5/18 Tennessee AMPS 258 PMPS 131 +2 97 +3 72 +4 94 - Acro confirmed

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PMPS 131
Not having a great day today. Poor Tennie's auto feeder jammed, causing him to be a very hungry kitty. And also the vet called to tell me that his IGF 1 test came back as "elevated". I missed the call because my cell does not come in well in my office. I tried calling her back to get the exact number but I have not heard back form her yet. I will try again tomorrow.
No word on the IAA test. Which is funny because MSU told me they wouldn't even start the Acro test until this week. Apparently someone was wrong!
I'm feeling a little sad and depressed right now, although his numbers have been good lately, so I guess I can be thankful for that.
 
(((Andrea))) so sorry you got the answer you did, but I suspect you were already expecting that. The good news is that you have seen green on this dose and that's a great PMPS! One thing I remember being told when I got the diagnosis - Tennessee is still the same sweet cat he was before the diagnosis, the only difference is that now you have an explanation for what caused his diabetes. And with knowledge comes power. :bighug: Now you know what to look for and can consider some options.

I know it's a lot to take in - I remember the feeling in the pit of my stomach when I got the diagnosis. I had a pity party at my place that night. :bighug: :bighug: Is your vet recommending any next steps?

BTW, the exact IGF-1 number doesn't mean a lot. Neko's IGF-1 number was about twice Julie's/punkin's and her tumor was smaller. The folks at Colorado State University told me there is no relation from the IFG-1 number to much of anything, it just means positive. But the recent data from the Royal Veterinary College in England, who are testing every cat into their Diabetes Remission Clinic, is that 24.8% (about 1 in 4) diabetic cats have acromegaly. Oh, and not all cats with acromegaly have diabetes.
 
Wendy,
Yes, unfortunately this is the news I was expecting. Although i did have hopes that it would come back negative with his recent low numbers.
I have not spoken to the vet directly yet. Although I don't think that she will have much to suggest at this point. She has told me that Tennessee would be her first Acro cat.
I would love to have him get the SRT done. But it pains me to say it is more than I can financially handle at this point.

I guess I will be looking to those here on the forum with Acro cat experience to point me in the right direction.
 
I'm sorry to hear the results - it sucks. But as Wendy says, now you know why he needs a bigger dose. Lauren's Tommy was diagnosed a month before Punkin and he had a higher IGF (his was 380ish and Punkin's was 281). Lauren opted to just keep him tightly regulated and she did a fantastic job with it. He lived for 4 years after his diagnosis at the ripe old age of 18. Punkin lived 2.5years after diagnosis, until he was 15/16, in spite of us having the SRT done. So . . . if you can't do the SRT, it's not the only option. If you want to see Tommy's ss, I can dig it up for you.

The one thing I've noticed is that keeping an acro cat in normal numbers really seems to help keep the dose down. On the German Katzen forum they don't suggest testing cats for high dose conditions and their cats seem to max out around 10u or less per shot. It's something to think about.

One day at a time. There are no doubt many other acro cats on our board who simply don't know it because they haven't been tested, or their dose didn't get past 6u and we haven't suggested they get tested. Tennie still adores you and you still love him. :bighug:
 
(((((Andrea)))) I've been following along, and I don't have any advice but want to offer a big hug of encouragement! Luckily you will have Wendy and Julie and lots of good advisors on this board, and in your loving watch, Tennie will be in good hands!
 
Thanks Julie,
I would live to see Lauren and Tommys spreadsheet if you have the time to find it.
I'm greatful that we seem to be getting better numbers recently. Like you said, "one day at a time"
I'm quite weepy tonight, just with the realization of the diagnosis. But I'm sure that I will snap out of it eventually.
Tennie is happy and hat is what counts.

I did have a question about b12 though, and didn't know if you would have a suggestion. I have been giving Tennie a dose of b12 in his main pre-shot meals, it seems to have helped with his neuropathy. I saw somewhere on the forum a few weeks ago that it is not a good idea to give a cat with cancer b12. Any thoughts on this? Should I stop the b12 due to the acro?
 
:bighug::bighug::bighug:Andrea:bighug::bighug::bighug:

As sad and frustrating as the diagnosis must be, I echo what everyone else has said....Having it confirmed helps you better understand why you are seeing the higher numbers and hopefully how to go about treating it.

I have no experience with acro or iaa, so I can't help with that, BUT I am great with hugs and support and shoulders to lean on.....You are in the most bestestestest place you could be right now.....

Take the night, drink wine/beer/pop whatever you feel like, eat chocolate or any sort of comfort food you want......snuggle up with Tennie, have a good cry so tomorrow, you can start fresh and attack this head on!
 
Acromegaly is not cancer, the tumor is benign. It just has some unwelcome side effects from the excess growth hormone it spits out. If the tumor grows in size, it can also press against the optic chiasm - which you might notice by pupils always being large. Other high dose kitties currently around here are Crystal, Toby (no tests done), Polly (had SRT). You can take a peak at their SS too. Suzanne's Cobb (GA) is another. He benefited from a switch to Levemir, but he also had IAA and the switch might have helped break the IAA. IAA is supposed to be self limiting, after about a year. It's useful to know if Tennie has it, because when the IAA breaks, dose needs can quite quickly change.

Here is Tommy's SS.

