5-5 Tiffany tested positive for Acromegaly

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Jadi & Tiffany

Jadi & Tiffany

Member Since 2017
Super sad to get this news from the vet today. She is speaking to the diabetes specialist on Monday and will call me with a treatment plan.

Tiffany is up to 7 units in the a.m. and p.m. and is still testing in the 300 and 400's. (She did have two 200 readings several days ago.)

What should I do now? Would like to hear what other Acro cats are doing. @Wendy&Neko
 
So sorry to hear Tiffany has joined the acrocat club. There are a few of us here that are dealing with it. I tried a trial drug at first but decided to do radiation treatments since we weren't seeing any improvement with the trial drug. Wendy is the go-to person for acro guidance but I think she is away this week so may not be able to check in as often as she usually does. Did you also test for IAA?

Here is a pdf that shows complications that may arise with acromegaly: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZkMmEyux5PxLb6I-FUUOCuZPs2MCYQcpHjG747KRK6c/edit
 
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Bronx's dad said:
So sorry to hear Tiffany has joined the acrocat club. There are a few of us here that are dealing with it. I tried a trial drug at first but decided to do radiation treatments since we weren't seeing any improvement with the trial drug. Wendy is the go-to person for acro guidance but I think she is away this week so may not be able to check in as often as she usually does. Did you also test for IAA?

Here is a pdf that shows complications that may arise with acromegaly: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZkMmEyux5PxLb6I-FUUOCuZPs2MCYQcpHjG747KRK6c/edit
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Thank you for your kind words. What was the name of the trial drug? Cabergoline? Did it have any affect at all? What are you feeding Bronx?
Wendy has been so helpful...I am so thankful for this site. My vet is dumbfounded...she had never had any experience dealing with an Acrocat.
 
Jadi & Tiffany said:
Thank you for your kind words. What was the name of the trial drug? Cabergoline? Did it have any affect at all? What are you feeding Bronx?
Wendy has been so helpful...I am so thankful for this site. My vet is dumbfounded...she had never had any experience dealing with an Acrocat.
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Yeah, my 1st vet gave up after we hit 3u and referred me to a internal medicine vet who was familiar with acromegaly. Trial drug was Cabergoline, 1 of the 6 cats in the initial UK trial has shown improvement, that cat was at an insulin dose around 4-5u before the drug and the last I heard is at 0.5u. Bronx was above 30u when we tried it and it didn't seem to help, even after we doubled the dosage. He eats only wet food, some raw which I buy frozen (Rad Cat), and cans of other stuff that is all low carb that I try to switch up so he doesn't get bored with the same ole food.
 
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I know this is not the news you wanted to hear however now you know what you are dealing with.
And you have the advantage of having other acrokitty caregivers to learn from.

What were the number results for each of the tests?
 
Sorry about the test results. :bighug: But once you have a diagnosis you know what you are dealing with. Let us know what questions you have. I just got home and will be playing catch up for a while, but we have other experienced high dose caregivers here too.

I think it's time to increase again. If you aren't seeing any blues, keep increasing every six cycles. You WILL find a dose that gets Tiffany into better numbers. But you do have to keep increasing gnto try to get ahead of the resistance.
 
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Welcome to the acro club, a place you never thought you would be. If it weren't for FDMB and all of the very helpful and knowledgeable members, I don't know where I would be with Lily at this moment. And I agree with Wendy, its time for an increase in dosage....
 
I too am sorry you have the acro diagnosis for Tiffany, but there are many experienced acromums here that have so much more knowledge and experience of acro than vets, and will guide you for the right course of treatment for Tiffany. :bighug:
 
Hi there and sorry you got this DX for Tiffany but, as others have said, you know what you are dealing with now. Those here with acrocats will be of a great support to you. Hugs. :bighug:
 
Wendy&Neko said:
Sorry about the test results. :bighug: But once you have a diagnosis you know what you are dealing with. Let us know what questions you have. I just got home and will be playing catch up for a while, but we have other experienced high dose caregivers here too.

I think it's time to increase again. If you aren't seeing any blues, keep increasing every six cycles. You WILL find a dose that gets Tiffany into better numbers. But you do have to keep increasing gnto try to get ahead of the resistance.
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Thanks Wendy. We did get a blue number this morning. (My husband took her bg a second time, just to make sure. She was back up in the 300 and 400s again today...ugh. So, how long do I wait before increase? (6 more cycles?) Thank you and welcome home!
 
