3-20 Feeburt Amps 353 Pmps 325

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Shelly and Spaceman

Shelly and Spaceman

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Dose increase and vial change. He's totally fine and acting great. Hope this dose works but according to plan I should increase again tomorrow night. It's mentally hard for me to give him that much but so far we have not even been close to going too low.
 
((((Shelly)))) are you going to be able to get a nadir check tomorrow? Just in case. One of these days the numbers will change.
 
I will be able to get it tomorrow. I worked all day today. So did BF. It was a busy week and my office is about 40 miles from home. Luckily I am on the road visiting salons and such a lot of the time so I can make stops at home. Next week should be one of those weeks. However, I am out of town next weekend so the BF will be caring for the boys. He's good so I'm not really worried. And I can tell him to spot check for me.
Thanks for checking on us!
 
hey there shelly.
i have been hearing about what is going on here and got a chance to see SS for myself tonight. geez 7 units is not making a dent in numbers. and that is a pretty hefty dose. i think even though it is very early in his insulin career here that it would not be out of line to talk about getting a few tests done to see if there is an underlying reason for the insulin resistance that is written all over SS. have you been thinking about that at all? (btw, how is his weight?) up to you of course but i think it is time to suggest getting the IGF-1 (acromegaly) and IAA (insulin antibody) tests done. they are not expensive and it is a simple blood draw. and knowing results if one or other comes back positive does change the way dosing is done and can get to better numbers quicker. i don't know if you have considered this yet or not, but think about it and let us know what you want to do. can stop back tomorrow with more information for you. just wanted to toss the idea out there and see where you are at thought wise about this, k?
~jojo
 
Hi Shelly,

I'm glad jojo brought up the tests...it is time to get them done. Hopefully, he's just a stubborn kitty like Kathy/Kitty and Randi/Max. However, it's better (and safer) to know. I completly understand your frustration because I've been there...take a look at Boo's ss.

If your vet gives you any trouble about the tests, my vet would be happy to draw the blood and send the samples off. She's been wonderful to work with.
 
Ya know, I thought about those issues a few weeks ago but at that point it was too early to suggest tests and it had since escaped my mind. Iwill go get the tests done. My vet is fabulous and I am sure will have no problem taking blood for the tests. I will call her tomorrow.
I am worried about the dose. I have considered getting some R but I will be out of town next weekend and BF has no experience with R so I don't want to make him responsible for that.
If he has Acro or IAA what are the treatment options (other than a trip to Colorado) for us and how does it change dosing?
 
If Feeburt is positive for IAA, you will try to overcome the antibodies...you will give more and more insulin and aim for "normal" cat numbers (green). It is possible for IAA cats to go OTJ. Jan/Buddy; Sharyn/Fiona; Sandy/BK all have IAA.

If Feeburt has acro, you basically have 3 choices.
1. Go to CSU for the stereotactic radiation surgery
2. Enroll in the drug trial that will be announced soon by CSU. However, this is a temporary treatment...once the trial is over, the meds stop and they are too expensive to buy. I don't know what the cost of the trial will be.
3. Treat only the diabetes; your goal here is to keep him under the renal threshold but out of the lower greens. His pancreas is fully functioning so there is no healing to be done (although it is possible to go OTJ for a while). Your goals here are to prevent kidney damage, prevent hypo, yet get enough insulin in him that his body can function.

Note that it is possible to get "regular" radiation for acro, but it basically costs the same, is much harder on the kitties because they have to be put under many more times, and is much less effective. Really, not worth it.

You might as well pick up a bottle of Humulin R. No prescription is necessary. You won't use it until someone can help you but at least it will be sitting in the fridge. There are two threads in High Dose about using R w/ IAA cats and with Acro cats. Those would be good to read just to have an idea of how R helps.
 
Shelly:

I'm really happy you are open to getting the testing done! I kept looking at you going up the dose ladder and kept asking myself whether Feeburt should be tested. It probably would be useful to read some of the threads in the High Dose group to give you a sense of what the issues are and what questions to ask your vet or other members here or on that Board. I'm hoping that Jojo will be back soon to give you more information.

There are a few websites that may be useful to get you started:
 
Well that kind of sucks. :-| So basically no matter what the dx I just have to keep giving more and more insulin unless I can go on a trip to Colorado. crap.
I'm accustomed to the workings of R. This is my second diabetic. I used R on Cosmo fairly regularly and remember (it wasn't that long ago) how to do the just a drop method. I'll probably have to pick some up when I get back from St Louis.
 
With IAA, the insulin increase and dose may not be a permanent thing. If the antibodies are overcome, the high dose situation may rectify itself.
 
I'm sorry Shelly! An acro diagnosis does suck...there's no other way to say it. That's why everybody will pray that it's IAA or sheer stubborness. However, knowing is better than not knowing and being frustrated every day with ugly numbers and wondering why...however, don't worry about any of it yet - just get the tests done.

Hey, a little off topic, but I think you're getting married soon which probably means a honeymoon. Let me know if you need help - my house is big enough to take care of Feeburt if necessary.
 
Thank you, Heather! That is soooo nice. We will be going to the JOP in two weeks and then we will have a small party and probably not a honeymoon until summer. We kind of already talked about it and if he does have acro we will try to get him to Colorado. If it helps, going to CO for 2 days would certainly make the rest of his life easier than giving him super doses of insulin everyday. So our honeymoon may be in Colorado....not exactly what I had in mind but whatever. We've lived together for 8 years so this whole wedding stuff is kind of being downplayed. Oh well...at least no one will doubt if it will work out or not!
 
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