Another thing the folks at CSU said, the most important thing you can do for a cat with acromegaly is to try to keep it's blood sugar in good numbers. My motto is to keep following the green. Tennie's dose needs may go up and down as the tumor pulsates. There have even been cases of acrocats going OTJ, though rare. Since he has a heart murmur, at some point an echocardiogram may be useful to see if their is growth in the heart. It's treatable with meds but may not present any other signs.

And - super cycle tonight! :D
 
Wendy,
Thanks for Tommys ss and the explanation of Acro vs cancer.
Hopefully the Iaa test will come back soon.
I asked the vet about switching him to Levemir, but she said that she didn't want to change things right now. Although that might be different once the IAA test comes back.
I'm picking up the refill on Tennie's lantus tomorrow, so I'm probably going to stick with the lantus for the time being. Unless Tennie decides that it is hurting him. At least it is giving us good numbers right now.
 
I kept punkin on Lantus the whole time and he never reacted to the shots. I wasn't keen on the idea of the later nadirs, although now having seen the improvement that many high dose cats have on Lev, I sorta wish we'd tried Lev.

By the way, I saw on Tommy's ss, I had the IGF wrong - he was 313 at diagnosis. Punkin was 281. There was a LOT of drama around the time our kitties were diagnosed - you've probably seen the high dose group is dead. Our kitties were diagnosed right after the high dose group had some friction and left to a facebook group instead of continuing on FDMB. When our kitties were diagnosed, the FB group were overwhelming. Lauren left FDMB because of it. But Lauren was dedicated to Tommy staying in green numbers and she continued with dosing him to achieve it.

Tennie's arthritis could be from the acro - the growth hormone causes the body to grow and with bones that are already grown and fused, it accelerates arthritis. I think most acro kitties have arthritis. Wendy & I have both spent a lot of energy trying to find something that works for pain relief for the arthritis. You may want to explore adequan (US) or cartrophen (Canada) injections to help him with that.

We'll keep feeding you information, Andrea, and keep asking questions. You'll learn a lot from connecting with the other high dose kitties - they are as different from each other as all the rest of the cats. There is a lot of research information on the New to the Group sticky, especially in this link.
 
Andrea, just wanted to stop by to say I'm sorry about the diagnosis. That's the bad news.
The good news is you're getting some good, solid advice from those who have been there, done that. They'll be a big help. Lean on them.

And always remember, Tennie doesn't know he has acromegaly. He's the same kitty who loves you today as he was prior to diagnosis.

:bighug:
 
Thanks again Julie,
I am more than willing to learn as much as I can.
I am always trying to read, read, read!
I wish that I was on the West Coast like you and Wendy. I'm on the East Coast- so most nights I am going to bed when you are both online.
But believe me, I will be asking questions as I think of them. And please continue to pass on,any advice that you may have.
 
I try to check all the high dose kitty condos every day - Wendy does too. Other kitties too, of course, but lots of people have experience with "regular" diabetic cats and will help those kitties.

When you have questions, just post and we'll be looking out for you. Using the ? icon or putting a comment in the subject line will make sure that we don't miss your question.

If we ask you questions at night, you can always answer them in your morning post instead of answering on yesterday's condo. That'll help keep things from being confusing.

My greatest regret - I wish I'd been more aggressive at keeping punkin in green numbers. I think it helps keep the dose down. It's easier to be aggressive in keeping a cat in green numbers when their dose is smaller - the bigger the dose the more nerve-wracking it becomes. Letting a high dose cat hang out in yellow/pink numbers seems to increase the dose needed to then move them into normal numbers. Another mistake I made was in increasing in too small of increments. I was still doing 0.25u increments at 9 and 10u - i could see they made a difference and they did, but i should have increased in larger increments to get on top of his numbers. Hindsight is always clear, you know, and typically focuses on what you've done wrong! :p

Just remember, Andrea, you are not alone. You've got lots of company in the boat. :)
 
Another kitty, but before I was here is Libby's Jazzy (no SRT). She started on PZI (briefly), then Lantus then Levemir. Libby's really good at documenting what she does on her SS and did a great job with Jazzy.

I sometimes lurk around the condos at odd times. 4 days a week I'm up at 4:45 PST for rowing and take a quick peak then and throughout the day. Suki/Crystal is in France, so she's up well before you. Peg/Toby is near you too. And with a late nadir Levemir girl, I'm often up with a quick test in the wee hours.
 
Hi Andrea, so sorry to hear you got the acro result for Tennie. As an acrocat mum I know how you are feeling. My vet too is a complete novice with regards to treatment for acro, so I only go to her for check ups, not dosing advice. I haven't been able to have SRT for Crystal, not available here in France, so we are managing the best we can without it. Bit of a bumpy road to travel sometimes but I put my wholehearted trust in the members here with acrokitties, their wealth of experience, advice and support has been truly exceptional. You are not alone and you will be well looked after. I just cannot contemplate what would have happened to us without finding this board, it has been, and still is, our lifeline. FWIW I changed to Lev from Lantus once Crystal reached 16.5 units, and she didn't see her first blue until we reached 45 units, so you are already in a much better position with Tennie, and you have already seen greens, which is great news. Sending hugs to you both:bighug:, remember, Tennie doesn't know anything has changed, he is still your adorable, loving furbaby.
 
Thanks for your encouragement Suki.
I do feel rather lucky that at least right now Tennie seems to be doing well on a relatively lower dose on Lantus.
 
:bighug::bighug: So sorry Andrea, not what you wanted to hear of course. But there are lots of good folks here who can support you, whatever comes next. Gentle scritches for Tennessee and hugs and vines for you.
 
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