? 7/02 Buddy AMPS 85 +4 56 +5 57 +6 50 +7 53

lbeachstace

lbeachstace

Member Since 2022
@Wendy&Neko - Buddy's reduction from 6 units to 5.5 units has been nothing short of amazing - his numbers are low and consistent!

Today is day 15 for 5.5 and while we understand that it's not the protocol that you normally use (AND you did call out in his last thread that this drop in dosage was specific to Buddy's case only), we would like to reduce again to 5 units.

We have seen a slight change in his behavior - less walking in circles and less pacing/perimeter walking around. And overall, a tiny bit more himself.

Really want your thoughts.

Reduction thread from 6/18
 
I'm curious to see his next test after that 50.

Buddy is both a long term diabetic (reductions under 40 when following TR) and a cat that was not tested for secondary conditions (acromegaly and/or IAA) that might explain why he needed a dose of 6 units and above for a while. Did you get any comment from the vet on testing for those conditions? Without solid knowledge of why he needed the dose he did, it may be safer to reduce, even if he's just at 50. Worst case, you can always go back if needed.

Good to hear there is an improvement in behaviour. :)
 
thanks @Wendy&Neko.

I've spoken in depth with our vet about acromegaly and he's examined him. He also knows how attentive we are to Buddy's every move and said he's dealt with cases of acromegaly and that he did not feel the test was necessary for Buddy, as he does not think he has it.

We did reduce last nite and we will monitor how he does. He is much calmer today than he's been recently when his numbers are low. those tend to make him very restless. We will keep you posted. :)
 
You cannot just "look at" a cat and see if he has acromegaly. Over 2/3 of acros have no clinical symptoms on diagnosis. Could you ask the vet to humour you with a test? That's what I had to do as my vet was also convinced I didn't need to get the tests done. Constipation, circling, arthritis are all possible symptoms, as well as the dose size. I would suggest at the minimum, that Buddy get a thorough heart work up. To start, the Cardiopet ProBNP test.
 
@Wendy&Neko - he's had his heart checked twice. once after a proBNP test and then again a few weeks ago before his surgery and the cardiologist said everything looks good and we don't need to check again for 9 months. But yes, i will speak to our vet about the test.
 
thank you @Wendy&Neko and yes, speaking from experience, we don't take this lightly.

We had a cat (my heart animal) who was a feral that we took in and socialized her the best we could. she was amazing.

She was very food motivated and didn't eat two meals, so i brought her to our (then) vet immediately following the second skipped meal.

the vet took an xray, blood work and we were going to wait for the results. right before we left, she said, i don't love her breathing, it may be asthma and i am going to give her a shot of cortisone.......it was one of the worst nights of our lives. it is a long story and if you could sue a vet for malpractice, i would have because she very obviously never looked at the xray to see that she had an enlarged heart. the next morning when we brought her in and she was in complete distress, she took another xray and mentioned her heart. it was too late.

the cortisone triggered her lungs and heart to fill with fluids. no animal or human with a heart condition should ever take cortisone. this we found out, after we had to put her to sleep. :(. we couldn't understand what happened so quickly, so we we thinking about what was new and introduced. then we look up cortisone and cats with enlarged hearts. :(

(sorry to be so heavy - but we totally understand not to mess around when it comes to all of this.)
 
:bighug::bighug::bighug: What a sad situation. :( Neko couldn't take prednisolone for her GI issues due to her heart, but that was because her vet knew to check.
 
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