. Crystal and I went along yesterday afternoon to our vet, primarily for the IAA test. However, the vet phoned about 3 hours before we left saying that she wasn't able to do this test as there was nowhere, in the whole of France, that was able to do this test for me. First disappointment. She had phoned the vet college at Nantes (the equivalent of the RVC in the UK) and spoken to 2 vets there, one of which was her old Professor I think and he had told her that "this cat is drowning in insulin" that the dose was too high and too much insulin was counter productive, all this without even seeing the cat or her SS. Second disappointment. What we have here is a country that has first class human medical research and a medical service second to none but is way down the list as far as diabetes and acromegaly research in cats is concerned, as I've said before, they are not particularly a nation of animal lovers and cats particularly get a raw deal. Anyway, I still went ahead with the appointment even though we were not having the IAA test done as I thought a heart to heart conversation was needed.
We went over all of Crystal's tests and she reconfirmed that her liver and kidney function were okay, checked her heart for murmurs, which was okay and also had a good look at her eyes and could detect nothing wrong. The echographie and x-rays that were taken back in October didn't show any tumours, just a lot of gas in the intestine.
Crystal's weight has increased from 4.8 to 5.4. and the vet noticed an increase in her facial features, especially her lower jaw, her paws have also got bigger. We also discussed changing to Levemir when my current Lantus pens run out and she gave me a prescription and advised that the dose should start at 4u BID. We talked about the possibility of using "R" insulin at some time in the future but for the moment, that's on hold.
So, my dilemma now is that I have a vet who I trust and like but unfortunately doesn't have any experience of acromegaly and perhaps is being influenced by her old college. I actually asked her what she would do in my position and she couldn't answer me. Unfortuantely I don't think she has had time to read all the articles that I had given to her from the FDMB prior to our visit, but she had read the TR protocol and conceded that, for some cats, the high doses seem to work. She agreed that I was at least doing the increases safely by testing regularly. I further endeared myself by asking about the one other cat with diabetes in the practice who is also on Lantus (2u BID). When I asked what he was being fed the answer was, predictably, diabetic prescription kibble, to which I replied that if the owner stopped feeding that the cat would probably reduce its insulin anyway - silence.
Anyway, sorry for the long rant but I was obviously a bit stressed out by it all, so much so that I completely forgot to give Crystal her PM shot last night, despite doing a couple of tests. I didn't realise until this morning when I found the full syringe, s....! I've just gone ahead as normal with her 13u but perhaps I should delay an increase for a few more cycles?
Would like to hear your comments /advice on any of the above. I'm still going ahead with the TR protocol but it sounds as if Crystal and I will have to rely solely on you guys for support and guidance. One last question, how important do you think it is to have an IAA test as I could try contacting the RVC to see if they could help.
Suki & Crystal
Bit of a long saga to report from yesterday's vet visit. Crystal and I went along yesterday afternoon to our vet, primarily for the IAA test. However, the vet phoned about 3 hours before we left saying that she wasn't able to do this test as there was nowhere, in the whole of France, that was able to do this test for me. First disappointment. She had phoned the vet college at Nantes (the equivalent of the RVC in the UK) and spoken to 2 vets there, one of which was her old Professor I think and he had told her that "this cat is drowning in insulin" that the dose was too high and too much insulin was counter productive, all this without even seeing the cat or her SS. Second disappointment. What we have here is a country that has first class human medical research and a medical service second to none but is way down the list as far as diabetes and acromegaly research in cats is concerned, as I've said before, they are not particularly a nation of animal lovers and cats particularly get a raw deal. Anyway, I still went ahead with the appointment even though we were not having the IAA test done as I thought a heart to heart conversation was needed.
We went over all of Crystal's tests and she reconfirmed that her liver and kidney function were okay, checked her heart for murmurs, which was okay and also had a good look at her eyes and could detect nothing wrong. The echographie and x-rays that were taken back in October didn't show any tumours, just a lot of gas in the intestine.
Crystal's weight has increased from 4.8 to 5.4. and the vet noticed an increase in her facial features, especially her lower jaw, her paws have also got bigger. We also discussed changing to Levemir when my current Lantus pens run out and she gave me a prescription and advised that the dose should start at 4u BID. We talked about the possibility of using "R" insulin at some time in the future but for the moment, that's on hold.
So, my dilemma now is that I have a vet who I trust and like but unfortunately doesn't have any experience of acromegaly and perhaps is being influenced by her old college. I actually asked her what she would do in my position and she couldn't answer me. Unfortuantely I don't think she has had time to read all the articles that I had given to her from the FDMB prior to our visit, but she had read the TR protocol and conceded that, for some cats, the high doses seem to work. She agreed that I was at least doing the increases safely by testing regularly. I further endeared myself by asking about the one other cat with diabetes in the practice who is also on Lantus (2u BID). When I asked what he was being fed the answer was, predictably, diabetic prescription kibble, to which I replied that if the owner stopped feeding that the cat would probably reduce its insulin anyway - silence.
Anyway, sorry for the long rant but I was obviously a bit stressed out by it all, so much so that I completely forgot to give Crystal her PM shot last night, despite doing a couple of tests. I didn't realise until this morning when I found the full syringe, s....! I've just gone ahead as normal with her 13u but perhaps I should delay an increase for a few more cycles?
Would like to hear your comments /advice on any of the above. I'm still going ahead with the TR protocol but it sounds as if Crystal and I will have to rely solely on you guys for support and guidance. One last question, how important do you think it is to have an IAA test as I could try contacting the RVC to see if they could help.
Suki & Crystal
The only involvement my vet had with Vyktor's diabetes (after initial treatment for DKA) was writing the prescription 
Since you skipped the dose, you'll have to wait longer at 13U to get the depot back up again before increasing.