Karen & Lily said:
Welcome to the acro club, a place you never thought you would be. If it weren't for FDMB and all of the very helpful and knowledgeable members, I don't know where I would be with Lily at this moment. And I agree with Wendy, its time for an increase in dosage....
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Thank you.
 
Sandy and Black Kitty said:
I know this is not the news you wanted to hear however now you know what you are dealing with.
And you have the advantage of having other acrokitty caregivers to learn from.

What were the number results for each of the tests?
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My vet called me on Friday night, so I do not have a copy of the results. She mentioned the number 329 for the Acro test. I am having the vets office send me a copy tomorrow. Thank you, Sandy.
 
Karen & Lily said:
Welcome to the acro club, a place you never thought you would be. If it weren't for FDMB and all of the very helpful and knowledgeable members, I don't know where I would be with Lily at this moment. And I agree with Wendy, its time for an increase in dosage....
Click to expand...
Thank Karen. We did get a blue number this morning but back up in the 300 and 400's for the other two tests today. How long should I wait before increasing the dose?
 
Jadi & Tiffany said:
We did get a blue number this morning. (My husband took her bg a second time, just to make sure. She was back up in the 300 and 400s again today...ugh. So, how long do I wait before increase? (6 more cycles?)
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The goal is green numbers - you've held this dose long enough. I would increase tomorrow to 7.5 units, since you held the same dose tonight. You don't have to wait for the bounce to clear.
 
Bronx's dad said:
So sorry to hear Tiffany has joined the acrocat club. There are a few of us here that are dealing with it. I tried a trial drug at first but decided to do radiation treatments since we weren't seeing any improvement with the trial drug. Wendy is the go-to person for acro guidance but I think she is away this week so may not be able to check in as often as she usually does. Did you also test for IAA?

Here is a pdf that shows complications that may arise with acromegaly: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZkMmEyux5PxLb6I-FUUOCuZPs2MCYQcpHjG747KRK6c/edit
Click to expand...
Yes, we did the test for IAA. I am having the vet send me the results tomorrow. She just mentioned Acro not IAA.
 
You might want to consider switching to a human meter to test Tiffany. I understand the AT test strips are quite pricey. Many of us use human meters and have puchased the Relion brand at Walmart. I test Lily several times a day so its a lot cheaper in the long run.
 
I'm sorry about the diagnosis. Glad you're here, getting help from the best. We started with the AlphaTrak and finally switched after 8 mos or so. Wished we had switched earlier, the human meter strips are lots cheaper and easier to get and just as good.
Liz
 
Karen & Lily said:
You might want to consider switching to a human meter to test Tiffany. I understand the AT test strips are quite pricey. Many of us use human meters and have puchased the Relion brand at Walmart. I test Lily several times a day so its a lot cheaper in the long run.
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Yes, I am going to do this. The test strips for the Alpha Trek are ridiculous. My vet insisted on this meter, but I am quickly finding that the advice of this group is golden. Thank you!
 
Anne & Zener GA said:
I'm sorry about the diagnosis. Glad you're here, getting help from the best. We started with the AlphaTrak and finally switched after 8 mos or so. Wished we had switched earlier, the human meter strips are lots cheaper and easier to get and just as good.
Liz
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Thank you Liz! I am definitely going to switch to the other meter. I am so thankful for the support of this group. I would seriously be lost without it.
 
Sorry about the diagnosis, but it's good to have answers. Knowing that Chino had acromegaly made it easier to take the aggressive approach needed to find an effective dose. With the recent yellows and blues, it looks like you're getting close to it!
 
Hi Adrian,

Thank you for your encouragement! It came at a very timely moment. The vet I am working with called tonight wanting me to go to the diabetes cat specialist. Since the 1st of the year, we have had 2 very expensive visits to this hospital where this vet is...it is a crazy amount. I simply can not keep spending thousands on our beloved Tiffany and I am agonizing over what to do next.

I have received more encouragement and great advice every step of the way from this group. what has been your experience with Chino?
 
When it became clear that my vet didn't know anything about acromegaly (including how to interpret lab results), I took Chino to another vet who had experience with it. I printed and brought the spreadsheet and she was supportive of what I was doing, and was familiar with other insulin strategies in case they were necessary (like dosing more than twice a day). I'm not sure if SRT will be within my means but I'm going to ask about it at the next appointment, since he needs routine labs to test his thyroid. My main motivation in finding a vet who's familiar with this is wanting to have a vet that knows what kind of complications to watch for, so we can catch any problems early.
 
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