Migs sugar dancing & RVC (part 3)

[Laszlo]

So migs had his visit up to the RVC today for the Exanetide trial. He had a pretty good trip up there despite being starving.

They are excellent - they have given me much confidence.

Poor migs had a pretty awful time during the tests as his veins are so bad after the DKA. His blood glucose is also very high (HI) and as such he's pretty unhappy, but hoping we can get him back on track overnight.

He had his first injection of drug/placebo, and j was sent home with fresh ProZinc and Food. Great day despite stress for me and Migs!

 

[Rachel]

Probably got hi due to stress! Poor thing... I know my cats hate car rides. But glad to hear he's home and getting started with the trial! Let us know how it goes...I'm excited they're doing this!

 

[Alexi]

Cappuccino's was very high the day we did the first visit as well, combination of being starved and not able to give insulin, as well as all the testing - hope it all goes well for you. She really enjoyed her dinner that evening!

 

[Laszlo]

Thank you yes - all back on track overnight. He strangely wasn't that keen on dinner last night but seems extra hungry today to make up for it. Tests showed his liver is still problematic. Very marked increase in ALT, and mildly elevated ALP, looks OK on ultrasound apart from being a bit white which is apparently not uncommon in diabetics.

 

[Laszlo]

Quick update - since his trip to the RVC, they asked us to drop him to 2.0IU, which did prove to be too little insulin and he struggled through a few days before being raised to 2.5.

On 2.5 we are showing excellent progress, preshots have come down, and today's curve is very encouraging - well into greens middle of the day. Clinical signs good - less drinking, hunger and overall back to his normal self. He has developed signs of diabetic neuropathy however. Not terrible but you can tell there is weakness.

He is still on a fairly daunting pill regimen - Denamarin, Destalit (ursodeoxycholic acid), antibiotics (for suspected Cholangiohepatitis) and supplementing Potassium with Kaminox (this may no longer be necessary, but we agreed to keep him on it until his next blood tests in 3 weeks), but he is now off all probiotics, and his movements are perfect for a cat.

The final results from the tests came back - his IGF-1 is normal (so no acromegaly thankfully!) and his fSPL was high (14.2) indicating pancreatitis. But as he has no clinical symptoms of pancreatitis no action to be taken and it may not be significant.

We still have a long way to go - and he still has high PMPS's - but I am feeling more confident generally that his diabetes will come under control, and his general health will follow.

No idea if he's on placebo or not for the trial! He is making progress, but it's hard to know whether it's just because of steady dosing and time or the drug is making a difference. Frankly, at this stage I don't care! The advice from the RVC people is excellent, one feels as though we have a good plan going forward, and they are constantly in touch which is incredibly reassuring.