2/27: Pablo's AMPS 366, +6 213

[Holly and Pablo]

Yesterday's Condo

WCR: Sweet like normal.

Continuing from yesterday's discussion:

~do not try to pill your cat or let anyone else do so. pills get crushed and syringed in with water, or the med given by injection or topical, most meds are available in other forms than pills. (this is cause of the overgrowth of soft tissue on throat that occurs in mot acrocats at some point. btw, also the reason for the snoring most acrocats do).
~do not let vets or tech do jug sticks to draw blood. (also cause of the same reason. along those lines too, if anesthia is ever needed say for dental or something, let vet know that they will want to have small ET tube handy to use, like more kitten's throat size than adult cat's).
~if you notice any 'arthritic type' of things going on with back/back legs, talk about it so that supplements can be started.
thinks to do:

1. There's no chance I'd ever try to pill Pablo. I can't even touch his mouth, so all of his meds go in his food or are injected.
2. I'm not understanding the reasoning behind not doing a jugular stick. That's how we've always done his bloodwork...like, many, many times. Should I be worried? Is the risk that his body will overgrow tissue in response to the puncture in the skin? Is this just cats with acromegaly that respond that way?
3. He's been tubed several times too, and the vet didn't seem to have a problem fitting the ET tube in. Does the overgrowth progress quickly? He snores and has stridor when he's stressed.
4. I don't know that his legs are arthritic, but all four of them move strangely. I'd thought it was r/t neuropathy, but acros have different changes I guess? I did methyl-B for months and didn't see a whole lot of change. Is there another supplement?

I can go to Wal-Mart today and get some R, but how does the sliding scale work? Is there a document I've missed? I joined the Acrocat message board, but it's definitely a lot quieter than here! I heart you guys so much!

 

[paige]

(((Holly))) I missed yesterday when you announced Pablo's diagnosis. I am sorry but you are in the best place....and now you have two families!!!

Hugs to you and that absolutely adorable Pablo!!! cat_pet_icon :YMHUG:

 

[Carolyn and Spot]

Yesterday's Condo

1. There's no chance I'd ever try to pill Pablo. I can't even touch his mouth, so all of his meds go in his food or are injected.
2. I'm not understanding the reasoning behind not doing a jugular stick. That's how we've always done his bloodwork...like, many, many times. Should I be worried? Is the risk that his body will overgrow tissue in response to the puncture in the skin? Is this just cats with acromegaly that respond that way?
3. He's been tubed several times too, and the vet didn't seem to have a problem fitting the ET tube in. Does the overgrowth progress quickly? He snores and has stridor when he's stressed.
4. I don't know that his legs are arthritic, but all four of them move strangely. I'd thought it was r/t neuropathy, but acros have different changes I guess? I did methyl-B for months and didn't see a whole lot of change. Is there another supplement?

I can go to Wal-Mart today and get some R, but how does the sliding scale work? Is there a document I've missed? I joined the Acrocat message board, but it's definitely a lot quieter than here! I heart you guys so much!

Morning Holly,
Jojo is a vet tech, so you've gotta just take what she is saying at face value, as there is evidence that these things are very threatening to acrocats. We have cats on the board who have had problems with all of what she said due to excess tissue growth. It is unknown when or where or how fast or how much tissue growth there is, so you must prevent any of that from happening. It could put Pablo's life in danger and vets do not always know about it, you are his advocate so it's up to you to make sure the vet knows. Many of us can see facial changes, breathing changes, eating changes in the span of a very few months, and these are all indications that there is tissue growth happening. My Leo is learning to breathe thru his mouth periodically, so I am well aware that tubing him would probably be a nightmare.

As far as supplementing, you can start cosequin OTC for him, it's a glucosamine supplement. You can also verify it's not arthritis with xrays from your vet. He may need a pain supplement if it is. Leo also has a very stiff gait and it's pretty common to our guys. Remember that acromegaly is essentially gigantism, which means they don't stop growing, enlarged limbs, enlarged organs, excess tissue growth. Each acrocat presents differently and some acrocats show absolutely no external changes so it's important to monitor any changes you see and the ones you can't see.

You will need your vet to monitor for cardio problems. Enlarged heart is very common to acrocats, and this is important to know if he gets pancreatitis or some other illness requiring fluids. Cardio kitties can not receive fluid treatment in the same manner as non-heart kitties and must be monitored.

Supplementing R. You're not going to start with a sliding scale, you're going to start with a very small microdose. Only after some time of testing how the R works will we help you develop a scale, initially you will be shooting doses like .1u and .25u.

Numbers. You are no longer looking for green, you are now looking for blue. As Jojo said yesterday, you have a cat with a functioning pancreas, which means if the growth hormone release fluctuates, or stalls, your dose will decrease or increase. If you see green, back off. A cat with a functioning pancreas and stalled GH release can mean very prolongued hypo. You will not feed tsp's of HC, you will feed cans of HC.

Each one of our acrokitties is different, some at high doses, some at low doses and one is off the juice. It all depends on release of growth hormone and this can be very frustrating to the bean. You may find yourself thinking you are a terrible caregiver, especially when you can not control the numbers, but at all times remember you are chasing numbers that are controlled by something you can not see, can not count and can not control so never feel bad about your results ok?

 

[Libby and Lucy]

great questions, and great feedback you've gotten here. I hope you and Pablo are having a good weekend!

 

[pjstroop]

Hi Holly!

I'm so sorry to hear about Pablo's Acro DX.. but, do know that he is one lucky kitty to have you to take care of him

Lots of great info on this board to help you with Pablo..

 

[jojo and bunny]

in answer to your question about the jug stick, when there is overgrowth of soft tissue in throat (which he totally might not have yet, or the breathing you are hearing might indicate that he does have some) it is just the tilting of head into position that we have to do when doing a jug stick can cause the tissue to occlude the trachea. carolynn/fletcher had an episode where fletcher was unable to breathe when they tried to do a jug stick and had to go into O2 cage, etc. just something to know when it is blood draw time, not something you need to think about everyday!

about the question about legs/back there is so many things that cats take for this, i have a bookmark somewhere of great link describing each supplement and when to use each, can't locate it right this sec, i'll stop back with it at some point this week. but sure continue the methylB, can't hurt and do not know if not a touch of neuropathy mixed in. need spine/leg x-rays to see if has arthritis and at what stage. acros are prone to spondylosis (spinal osteoarthritis) of lumbar (back end) spine. that might be what you are seeing in gait. talk to nina/KB about her protocol.

and about the R...get it and then there is a whole process to learn how to use it. we start at 0.1 units, yep that teeny tiny dose and work up. scale will come later, after we figure out pablo's R onset/nadir/duration. hang out with gayle/shadoe, she is learning to use it, have typed a lot of stuff in her condos over past few weeks about it. you didn't miss anything, we will all work together on using R.

and please, you do not have to learn everything all at once! you do not have to run to store and get R tomorrow. whenever you are ready, we are here. nothing has changed with pablo himself except you know that he is one of the many acrocats on this board.

speaking, do you know who are the acrocats in LL and who's condos you should be reading? (and asking any questions if you see something you are curious about, they have answers).